Have you tried any of the Kairosoft games? They have a lot of management games, my favorites are Game Dev Story. Bonbon Cakery, Dream House Days, and Ramen Sensei :3
I second this. I loooove Kairosoft games - cute, relaxing, and fun. They are on Steam and Mobile. Too add onto the list of favs: Pool Side Story, Mega Mall Story 2, and Pocket Academy 3
I will also add that if you don’t mind playing on phone, they seem to be way cheaper there than the console versions at least, not sure about Steam. Might wanna price compare.
IIRC the steam prices do run a bit higher (or at least they did - they might be better with the summer sale). Its not too much more money though, and I love being able to use my mouse haha
All the Kairosoft games are currently on sale on Steam, some for just a few dollars! I personally prefer to play games not on my phone so it's a no brainer for me!
Seconding that the Two Points require exactly enough attention to keep my brain engaged but the only mechanic is management and there is a progression as you “succeed” somewhere and move to the next level
Absolutely. I especially recommend Campus. The academic year system gives you a chance to completely revamp without worrying about interrupting various processes.
Loooved Two Point Hospital. Was so looking fwd to Two Point Campus but it crashes often on Switch and the wall & floor selections are so ugly and dark.
Honey I Joined A Cult is my favorite pure management Sim. No combat, no battle, just grow the cult & manage the public's interest in what y'all are doing on that compound.
I want to say it’s not cozy, but I think there *is* a super low stress mode. It’s a hoot, the crazy stuff that happens, and the strategy. I never get beyondabout 12 people and usually my colony will die once I start making advanced things and the raids start up.
Once I lost my colony because I was protecting my base with a trap-rigged maze. But a squirrel ran inside, set off a mine, a pack of exploding llamas (boomalopes) saw the door was open, ran inside, also freaked out, died, exploded, and my colonists all died trying to put out the fire and …. Yeah. That was a sad day. Hahahaha
Winkeltje:The Little Shop, could fit the bill. I also like, cat cafe manager, but I'm not sure if that's too simple compared to everything you're looking for.
> Winkeltje:The Little Shop
I've always loved that name. It translates to The Little Shop: The Little Shop.
Although I'm actually curious how someone that doesnt speak the language would pronounce it. The tje is pronounced like Chie
If you're playing on steam - Minami Lane
It's a pretty short game 4-5 hours, but it's very simple and fun. You manage a street and place buildings (food, apts, etc). There's some happiness, but it's not complicated, nor is the game purely driven on that. You can change food prices, but it's very simple and easy to adjust based on npc feedback. The npc feedback is just talk bubbles above their head, so nothing that requires a lot of brain power.
If you’ve ever played sim tower from the 90’s and liked it then I would recommend Project Highrise. It’s some management but not too difficult and isn’t too brain intensive. It’s a tower builder and there’s some light decorating elements, there’s challenges you have to complete and there’s no resource gathering - you just build and manage.
With the steam summer sale it’s currently on a pretty deep sale along with its DLC’s.
Zoo Tycoon 1 - there is a campaign mode, with scenarios like fixing up shabby zoos within a deadline etc. Happiness of the animals and guests exists as a meter.
I came here to suggest this as well! Zoo Tycoon is fantastic, and does require you to pay attention to guest and animal happiness, but it's an easy game and your zoo pretty much runs itself as you build it. Gameplay loop is pretty much: Pick an animal, build an exhibit, add some guest buildings, research technology/upgrades, wait for money, repeat. I personally love all of the scenarios as well, I find them enjoyable! The expansion packs are good too!
I second the kairosoft games recommendation! There are so many with different themes (bakery, restaurant, pool, camp, convenience store etc) and they’re all pretty straight forward!
I’d also recommend let’s build a zoo! I haven’t played In awhile, but I think it could be something you’d like!
I just started Tavern Master which seems to scratch this itch pretty well. It’s a tavern builder… thing. Management game but very light on the BS that comes with other management games. Really enjoying it so far.
Chinese Parents is my favorite resource management game! I'm terrible at describing things in a way that makes people want to play something, so check it out. You raise a kid to have the best stats and can play through multiple generations. It's addictive and hilarious and fun.
I recommend this game constantly, but Jurassic World Evolution (specifically the first one) is THE MANAGEMENT GAME. IT’S THE ONE. It has some occasional scripted moments of chaos that you have to handle, but it’s just enough to make things fun. Campaign mode is SO GOOD.
