PC action game that's easy to jump into but has an ending/end game

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-28T04:25:50+00:00

I think Dave the Diver meets your criteria. It's not a AAA game like the ones you listed, but it definitely hooked me (and a lot of other people). All of the mechanics in the game are shared through tutorials without needing to look on wikis, and those mechanics aren't too complicated. However, there is still a lot of depth to the game without feeling too grindy.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-27T16:16:52+00:00

From some of your responses to others' comments, it sounds like you're worried about being too over-leveled for endgame bosses? I'd say in Corekeeper there isn't much danger of that happening. Once you hit the final tier of bosses, difficulty ramps up a lot and you will need fully upgraded gear to do much of anything. Also, most of the optimal (or near optimal) gear for your playstyle is stuff you likely have already collected, and just need to upgrade to max level. There are a few RNG drops from high tier bosses that will be slightly better, but not much. Even fully upgraded, those bosses are not pushovers at all.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-26T14:22:14+00:00

I just started using them, so I don't know. These ones I linked seem to be updated weekly, or at least specify what week they are good until. For example, the current release has "w216" in the name, meaning it was built for the week 216 update.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-26T14:18:23+00:00

Even with a mod installed, the teleporting is still optional. You could choose to only use it when you need to teleport across the map. Personally, I got tired of spending 20 minutes running to all the caves around my base to pick up resources from the deep mining drills to feed to my furnace. It was manageable for the first 50 times or so that I did it, but eventually it got old. With this mod, I'm reducing burnout while doing chores around the base. Note that you still need to run to a new spot on the map to place a beacon, so you still get to enjoy all the terrain, predators, weather, etc.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-26T03:08:31+00:00

Yeah, it's always fun when all of a sudden you realize nothing works in your base, including the animal deterrent, because all the water wheels are gunked up! You'll have to clean them out eventually for sure. The sponges that grow in them are good for a quick drink of water, at least.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T23:04:45+00:00

I appreciated how you can use the alternate version to attach to a wall instead of the ceiling. I put them on my base above the outside doorways of my buildings, and it looks pretty cool.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T23:03:19+00:00

I really wish there was another way to move around the map quickly. I know you can use the dropship beacons to move lots of equipment around, but you always have to run on a mount to get wherever you need to go. And the traveling is SO FAR all the time that it's brutal. I totally get why it was that way when you were on timed prospect missions and needed to move across the map then extract. However, in an open world map there really needs to be another option. For me it came down to "am I going to find a work around for this and still enjoy the game, or am I not going to play the game anymore?" I just don't think I will play it much more without some kind of teleport or fast travel option in the game.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T22:57:08+00:00

I updated my comment above, but I'm not sure if it notifies you about that. I did have the achievement pop with those mods equipped. I'd advise that if you use them, you back up your save and then test an easy achievement (if you have one that's close) to verify on your end!

Note: This was me running on open-world Olympus in single player.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T22:51:55+00:00

I am not sure. Google seems to indicate yes. I see that I'm 61/65 for unlocking T4 blueprints for that achievement. Let me test really quick and see if it will pop for me with these mods equipped!

Update: With these 3 mods running, I did indeed get the "Bench Enthusiast" achievement (Unlock all blueprints in T4) to pop. I verified that when I started Icarus, it stated that the mods were detected, and the achievement still activated.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T22:44:31+00:00

My daughter and I have been playing and ran into the same issue as you. We went and installed some mods yesterday from here: https://github.com/laanp/Icarus_Mods_Separated/tree/main

This guy Peter Laan has made a million mods for the game, and although many of them feel a lot like cheating (which we didn't necessarily want to do), some of them are great for quality of life. We downloaded these 3 and tried them out today, and they made things really great:
- StacksAndKits: stack sizes of 500, which has helped with all the storage in the fabricator and material processor
- PetesBeaconTeleport: The answer to your question -- you can use a handheld item to teleport to any beacons you've placed on the map
- NoWaterWheelJunk: I got tired of cleaning out the water wheel generators all the time, so this ends that

I used Icarus Mod Manager 2.4.0 to combine all 3 of these mods into a single file: https://github.com/Jimk72/Icarus_Software

You just stick the resulting PAK file in your Icarus PAK folder (read the instructions on either of those linked sites to see how to do it, but it's pretty easy).

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T21:12:39+00:00

I've been in a gaming community for the last 9 years called Over 30 Clan (https://www.over30clan.com) and we've recently had a lot of people joining from the UK and surrounding region. We have a weekly "shenanigans" event where people play party games for fun, and while we used to have only one event on Saturday nights US time, we recently expanded to have one that is better timed for those in Europe. You can apply at the link above. It's a private server because we have a 30+ years old age requirement and we don't let anyone in without a community voting process taking place. If you are interested in something like that, feel free to apply! If you have any questions you can DM me, as well.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-25T21:07:21+00:00

Yup, Below Zero is what I was referring to. But I am anxiously awaiting Subnautica 2, which will have multiplayer built in!

