ExVeganPorpoise

Go for the 3DS. With that and your DS, you essentially have access to all the Pokemon games from GBA to the 3DS (god damn that's a lot of Pokemon games). There's also a good number of Zelda games between those platforms as well.

Hmmm...the 3DS is an amazing handheld but I think if you have the money, go for the Switch or Switch lite. That is the one that will continue to be supported and there are already so many smaller awesome games on it.

But, having said that, you can't go wrong with the 3DS either so sorry, I guess I'm not much help here.

This isn't so much what I'm reading, but both David Wong and Emily St. John Mandel are coming out with new books this year, and that makes me pretty darned happy.

I voted other, because almost anything would be better than those games listed.

@a_z: If you found Stardew Valley to be too slow, maybe Subnautica will have the same problem.

It's perfectly fine to start with Hitman 2 and MGS 5 without having played the previous games.

The Last of Us is a must play.

Uncharted games are quite easy on the easy difficulty, and their puzzles are usually very simple, with the game giving you all the in-game hints and clues it can without actually spelling out the solutions, so I'd encourage you to not be intimidated by them. Having said that, I'd probably skip the first one of the PS3 trilogy, as I don't think it's very good, not anymore anyway.

How about RPGs? Do you have access to the Mass Effect trilogy? Again, you can play them on easy to experience the story. The 3rd one even has a "story mode" difficulty, if you find the combat to be too hard (although that seems to contradict your motivation to brag about finishing a game), and you'll most certainly have a LOT to think and talk about after, including material and inspiration for fanfiction. Just, whatever you do, stay away from Andromeda. You'd be better off writing some fanfiction of your own and playing it in your head instead of playing this game :P

What I said about the Mass Effect series goes doubly for the Witcher series. These are also quite self-contained stories, so you don't need to start from the first one. It would add to the flavour and your immersion, but you don't really need to know what's happened in the previous games to play either 2 or 3.

Your motivations to play seem a bit confusing to me, more confusing even than your selections for the poll, so it's harder even to make a recommendation. I did vote for The Last of Us, because I would vote for it in such a poll almost always no matter the competition, as I absolutely love it and is one of my all time favourite games, but I have no idea whether this was a good vote for you or not.

What games have you played and liked? If action-adventure games are cool, then the Uncharted series may be a better choice that The Last of Us. No jump scares there and a lot of story in them, too.

What does "games that smart people play in their free time" mean? I'm pretty sure I'm making assumptions here, but Minecraft Story Mode wouldn't be the first game to come to mind with that description. Or maybe it would be! Because smart people may play whatever in their free time. As far as I'm aware, video game preferences are not associated with intelligence (unless we're talking learning disabilities here, in which case there may be, but probably more to do with ability above all. But I digress).

If what you mean is games that require you to think and solve mental challenges and problems instead of relying on your reflexes and dexterity, maybe try Braid? The Witness? Portal 1 &/or 2? Or check out Catherine, just to suggest something a bit more out there!

PC, if you haven't played:

Subnautica, Stardew Valley, Factorio, Spelunky, MGS 5, Hitman 2.

If you only have a PS4, The Last of Us would not be a bad choice I guess.

Minecraft Story mode though, avoid that.

I voted Last of Us because I don’t know what you like and can’t think of anything to suggest. All I know for sure is that Minecraft Story Mode is very bland so keep away from that.

Hmm, there’s something about this thread that strikes me as strange.