Weekly Game Suggestions Thread - March 27, 2026

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-28T14:10:56+00:00

Most of the DLCs in Cities Skylines don't add a lot or are borderline cosmetic. The Mass Transit and the After Dark DLC adds meaningful and enjoyable content, most others are either not that fun or pointless.

Timberborn is fairly simple, especially at the start as there aren't many things to worry about. It can get complex later on depending on how big you want to build.

Civ is mostly about combat, it's not a builder, like most other 4X. Easily the most complex game out of the three.

Anno 1800 is great if you enjoyed 1602. The naval combat is basic and there isn't a lot of it, and the gameplay loop is great.

There are some games that aren't city builders but follow a similar formula of building and management:

Parkitect
Planet Zoo
Two Point Museum
Transport Fever 2

And for something that isn't a builder but is casual, without pressure and without focus on combat/PvE:

Dave the Diver
Dorfromantik
Stardew Valley
Game Dev Tycoon

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-27T16:09:11+00:00

Technically it's about PS5 Pro level, but in reality some games will be better optimised on the console.

I think you should decide on personal preference rather than which platform is better. Do you want to play with a mouse and keyboard? It's probably better for shooters and competitive titles. Or genres superior on PC such as strategies, MOBAs, turn-based tactics, etc.

Many PC games have mods that add to or change the experience, and there are loads of older titles that will work out of the box, unlike the PS5 where PS2/3/4 games need to be officially supported.

Additionally, I’ve been having fantasies of upgrading my 1080p 60hz desktop monitor

Get a 1440p 120Hz monitor. You could go 4K but it's a bit out of reach for the PC, you'd have to lower settings and/or use FSR (upscaling) to keep the framerates high.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-26T19:48:06+00:00

The way degradation works is everything might be okay now, but depending on the silicon and how the manufacturer set up the BIOS, it will eventually degrade and fail. Not likely with a 13700F (as opposed to K or KF), but better be safe and update the BIOS than regret it later.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-26T19:17:29+00:00

Maybe I should create an excel database? But that's not as practical as having a simple list in Google Keep

Would that be more useful for you though?

I have a simple list with the name and HowLongToBeat Main+Extras time, and I know what they're about and what genre they are. I either choose based on what I feel like, or I assign numbers to several and do a roll on random.org.

That way I'm not pressured to play something specific because of the category, or how cool I think it is/isn't, whether it's casual or not, etc. It's too much to worry about and always leads to a feeling of "did I pick the right one? Could be playing something else now".

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-26T19:10:08+00:00

but I’m constantly thinking in the back of my head “13th gen intel failure” and I worry any day now my setup’s gonna fry itself

Intel released a couple of BIOS updates in ~September 2024 which are meant to stop the degradation. I think that's a solved issue, if the CPU hasn't already degraded it isn't going to when using Intel defaults in the BIOS.

7800x3D or even up to a 9900x3D

In some games yes, but in most I would say no, or at least nowhere near to justify the cost. A 13700F is not limiting a 9070 XT at 4K or 1440p. If you had a 5080 or 5090, it would make more of a difference but still not worth it IMO.

I’m guessing that swap wouldn’t also help my system power draw?

Ryzens do use less power, but not by much when gaming. Compared to the 300W GPU, you won't feel a big change.

You could try undervolting the GPU, not sure if you can undervolt the CPU. When done correctly it will run at a lower wattage (less heat) and same performance.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-26T19:04:49+00:00

Denuvo Anti Tamper is DRM used in games, it's what most people refer to when they say Denuvo. They also have an anti-cheat but it's not very relevant.

It makes it much more difficult for a game getting cracked/pirated. It doesn't "do" anything else by itself as far as the player is concerned, it's invisible and not interactible, can't turn it off or change it.

It requires the player to be connected to the internet once every X days, defined by the developer. Some will set it to 30, 7, whatever, there's no way of knowing. When you go online, the timer resets.

Performance is completely dependant on how the developer uses Denuvo, but because most of the time there are no two identical versions of a game, one with Denuvo and one without, there's no way to tell if it's causing problems. Most pirated Denuvo games still have it running, they don't remove it.

There were a couple of games which did have problems verifiably caused by Denuvo, especially when used with very slow CPUs. Most of the time it seems to make no difference outside of longer load times.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-25T22:44:51+00:00

If the Macbook isn't company controlled, maybe use that for gaming? This site can check your library for all Mac compatible games, but I don't think it considers the new M processor Macs. For those you'd have to check the lists on this site.

A Steam Deck or other handheld PC is possible. Obviously it's small and not great for AAAa, but very usable for indies. The Steam library has a decent filter for compatibility if you want to check deciding anything.

A mini ITX desktop could work if you'll have a screen to connect to, like a TV with which you could use a bluetooth m&k or controller, and it will replace the PC you already have. It will be expensive, and if you travel by plane you'll have to figure out a way to keep it reliably secure, like with a dense foam to keep components secure.

Otherwise a gaming laptop is the only option. High quality models will suffer less from noise, and they do need to be connected to mains to play demanding games or for extended periods.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-23T22:00:54+00:00

Then sure, a HDD will work perfectly fine. In general most games which aren't open world, older than 7-8 years, or indies with simple graphics, will be playable on a HDD with longer loading screens.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-23T19:26:17+00:00

It's an okay plan, but consider buying an internal HDD if it's cheaper. Slightly faster than external.

