I'm kind of in a gaming slump right now and nothing has really grabbed me for a couple of weeks.
I'm still doing runs in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, which is fun for the most part.
Then I think I finished the campaign in Kingdom Rush, a Tower-Defense game, which unlocked a bunch of super hard bonus levels, but I guess you're supposed to clear all the challenge modes for the regular levels before that, for upgrades, but I'm not really interested in that at all.
I also tried getting back into Dyson Sphere Program, Last Epoch, and Satisfactory, but nothing really stuck.
A few days ago I started Solasta: Crown of the Magister, and played through the tutorial, but still need to start it properly, but who knows if I'll do it.
I've been playing more Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Last week I said I found all the characters to be pretty weak and would probably not play it for much longer, but apparently I was missing some very crucial information. There are a bunch of weapons for you to unlock, but I found most of them to be kinda bad. However, you need to upgrade them to level 12 in one run, afterward you'll unlock the ability to overclock them, which can drastically increase their power. In my opinion, this process is far too tedious, and I'm not a fan, but at least it helps with the difficulty somewhat. For now, I'll just keep unlocking stuff, slowly progressing through the game.
Then, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. I found a build, that I replicated, but in hindsight I might as well just used the Extra Mode for infinite invulnerability. It's all about one or two shotting most enemies, so they can't even fight back, although bosses require a bunch of tries sometimes. I'm now in the second DLC, but I'll probably look for some other build, so I'll actually play the game.
I wanted to give Last Epoch a try after the 1.0 release, but then I decided to upgrade my PC, so I've been dealing with that the last few days. Installing everything again, settings things up, etc. Since I also like to tune everything a bit, I've also spent some time benchmarking and stress testing, but I definitely need to do some longer tests (12-24 hours), to make sure everything is stable.
I hope the gameplay is a bit more fluid and polished from Early Access. I had a good time, shortly after multiplayer was added, but it wasn't as smooth as I'd like. Abilities getting eaten, inconsistent movement skills, things like that.
I could deal with server queues, I've played WoW. Broken matchmaking is definitely a dealbreaker for me though, since none of my friends play the game.
I've refunded the game now and might check it out later, since I just don't really see it working properly anytime soon.
I beat Final Fantasy 2. It's good, definitely one of the better JRPG stories for me, although some parts could definitely be improved if they were a bit more fleshed out. The main characters are really lame, but the supporting cast makes up for it somewhat. The magic system is pretty bad, since there are a gazillion different spells, most of them useless, but even if you wanted to use them, you'd have to level up each one separately for every character. Even the auto battle can't really save that.
Then Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor made it to Early Access, but right now it's pretty disappointing. I've done a dozen or so runs, but all four classes feel just really weak, even on the lowest difficulty. There is some meta progression, but they improve your character so little, and get really expensive, really quickly, that I don't think it'll make that much of a difference. I'll give it some a bit more time, maybe unlock a few more things, since I like the DRG Theme, but will probably shelve it soon and go back to Soulstone Survivors, Vampire Survivors or the dozen other games like this I haven't played yet.
Next, after like a 10-month break, I'm back to Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. Playing through FF1 really made me play this again. Back when it was released on Steam, I made it through the base game and started on the first DLC, but the then new Bahamut difficulty was a bit too much for me at the time. By that point you can't just overpower everything with better gear anymore, but need to pay attention to your build and stats. I still need to wrap my head around things more, although it kinda sucks, since there are very little guides on the internet to help with that. Most information is for the endgame on the highest difficulty, which doesn't help me that much. There is a kind of "easy mode" called Extra Mode, which (in combination with certain gear that you get) will make you basically permanently invincible, and everyone and their mom recommends to just use that to get to the endgame (where the real game begins hurr durr). I don't want to do that, so I have to crawl through Discord channels, which really sucks, so I can get the basics.
