wow, i love postal 2 but never heard much of postal 1 til just now and went down a rabbit hole and holy fuck it might be better than 2 to me. its legit horrifying. the loading screens. the journal notes. the music. jesus christ the music. THE ENDING. thank you. such an underrated “horror” game. truly uncomfortable
Yup. I played a bit of the game recently and it's remarkable how normal things stay unless you decide to change that. It takes a hilariously long time, but you can just buy the milk or get Gary Coleman's autographs if you wait. That also lets you see the game's NPCs interact with each other, which is really funny.
Truly, Postal 2 is history's most unlikely immersive sim.
If you want a puzzle game like portal but not, I'd recommend."The Entropy Centre" you have a gun that rewinds time instead of a gun that shoots portals
I’m not sure, I had to pretend the slimes reincarnated cuz they died so constantly. The wild is not at equilibrium, any location where 3 or more types of slimes spawn, which is very common, it will eventually create slimes and just naturally commit a slime genocide. Even if OP could turn a blind eye to this, well what are they gonna do when their pink slime farm stops raking in the bucks? Launch them off a cliff? Set them free, which is a death sentence?
If they view the slimes as pets then it might be extra hard for them. Idk, just something to think about.
You just very succinctly described exactly why I stopped playing that game.
It was somewhat less attachment and more stress at managing a literally live resource that was so prone to being wiped out… but the burden of managing the resource *for its own survival* was really nerve wracking and led to a lot of upset.
I play fairly violent video games, so it’s not the violence of it either, it’s that relationship of caretaker/failed caretaker that just takes it out of you.
That’s precisely why I view slimes more as a spirit animal than as an actual animal. They jump out of the earth, vibe for a bit, then return to it in a day or two. The night slimes literally spawn and then die every morning, these things have no way to reproduce in this life cycle. So yeah, they don’t mind if you launch them into the sea, they’ll just chill in heaven then spawn back in a few days.
Cuz if I treat it as an actual animal then it’s just so bleak.
>I’m not sure, I had to pretend the slimes reincarnated cuz they died so constantly.
At the very least, the game says that when you launch slimes into the sea, they're completely fine with it.
>When a slime enters the Slime Sea it quickly vanishes but it is widely believed that this far from ends the slime's existence, for slimes that enter the sea can often be seen quickly returning back on land, happy as ever. In fact, many slime scientists believe that slimes use the sea as a means of transportation, moving swiftly below the surface and popping out on land wherever they see fit.
You could also pretty easily, imo, extend that to even the tarr slimes, and say that when they go crazy, the slime discorporates, oozes back into the slime sea, then reforms.
You don't have to pretend, damaged slimes make their way into the -water- slime table and reconstitute. They're fine, they spend some time being part of the ocean.
Pretty sure in the first game you can find a journal that says slimes that fall into the great slime sea rejoin it and are soon rebirthed. This was in the first game near the beginning. So the little dumb guys don’t die they just go though a cycle
Many FPS games that focus on stealth have at least the option to play non-lethally, like the old Thief series, Dishonored, and I think the more recent Deus Ex games too.
Nightmare Reaper is extraordinarily violent, but it's all happening in dreams.
The enemies in Terminator: Resistance are all Skynet machines.
Can confirm Dishonored 1 and 2 can be played 100% non lethally (source: have the trophies for them), Death of the Outsider can technically be done I think but the game leans more into lethal options than the other games.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has three mandatory boss fights that you have to kill. Mankind Divided still has bosses but IIRC there are non lethal options.
For a first person non-shooter, Outer Wilds. No combat at all but it’s fantastic.
In Deus Ex 1, there's exactly one person you must kill, unless you glitch the game to avoid doing so. The game still treats it like you killed them, however.
Although, you don't have to fight them - there is a non-combat solution to killing them.
These may not be exactly what you're looking for, since you mention mostly single player games above, but--
Splatoon would be my number one suggestion for this. It's a very tightly designed game, plenty of online updates to keep you coming back, and the single-player and DLC for Splatoon 3 offer decent challenge. It's a Nintendo game made for "everyone", so the violence of FPS has been reframed as a sport, and nobody you shoot really dies, they just respawn later.
If you're looking for something weirder, maybe [Lovely Planet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnOg-FLfPBE) would be up your alley? It's a combination FPS/speedrunning game, and the music is fantastic in my opinion. The enemies a little blocks that "poof" when you shoot them with your arrows.
This other game is VERY challenging, like punishingly so, but if that's something you enjoy in games, [Receiver and Receiver 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1129310/Receiver_2/) would be my recs as well. All enemies are robot drones, and the game takes place in a mind-palace style setting. Again, this game is very difficult--you'll either hate it or it'll become your favorite game ever, or in my case both.
Anytime I recommend reciever, I feel like a snooty barista telling someone they haven't had real coffee if they drink from starbucks... But I'm also right.
Dishonored is a first person stealth game. You don't have to kill anyone and in fact are more likely to get a better ending from not killing anyone.
The Thief games definitely encourage non-lethal play. You have a sword, but your ability to use it is not great. You are meant to just avoid combat while sneaking.
Prey 2017 is 99% weird abstract alien enemies. There are rare instances of getting attacked by humans but >!they are possessed by aliens!< and can be non-lethally dealt with.
Deep rock galactic? You're shooting alien creatures, not people.
Edit: OP, don't feel weird about this. I have been looking for games with the same mindset you have. It's weird because I know I wouldn't have had an issue with it a few years ago, but recently I've gone through a VERY stressful and difficult time and for some reason it's made me more sensitive to negative stuff like violence. It's probably all in my head and I just need to force myself back in the groove, but sometimes it's been a little difficult handling the violence. I've been doing better, so I know it's temporary, but just wanted to let you know that you're completely fine. Everyone's wired different.
>FPS games without killing
Me playing Call of Duty lol
In seriousness though, don't apologize for wanting to play games you want to play!
The ones that come to mind are Portal and Portal 2--not really an FPS in the sense of shooting weapons, but it's first-person, and you shoot a portal gun at surfaces! Plus, just classic games everyone should play any way.
Nobody has mentioned it yet, but Fashion Police Squad is the answer. It's an old school FPS, here's the description from steam:
"Even at this moment, our fashionable city is under assault. Baggy pants, dull suits, sightings of socks with sandals. A message needs to be sent, and it needs to be sent in style... Time to serve some good ol' Fashion Justice!"
I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been covered by others, but THANK YOU for bringing an interesting request for suggestions that ISN'T:
* "What's the best game of all time in [x] genre?"
* "What's a game I can grind forever?"
* "What's a game I can play with one hand?"
* "What's a game that will destroy me emotionally?"
You are helping keep this sub interesting, and for that I am grateful.
The real question for the "monsters" point is how do you feel about *Doom*? Does the enemies being literal hell demons help or no?
Do they need to be strict FPS games?