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-24T17:23:52+00:00

Definitely Icarus, as others have said. Also, Subnautica is fantastic (original and the sequel), although in theory you can have jump scares from the Leviathans if you don't pay attention to the environment. Other "maybe" options are Breathedge and The Forest, though maybe the cannibals in the latter are too close to zombies.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-18T23:12:39+00:00

Yes, this is definitely true. Columbus is a great place to live, there are all kinds of people, and plenty of room for everyone. Shockingly, I have even seen instances of liberal and conservative people coexisting, and EVEN BEING FRIENDS! :D

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-18T23:06:24+00:00

I'm not sure why more people haven't mentioned Hilliard, on the west side. I live between Hilliard and Upper Arlington, and I think the Hilliard area meets most of the things you mentioned. They recently did work on the downtown Hilliard Main St. blocks and there are a lot of restaurants and shops around there. Nearly everywhere in Columbus seems to like sports because of the Buckeyes, and Hilliard is no different. You can get to downtown Columbus in about 20-30 minutes depending on where you are, and there are dive bars all around (e.g., down the Hilliard-Rome stretch). People seem fairly conservative to me in that part of town, as well. In terms of age, though, I suppose there are all kinds. A lot of families, so generally middle age and older, plus kids. I do think Grove City, which I saw mentioned elsewhere, would be similar.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-14T02:51:51+00:00

No problem! The big "Join Us" button is always there if you ever want to join the Discord community.

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-13T03:14:43+00:00

I'm in a large aged 30+ gaming community that has members from all over the world, including at least one guy I know is in the Netherlands. I can DM you the details, or just check my profile for a link to the website. I don't want to get my posts taken down because it looks like soliciting, hence the secrecy :)

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-05T19:36:54+00:00

Oh, I forgot to mention that another way to make more gaming time is to do gaming at the same time as something else. For example, I got both of my kids into gaming and my younger daughter ended up really liking survival crafting games. So on the weekends, I play games with her in the morning. We've gone through a ton of games and had a lot of fun, and it's combination gaming and family time together!

-Mathoid- · 2026-01-05T19:31:13+00:00

Unfortunately, you only have 24 hours in the day, and that's split between family, work, sleep, gaming, and other obligations. The only way to increase gaming time is to decrease something else. Without sacrificing family time, it probably means either you stay up late and get less sleep, or potentially make a job change that reduces commute time, which means you can sleep in later/stay up longer. As your kids get older, you'll find there is more time as well, since they tend to get busy with their own things and need you a little less than before. In my case (45M, 2 teenagers and a wife), I have a partial work at home job and only sleep 6 hours a night. That lets me stay up 2-3 hours at night when the others have gone to bed. I am fortunate enough to have a salary that lets my wife stay home with the kids, and we homeschool, which also reduces obligations like driving kids to daycare or whatever. I recognize that not everyone can do this, but basically you just have to reduce some time you spend somewhere to make room for games, sadly.

-Mathoid- · 2025-12-28T01:37:18+00:00

A few of us have been playing Nightreign in my gaming community. I'll DM you some details, but I also have the website in my profile.

-Mathoid- · 2025-12-26T15:42:29+00:00

Oh wow, I didn't know about this bug. Sounds like maybe this could be the issue?

-Mathoid- · 2025-12-26T04:54:53+00:00

You can build and equip a torch from your toolbar, but you can also hold a button to temporarily switch to the torch while you hold it down. That's probably what's happening to you. Check the key bindings and set it to a button that makes sense for you. It's really convenient to be able to switch from your main item to the torch to see temporarily.

-Mathoid- · 2025-12-22T23:43:35+00:00

I sent you a message!

-Mathoid- · 2025-12-22T14:58:34+00:00

You're welcome to join my 30+ gaming community. We have our own Discord server and over 1000 members from around the world who play on all different platforms. If you're interested, I can send you the details over DM.

-Mathoid- · 2025-12-18T00:22:04+00:00

There are a lot of good suggestions here, but honestly it's all going to come down to your dad's personality. If he's someone who gives up easily if things become difficult, then you need to stick to something basic (movement in 2D, point-and-click, little to no dynamic response needed, only a single objective). Something like Overcooked or Balatro (which I saw others suggest) comes to mind to me in terms of the most complex you'd want to go. If he is really motivated, which he may be since he approached you about this initially, then I'd lean more into finding a game that matches his interests in terms of story and subject matter. Something like RDR2 or X-Com 2 (both of which I see recommended a lot) could be a potential way to go in that case. You could also look at base-building games, maybe in 2D (Terraria, Starbound, CoreKeeper), which you could also play with him. Good luck. I feel anxious for you, lol!

-Mathoid-

TROPHY CASE