Five hidden gems for casual gamers

Stardew Valley

How often do we get to play a peaceful life simulator on the countryside? Stardew Valley tries to answer the question by creating a delightful experience that no one saw coming.

The hero (or heroine if you prefer) of the story quits his desk job at a multinational conglomerate in a big city, after growing tired and exhausted of the fast life. He heads back to Pelican Town to his ranch, which his grandfather gave him before passing away.

Your first goal is to restore your grandfather's ranch to its former glory, but the game has absolutely no shortage of side activities.

Aside from building up and upgrading your ranch, your will farm, fish, raise animals, cook, mine metals and precious stones, craft, solve paranormal mysteries and make friends with a town full of quirky characters.

With its relaxing gameplay, colourful visuals, soothing audio, Stardew Valley is considered a masterpiece by its legion of fans. The game is available for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Android.

Plants vs Zombies

Defending our homes from those pesky zombies is never easy. After all, it is hard to kill what is already dead.

Plants vs Zombies is a fresh take on the tower defence strategy genre. The homeowner, which is you, must defend tour home against waves of hungry zombies, but without machineguns and bombs.

Your plants, out of gratitude, have decided to lend a hand by fighting off the zombies. The game has multiple levels, and dozens of unique plants and zombies with different skills. 

For example, the pea shooter, you guessed it, shoots peas at zombies. While Potato Mines explode when zombies step on them. The zombies get tougher and tougher as you fiercely defend your lawn, backyard and roof. 

But fret not, you will get upgrades and new plants with increasingly devastating weapons to fight off the hoard. Underneath the cute exterior, it is one of the best strategy warfare games you will ever play.

Plants vs Zombies is available on Windows, OS X, iOS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Android.

Nova Drift

At its core, Nova Drift is a modern reimagining of classic arcade shoot'em ups such as Asteroids and Galaxian. 

You start with a small ship with basic plasma shots, but no armour and shields. As you blow enemy fighters and asteroids to bits, you gain experience and level up.

With each level comes a variety of specialised hulls, weapons, armours, shields, missiles, lasers and even drones. Gradually with every new upgrade, your tiny fighter inches closer to becoming a dreadnaught.

At the end of each wave, comprised of multiple enemy armadas, giant capitol ships show up to test your capabilities. 

The game features permadeath. Once you die, your ship is lost forever. But the tech upgrades you unlock will remain available for your endlessly evolving bio-mechanical ship. 

The visuals and music perfectly syncs with the not-so-empty space. Asteroids, planets, stars and even black holes will show up while you fight through swarms of cyborg drones.

Nova Rift is pure chaos, and it is available on Windows and macOS.

Limbo

Limbo is more than it meets the eye. The game's visuals are black and white, minimalistic and awe-inspiring, while the sound instils dread and dismay. 

But under the gloomy exterior, Limbo is a very interesting 2D puzzle platformer telling the story of a lost boy on a journey to find his sister. 

The unnamed boy, armed with nothing but his wit and problem solving skills, must navigate through increasingly difficult and hostile environments such as forests, cities, laboratories and factories.

He has no weapons and items, and no way to defend himself from enemies that attack on sight. The game also full of lethal traps and puzzles that can only be solved with logical thinking. 

Adding to the danger, there are electrical hazards and mind control worms to watch out for. It holds many surprises and you will have to think out of the box to solve some its puzzles. 

Limbo is an unforgettable experience. It was first released on Xbox Live Arcade, and was later ported to other systems such as the PlayStation 3, Linux and Windows. 

Chocolatier

There are few treats as decadent and divine as chocolate, and Chocolatier is all about the making and selling the treat.

It is a game centered on building a chocolate business empire, much like Willy Wonka. 

You will be tasked with expanding your chocolate business. Find recipes, buy exotic ingredients from across the world, then run your factories efficiently to make chocolates for your customers.

Successfully delivering orders before the deadline will allow you to upgrade your factories and make new types of chocolates.

Whether you want to leave your mark on history as the world's greatest chocolatier, or would rather hunt for the rarest cacao on the planet, will be entirely up to you.

Your quest to become a master of the chocolate-craft will take you to different continents, both to find rare ingredients and new recipes. 

This is a surprisingly fun puzzle game for both casual and hardcore gamers. Just do not blame us if you get a craving for chocolates while playing the game.

Chocolatier is available on Windows and Mac OS.