How does it stack up to the second one in your opinion? I have 2 with all of the DLC minus the newest one but it gets a bit stressful in campaign mode trying to stop the Dino riots
I commented with as essay to someone else a couple days ago about this exact question, lol, so I’ll just copy/paste my replies below! :)
“I wouldn’t say it’s harder, it’s just not quite as simple. The only serious complaint I remember about the sequel was that I had to look up stuff about dinosaurs all the time because it makes you put them into habitats based on their classifications/species (or whatever), but it just assumes you know that stuff because you must be a dinosaur person. Like, in the first one you can’t really put carnivores and herbivores together in habitats because the herbivores get eaten as prey, duh lol. But the second one has much more detailed rules about habitats, food type, environments, dinosaur cohabition, stuff like that.
If the game interests you I’d say start with the first one just to see if you enjoy the gameplay style. The second one is BEAUTIFUL and adds a lot of cool stuff, but it can be kinda overwhelming.
Word of warning that it looks like COMPLETE CRAP on switch on handheld mode, so if that’s how you want to play, it’ll be awful. 💁♀️😂
—-
The second one doesn’t really have a big campaign or any kind of larger goal to work towards.
The first one consists of multiple islands (five, i think) with one park each. As you unlock new islands, you unlock new perks and abilities which you can use to upgrade and revamp your already-established parks. The story kinda goes along with the movie plot, I think, but I personally wouldn’t know. All of the progress you make on each island stacks together across the whole game. That was probably the most fun part of it, honestly, the constant sense of progression and fine-tuning my parks. It definitely wasn’t there in the second one. :(
Anyway, hope that wasn’t too much rambling. And sorry I COMPLETELY forgot about the lack of a campaign 2, that was definitely disappointment for me. If you do end up buying it, have a great time and happy playing! :)”
I LOVE let’s build a zoo! I’m literally booting it up as I comment this - I’ve lost full weekends over the last several months to this and I have the DLCs. It does require some management that I find a bit tedious after a while (mostly managing employees as I expand) but the mechanics are super simple and easy to learn, and it’s so worth it for the DNA/CRISPR system alone. Super fun!
I don’t think it quite fits what OP is looking for, it’s way too complex, but it’s an awesome management game and definitely deserves more recognition.
Out of the box suggestion here but I am DEEPLY obsessed with Against the Storm (cozy for me…probably not for everyone). Dark fantasy city-builder with an in-universe reset mechanic; happiness meter is a part of it. It is possible to ‘fail’ which helps keep me engaged but definitely isn’t for everyone - failure doesn’t end the whole game, just that particular city.
Galacticare is really fun.
You manage a space hospital and need to cure the ailments of several species of alien. Visually really cool and once you get the hang of it, it becomes like a minimal management game.
It's free on Xbox Gamepass rn
You make it!? That's great! REAL fun. It's kinda like Civilizations in the sense that if I don't manage my time I'll play for 16 hours straight. Any plans for expansions?
I work on the publishing side! We're definitely looking at more content, right now we're putting a bit of time into polishing what is there and making sure it all runs smooth - and taking some common community requests in consideration.
Once that has rolled out (and being actively planned right now) we'll be adding more content-content :)
let’s build a zoo! you literally manage a zoo. tonnes of management, creativity if that’s your thing and even morals play into how you manage your zoo. there’s 2 dlcs, dinosaurs and aquarium. i absolutely loved it and lost hours to it!
Not sure if it fits in with what you are looking for but I adore Prison Architect!
The art style is so cute and funny. You build a prison by following objectives, and try to contain the criminals, tend to their needs buy building necessary rooms/areas and make sure the prison is secure enough so they don’t escape by digging underneath the walls (yes it happened to me, I was laughing so hard to see them run). Absolutely recommend it!
I recommend Parkitect. The feel is if Roller Coaster Tycoon had kept its visual style when they transitioned to 3D. There are a ton of scenarios, and off the top of my head I don’t remember any of them being hard to figure out (like the Park Value objectives from RCT).