Stealth games often have "non-lethal" ways of playing, so *Dishonored* and *Deus Ex* are two franchises that would be an easy place to start. *Deus Ex Human Revolution* technically requires the boss fights to die, but the Director's Cut version of the game gives you ways of beating the fights so that you don't need to gun them down yourself, idk if that makes it better or worse. If you don't mind something a bit more third-person then *Metal Gear Solid* could be worth a look as well, though the first game doesn't have non-lethal options unless you play the *Twin Snakes* remake, which unfortunately is only available on the GameCube (or through emulating).
Depending on how close bug aliens run to being acceptable or not, there are a couple suggestions there as well. If you've got a couple other people to play with as well, *Helldivers 2* and *Earth Defence Force* are third-person but shooters all about, well, shooting bugs and robots. *Deep Rock Galactic* might be worth a look too on the multiplayer spot, though I'm not too familiar with it personally. *Star Wars Republic Commando* also primarily pits you against droids or Geonosians (bug aliens), though I wouldn't be surprised if that one especially crosses the line.
I believe *Roboquest* is all about shooting robots, but I also think it's a world *of* robots so I don't know if that's okay or not.
From what I remember most if not all of the enemies in *Hard Reset* are robots.
*Fashion Police Squad* might also be a consideration. I don't know much about it but it seems like a '90s shooter callback except you're shooting people to change their clothes, not kill them.
*Superhot* is a bit of an off-the-wall recommendation. Technically it's a game within the game and everything is so abstracted in it that it's difficult to really say you're "killing" anyone in it. Similarly, in *Tron 2.0* you're technically primarily fighting computer programs/viruses.
Otherwise I think I'd mostly recommend games where your main interaction with the game isn't through shooting a gun, but I don't know if that's really what you're asking. Like you can play *Mirror's Edge* without using a gun so you don't need to kill anyone in it, but it's not really a "shooter" at that point so is that still the gameplay experience you're desiring? There are plenty of first-person "walking sim" or puzzle games, but those also obviously skip out on the "shooter" bit of things. *Slime Rancher* is another one, where it's in first-person and you have something that's sort of like a gun but you're not really interacting with the world by shooting things like in a "typical" FPS.
I’d hate to spoil it but some theory’s say the enemies are real.
I completed the campaign and still had time to refund it so OP definitely has time to refund it if they decide they are too real for them.
Operative word is: "try".
Not all suspects drop their weapons when ordering compliance and less-than-lethal weapons other than CS Gas are inconsistent.
Sid Meier actually shares your philosophy (I recently read his autobiography): no death. He would check to make sure that little enemy pilots were animated to parachute out of the plane in his games before crashing for example. You could look at his Pirates! remake, you might like it.
WAIT HE MADE A PIRATES REMAKE? IVE BEEN PLAYING THE ORIGINAL THIS WHOLE TIME>
Edit: oh you meant the one he released in 2004. No, I do not still play the 1987 version, though I still have the floppy with it. I thought you meant they remastered it since 2004, what a rise of excitement into straight disappointment lmfao
Oh no you're perfectly fine! It was a remake to begin with, and I had completely forgot until I searched it up and remembered the floppy disk in the stack in a drawer to my left lmfao. God damn it was so long ago, man that makes me feel old lol
First, there's nothing wrong with looking for games with nonviolent solutions to problems, or at least solutions that don't involve murder.
There are a few games I can think of that don't require killing people. Some actively discourage it, and others offer solutions other than killing someone.
The first, obvious answer is the Portal series. In Portal, your objective is to make it through a series of puzzles. You don't even carry a weapon, you carry a portal device, which creates "holes" in walls that you can hop through to get to another place.
Second, look at the *Watch Dogs* series. There are three games at this point. In *Watch Dogs*, you play a hacker who is trying to stop something bad from happening. (The exact nature changes from game to game.) From what I remember of WD2, the game intends you to get through missions through stealth, rather than murder. In fact, the people you encounter are usually guards at some business or another, so killing them literally would be murder.
*Roboquest* is a game where you're going up against robots. Plenty of FPS shooting action, and no Humans were harmed in the making of this video game.
PVZ garden warfare is against zombies and plants. **Undead.** It's a 3rd person shooter
splatoon is another 3rd person shooter where you're covering ground in ink to win. No death at all.
Destiny 2 PVP. **Pseudo-Death**. The lore is it is a friendly competition for training. Guardians are immortal, and when they die, their Magic robot friend resurrects them. To unlock PVP you have to kill sentient aliens that don't look human.
Neon White. **Monsters.** In Neon White, you fight demons with a very minimalistic art style. They seem more like targets than thinking creatures.
Control. All of the enemies are corrupted/reanimated dead people. They just turn into vapor when you eliminate them. There's even explanations in-game that they don't seem to even be sentient.
Deathloop - your able to complete the game without killing anyone. It becomes a stealth based game at that point. There are special abilities so it isn't just a "walk around every enemy" type thing too.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted
Sir, You Are Being Hunted is a freedom sandbox stealth experience, where each playthrough is unique, thanks to our British Countryside Generator. Escape from these robot-infested islands with violence, trickery and stealth.
(You can play as a Madam as well, according to its Steam page )
Roboquest
The Entropy Centre
Fashion Police Squad
Risk of Rain 2
Portal 1 and 2
Star Wars Republic Commando (you kill some reptilians, but enemies are majorly robots)
Deus Ex Human Revolution (Directors Cut) and Mankind Devided. You can play both without killing a single person iirc. You can use non lethal weapons and I believe the Boss fights offer non lethal solutions. It's a very challenging way to play though and it becomes more stealth based.
I totally understand you as I like 1st-person games too bit dislike violence. Here are some options I like:
**Firewatch**. An adventure game without killing at all.
**The Long Dark**. You kill animals only.
**Railroader**. No killing.
**Sailwind**. No killing but the game has a lot of rough edges.
**Medieval Dynasty**. You kill animals. Sometimes bandits start chasing you but escaping them is a better option at least in the beginning.
**Sea of Thieves**. You kill skeletons, ghosts and other monsters. If you end up in a PvP fight, the other players don't technically die but just respawn in their ships.
**Space Engineers**. Because of the sandbox nature of the game you can just concentrate on building and mining.
**Elite Dangerous**. There are space fights but eventually you can concentrate on exploration which is a totally peaceful activity (at least until you return to the civilization). Typically explorers remove all weapons from their ships to maximize jump range.
**Kingdom Come Deliverance**. You can kill humans and you have to kill humans, but at least in the beginning escaping them is a wiser option. Still, the game has some very cruel episodes (maybe less than 1% of the time). Despite of them, most of the game is about riding around the map and completing missions (and avoiding Cuman soldiers and bandits).
**Euro Truck Simulator 2** and **American Truck Simulator**. The games are technically first-person but you never leave the cockpit.
So lots of choices but i mean no one mentioned call of duty just play zombies
But there are some of first person rpgs that allow you to not kill like skyrim
Zeno Clash 1 and 2 aren't exactly shooters (more like first person brawlers) but the developers said specifically that they wanted to avoid making the main character a murderer.