I also tried Helldivers 2, but it's kinda unplayable on Steam, unless you have a group of friends to make a private lobby with, or are willing to manually add random people to your friends list, both of which is a no for me dawg. Matchmaking in this game is broken and doesn't work, if you can even make it into the game. I have no idea how this isn't talked about more, considering other games get clowned on for far less. I'll give it a more few days, but I'm not very hopeful, since it's already been over a week, and will probably refund it.
I've also played a bunch of demos from the Steam Next Fest, that's currently going on, but because it's a lot I'll split it into a separate comment. The Next Fest is only running for another day, so if you want to check out some demos, you don't have too much time at this point.
Summerhouse is a builder in the same vein as Townscaper, The Block or Dorfromantik without the scores. You just build a house with whatever parts you want, until you're satisfied. Not really my type of game, so I'll pass on this.
Gatekeeper is an isometric rogue-like, similar to Risk of Rain. You do the typical stuff like killing enemies and upgrading your character, nothing you haven't seen yet. It could be alright, but the demo was a bit samey. I only did one run, but the different levels were all pretty small and looked the same. Maybe things change a bit if you make it further, but I don't know. I'll have to look a bit into it, once it's released.
Mullet Mad Jack is a retro shooter with extremely flashy visuals (I think I heard it described as maximalist). Because of a dystopian cyberpunk setting, where social media controls everything, you only live for 10s unless you kill enemies, so the viewers give you likes for extra time. Then you just run through levels, kick or shoot robots and try to save the girl. I found it extremely unappealing and will not be back for the full release.
Kingsgrave is a top-down, light survival or metroidvania type game, where you control the recently resurrected king and try to rebuild your kingdom. You collect materials, which let you unlock more abilities, so you can get to more parts of the world. This one didn't really grip me, but if I stumble over it again once it's release I might check it out again.
Hexarium is like Mini Metro or similar games, where you connect buildings of the same colors to get points. I might have just been dumb, but it seemed like the game didn't really work properly yet, because I had some seemingly impossible combinations. Like I get a starting point, that's on the very edge of the map, so I can't really build anything or points straight into water, where you're severely limited with what you can build.
Copy Cat is a play-as-a-cat game. In the beginning you're only inside a house and I don't know if it'll open up later. The cat comments on everything (with floating text in the world) as if it's a human and can understand English. The gameplay was also a bit clunky and I don't think I'll be back for more.
Black Dragon Mage is a Survivors-like (dunno what else to call it). It has manual skills and aiming, and as you level up you get more abilities and upgrade existing ones. It was kinda boring, so I'll stick with the games I already have.
Artifact Seeker: Legend of Aurorium is another Survivors-like, better than Black Dragon Mage. It has the typical Chinese Mobile game look to it (don't really know how to describe it). One interesting feature is, after each stage you go to a world map and choose where to go next, à la Slay the Spire. You can choose between combat stages or text events where you can get upgrades. This one is a maybe, but I have a bunch of other games like this already bought, that I have to try at least. before I'll buy more.
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is a point-and-click adventure game, with isometric 3D environments and 2D cut-out characters, like Paper Mario. In the demo, which is really short, you find clues in single rooms, to solve Mad Libs style puzzles to solve them. So far it's a tiny step up from something like Frog Detective, but I don't know if it gets more complex later. Another one I'll keep an eye on for me.
Pepper Grinder is a 2D platformer, where you play as a girl with a drill arm. You can destroy some parts of the environment, but I guess it's mainly about burrowing through sand, which is like swimming through water in other games, collecting coins, finding secrets, the normal stuff. It's level based, which caught me a bit by surprise, because seemingly all 2D platformers these days are metroidvanias. Not sure about this one yet, maybe later down the line, when I'm more in the mood for a game like this.
Finally, News Tower, a building and management game about a newspaper publisher in the 1930s. You slowly build your tower, get more workers for you, either reporters, typesetters, and whatever else you need, send them to work on stories, so you can print something on Sundays. Could be neat, but not something I'm especially interested in.