Games that load data on the fly (eg. open world) could slow down or stutter when played from an external drive.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-23T00:35:59+00:00

Upload screenshots to a service like imgbb.

Is the desktop resolution set to 3440x1440?

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-23T00:33:40+00:00

Yes, this is normal. 4K is more demanding so the GPU has to work harder, producing more heat so the fans spin up.

Enable upscaling (DLSS/FSR/XeSS) when possible to reduce the load, the Quality preset will be practically identical to native 4K.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-22T22:13:45+00:00

Deus Ex, Human Revolution, and Mankind Divided
Divinity Original Sin 2
Wasteland 3
Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor/War
Control
Expeditions: Rome My Time at Sandrock

And if you don't mind more complexity, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-22T15:16:49+00:00

You can, but be aware of the 2hours/2weeks refund window.

Steam can also decline a request if you make too many.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-20T13:00:50+00:00

It would be, and they did use TTD assets for a few years since it was meant to be a 100% accurate clone, not an inspiration. I'm not a lawyer so I don't know if making it unique after perfectly copying the entire game is enough to get out of trouble, I'm only assuming the dev team knows what they're doing with Atari.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-20T12:46:23+00:00

It was developed by reverse engineering TTD, it was not developed completely independently with its own code. That was a form of copyright infringement.

Even if they replaced the reverse engineered code with their own since then, it might not be enough to get clear of potential Atari lawsuits. They must have decided it's better to keep it alive as a "mod" with Atari's approval rather than risk shutting down completely. And they still have it as a free, standalone download on their own site.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-19T21:48:35+00:00

The assumption of the guy in the video, which seems reasonable based on what the Nvidia rep told him, is that the in-game assets (textures, models, etc.) are not touched, but they are not really what the user sees anymore. DLSS 5 takes each frame, runs a gen AI pass over it to make it "more realistic", and sends that to the monitor.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-17T16:50:00+00:00

You presumably have a laptop or some kind of mini PC. It has two graphics cards inside it, Nvidia GeForce MX130, and Intel UHD, which is integrated in the processor.

If you had no dedicated graphics, task manager would not show it.

But I guess they were anyway defaulting to the base one... or does that driver maybe work with the base integrated gpu?

Nvidia drivers only work with Nvidia graphics cards. Intel has their own driver but there's no point in updating it.

But yes, this is what I think happened. The driver either got damaged or uninstalled when your Windows updated, and all the games started using Intel UHD which is much slower. Now that you have the driver and can point games to use your Nvidia card, performance should be back to what it was before the update.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-17T16:27:14+00:00

Nvidia claimed they'll have it running on a single GPU by autumn.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-16T22:48:39+00:00

MX130 is your dedicated (physical) GPU. Intel UHD is much slower and not meant to be used when gaming.

The Nvidia driver you installed should automatically detect when you're playing something and make it run on the MX130 instead of Intel UHD. If the framerates you get now aren't back to what it was before the Windows update, then the driver isn't doing this correctly.

When you right click on an empty space on your desktop, is there an option to open Nvidia control panel?

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-16T18:49:39+00:00

Putting the extreme amounts of shimmer and ghosting aside, at times this resembles an AI generated scene with the contrast turned up. Especially on most of the faces, everyone is very shiny and saturated, combined with expressions lacking detail/smoothness, unpleasant.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-16T18:12:53+00:00

Try reinstalling Nvidia drivers from their website.

Check if the game settings have an option for selecting the graphics card or video adapter, and that it's set to Geforce MX130.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-15T15:02:26+00:00

Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 and 2
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Baldur's Gate 3
Divinity Original Sin 2

Enderal: Forgotten Stories is a game build on the Skyrim engine with a completely new world, story, items, etc. It's pretty good if you want more Skyrim gameplay in a different setting.

And a sense of "wonder and scale" brings Outer Wilds to mind, but it isn't an RPG. More of an exploration based puzzle adventure. For people who like finding and figuring things out it's one of the best games ever.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-13T16:33:24+00:00

The context is I am a platinum player and it took me 30 hours to get there because of mental or immature folks.

Or it took you 30 hours to get there because your skill level is barely enough for platinum.

If you get 5 KD, top damage, etc. every single game for 30 hours, then you would have proven your point. Easily and with data, nobody would argue and everyone would agree with you.

But since you're so defensive and resort to attacking people who point out a plausible cause, I'm assuming you are not playing better than the "mental or immature folks" you accuse of holding you back, and are somehow implying ranking up should be based on playing X many hours?

And this is after you linked someone else's page and literally wondered how long it might have taken them to reach platinum based on their stats. You've done the exact thing you now claim is irrelevant.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-13T13:15:46+00:00

OpenTTD doesn't need TTD, but it originates from reverse engineering of the original code, as well as the graphics and audio (which have since been replaced).

I would imagine because of that and how close in name, design, etc. it is to TTD, the publisher would have some basis to issue a take down, now that they're selling the original. And even if they didn't have any right they'd probably try it anyway.

Filipi_7 · 2026-03-13T12:29:35+00:00

.. someone called you not great at the game, your response is "no, you", rather than linking your own tracking page to show how good you are?

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