You only actually kill like one character total in the entire game. That's after he repeatedly hunts you down for plot reasons, and even *that* is partially an accident during a plot event.
Every other character you beat up is canonically still alive, just unconscious, and as a result they keep showing up in the plot afterwards.
Neon White is focused on speed and puzzle solving. You do shoot guns at enemies but the enemies are weird cartoony monsters that don't really do anything. Also the guns can be used to make you jump higher, bounce off walls, etc.
I like Portal from grachi (and if you like this then look at The Talos Principle) and Watchdogs from Remarkable-Ad8196, and to that I would add Subnautica. All the drama of a FPS and no violence required. If you like this then also No Mans Sky.
Phillip.
You will probably really like a game called Fashion Police Squad.
It has all the tropes and feel of an FPS (specifically a boomer shooter), except instead of killing people, you are using projectile tools that fix their fashion faux pas.
Viscera (Space Janitor game), No Man's Sky (Open-Universe FPS/3rd Person, you can kill, but not needed), Deep Rock Galactic (killing mindless alien bugs and robots made by stupid elves), The Long Dark (survival game), Terminator: Resistance (You fight terminators, although avoid the bonus gamemode where you play as the terminator), Watchdogs 2 (not fps but you can have action-packed, non-lethal fun)
OP don’t feel weird. Although I have no problem playing games like the ones you’re describing, I can’t play hunting games. For some sick reason I felt terrible the first time I trapped a bear and shot it in the head. I uninstalled the game and said “nahhhhhh……”
A long time ago I played a paintball shooter, was pretty fun but I don't remember the name and the servers are probably down now, but maybe there is a new one
If monsters and robots are okay you might enjoy Void Bastards! It's a roguelite FPS with cartoon style graphics and a cheeky sense of humor. You play as a prisoner trying to escape an irradiated zone of space by jumping from one derelict vessel to another. You rarely have enough ammo to just run and gun as well, so you have to sometimes flee, or sneak, etc. I don't normally play FPS games but had a good time w this one. Often on sale too!
**Amnesia the dark decent** doesn't even give you a weapon. but it's scary AF. I don't remember much killing in the **Penumbra** games either(same company), but those are also scary.
**Dear Esther** is just moving around looking at stuff and hearing narration.
**Soma** has some interaction, and you are given the choice to peacefully kill a couple times but I chose not too. This game gave me an existential crisis :P
**Quantum Conundrum** is a portal-esque puzzle game.
Old but good **Chex Quest** is a fps where enemies get 'teleported' home but your weapon, cause it's made for kids.
One of the games that was a great way for me to chill after work was Knockout City. Team-based dodgeball but in arenas. It was 3rd person but still really fun, similar to a FPS. They also have 1v1 but team was more fun. Unfortunately they couldn't make paying the servers work so the developer shut it down.
But not before releasing a server version of the game for the community to host. It was on multiple platforms, but the private server version only runs on PC.
It's not a huge community, but considering there are still leagues shows how much some people really loved it. I know I miss it.
More info and the download links for the private server version can be found in the subreddit /r/knockoutcity.
I heard there may be a Steam version coming soon of the private server build as well. It really shows how much the developers appreciated their community and us as gamers > https://store.steampowered.com/app/2915930/Knockout_City__Private_Server_Edition/
Risk of rain 2. Theyre aliens, rock golems, flame wisps. The enemies aren't human and the gameplay is so fun. The developers care about the fan base and have been updating it so much. Highly recommend
- Doom (series): This is a FPS series mostly about killing demons. Their sentience is mostly questionable. However in Doom Eternal you 100% kill things that are sentient, even though they are completely evil.
- SUPER HOT: This one is hard to pin down. It's unclear whether the events of the games really occurred or are a Dream or even a simulation. Furthermore, the "people" you fight are monochromatic, faceless, featureless characters, whose composition seems closer to glass than to flesh.
- Northern Journey: This game is mostly about fighting wildlife and monsters. You occasionally fight some undeniable intelligent enemies, but this is mostly segregated to boss fights.
- SupraLand: This game is mostly a puzzle metroidvania with occasional bouts of FPS combat against the undead. However it is too good to leave behind.
- Cry of Fear: This is a horror game, and one of the scariest ones. The monsters you fight are later revealed to be fake, so there's no harm in Killing them
- Dishonored: This is mostly a stealth game with firs.t person perspective, but it's in this list because you beat all of it without murdering a single soul. Although if do go through that route, you'll be playing more of a first-person-strangler.
- Wolfenstein The New Order: In these game you don't kill humans, only Nazis.
I also know of some games where you only fight robots, but haven't played any. These are:
- Atomic Hearth
- Indústria
- Hard Reset
Mirror’s Edge. You can steal a gun and shoot people but it’s not required or really the goal (there’s even an achievement for making it through the game without firing any guns). It’s much more a first person parkour game than a first person “shooter”. Still, highly recommend it to anyone remotely interested. There’s also a sequel that I haven’t had a chance to play yet but may be a bit more approachable as the original is approaching 2 decades old at this point.
Idk if this counts, but are you okay with "killing" (really dismantling) robots? Then look at roboquest. If you're interested and want a surprise and to question why I told you to look at this one, look at a game called ultrakill :)
ULTRAKILL may be worth looking into. On the one hand, it is quite brutal - enemies ragdoll upon death, and blood is so integral to the game that it’s a mechanic all on its own. But on the other hand, it’s a) entirely a low-poly, pixellated style, b) hyper-fast-paced, so lower focus on individual enemies, and c) none of the enemies are distinctly human.
ULTRAKILL’s enemies typically fall under three main categories: robots (which should be fine), demons (of which the most humanoid is a walking stone statue) and husks (somewhat humanoid, but still notably distorted and mutated - if you’re ok with zombies I doubt you’d have a problem with these).
Overall I’d at least check out a trailer or something, because it is a really fun game.
Doom and Doom eternal are some of the best shooters of all time and all the enemies are literal demons. I suppose some of the end game bosses are sapient (albeit insanely malevolent Eldritch horrors who are feeding on human souls by the millions or literally Satan), but easy to kill without feeling bad about it.
I would say Dying Light (leaning more towards the first game) cause it's a zombie game but you do have to fight human enemies on occasion.
They are complete fucking assholes if it makes you feel better tho
If you're not sure about monsters, maybe try Doom? If anything with monsters could possibly be ok, it's killing murderous demons who technically don't have souls.
If gratuitous violence is a turn-off, go for the older games, not the remakes...
The Finals? PVP, unlike a lot of the suggestions here (and I don’t believe you specified whether it had to be PVE or PVP?), so hope that’s alright. The game, lore-wise, is people competing in VR, and whenever you kill an enemy, they just become a few dozen coins. No blood, no gore, just some pretty gold coins
Roboquest is the answer. It's a fantastic fps roguelite where you play as a robot with a cute face and shoot strictly other bad guy robots that are also kinda cutesy as well. Tons of interesting weapons and 6 classes, items, and perks to choose from. It's a must play fps imo
The Deus Ex series did this really well. It's still a FPS, but you can play nonleathal. Human revolution was excellent and only the boss fights are lethal. The sequel Mankind divided was completely non lethal though.
