Did you injure your wrist or hand? Do you have a crippling fidget spinner addiction? Are you making a risotto? Don’t worry, you can still play video games!
1 Vampire Survivors and its Many Clones
Perhaps the ultimate one-handed video game, Vampire Survivors lets you experience the thrill of bullet hell without having to have two hands on a controller. All you do is move, collect gems and pickups, and upgrade your character. The iPhone version is free and won’t take up much space at all.
If you fell hard for the 2023 breakout hit (or even if you didn’t), there are plenty of alternatives that take the tried and tested “auto-shooter” formula and innovate on it in some ways. Brotato mixes up character builds dramatically, Boneraiser Minions lets you amass an army of followers to do your bidding, and Deep Rock Galactic Survivor adds mining to the mix.
2 Card Games Like Slay the Spire
Slay the Spire is the definitive deck-building roguelite, a turn-based card game that tasks you with collecting cards that you must use to defeat enemies as you attempt to, uh, slay the spire. It’s a card game that’ll appeal to you even if you don’t like card games, because it’s so damn satisfying to play.
Speaking of, Balatro is another deck-building roguelite that has broad appeal. Build your deck, unlock wild new abilities with jokers and booster cards, and then break the game with ridiculous scores. Lastly, Inscryption is well worth a mention for its moody atmosphere, simple gameplay, and the unforgettable journey it’ll take you on.
Just about any turn-based card game works here, even if you’re playing on a controller. If you can nudge the left stick and hit a few face buttons, you’re good to go.
3 Point-and-Click Adventures like Return to Monkey Island
Return to Monkey Island is the latest (and quite likely last) entry in the Monkey Island franchise, and it’s as funny as it is poignant. You really don’t need to have played the other games in the franchise to “get” this one, the modernized gameplay and impactful story should draw anyone in. The best way to play this one is with a mouse or a trackpad, but you could probably rig a controller in one-handed mode and play that way too.
Point-and-click games are all pretty much one-handed affairs so we’d recommend checking out the rest of the Monkey Island games, period-appropriate classics like Flight of the Amazon Queen and Beyond a Steel Sky (and its remake), plus modern takes on the genre like Hypnospace Outlaw, Thimbleweed Park, and Norco.
4 Sedate 4X Games Like Civilization VI
The Civilization series dates back to 1991 and has appeared on everything from the Commodore Amiga to the Nokia N-Gage with one common thread: accessible, turn-based gameplay. Sure, the games task you with making complicated political decisions like how to structure your economy and whether to forge an alliance or go to war, but you can do so without taking your hand off the mouse.
Civilization VI is the latest release at the time of writing, but the seventh entry is due out in early 2025. Stellaris is another 4X game like Civ that can be played one-handed.
5 Slow-Paced Puzzlers Like Baba Is You
Baba Is You is a puzzle game with a twist. Rather than solving problems by cleverly interpreting the rules set by the game, Baba Is You requires that you change the rules in order to succeed. This forces you to think outside of the box and provides a huge number of possible solutions.
The slow-paced gameplay lends itself perfectly to one-handed play. If slow games aren’t really your thing, Tetris Effect (and just about every other version of the falling blocks game) technically only requires you to hit four directions to have a good time.
6 Tabletop-Inspired Adventures Like Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper might be one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, at least from a narrative perspective. The game has you making dialog (and plot) decisions, with dice rolls to back up your actions. It’s a mini tabletop adventure set aboard a space station, with one of the most mesmerizing soundtracks you’ll ever listen to.
Such simple gameplay means you can easily take things turn by turn. Another similar game that draws on pen and paper RPGs is Disco Elysium, in which you step into the role of a hungover detective who shows up at the scene of a murder.
I know, sports management games really aren’t for everyone. But if you’ve never dipped your toes into a game like Football Manager and your arm is in a cast for six weeks, why not give it a shot? Take a team of your choosing from the bottom of the conference to the Champions League final (or get fired mid-way through the season, who knows).
If I’ve piqued your interest, take a look at Motorsport Manager, F1 Manager, and Pro Cycling Manager too.
8 Roguelikes Like Darkest Dungeon
The term roguelike is most commonly associated with fast-paced games like Dead Cells and Hades, but the formula works in a turn-based capacity too. Darkest Dungeon is one such example that has you recruiting, training, and managing a party as they battle in a variety of locations.
In addition to turn-based combat, the game features the Affliction System, a simulation of how the stress of battle can greatly impact your party. This gives the game added depth that’s often missing from similar titles.
Caves of Qud is another game that’s worth mentioning. It first entered development in 2007 and was finally released in 2024, 15 years later. It features a complex physical simulation of its world, the creatures you encounter, and the clans you’ll be interacting with. It’s hard as nails but incredibly open, and the turn-based approach makes it a mouse-only affair.
9 Into the Breach and Other Tactics Games
Into the Breach sees you doing battle on a grid against an invading alien force. Use your mechs to defend vital infrastructure by getting to grips with a simple yet addictive turn-based combat system. Push, attack, and dodge, then do it all over again when you die since failure means getting sent back in time to try again.
The game is available on just about everything, and it’s even free for Netflix subscribers on mobile. If you like this sort of thing, you’ll also like Tactical Breach Wizards which follows a similar formula but emphasizes experimentation, Advanced Wars 1+2 Ro-Boot Camp on the Switch, and for something completely different SteamWorld: Heist and its sequel.
10 Visual Novels Like Doki Doki Literature Club
Fair warning: Doki Doki Literature Club is a heavy game. What appears to be a simple visual novel about a book club… isn’t. It’s free on Steam, but the Plus! version is well worth buying (and available on just about everything else).
Other visual novels include the Phoenix Wright and Ace Attorney detective ‘em ups, pigeon dating sim Hatoful Boyfriend, and political power simulator Suzerain. These games are heavy on text, as the name implies, but if you enjoy them then there’s a whole world out there just waiting for you.
11 Micro Strategy Games Like Kingdom: Two Crowns
In Kingdom: Two Crowns you play the role of a monarch-on-horseback who must collect and spend gold wisely to defend against the enemies that appear at night. It’s part 2D pixel art side-scroller, part tower defense, all-fun. You can basically play the game with just the right side of a controller (a default setup for the Switch version).
In fact, tower defense games are perfect for one-handed play. We’d recommend starting with the Kingdom Rush franchise (try Origins or Frontiers).
If you’re healing an injury for a while, you might want to learn how to use one-handed mode on Android or use the one-handed keyboard option on iPhone too.