A bit more Diablo 4, which got a time-limited event this week, but it's not really anything. Just activate shrines and kill monsters for an hour to unlock some cosmetics. Fine by itself, but nothing that's going to make someone play more of the game.
I finally finished Doom 64 after playing it on and off for the last few months. It's alright, but I wasn't hooked like I was with Doom 1 and 2 or Quake 1 and 2.
Some Final Fantasy 2 (Pixel Remaster), but this one is pretty weird (compared to the other early FF games). You don't have the normal leveling system, but all your characters can do anything, but they gain proficiency with whatever weapon they use, if they use magic, what specific spell, if they defended, etc. It's alright, although I prefer normal classes or jobs.
My main problem in the game is, that it's not always really clear where you need to go. About 30 minutes after you start, basically half of the world is open to you (technically even more), and you got like 10 places where you can go. You get some general objectives, but are not really told where to start with them. E.g. at one point you're told to speak with Josef, as if everyone knows the guy, but nobody even says in which town he lives. So you'll just wander around, talk to anyone who'll listen, until you find him (or use the internet). The first game also didn't really tell you where to go, but the world was a lot smaller and where you could go was a lot more limited.
More Diablo 4, but I'm like 95% done with the season. My Barbarian is level 100, I've completed the Season Journey, did Tier 100 Vaults, killed all the Uber Bosses (except Lilith) at least once, etc. I could of course min-max even more, to kill enemies 10ms faster, but I won't focus on that. I'll still do some runs here and there, but will try to focus on other games for now.
There is a time-limited event, that's starting in a few days, that I'll check out, but dunno how much there is to do.
The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games are on sale at last, so I've snatched those up on Steam and played through the first game. I was surprised how much of the typical FF DNA was already in this. Some of the mechanics and game design are somewhat antiquated, which is to be expected for a 35+ year old game, but the QoL additions really help, to make most pretty much a non-issue.
I played Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin previously, so seeing / reading all those familiar names and locations really make me want to go back to that game.
I want to play through FF2 next week, but we'll see if the D4 event hooks me, or I find anything else.
Since you're on PC, using cheats or potentially mods can expand the list of games you have available, since you might be able to just ignore certain aspects of a game, like combat, money or resources in general.
The more recent Assassin's Creed games have something called a Discovery Tour, where you can just explore the world, without combat. They are partially meant for educational purposes and can teach about the different regions and history, and offer guided tours. I don't know if there's a real free roam, where you can just do whatever though.
You mentioned buying Goat Simulator, so maybe other of these "Simulator" games might be for you.
I don't know how much you can go into houses, but Farming Simulator could be worth a look. Your kid can probably just explore the map and maybe even try some of the farming.
As someone else mentioned, Slime Rancher might be fun just to explore the world with the cute creatures all around, but there's not really much or any buildings as far as I know (don't know if the sequel has this stuff).
A Short Hike could be worth a look. You're on a mountainous island / national park type deal and your main objective is to get to the peak of the mountain, but you can just explore, do some side quests, solve puzzles, etc. I feel like the screenshots on the Steam Store page for the game look really ugly, since it's so pixelated, but that's just a filter, that you can change in game (from smooth to really pixely).
New Diablo 4 season started, so I'm playing that. I'm a Barbarian this time, level 80, trying out a Thorns build.
The beginning was extremely boring, and I was thinking about stopping altogether or switching characters, but after I got some items, it became less miserable.
As for the new season mechanic, it's kinda whatever. It's not as bad as I thought, but last season was definitely more fun.
That is one thing that I do like about playing D4, there's always someone hanging around somewhere to help you out.
When I started, I was super disappointed, because the world was basically empty, except for towns and some of the events. I was hoping it's because I started so late, and I was kinda right. However on the higher difficulties, there are a bunch of people at the different hot spots all over the world, which gives me hope for the new season, that it's not just going to be empty 90% of the time.