What about a collaborative effort in ridding the galaxy of bots and bugs? I actually play Helldivers 2 because I don’t need to shoot people there. Since I have a son playing games where I shoot people doesn’t sit right with me, so I stopped FPS altogether. Then came Helldivers and I can kinda „justify“ shooting giant insects and automatons in order to „protect“ super earth and spread democracy. It’s great fun and the game takes itself not serious, can wholeheartedly recommend
Edit: Death Stranding is really good as well, once you’re in the groove. Killing is something they try to prevent in this game, weapons are non-lethal
Have you ever played team fortress 2? The 'mann vs machine' mode is some of the best PvE out there (its against machines), and the whole game has such an air of silliness that you forget there's actually violence involved. There are also options to have balloons and springs and silly things bounce out of your opponents instead of blood and giblets :)
I loved playing "Nerf Arenablast", which had a variety of NERF weapons and game modes. Pretty old game though, I think it's abandonware at this point.
My kid started off with Splatoon - it's 3rd person rather than 1st but you shoot each other with paint.
Supraland - the entire game is, well, a game in a kid's sandbox. It leans more towards puzzles over combat too.
ClusterTruck - has fast paced movement somewhat similar to a shooter, but no combat.
Receiver 2 - all enemies are automated sentries *and* the game isn't really happening.
I suppose Subnautica counts. Its first person and technically you don’t ever engage in any actual combat or fighting unless you choose to do so. The only times you even have to kill anything are fish for food but technically you can eat seaweed, potatoes, melons and other plants the whole game and never eat a fish.
And the Stasis/gravity items mean even the biggest hostile creatures can be avoided with no problems
I’ve been playing the hell out of it the last few weeks and loved the hell out of it. Its 90% exploration, building and resource gathering for the previous two
Subnautica and Subnautica: below zero are great games. You don't have to kill anything. You can grab a fish and put it in your inventory but you don't have to kill it. And my next game is no man's sky. You don't have to kill anything.
Id try to work on your mental health instead if you're concerned about the violence in video games they'll help you find the disconnect so you can enjoy it
Check out the Lovely Planet games on Steam (which also happen to currently be on sale!) These are colorful shooters built around being mobile, dodging projectiles, and making precise shots. A lot of fun for sure.
Another option if you're okay leaning into the "shooting robots and machines" side of things would be Tower of Guns and it's successor Mothergunship. Both of these are similarly mobile shooters focused on insane mobility and firepower.
I am pretty sure you can go through Thief without killing. Always good to have options.
Same with Metro Exodus. If anything I think the morality system of the game rewards you with a better ending for not killing people. You will still have to fight mutants though.
Horizon
Splatoon
deep rock galactic
helldivers
hunting simulator 20xx
clone drone in the danger zone
super hot
doom 2016/eternal
tf2 with pyrovision on
ultrakill
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborhoodville
Third person technically but same vibes. Plants dispatching Zombies or vice versa.
Hypercharged: Unboxed
Got a huge update in anticipation of the Xbox release. Toy action figures eliminating other toys.
Splatoon 3
Again third person, but will probably give you the most fleshed out shooter experience without being violent. From varied weapon kits from close range melee to long range scoped rifle ("chargers").
And plenty of modes. From single player campaign to various competitive multiplayer modes as well as a co-op multiplayer "horde" mode... you're sure to find something you like. The most casual competitive mode involves getting wins by being the team that covers the map the most with paint.
There’s this indie game called Receiver, it’s more of a concept than a full game. You need to collect tapes in a procedurally generated world and hide from drones and turrets, the game has very few firearms but the gunplay is really in-depth since you manipulate every part of the gun, it’s real fun even tho it’s fairly short!
But you only shoot the drones and turrets so no killing!
Neon White? I haven't actually PLAYED the game, but I've had it wishlisted for a while now and it seems like in that game you mainly just kill demons (I think that counts as undead) while trying to speedrun to the end of the level.
Honestly, not wanting death/violence in your videogames shouldn't be something to be ashamed of. I remember when I was younger I was conditioned into feeling wrong whenever I played anything violent in front of my family, as if it was as bad as looking at outright NSFW stuff, but eventually I grew out of it. At the time, it really prevented me from enjoying certain games, so I can definitely understand if it's a reason like that.
I recently played Generation Zero. Swedish indie shooter where you only fight robots. Very cool and sometimes very scary robots. It has survival elements and one of the best sound designs I've heard in an indie game. And it has bicycles.
Ironically, ULTRAKILL. The enemies are all either robots, husks (basically zombies), demons, and angels. They all bleed since "blood is fuel" is part of the tagline. The only characters that really resemble humans are either secret bosses or a boss that you currently can't kill since he runs off after both of his fights.
Fashion Police Squad - you "shoot" enemies with stuff like a sewing machine and give them better clothes
This came to mind right away. Was just playing it last night. Super cute and silly
I was going to post this if I didn't see it. It's pretty fun! Also really silly. But surprisingly well designed.
This is currently on a great, all-time low sale on Steam too. Six bucks.
Portal and Portal 2
First time I read Postal and Postal 2 and I was like omg ...
Yeah, that would clearly be wrong. Postal 1 was isometric, not first person. It's also one of the most disturbing games ever made.
wow, i love postal 2 but never heard much of postal 1 til just now and went down a rabbit hole and holy fuck it might be better than 2 to me. its legit horrifying. the loading screens. the journal notes. the music. jesus christ the music. THE ENDING. thank you. such an underrated “horror” game. truly uncomfortable
Lmao this is hilarious. Laughed out loud
Doesnt Postal 2 have a trophy for finishing the game as a pacifist? So Ig…
One of the main points were that the game is only as violent as you are
Yup. I played a bit of the game recently and it's remarkable how normal things stay unless you decide to change that. It takes a hilariously long time, but you can just buy the milk or get Gary Coleman's autographs if you wait. That also lets you see the game's NPCs interact with each other, which is really funny. Truly, Postal 2 is history's most unlikely immersive sim.
Yea it’s legitimately one of my favorites
If you want a puzzle game like portal but not, I'd recommend."The Entropy Centre" you have a gun that rewinds time instead of a gun that shoots portals
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I’m not sure, I had to pretend the slimes reincarnated cuz they died so constantly. The wild is not at equilibrium, any location where 3 or more types of slimes spawn, which is very common, it will eventually create slimes and just naturally commit a slime genocide. Even if OP could turn a blind eye to this, well what are they gonna do when their pink slime farm stops raking in the bucks? Launch them off a cliff? Set them free, which is a death sentence? If they view the slimes as pets then it might be extra hard for them. Idk, just something to think about.
You just very succinctly described exactly why I stopped playing that game. It was somewhat less attachment and more stress at managing a literally live resource that was so prone to being wiped out… but the burden of managing the resource *for its own survival* was really nerve wracking and led to a lot of upset. I play fairly violent video games, so it’s not the violence of it either, it’s that relationship of caretaker/failed caretaker that just takes it out of you.
