Games that can be played with one hand

Hey everyone,

I recently broke 2 bones in my left hand. This has left me out of work for the next month which means I suddenly have an abundance of free time. Normally I would use some of this time off to engage in one of my favourite hobbies: video games. Unfortunately the nature of this injury means that I am rather limited in what I can play. Here is what I am dealing with.

The hand that is broken is my left hand (which is my dominant hand) so games that can be played with one hand but still require a lot of dexterity are probably not going to work.

I do have enough use of my left hand that I could probably work a left stick on a controller, albeit poorly.

I currently have easy access to a PS4, Macbbok Pro, Switch, 3DS, and Xbox 360 as far at platforms go.

Given these conditions, what are some games you think I could still play and enjoy with just my right hand?

Any suggestions you have would be extremely appreciated. I have done nothing but watch movies/tv for the past 2 days...

PS *insert your hentai game jokes here*

Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee can be played with one hand. I'm pretty sure that's how you're suppose to play it, actually.

Civilization.

Super Mario Run! One-handed play is one of it's main features.

As a more serious answer, I was in a similar situation recently, Civ V and FFX remaster both worked out nicely. I'd assume any other JRPG or 4X game could work as well.

Turn-based strategy and RPGs should be pretty doable with one hand. You could get a lot of mileage out of stuff like Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2, Wasteland, and the like. Maybe go old school and try out some classic RPGs like Fallout 1 and 2. Basic point and click adventure games should be relatively okay too, so long as there aren't actiony elements to them. I'd say something like the Wadjet games (Blackwell, Technobabylon, or the more recent Unavowed) should definitely be playable for you. Also if you're interested in that route, Bear with Me and Lamplight City are terrific and definitely worth a look.

There's actually a concept page for this.

Every weird new steam release.

Bayonetta

Sounds like you'd be fine with anything turn based:

Slay the Spire and Steamworld Quest are both fantastic card battle type games.

XCOM Enemy Within/XCOM 2, both excellent (although possibly a little bit fiddly to move units into position with your bad hand using a controller if playing on console?)

Into the Breach - The best game of 2018 ;)

Sorry that happened to you. Funnily enough, I almost posted this same topic a few weeks ago when I broke my wrist in a dumb biking accident. Like you it was my left, but fortunately for me that is my non-dominant hand. I had to get a screw put it in. My conclusion was to play PC games that only require a mouse - which basically meant a lot of Slay the Spire. (one-sentence review: Very fun, but needs more content.)

@insomniak08: Hey Insomniak - I'm Harris, I'm the Community Designer at Finji. We're making an upcoming game called Overland that's entirely turned-based and can be played with one hand. Shoot me a DM and I'll hook you up with a copy, on me.

When I broke a knuckle a couple years ago, I spent all my time playing through Persona 5. Movement was a little awkward but it was completely doable with one hand.

@soulcake said:

Hahaha, came to post pretty much this.

Grim Fandango or some other point-and-click game.

I've even played the old Warcraft III Reign of Chaos by using the mouse only :)

Get well soon!

Dark Souls challenge, go!

The entire Kingdom series on PC can be played entirely with either your left or right hand and doesn't require any dexterity. https://www.kingdomthegame.com/

EarthBound can be played one-handed on a SNES controller, I imagine it would also be possible on the 3DS.

Well, I'm gonna sound like a broken record cuz I said the same thing in the last 2 threads for this concept but what about Hitman Go and Lara Croft Go? Or maybe something like Kentucky Route Zero?

Kingdom two crowns. I believe it's on consoles.

i played wow with a broken hand couple years back, mapped a bunch of keybinds to the extra keys on my logitech g19 and moved my mouse to the left side of my keyboard next to those g keys, and just went back and fourth got pretty decent as time went on and to this day im not to bad with a mouse in my left hand, gl bro.

I would say any of the Reigns games, or Mini Metro. These are 2 good game on mobile ported over to PC, so they were designed to played with 1 hand. Best of luck with your recovery!

Slay the Spire, for sure. It's Mac compatible, and fully playable with one hand. I don't have the Switch version, but I think it can be played via touchscreen for one-handed play. Steamworld Quest also sprang to mind, but I haven't played it and don't know what the control scheme is like.

@wollywoo: Regarding your concern about the lack of content in Slay the Spire, I had the same initial concern, but then started playing around with the custom rule set system. It adds a huge amount of variety and keeps things fresh.

Yeah was going to say Pokemon Lets Go is one handed.

In the same boat, have a boxer's fracture from a crash while mountain biking.

I have been playing Hearthstone and XCOM: Enemy Within

Tried getting into They Are Billions, but seems to rely a lot on WASD for camera movement (maybe there is an option I'm missing). Got annoying quickly.

I'd recommend Picross, Pokemon Let's GO, and stuff like Professor Layton

Darkest Dungeon or World of Horror are 2 that come to mind.

@doombot13: @philipduck: Pokemon Sword/Shield also has a one handed mode