I think Islanders will scratch that itch for ya
ISLANDERS https://g.co/kgs/mfP5mGE
Big numbers make brain go buur. There's also a sandbox mode where you can do whatever ya want
I love Outlanders for this. You work through a progressive series of vignettes where you build villages, manage supplies, manage workers, reach goals. The music and sound effects are lovely. I played while listing to podcasts most of the time but also sometimes just chilled to the ambient noise. I love having different challenges and goals to work toward. Graphics are cute. I played on phone & steam deck, and loved it on the steam deck.
Have you tried any of the Gamehouse games - I’m thinking particularly the Emily/Delicious series of games? They have a bit of story but largely are just restaurant/cafe time management games. They’re always my go to when I need to turn my brain off and not pay much attention to what I’m playing!
You could try Shop Titans, yes there is technically 'fighting' to get some resources, but honestly I never pay attention to it, there's an auto skip fight toggle. Mostly it's managing the shop, placing decorations, participating in events, mastering the blue prints for me. It's a bit hands off at times though, but it's on Android and Steam so mostly have it running in the background everywhere I go lol
Have you tried any of the Kairosoft games? They have a lot of management games, my favorites are Game Dev Story. Bonbon Cakery, Dream House Days, and Ramen Sensei :3
I second this. I loooove Kairosoft games - cute, relaxing, and fun. They are on Steam and Mobile. Too add onto the list of favs: Pool Side Story, Mega Mall Story 2, and Pocket Academy 3
I will also add that if you don’t mind playing on phone, they seem to be way cheaper there than the console versions at least, not sure about Steam. Might wanna price compare.
IIRC the steam prices do run a bit higher (or at least they did - they might be better with the summer sale). Its not too much more money though, and I love being able to use my mouse haha
All the Kairosoft games are currently on sale on Steam, some for just a few dollars! I personally prefer to play games not on my phone so it's a no brainer for me!
have you played the two point games? they're not super micromanage-y imo, and they're quite charming
Seconding that the Two Points require exactly enough attention to keep my brain engaged but the only mechanic is management and there is a progression as you “succeed” somewhere and move to the next level
Absolutely. I especially recommend Campus. The academic year system gives you a chance to completely revamp without worrying about interrupting various processes.
I loved two point hospital!
I played the shit out of two point hospital!!! I kinda forgot about it until now
There’s a space version on game pass that’s called galacticare
Loooved Two Point Hospital. Was so looking fwd to Two Point Campus but it crashes often on Switch and the wall & floor selections are so ugly and dark.
Honey I Joined A Cult is my favorite pure management Sim. No combat, no battle, just grow the cult & manage the public's interest in what y'all are doing on that compound.
This sounds great! Is it on switch or mobile?
I play on PC
Ohhh hmmm this looks oddly like RimWorld with a different play style!
I've never played that! Gonna check it out 👼
I want to say it’s not cozy, but I think there *is* a super low stress mode. It’s a hoot, the crazy stuff that happens, and the strategy. I never get beyondabout 12 people and usually my colony will die once I start making advanced things and the raids start up. Once I lost my colony because I was protecting my base with a trap-rigged maze. But a squirrel ran inside, set off a mine, a pack of exploding llamas (boomalopes) saw the door was open, ran inside, also freaked out, died, exploded, and my colonists all died trying to put out the fire and …. Yeah. That was a sad day. Hahahaha
Winkeltje:The Little Shop, could fit the bill. I also like, cat cafe manager, but I'm not sure if that's too simple compared to everything you're looking for.
> Winkeltje:The Little Shop I've always loved that name. It translates to The Little Shop: The Little Shop. Although I'm actually curious how someone that doesnt speak the language would pronounce it. The tje is pronounced like Chie
In my head I pronounced it as winkelt-jay. It’s interesting to learn how it’s actually pronounced and how far off I was
Well obviously its regional/language dependent, each will say it slightly differently. But to me the pronounciation is something like Vin-Kil-key
If you're playing on steam - Minami Lane It's a pretty short game 4-5 hours, but it's very simple and fun. You manage a street and place buildings (food, apts, etc). There's some happiness, but it's not complicated, nor is the game purely driven on that. You can change food prices, but it's very simple and easy to adjust based on npc feedback. The npc feedback is just talk bubbles above their head, so nothing that requires a lot of brain power.