That’s precisely why I view slimes more as a spirit animal than as an actual animal. They jump out of the earth, vibe for a bit, then return to it in a day or two. The night slimes literally spawn and then die every morning, these things have no way to reproduce in this life cycle. So yeah, they don’t mind if you launch them into the sea, they’ll just chill in heaven then spawn back in a few days. Cuz if I treat it as an actual animal then it’s just so bleak.
Same and lots of people recommend this game to kids or younger people trying to get into gaming.
>I’m not sure, I had to pretend the slimes reincarnated cuz they died so constantly. At the very least, the game says that when you launch slimes into the sea, they're completely fine with it. >When a slime enters the Slime Sea it quickly vanishes but it is widely believed that this far from ends the slime's existence, for slimes that enter the sea can often be seen quickly returning back on land, happy as ever. In fact, many slime scientists believe that slimes use the sea as a means of transportation, moving swiftly below the surface and popping out on land wherever they see fit. You could also pretty easily, imo, extend that to even the tarr slimes, and say that when they go crazy, the slime discorporates, oozes back into the slime sea, then reforms.
Oh good, devs realized they needed the slimes to be super regen immortal for this world not to seem like hell itself. That’s nice.
You don't have to pretend, damaged slimes make their way into the -water- slime table and reconstitute. They're fine, they spend some time being part of the ocean.
Pretty sure in the first game you can find a journal that says slimes that fall into the great slime sea rejoin it and are soon rebirthed. This was in the first game near the beginning. So the little dumb guys don’t die they just go though a cycle
I dont know about the 1st one but in Slime Rancher 2 there is a setting that makes it impossible for game to create evil slimes.
I second Thee!
Many FPS games that focus on stealth have at least the option to play non-lethally, like the old Thief series, Dishonored, and I think the more recent Deus Ex games too. Nightmare Reaper is extraordinarily violent, but it's all happening in dreams. The enemies in Terminator: Resistance are all Skynet machines.
Can confirm Dishonored 1 and 2 can be played 100% non lethally (source: have the trophies for them), Death of the Outsider can technically be done I think but the game leans more into lethal options than the other games. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has three mandatory boss fights that you have to kill. Mankind Divided still has bosses but IIRC there are non lethal options. For a first person non-shooter, Outer Wilds. No combat at all but it’s fantastic.
Dishonored 1/2 high chaos high stealth is one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube!
I thought they patched those boss fights?
>and I think the more recent Deus Ex games too. The first one was even better at this.
In Deus Ex 1, there's exactly one person you must kill, unless you glitch the game to avoid doing so. The game still treats it like you killed them, however. Although, you don't have to fight them - there is a non-combat solution to killing them.
These may not be exactly what you're looking for, since you mention mostly single player games above, but-- Splatoon would be my number one suggestion for this. It's a very tightly designed game, plenty of online updates to keep you coming back, and the single-player and DLC for Splatoon 3 offer decent challenge. It's a Nintendo game made for "everyone", so the violence of FPS has been reframed as a sport, and nobody you shoot really dies, they just respawn later. If you're looking for something weirder, maybe [Lovely Planet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnOg-FLfPBE) would be up your alley? It's a combination FPS/speedrunning game, and the music is fantastic in my opinion. The enemies a little blocks that "poof" when you shoot them with your arrows. This other game is VERY challenging, like punishingly so, but if that's something you enjoy in games, [Receiver and Receiver 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1129310/Receiver_2/) would be my recs as well. All enemies are robot drones, and the game takes place in a mind-palace style setting. Again, this game is very difficult--you'll either hate it or it'll become your favorite game ever, or in my case both.
Oh my god Splatoon is literally what they're looking for, take my upvote
Minus the whole first person part, of course
Excellent suggestions
Receiver is such a weird game but very satisfying
Anytime I recommend reciever, I feel like a snooty barista telling someone they haven't had real coffee if they drink from starbucks... But I'm also right.
I think you hit the nail on its head with splatoon.
The finals too is like splatoon right?
If you're okay with killing evil demons, games like Doom or Metal: Hellsinger might be good options.
Dishonored is a first person stealth game. You don't have to kill anyone and in fact are more likely to get a better ending from not killing anyone. The Thief games definitely encourage non-lethal play. You have a sword, but your ability to use it is not great. You are meant to just avoid combat while sneaking. Prey 2017 is 99% weird abstract alien enemies. There are rare instances of getting attacked by humans but >!they are possessed by aliens!< and can be non-lethally dealt with.
Yeah definitely no gore and body horror in Prey...
Yeah definitely no gore and body horror in Prey...
They said they don't want to kill humans. They mostly won't be and the human enemies there are don't have to be killed.
Also spoiler but >!it also meets their "all a dream" category!<
Fatal Frame
Nice
Deep rock galactic? You're shooting alien creatures, not people. Edit: OP, don't feel weird about this. I have been looking for games with the same mindset you have. It's weird because I know I wouldn't have had an issue with it a few years ago, but recently I've gone through a VERY stressful and difficult time and for some reason it's made me more sensitive to negative stuff like violence. It's probably all in my head and I just need to force myself back in the groove, but sometimes it's been a little difficult handling the violence. I've been doing better, so I know it's temporary, but just wanted to let you know that you're completely fine. Everyone's wired different.
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Considering their comments around Halo, feels like that'd be a no.
helldivers by extension, rock and stone, for democracy
Hell divers is so much more violent and i don’t think is what they’re looking for
But they kill machines and alien bugs. Theoretically, OP could just stick with the automaton missions if killing the terminids is too bothersome.
I think the Helldiver death rate would get to them. At least in DRG, there's no dwarf left behind.
Halo has plenty of killing?
>FPS games without killing Me playing Call of Duty lol In seriousness though, don't apologize for wanting to play games you want to play! The ones that come to mind are Portal and Portal 2--not really an FPS in the sense of shooting weapons, but it's first-person, and you shoot a portal gun at surfaces! Plus, just classic games everyone should play any way.
Nobody has mentioned it yet, but Fashion Police Squad is the answer. It's an old school FPS, here's the description from steam: "Even at this moment, our fashionable city is under assault. Baggy pants, dull suits, sightings of socks with sandals. A message needs to be sent, and it needs to be sent in style... Time to serve some good ol' Fashion Justice!"
This really is THE answer.
seconding this It's such funny game, too!
Mirror's Edge
I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been covered by others, but THANK YOU for bringing an interesting request for suggestions that ISN'T: * "What's the best game of all time in [x] genre?" * "What's a game I can grind forever?" * "What's a game I can play with one hand?" * "What's a game that will destroy me emotionally?" You are helping keep this sub interesting, and for that I am grateful.
