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Are there any games that can be effectively played with just one hand?

klauskpm

klauskpm

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,246
Brazil
Sure OP and I hope you get better soon:
- Unpacking
- Gorogoa
- XCOM 2
- Divinity Original Sin 2

Now I'm gonna say some games that I hope can be played with one hand:
- Slay the Spire
- Spiritfarer
- The Pedestrian
- Donut County
- Octopath Traveler
 
Naner

Naner

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,017
Vampire Survivors!

There's also a bunch of platformers, even stuff like Mario or Inside, that you can play with one hand if you map two face buttons to two shoulder buttons.

I also created a single-handed joycon layout for Animal Crossing; it wasn't complete but it allowed me to play in an extremely lazy fashion.
 
WhtR88t

WhtR88t

Member
May 14, 2018
4,587
Lots of mobile/iPad games. I know tHeY'rE nOT rEaL gAmEs, but some of really fun.

Grindstone is great, Lego Builders Journey is great, Fantasian is great, Super Leap Day is great… seriously so many.
 
Fisty

Fisty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,220
You can remap the controller and play FF7-12 with one hand, Chrono Cross as well
 
OrionStarri

OrionStarri

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
593
Coromon can be played entirely by using the mouse too, Temtem is also another game that is fully playable with only the mouse too, as for non PC titles, Pokemon Sword/Shield have a one handed mode, but it disables some non-essential actions, while Lets Go Pikachu/Eevee is entirely playable with one hand as far as I know (I never got the Lets Go games)

As for non monster taming games, im not sure.
 
Athrum

Athrum

Member
Oct 18, 2019
1,340
User Banned (3 Days): Boys Club Rhetoric
Nier Automata, after exploding 2B's skirt off...


I would say most Telltale games, Life is Strange franchise as well
 
Lua

Lua

Member
Aug 9, 2018
1,948
Ghost trick is one of the best games ever and you can pretty much play with one hand, same with the ace attorney games. They are amazing titles too, i highly recommend you to try.
 
BennyWhatever

BennyWhatever

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,793
US
Elfgore said:
One Finger Death Punch. Game is entirely played using your mouse only. I would recommend watching something while playing though, not much progression in that game.
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I'll second One Finger Death Punch. It's a mindlessly fun game where you just click the left and right mouse buttons and watch your stick figure fight hordes of enemies.
 
Issen

Issen

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,819
Lightgun games can usually be played with a single hand, at least on PC where remapping is simple.

Assault ChaingunS KM on Switch is fully playable with a single joycon out of the box and it's really darn fun.

HOTD Remake seems to be pretty well-received on PC, too.
 

Atom

Member
Jul 25, 2021
11,447
Oh actually a lot of Square Enix's phone output. Many of their FF ports are touch focused, and their DQ games are made to be played holding a phone portrait mode one handed. Played some of the DQ ones recently, very good ports.
 

sportz103

Member
Oct 26, 2017
101
I've seen ads for a couple games like this online, I forgot their name but I remember the ad tagline is "you won't last five minutes playing this game"
 
5taquitos

5taquitos

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,885
OR
The Suikoden series can be controlled entirely with the left analog stick and the left shoulder buttons.
 
SlasherMcGirk

SlasherMcGirk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,625
Cincinnati
Doesnt Bayonetta 1 have a one handed control scheme so you can use your other hand for …things. At least i remember the add or something saying that.
 
Troy

Troy

Alt-Account
Banned
May 17, 2022
36
Any PC RPG, RTS or MMO you may need a Mouse with a few more buttons though.
 
Bengraven

Bengraven

Member
Oct 26, 2017
26,829
Florida
Does the Chrono Cross remaster still let you click the left thumbstick for interacting?

I remember running around using the thumbstick to select things while drawing with my right hand.
 
iswasdoes

iswasdoes

Member
Nov 13, 2017
3,084
Londinium
WhtR88t said:
Lots of mobile/iPad games. I know tHeY'rE nOT rEaL gAmEs, but some of really fun.

Grindstone is great, Lego Builders Journey is great, Fantasian is great, Super Leap Day is great… seriously so many.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Some ARE really good fun!

What the golf is a 10/10 game (this is available on other platforms but i dont know if theyre one handed)
Monument vally is great
SP!NG is a pretty sweet physics-ish game
I played portal bridge constructor on my ipad and had a blast with that
Mario run is....also there, i guess....
 
Stencil

Stencil

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,377
USA
Earthbound, Opoona, Suikoden 1 and 2, Pokemon Lets Go, Pokemon SwSh, Dragon Quest 11, Telltale games.

X-Com, Civ 6 and Gears Tactics and slower strategic games aren't tail-made 'one-handers' but the slow game pace lends itself well to adapting one hand.
 
Mukrab

Mukrab

Member
Apr 19, 2020
7,498
Yes? Any card game, turn based strategy of any kind (4x, xcom etc). Many Puzzle games. Honestly on PC I think I play more games with one hand than with two.
 
Hrodulf

Hrodulf

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,308
Suikoden and Suikoden II can both be played with only the left side of the controller. Don't remember if future games followed that design pattern or not.
 
-Tetsuo-

-Tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,575
EGS_RimWorld_LudeonStudios_S1-2560x1440-410a62ec21d44260409182e1174cce2e.jpg


Colony sim/survival game/story driven comedy
 
zeher

zeher

Member
Mar 20, 2019
323
Decent amount of switch games have single joycon support. Friend of mine played through the entirety of Dragon Quest XI with one joycon when he broke his arm
 
Jinfash

Jinfash

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,095
Most Dragon Quest games I BELIEVE are meant to support one hand controls— that's why confirm/cancel are mapped to shoulder buttons as well.
 
inner-G

inner-G

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
14,473
PNW
Jinfash said:
Most Dragon Quest games I BELIEVE are meant to support one hand controls— that's why confirm/cancel are mapped to shoulder buttons as well.
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Earthbound on SNES is a DQ clone and also has the confirm button mapped to L so you can basically just play it with your left hand. (You may need to occasionally hit a different button for a menu or something on these but they're slow/turn-based)
 
Space Gomez

Space Gomez

Member
Oct 28, 2017
614
Not sure about the extent of your injuries but I wonder if games with very adjustable accessibility options might work for you. I had an RSI that messed with my left thumb and wrist for months and couldn't play most games I enjoyed, but I could customize the shit outta Forza Horizon 5 to make it playable for me. I mapped the brake to the right stick and could steer with my index finger on the left stick, moving my arm at the elbow to turn.
 
SwampBastard

SwampBastard

The Fallen
Nov 1, 2017
11,026
I don't know if you have a VR set, but I've been kind of obsessed with Walkabout Mini Golf since I picked it up a few weeks ago and you only use one hand.
 
collige

collige

Member
Oct 31, 2017
12,772
My go to recommendation for this is Mini Metro/Motorways. Most VNs would apply too.
 
smisk

smisk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,999
Broke my arm last year and played a bunch of Pillars of Eternity, since you can use only the mouse and pause combat at any time. I think this would work with many CRPGs, like the Infinity Engine games, or even the newer Wastelands.
A also tried to play Trackmania by mapping brake to the right bumper, accelerate to the trigger, and steering with the right stick but it didn't work too well lol.
 
Anth0ny

Anth0ny

Member
Oct 25, 2017
46,990
I played most of Paper Mario TTYD with one hand since I had to ice my face after getting my wisdom teeth extracted

great time
 
Nimmermehr

Nimmermehr

Member
Oct 27, 2017
135
We used to love Goldeneye on N64 because you could play it with one hand.
More recently Bravely Default hat some extra controls for 1handed play.
 
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