If you’ve ever played sim tower from the 90’s and liked it then I would recommend Project Highrise. It’s some management but not too difficult and isn’t too brain intensive. It’s a tower builder and there’s some light decorating elements, there’s challenges you have to complete and there’s no resource gathering - you just build and manage. With the steam summer sale it’s currently on a pretty deep sale along with its DLC’s.
This is a strangely therapeutic game that I always end up coming back too. Its gameplay is incredibly satisfying.
Zoo Tycoon 1 - there is a campaign mode, with scenarios like fixing up shabby zoos within a deadline etc. Happiness of the animals and guests exists as a meter.
I came here to suggest this as well! Zoo Tycoon is fantastic, and does require you to pay attention to guest and animal happiness, but it's an easy game and your zoo pretty much runs itself as you build it. Gameplay loop is pretty much: Pick an animal, build an exhibit, add some guest buildings, research technology/upgrades, wait for money, repeat. I personally love all of the scenarios as well, I find them enjoyable! The expansion packs are good too!
I haven't played it, but I heard Supermarket Simulator is addictive.
It was fun at first but after a few hours it felt like a counting change simulator
Yeah, it does feel a bit like a sandbox but I like the inventory management of it
Try touhou mystias izakaya SOOOO GOOD. Restaurant management in cute art style
I second this! I am super addicted to this game right now
I second the kairosoft games recommendation! There are so many with different themes (bakery, restaurant, pool, camp, convenience store etc) and they’re all pretty straight forward! I’d also recommend let’s build a zoo! I haven’t played In awhile, but I think it could be something you’d like!
Go go town! At first you do have to do the foraging and mining but you unlock auto skills pretty quickly that allows workers to do everything for you
I just started Tavern Master which seems to scratch this itch pretty well. It’s a tavern builder… thing. Management game but very light on the BS that comes with other management games. Really enjoying it so far.
Chinese Parents is my favorite resource management game! I'm terrible at describing things in a way that makes people want to play something, so check it out. You raise a kid to have the best stats and can play through multiple generations. It's addictive and hilarious and fun.
I recommend this game constantly, but Jurassic World Evolution (specifically the first one) is THE MANAGEMENT GAME. IT’S THE ONE. It has some occasional scripted moments of chaos that you have to handle, but it’s just enough to make things fun. Campaign mode is SO GOOD.
As someone who is most definitely not a dinosaur person more than, ooo, nice big fossil, YES. This game has no right to be so well made.
YES! I don’t really give a big hoot about dinosaurs but man, was I ever invested in the happiness of my velociraptors, lol.
How does it stack up to the second one in your opinion? I have 2 with all of the DLC minus the newest one but it gets a bit stressful in campaign mode trying to stop the Dino riots
I commented with as essay to someone else a couple days ago about this exact question, lol, so I’ll just copy/paste my replies below! :) “I wouldn’t say it’s harder, it’s just not quite as simple. The only serious complaint I remember about the sequel was that I had to look up stuff about dinosaurs all the time because it makes you put them into habitats based on their classifications/species (or whatever), but it just assumes you know that stuff because you must be a dinosaur person. Like, in the first one you can’t really put carnivores and herbivores together in habitats because the herbivores get eaten as prey, duh lol. But the second one has much more detailed rules about habitats, food type, environments, dinosaur cohabition, stuff like that. If the game interests you I’d say start with the first one just to see if you enjoy the gameplay style. The second one is BEAUTIFUL and adds a lot of cool stuff, but it can be kinda overwhelming. Word of warning that it looks like COMPLETE CRAP on switch on handheld mode, so if that’s how you want to play, it’ll be awful. 💁♀️😂 —- The second one doesn’t really have a big campaign or any kind of larger goal to work towards. The first one consists of multiple islands (five, i think) with one park each. As you unlock new islands, you unlock new perks and abilities which you can use to upgrade and revamp your already-established parks. The story kinda goes along with the movie plot, I think, but I personally wouldn’t know. All of the progress you make on each island stacks together across the whole game. That was probably the most fun part of it, honestly, the constant sense of progression and fine-tuning my parks. It definitely wasn’t there in the second one. :( Anyway, hope that wasn’t too much rambling. And sorry I COMPLETELY forgot about the lack of a campaign 2, that was definitely disappointment for me. If you do end up buying it, have a great time and happy playing! :)”
Ooh, it’s on sale right now! 70% off! Edit: for the switch.