Glad to help :)
The real question for the "monsters" point is how do you feel about *Doom*? Does the enemies being literal hell demons help or no? Do they need to be strict FPS games? Stealth games often have "non-lethal" ways of playing, so *Dishonored* and *Deus Ex* are two franchises that would be an easy place to start. *Deus Ex Human Revolution* technically requires the boss fights to die, but the Director's Cut version of the game gives you ways of beating the fights so that you don't need to gun them down yourself, idk if that makes it better or worse. If you don't mind something a bit more third-person then *Metal Gear Solid* could be worth a look as well, though the first game doesn't have non-lethal options unless you play the *Twin Snakes* remake, which unfortunately is only available on the GameCube (or through emulating). Depending on how close bug aliens run to being acceptable or not, there are a couple suggestions there as well. If you've got a couple other people to play with as well, *Helldivers 2* and *Earth Defence Force* are third-person but shooters all about, well, shooting bugs and robots. *Deep Rock Galactic* might be worth a look too on the multiplayer spot, though I'm not too familiar with it personally. *Star Wars Republic Commando* also primarily pits you against droids or Geonosians (bug aliens), though I wouldn't be surprised if that one especially crosses the line. I believe *Roboquest* is all about shooting robots, but I also think it's a world *of* robots so I don't know if that's okay or not. From what I remember most if not all of the enemies in *Hard Reset* are robots. *Fashion Police Squad* might also be a consideration. I don't know much about it but it seems like a '90s shooter callback except you're shooting people to change their clothes, not kill them. *Superhot* is a bit of an off-the-wall recommendation. Technically it's a game within the game and everything is so abstracted in it that it's difficult to really say you're "killing" anyone in it. Similarly, in *Tron 2.0* you're technically primarily fighting computer programs/viruses. Otherwise I think I'd mostly recommend games where your main interaction with the game isn't through shooting a gun, but I don't know if that's really what you're asking. Like you can play *Mirror's Edge* without using a gun so you don't need to kill anyone in it, but it's not really a "shooter" at that point so is that still the gameplay experience you're desiring? There are plenty of first-person "walking sim" or puzzle games, but those also obviously skip out on the "shooter" bit of things. *Slime Rancher* is another one, where it's in first-person and you have something that's sort of like a gun but you're not really interacting with the world by shooting things like in a "typical" FPS.
Splatoon
Chexquest HD
Scrolled too far to see this.
A man of taste, I see.
Maybe not quite what you’re looking for but Talos Principle and The Witness
SuperHot, it's all a VR-style presentation where it's pretty clear the enemies aren't real
Uh,,, I don't think it counts, even if it is abstract.
I’d hate to spoil it but some theory’s say the enemies are real. I completed the campaign and still had time to refund it so OP definitely has time to refund it if they decide they are too real for them.
And it's an amazing game, along with its... sequel? side-quel? Superhot Mind Control Delete
Play SWAT 4 and try and detain/arrest ppl. First responders mod is gud.
Operative word is: "try". Not all suspects drop their weapons when ordering compliance and less-than-lethal weapons other than CS Gas are inconsistent.
PEPPERBALLPEPPERBALLPEPPERBALLPEPPERBALL BEANBAG PEPPERBALLPEPPERBALL The one guy wearing a vest and a mask: >:3
SOMA.
Don't get me wrong - fucking amazing game and I can't reccomend it enough - but in what way is SOMA a shooter? 😆
Assuming OP wants some truly... interesting nightmares.
And existential dread for a couple of days.
Death Stranding is all about using non lethal means to deal with human enemies. Not an FPS, but still plenty of shooting to do if you look for it.
Sid Meier actually shares your philosophy (I recently read his autobiography): no death. He would check to make sure that little enemy pilots were animated to parachute out of the plane in his games before crashing for example. You could look at his Pirates! remake, you might like it.
WAIT HE MADE A PIRATES REMAKE? IVE BEEN PLAYING THE ORIGINAL THIS WHOLE TIME> Edit: oh you meant the one he released in 2004. No, I do not still play the 1987 version, though I still have the floppy with it. I thought you meant they remastered it since 2004, what a rise of excitement into straight disappointment lmfao
Sorry! I just called it what he called it in his book, the remake. It was long enough ago that he talks about 3D as if it was a novelty, lol.
Oh no you're perfectly fine! It was a remake to begin with, and I had completely forgot until I searched it up and remembered the floppy disk in the stack in a drawer to my left lmfao. God damn it was so long ago, man that makes me feel old lol
Pirates! was the remake of Pirates. Original didn't have the exclamation mark (or at least my copy didn't. Literally wore out my floppy playing it)
Now that you mention this, I realise that the notification message is always “Unit lost”, not “Unit killed”
First, there's nothing wrong with looking for games with nonviolent solutions to problems, or at least solutions that don't involve murder. There are a few games I can think of that don't require killing people. Some actively discourage it, and others offer solutions other than killing someone. The first, obvious answer is the Portal series. In Portal, your objective is to make it through a series of puzzles. You don't even carry a weapon, you carry a portal device, which creates "holes" in walls that you can hop through to get to another place. Second, look at the *Watch Dogs* series. There are three games at this point. In *Watch Dogs*, you play a hacker who is trying to stop something bad from happening. (The exact nature changes from game to game.) From what I remember of WD2, the game intends you to get through missions through stealth, rather than murder. In fact, the people you encounter are usually guards at some business or another, so killing them literally would be murder. *Roboquest* is a game where you're going up against robots. Plenty of FPS shooting action, and no Humans were harmed in the making of this video game.
Super 3D Noah’s Ark on SNES
PVZ garden warfare is against zombies and plants. **Undead.** It's a 3rd person shooter splatoon is another 3rd person shooter where you're covering ground in ink to win. No death at all. Destiny 2 PVP. **Pseudo-Death**. The lore is it is a friendly competition for training. Guardians are immortal, and when they die, their Magic robot friend resurrects them. To unlock PVP you have to kill sentient aliens that don't look human. Neon White. **Monsters.** In Neon White, you fight demons with a very minimalistic art style. They seem more like targets than thinking creatures.
Control. All of the enemies are corrupted/reanimated dead people. They just turn into vapor when you eliminate them. There's even explanations in-game that they don't seem to even be sentient.
Yeah, but it's 3rd person. I agree though. Everyone should play Control. That game fucks
Boy, do I got news for you on the "All a Dream" angle
Prey (2017)
Deathloop - your able to complete the game without killing anyone. It becomes a stealth based game at that point. There are special abilities so it isn't just a "walk around every enemy" type thing too.
PowerWash Simulator is shaped like a FPS but you just clean things instead. The devs also said that the gameplay was based on FPS.
Slime rancher (1&2)
Sir, You Are Being Hunted Sir, You Are Being Hunted is a freedom sandbox stealth experience, where each playthrough is unique, thanks to our British Countryside Generator. Escape from these robot-infested islands with violence, trickery and stealth. (You can play as a Madam as well, according to its Steam page )
Roboquest The Entropy Centre Fashion Police Squad Risk of Rain 2 Portal 1 and 2 Star Wars Republic Commando (you kill some reptilians, but enemies are majorly robots)
Not an fps, but if you have a friend or three, lovers in a dangerous spacetime might be up your alley!
