Hi! Maybe y’all can help me out.
I have a Miyoo mini plus and sometimes, I feel the itch to play something just to fiddle around a bit. I’m looking for something that’s easy to pick up and pla’ for a few minutes up to maybe half an hour.
Bonus points if I can play it without needing to use my speech recognizing brain functions. It would be ideal if I can just occupy my hands a pit while still listening to what my colleagues say in remote meetings (I used to use a rubik’s cube for that). ADD is a bitch.
I already got:
- Apotris (really awesome, but a bit stressful after a while)
- Wario Ware (can also get a bit stressful)
- Pokemon Pinball Saphire and ruby (great, but has gotten a bit repetitive now)
- … that’s it
It doesn’t have to be GB/GBA, but I recon that those systems have the biggest bounty of pick up and play games. The Miyoo Mini Plus can emulate everything up to PS1, so SNES and PS1 would be fine, too.
Maybe Celeste Classic? Apparently someone made a homebrew port of it to the GBA.
There’s also Final Fantasy VI, which can be played kinda with the brain “on automatic” on quite a few sections as well as having overall plenty of places to save.
And since you’ll be emulating them, if your device has save states features, Shantae for the GBC could be a good pick too. It is harder and less save-friendly than FFVI, but with save states, it should be better as a pick and play title.
And although focused on speedrunning, the impression I got from the homebrew Augury Red Code is that it is also nice if playing without having to focus too much on it.
Metal Slug 1 and X, and also Gunbird, all 3 released in the PS1, also benefit from save states to be more “pick and play”.
A Final Fantasy is not really what I consider to be “pick up and play” 😅 (I don’t find the gameplay that fun and would focus too much on the narrative… and I donwt need another narrative driven game)
The Miyoo Mini actually has a pico-8 emulator, but I haven’t tried that one out yet.
Dunno what systems are made for the device, but checking a list of included emulators in a so called “Onion” operating system, I see a few other devices being listed, so if you don’t mind, here are some more:
- For arcade: the other Metal Slug games up to 4 (have yet to play further), The King of Fighters 2002
- For MS-DOS: MegaRace
- For PC-98: コテ・DE・メクール
- For NES: Böbl, Micro Mages, Nix: The Paradox Relic
- For Genesis/Mega Drive: Wonder Boy in Monster World, Tanglewood
- For NDS: Shantae: Risky’s Revenge
Avoided all plot-heavy titles, even when they may have long sections low on plot.
So something that keeps you occupied but still keep you attentive to a remote meeting? Puzzles like Sokoban(-clones), Tetris, Snoopy’s Magic Show, Breakout/Arkanoid? Perhaps jump and runs like Super Mario Land?
That’s the bonus assignment. The basic request is recommendations for chill pick up and play games.
For GBA, give a look at:
Super Monkey Ball Jr. (A classic)
Chu Chu Rocket! (Chill puzzle)
Damn you…you just HAD to remind me that chu chu rocket exists, and has puzzle stages…which are AMAZING.
Welp. Gotta put that on my MMP now.
Crystal Castles, Atari 2600
- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
- Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Seconding the Castlevania recommendations, and adding Chu Chu Rocket. Technically a Dreamcast game, but the GBA port added thousands of user created levels for an extensive amount of added gameplay.
UFO50 just came out and is wonderful.
I don’t know much about the MMP, but I thought it ran Linux – can you not install steam games?
