One-handed Gaming

Recently, on September 15th of 2011, the little addition to our family finally arrived and caused all sorts of changes into our daily-routines. One of the changes I found is the constant use of one hand to cradle her leaving me with only one hand to do anything with. Now, this wouldn't be a problem, but she is a really clingy baby so I am holding her for hours on end to calm her down or to let mommy sleep.

Anyway...I wanted to get some insight from the GB community on some "one-handed" games out there that only use one hand (like story-based clickers). I really appreciate the help and hope to see some great games pop up on here to use up my time while I only have access to 1/4th of my distal extremities.

NOTE: Nothing too fast-paced, I am looking for more of a calming and relaxing game I can enjoy while still being able to bask in that which is my daughter.

You can play Dirt 3 on PC using the keyboard with only one hand if you set for auto gearbox.

Turn-based SRPG's are your friends now.

I play Tropico 3 with one hand.

@csoup: Point and click adventure games like you said. If I'm interpreting "story-based clickers" correctly. The Back to the Future episodes seemed ok. I played the first two and stopped (other things came out) and I have it on good authority (Ryan and Vinny) that the Sam & Max games were cool. I played Machinarium a while back and from what I remember, that game was cool, too. I think Beneath a Steel Sky is still free on Good Old Games (gog.com) and I only got past the first two screens in that game before I stopped (I was just testing games I could play on my netbook). But lots of people say that's good.

As far as anything else, the only thing that comes to mind are turn-based RPGs. Most likely JRPGs since they seem to be the only ones that are turn-based anymore. Persona 4 is a good one. There isn't too much fast paced in there besides the dungeon stuff. Oh and Civilization V. That game is gorgeously time consuming and all you need is a mouse.

Earthbound:
 
  

The Whispered World is on sale on Steam right now for like £3.75 (5 bucks), it's a point and click adventure and although I haven't played it, it does look really cool with amazing visuals.

Huge congratulations on your new daughter, too.

Congratulations!

Peggle.

The right answer is to get rid of the baby, of course.. 
 
On a serious note, I can't think of a single one-handed game! One that's fun, that is.

starcraft

Audiosurf if a good one handed one to play.

You can play Audiosurf with one hand right? And the pace of that game is dictated by the music you choose. I'm having trouble thinking of many one handed games. Can you play the old Rollercoaster Tycoon games with one hand?

Someone with 1 hand asked me to fix my game yesterday so that jump was middle-click. So I did. I'm gonna do that with all of em in future.

Point and click adventure games, like Day of the Tentacle.

Strategy or world-building games like Age of Empires 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, Anno 1404 or the Sims are also excellent for single-hand play.

The Longest Journey is an incredible point and click adventure game i'm pretty sure i played only using a mouse, Gemini Rue is one too. Im also pretty sure you can get away with using just a mouse playing Fallout 1 and 2 as well.

Here. Also congrats.

i was expecting a much darker reason for using one hand....

Congratulation!

Civ 5, Chime, Jamestown, Limbo, VVVVVV, World of Goo and Audiosurf come to mind.

@Enigma777 said:

Turn-based SRPG's are your friends now.

This. Fire Emblem for GC and Wii.

Everything Telltale.

My dick

Masturbate.

You can get pretty good at playing WoW with only a mouse. You probably shouldn't do any group shit, but if you're out on your own and can take your sweet time... it's a good way to waste time. ...God I miss WoW.

i came in here to here a(nother) thread about disibilitys and how they affect someones life, instead i found this. i was surprised, in a good way. but man, i was so ready to read a downer thread. also, mario's picross on virtual console for the 3ds. or picross for the ds.

Trackmania, It's free amd can be played with one hand.

Company Of heroes, Although its better to learn the hot keys if you want to have the edge against harder AI in a skirmish but on easy-normal you can play skirmishes with just mouse control effectively.

I have had COH for a few years now but never got round to playing much of it but just recently started the campaign for the first time and it's an amazing game, I knew it was good from the little I had played and reviews and what not but I have never been a big RTS guy but COH is allot of fun once you start to get the hang of it and pulling out a victory with great strategy when all seemed lost is very satisfying, I have been wanting to go online for a skirmish against a real person but am afraid I would just get demolished as I imagine the community is just hardcore COH players as its been 5 years since its release and the fact I still struggle against the CPU on normal suggests I need more practice.

Just got all the dawn of war games in a steam deal and am going to pick up supreme commander, starcraft and a few other RTS games, I have become addicited with a genre I never gave a chance because I thought i would not like it silly me, went complete off track their sorry.

Monkey Island games are real fun, infact i hear most telltale games are enjoyable and I assume could be played with one hand.

It's funny you mention this as I had a dream where I was about to have an arm amputated and when I awoke all I could think of was not having the ability to play games it was quite scary, i have many hobbies that involve the outdoors like football(soccer) and Golf but the thought of not being able to game was my worst fear after that dream.

Perhaps counter-intuitively... Bayonetta.

@Slaker117 said:

Gemini Rue is a pretty awesome point-and-click. Maybe give that a shot.

I second this! Best game I've played in a long time! Absolutely loved it minus the wonky shooting mechanics that pop up about 3 times

i was thinking of something dirty...
 
peggle or something, RTS, puzzle games are the answer here.

@Clonedzero said:

i was expecting a much darker reason for using one hand....

LOL.

Pokemon can be played with one hand If you go into the options menu and set B=L (this will make it so you can confirm actions using the L button).

I would like to extend my gratitude towards everyone who contributed to this thread. I have been looking around at your games and a lot of them I approve of and cannot wait to sink my teeth into.

@ervonymous said:

Congratulations!

Peggle.

@Enigma777 said:

Turn-based SRPG's are your friends now.

Yep. You're going to be awake for long periods of the night anyways, so why not spend it commanding armies of fantasy creatures while simultaneously giving your significant other a break?

@DonutFever said:

Everything Telltale.

or any adventure game really

first off, congratulations. my wife and i have 2 little girls and she's working on our 3rd baby right now. Don't plan on playing many games for a while unless you feel like sacrificing more sleep than you're probably already going to just to get your gaming fix. after a while, it's easy to even play some 2 handed games with a controller in hand while holding your little one. (you may just want to turn off vibrate on the controller if it makes them mad) one handed though, pc games that have a lot of on screen commands like strategy games are good. Civilization, Peggle, Torchlight, Puzzle Agent, and i played a crap ton of Picross 3D. Even some slower paced single player RTS's like Company of Heroes could be good. Beware of any games that have a lot of viloence though as your wife may get all hormotional on you about the content of the game you're exposing your child to even if they're likely unable to focus in on anything past three feet from their faces early on. Good Luck. (Have Batman)

Civ 5. You actually just need the mouse to play that game.