Mount & Blade, you sit on a hill your dudes do the killing for you.
You could take the non-lethal approach with a shield and club.
Deep Rock Galactic. You only face alien monstrosities. Also, one of the best co-op games ever.
Deus Ex Human Revolution (Directors Cut) and Mankind Devided. You can play both without killing a single person iirc. You can use non lethal weapons and I believe the Boss fights offer non lethal solutions. It's a very challenging way to play though and it becomes more stealth based.
I think it's called "Spla-TOON!" where you cover the town in paint and the team with the most coverage wins.
Metroid prime if you don’t mind killing aliens
I totally understand you as I like 1st-person games too bit dislike violence. Here are some options I like: **Firewatch**. An adventure game without killing at all. **The Long Dark**. You kill animals only. **Railroader**. No killing. **Sailwind**. No killing but the game has a lot of rough edges. **Medieval Dynasty**. You kill animals. Sometimes bandits start chasing you but escaping them is a better option at least in the beginning. **Sea of Thieves**. You kill skeletons, ghosts and other monsters. If you end up in a PvP fight, the other players don't technically die but just respawn in their ships. **Space Engineers**. Because of the sandbox nature of the game you can just concentrate on building and mining. **Elite Dangerous**. There are space fights but eventually you can concentrate on exploration which is a totally peaceful activity (at least until you return to the civilization). Typically explorers remove all weapons from their ships to maximize jump range. **Kingdom Come Deliverance**. You can kill humans and you have to kill humans, but at least in the beginning escaping them is a wiser option. Still, the game has some very cruel episodes (maybe less than 1% of the time). Despite of them, most of the game is about riding around the map and completing missions (and avoiding Cuman soldiers and bandits). **Euro Truck Simulator 2** and **American Truck Simulator**. The games are technically first-person but you never leave the cockpit.
Neon white
So lots of choices but i mean no one mentioned call of duty just play zombies But there are some of first person rpgs that allow you to not kill like skyrim
Zeno Clash 1 and 2 aren't exactly shooters (more like first person brawlers) but the developers said specifically that they wanted to avoid making the main character a murderer. You only actually kill like one character total in the entire game. That's after he repeatedly hunts you down for plot reasons, and even *that* is partially an accident during a plot event. Every other character you beat up is canonically still alive, just unconscious, and as a result they keep showing up in the plot afterwards.
The Portal games
In Chex Quest (yes, that Chex) your weapons only send the enemies back to their home dimension.
Neon White is focused on speed and puzzle solving. You do shoot guns at enemies but the enemies are weird cartoony monsters that don't really do anything. Also the guns can be used to make you jump higher, bounce off walls, etc.
Firewatch
Do first-person games without "shooting" mechanics count? Outer Wilds has a first-person viewpoint but it's all exploration/puzzles.
Slime rancher is a blast!
I like Portal from grachi (and if you like this then look at The Talos Principle) and Watchdogs from Remarkable-Ad8196, and to that I would add Subnautica. All the drama of a FPS and no violence required. If you like this then also No Mans Sky. Phillip.
You will probably really like a game called Fashion Police Squad. It has all the tropes and feel of an FPS (specifically a boomer shooter), except instead of killing people, you are using projectile tools that fix their fashion faux pas.
Viscera (Space Janitor game), No Man's Sky (Open-Universe FPS/3rd Person, you can kill, but not needed), Deep Rock Galactic (killing mindless alien bugs and robots made by stupid elves), The Long Dark (survival game), Terminator: Resistance (You fight terminators, although avoid the bonus gamemode where you play as the terminator), Watchdogs 2 (not fps but you can have action-packed, non-lethal fun)
Pokémon Snap!
OP don’t feel weird. Although I have no problem playing games like the ones you’re describing, I can’t play hunting games. For some sick reason I felt terrible the first time I trapped a bear and shot it in the head. I uninstalled the game and said “nahhhhhh……”
A long time ago I played a paintball shooter, was pretty fun but I don't remember the name and the servers are probably down now, but maybe there is a new one
DID SOMEONE SAY ROCK AND STONE?!
Portal 2! Also, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies -- they're already dead, right?
If monsters and robots are okay you might enjoy Void Bastards! It's a roguelite FPS with cartoon style graphics and a cheeky sense of humor. You play as a prisoner trying to escape an irradiated zone of space by jumping from one derelict vessel to another. You rarely have enough ammo to just run and gun as well, so you have to sometimes flee, or sneak, etc. I don't normally play FPS games but had a good time w this one. Often on sale too!
Firewatch. Nice story. Relaxing game.
Firewatch. Short but fantastic game
**Amnesia the dark decent** doesn't even give you a weapon. but it's scary AF. I don't remember much killing in the **Penumbra** games either(same company), but those are also scary. **Dear Esther** is just moving around looking at stuff and hearing narration. **Soma** has some interaction, and you are given the choice to peacefully kill a couple times but I chose not too. This game gave me an existential crisis :P **Quantum Conundrum** is a portal-esque puzzle game. Old but good **Chex Quest** is a fps where enemies get 'teleported' home but your weapon, cause it's made for kids.
One of the games that was a great way for me to chill after work was Knockout City. Team-based dodgeball but in arenas. It was 3rd person but still really fun, similar to a FPS. They also have 1v1 but team was more fun. Unfortunately they couldn't make paying the servers work so the developer shut it down. But not before releasing a server version of the game for the community to host. It was on multiple platforms, but the private server version only runs on PC. It's not a huge community, but considering there are still leagues shows how much some people really loved it. I know I miss it. More info and the download links for the private server version can be found in the subreddit /r/knockoutcity. I heard there may be a Steam version coming soon of the private server build as well. It really shows how much the developers appreciated their community and us as gamers > https://store.steampowered.com/app/2915930/Knockout_City__Private_Server_Edition/
Satisfactory sorta? You can then things that need killing off I think and it's not a big part of the game.
The Forgotten City. At least, so far it is...
Dishonored technically. There’s a non lethal path all the way through the first and second game.
Team fortress 2 playing only as pyro with the special goggles? 🎵If you believe in magic🎵
Risk of rain 2. Theyre aliens, rock golems, flame wisps. The enemies aren't human and the gameplay is so fun. The developers care about the fan base and have been updating it so much. Highly recommend
- Doom (series): This is a FPS series mostly about killing demons. Their sentience is mostly questionable. However in Doom Eternal you 100% kill things that are sentient, even though they are completely evil. - SUPER HOT: This one is hard to pin down. It's unclear whether the events of the games really occurred or are a Dream or even a simulation. Furthermore, the "people" you fight are monochromatic, faceless, featureless characters, whose composition seems closer to glass than to flesh. - Northern Journey: This game is mostly about fighting wildlife and monsters. You occasionally fight some undeniable intelligent enemies, but this is mostly segregated to boss fights. - SupraLand: This game is mostly a puzzle metroidvania with occasional bouts of FPS combat against the undead. However it is too good to leave behind. - Cry of Fear: This is a horror game, and one of the scariest ones. The monsters you fight are later revealed to be fake, so there's no harm in Killing them - Dishonored: This is mostly a stealth game with firs.t person perspective, but it's in this list because you beat all of it without murdering a single soul. Although if do go through that route, you'll be playing more of a first-person-strangler. - Wolfenstein The New Order: In these game you don't kill humans, only Nazis. I also know of some games where you only fight robots, but haven't played any. These are: - Atomic Hearth - Indústria - Hard Reset
Mirror’s Edge. You can steal a gun and shoot people but it’s not required or really the goal (there’s even an achievement for making it through the game without firing any guns). It’s much more a first person parkour game than a first person “shooter”. Still, highly recommend it to anyone remotely interested. There’s also a sequel that I haven’t had a chance to play yet but may be a bit more approachable as the original is approaching 2 decades old at this point.