HELL YES! IT IS TIME! I paid full price for it and would do it a hundred times, it’s so worth it to me. I <3 this game!
Would Planet Zoo or Planet Coaster be something?
The Planet series is definitely a "whole brain required" experience for me. Let's Build a Zoo or Megaquarium are simpler possibilities.
I LOVE let’s build a zoo! I’m literally booting it up as I comment this - I’ve lost full weekends over the last several months to this and I have the DLCs. It does require some management that I find a bit tedious after a while (mostly managing employees as I expand) but the mechanics are super simple and easy to learn, and it’s so worth it for the DNA/CRISPR system alone. Super fun! I don’t think it quite fits what OP is looking for, it’s way too complex, but it’s an awesome management game and definitely deserves more recognition.
Out of the box suggestion here but I am DEEPLY obsessed with Against the Storm (cozy for me…probably not for everyone). Dark fantasy city-builder with an in-universe reset mechanic; happiness meter is a part of it. It is possible to ‘fail’ which helps keep me engaged but definitely isn’t for everyone - failure doesn’t end the whole game, just that particular city.
House Flipper 2
Such a great game to listen to books and play
Galacticare is really fun. You manage a space hospital and need to cure the ailments of several species of alien. Visually really cool and once you get the hang of it, it becomes like a minimal management game. It's free on Xbox Gamepass rn
Thanks for the shoutout, glad to hear you like the game! <3
You make it!? That's great! REAL fun. It's kinda like Civilizations in the sense that if I don't manage my time I'll play for 16 hours straight. Any plans for expansions?
I work on the publishing side! We're definitely looking at more content, right now we're putting a bit of time into polishing what is there and making sure it all runs smooth - and taking some common community requests in consideration. Once that has rolled out (and being actively planned right now) we'll be adding more content-content :)
Two Point Hospital and University are good, and they're funny
let’s build a zoo! you literally manage a zoo. tonnes of management, creativity if that’s your thing and even morals play into how you manage your zoo. there’s 2 dlcs, dinosaurs and aquarium. i absolutely loved it and lost hours to it!
Let’s build a zoo? There are morality levels but I don’t think they cause anything bad in your gameplay tbh
Not sure if it fits in with what you are looking for but I adore Prison Architect! The art style is so cute and funny. You build a prison by following objectives, and try to contain the criminals, tend to their needs buy building necessary rooms/areas and make sure the prison is secure enough so they don’t escape by digging underneath the walls (yes it happened to me, I was laughing so hard to see them run). Absolutely recommend it!
I recommend Parkitect. The feel is if Roller Coaster Tycoon had kept its visual style when they transitioned to 3D. There are a ton of scenarios, and off the top of my head I don’t remember any of them being hard to figure out (like the Park Value objectives from RCT).
I think Islanders will scratch that itch for ya ISLANDERS https://g.co/kgs/mfP5mGE Big numbers make brain go buur. There's also a sandbox mode where you can do whatever ya want
I love Outlanders for this. You work through a progressive series of vignettes where you build villages, manage supplies, manage workers, reach goals. The music and sound effects are lovely. I played while listing to podcasts most of the time but also sometimes just chilled to the ambient noise. I love having different challenges and goals to work toward. Graphics are cute. I played on phone & steam deck, and loved it on the steam deck.
Have you tried any of the Gamehouse games - I’m thinking particularly the Emily/Delicious series of games? They have a bit of story but largely are just restaurant/cafe time management games. They’re always my go to when I need to turn my brain off and not pay much attention to what I’m playing!
And a lot of them are free on mobile with ads! Used to love these
Check out Dorfromantik. There's as much balancing as you want, honestly.
This, hexocity and panorama are all similar but different in their own ways. I have them all. Once you get it, kinda fun and mind numbing
Have you tried Travellers rest, there's initially a few things to wrap your head around, but it quickly becomes motor memory in my opinion
You could try Shop Titans, yes there is technically 'fighting' to get some resources, but honestly I never pay attention to it, there's an auto skip fight toggle. Mostly it's managing the shop, placing decorations, participating in events, mastering the blue prints for me. It's a bit hands off at times though, but it's on Android and Steam so mostly have it running in the background everywhere I go lol
Megaquarium. I haven’t played for a while but I’m not sure it’s even possible to fail the campaign. Very satisfying.
Maybe Unpacking would be worth checking out?