Summary
- RPGs offer diverse experiences, appealing to immersive fantasy, managing ordinary life, and slice-of-life simulation.
- Games like Story of Seasons and Stardew Valley provide gamers with a relaxing experience of living an ordinary life.
- RPGs like Old School RuneScape focus on everyday activities, while Thirsty Suitors brings spicy relationship drama to life.
Role-playing games are one of the most diverse and hard-to-define genres in video games. For some, it demands some level of immersion and player choice. For others, it's all about leveling up, managing stats, and choosing skills or character classes. At its core, the appeal of RPGs lies in the fantasy of living a different life, from a powerful warlord to a lowly sneakthief.
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But not all RPGs revolve around high-stakes quests or epic fantasy warfare. A small number of RPGs focus on the quieter, more relatable fantasy of everyday life, like managing relationships, holding a job, or just surviving in a small town. These RPGs go deep enough to allow players to live an ordinary existence, where small choices and daily routines matter just as much as dragon-slaying or prophecy fulfillment.
6 Story Of Seasons: Friends Of Mineral Town
Cultivating A Quiet Life One Crop At A Time
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
- Released
- July 14, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Use of Alcohol, Comic Mischief, Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Life Simulation
Originally released as Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town on the Game Boy Advance, this beloved farming RPG was remade in full 3D under the Story of Seasons banner with updated visuals and quality-of-life improvements. In Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, players take over a neglected farm in a small rural village, spending their days planting crops, raising livestock, attending seasonal festivals, and forming bonds with other regular folks.
There are no epic battles or world-ending threats, just the immersive fantasy of building a peaceful life from the ground up. With routines, relationship-building, and a deep sense of progression, including the option to get married and grow a family with a spouse and children, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town perfectly understands and delivers on the appeal of slow, slice-of-life farm-based roleplaying.
5 Old School RuneScape
A Simpler Age Of Living From A Classic Gaming Era
Old School RuneScape
- Released
- January 4, 2001
WHERE TO PLAY
The original promise of massively online roleplaying games was to create a second world for players to engage with. Few games have managed to capture this dream better than Old School RuneScape, which, since its release so long ago, has always striven to offer its players the freedom to play as they see fit, even if that means mundane activities like fishing to earn gold, building their cooking skills to become a culinary master, or running errands for townsfolk.
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Its real-time economy and robust player-centric social systems have made it feel less like a fantasy battleground and more like a living world (albeit a low-res and abstracted one), and go a long way to explain its longevity and lasting appeal, even for a game (or the version) originally released in 2007. Players have built lives around their chosen trades and lifestyles without ever lifting as much as a butter knife against a monster, roleplaying as humble bakers, alchemists, or traveling merchants.
4 Thirsty Suitors
Scott Pilgrim Meets Persona Meets Sparkly Trauma
Thirsty Suitors
- Released
- November 2, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- e
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Most RPGs that let players live a normal life need to contain enough side content to keep mundane-minded players occupied while the real game fires off elsewhere. Some action-packed RPGs like Yakuza or Persona use regular life stuff as a buffer between action set pieces. Thisty Suitors flips this on its head and presents spicy relationship drama, cooking, and fractured family feuds as bombastic as monster battles could ever be.
With over-the-top minigames and tactical, turn-based arguments as exciting as any fantasy fight, Thirsty Suitors turns the invisible anxiety of returning to a hometown into an intimate yet infinitely stylish ride. Players follow Jala as she navigates a complex web of familial expectations, failed relationships, and fracturing personal identity.
3 Stick RPG 2: Director's Cut
Making It In A Stick-Eat-Stick World
Stick RPG 2
- Released
- December 6, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Simulation
Without the sheen of early millennial nostalgia, this classic Flash game comes across as a little clunky and smudged. However, Stick RPG 2 delivers a surprisingly robust modern life gameplay wrapped in minimalistic visuals and the good-natured, tongue-in-cheek humor characteristic of the 2000s. Players are dropped into a strange, stick-figure city with little guidance and left to build a life however they see fit.
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That means earning a degree, climbing the corporate ladder, gambling, falling into crime, or just skateboarding around town. Beneath its simple look, the game offers a tight loop of time management, stat progression, open-ended roleplay, and an economy that can (unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the player's mindset) be completely broken with the right know-how, although the Director's Cut rebalances this, along with adding extra features to the original online game.
2 The Guild 2 Renaissance
An Intricate Medieval Life Sim With Many Viable Paths
The Guild 2: Renaissance
- Released
- July 27, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Strategy
This highly detailed RPG is a unique hybrid of life simulation, medieval politics, and sandbox strategy. Rather than casting them as heroes or villains in an epic tale, The Guild 2: Renaissance lets players step into the shoes of a tradesperson, noble, or rogue, carving out a life in a 15th-century city. From building a dynasty to managing a bakery, engaging in petty feuds, or bribing the town council, the game is less about slashing and bashing and more about social navigation.
With dynamic social systems, aging characters, and branching reputations, The Guild 2 encourages players to immerse themselves in the rhythms of life in a post-dark-age period. While there is adventure to be had for those who seek it in this slice-of-life RPG, running a tavern, maneuvering into wealth via marriage, or orchestrating a rival’s downfall tend to carry more weight than any regular clashing of steel.
1 Stardew Valley
From Corporate Burnout To Crop Rotations And Barnyards
Stardew Valley
- Released
- February 26, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Simulation
Is there a more appealing fantasy for most adult gamers than inheriting an old farm, leaving the corporate world behind, joining a wholesome community out in the countryside, and being self-reliant? Stardew Valley is this dream and more, as players tackle gameplay loops like fixing up fields and fences, socializing, crafting new tools, and occasionally tackling monsters in caves.
Players forge meaningful relationships with characters about town, experience in-game festivals and seasons, and gradually shape both the land and their place in the world. The game supports a slower, more intentional style of roleplaying, where living a good life is the ultimate goal. Although its builds and stats may be a little pared down compared to others in the genre, it is still a quintessential RPG about normal life and the joys of routine, connection, and personal (and literal) growth.
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