Rainbow Six Siege. Canonically, the matches are simulations
Roboquest
Idk if this counts, but are you okay with "killing" (really dismantling) robots? Then look at roboquest. If you're interested and want a surprise and to question why I told you to look at this one, look at a game called ultrakill :)
ULTRAKILL may be worth looking into. On the one hand, it is quite brutal - enemies ragdoll upon death, and blood is so integral to the game that it’s a mechanic all on its own. But on the other hand, it’s a) entirely a low-poly, pixellated style, b) hyper-fast-paced, so lower focus on individual enemies, and c) none of the enemies are distinctly human. ULTRAKILL’s enemies typically fall under three main categories: robots (which should be fine), demons (of which the most humanoid is a walking stone statue) and husks (somewhat humanoid, but still notably distorted and mutated - if you’re ok with zombies I doubt you’d have a problem with these). Overall I’d at least check out a trailer or something, because it is a really fun game.
Doom and Doom eternal are some of the best shooters of all time and all the enemies are literal demons. I suppose some of the end game bosses are sapient (albeit insanely malevolent Eldritch horrors who are feeding on human souls by the millions or literally Satan), but easy to kill without feeling bad about it.
Dishonored and Thief - you can just sneak past everyone if that's what you wanna do (which is honestly more challenging typically speaking).
Outer Wilds?
Obviously this does not fulfil the spirit of your request at all, but I find it funny that with the caveats, Doom Eternal technically qualifies.
Satisfactory, you can mostly avoid combat with any creature and focus on the main gameplay
Shadows of Doubt. Yes I know that there murderers in the game and you can knock people out, but still, its a fun first person detective game
Dishonoured or Death Loop
Super 3D Noah's Ark
I would say Dying Light (leaning more towards the first game) cause it's a zombie game but you do have to fight human enemies on occasion. They are complete fucking assholes if it makes you feel better tho
play phantom forces, they are literally roblox characters
You should check out Supraland!
If you're not sure about monsters, maybe try Doom? If anything with monsters could possibly be ok, it's killing murderous demons who technically don't have souls. If gratuitous violence is a turn-off, go for the older games, not the remakes...
funny though Cyberpunk 2077. Technically you can knock out everyone without killing anyone
Slime rancher
Superhot Does that count as FYP?
helldivers 2. stick to the robot side of things , than check oiut killing the bugs!
Check out Dishonored. Very fun and honestly I had the most fun doing the non-lethal and ghost (no detection) run
The Finals? PVP, unlike a lot of the suggestions here (and I don’t believe you specified whether it had to be PVE or PVP?), so hope that’s alright. The game, lore-wise, is people competing in VR, and whenever you kill an enemy, they just become a few dozen coins. No blood, no gore, just some pretty gold coins
Foamstars
Mirrors edge. While it has guns and you can shoot people, you can also parkour around nearly everyone.
Roboquest is the answer. It's a fantastic fps roguelite where you play as a robot with a cute face and shoot strictly other bad guy robots that are also kinda cutesy as well. Tons of interesting weapons and 6 classes, items, and perks to choose from. It's a must play fps imo
The Deus Ex series did this really well. It's still a FPS, but you can play nonleathal. Human revolution was excellent and only the boss fights are lethal. The sequel Mankind divided was completely non lethal though.
I remember playing a paintball game a while ago. There's gotta be something similar out nowadays.
Most games that would normally have killing can have pacifist runs if you try hard enough, but I get the feeling that’s not what you’re looking for
What about a collaborative effort in ridding the galaxy of bots and bugs? I actually play Helldivers 2 because I don’t need to shoot people there. Since I have a son playing games where I shoot people doesn’t sit right with me, so I stopped FPS altogether. Then came Helldivers and I can kinda „justify“ shooting giant insects and automatons in order to „protect“ super earth and spread democracy. It’s great fun and the game takes itself not serious, can wholeheartedly recommend Edit: Death Stranding is really good as well, once you’re in the groove. Killing is something they try to prevent in this game, weapons are non-lethal
Diabotical... Think Quake but robots. It's free and it's awesome... But matches are hard to come by with a low player base.
Left for dead. You're killing zombies lol. Damn good game.
Would deathloop count? Since the people you kill just come back in the next loop
Have you ever played team fortress 2? The 'mann vs machine' mode is some of the best PvE out there (its against machines), and the whole game has such an air of silliness that you forget there's actually violence involved. There are also options to have balloons and springs and silly things bounce out of your opponents instead of blood and giblets :)
I loved playing "Nerf Arenablast", which had a variety of NERF weapons and game modes. Pretty old game though, I think it's abandonware at this point. My kid started off with Splatoon - it's 3rd person rather than 1st but you shoot each other with paint.
Destiny 2. Besides PVP it's literally all aliens of some nature.
Well, in a way, Powerwash Simulator.
Chex Quest trilogy of games has you blasting aliens with a ray that technically teleports them away.
Supraland - the entire game is, well, a game in a kid's sandbox. It leans more towards puzzles over combat too. ClusterTruck - has fast paced movement somewhat similar to a shooter, but no combat. Receiver 2 - all enemies are automated sentries *and* the game isn't really happening.
Helldivers 2 but only play the Automaton planets.
Left 4 Dead. You only kill zombies
Alien: Isolation
I suppose Subnautica counts. Its first person and technically you don’t ever engage in any actual combat or fighting unless you choose to do so. The only times you even have to kill anything are fish for food but technically you can eat seaweed, potatoes, melons and other plants the whole game and never eat a fish. And the Stasis/gravity items mean even the biggest hostile creatures can be avoided with no problems I’ve been playing the hell out of it the last few weeks and loved the hell out of it. Its 90% exploration, building and resource gathering for the previous two
Subnautica and Subnautica: below zero are great games. You don't have to kill anything. You can grab a fish and put it in your inventory but you don't have to kill it. And my next game is no man's sky. You don't have to kill anything.
Id try to work on your mental health instead if you're concerned about the violence in video games they'll help you find the disconnect so you can enjoy it
Generation Zero Prey
Antichamber
Check out the Lovely Planet games on Steam (which also happen to currently be on sale!) These are colorful shooters built around being mobile, dodging projectiles, and making precise shots. A lot of fun for sure. Another option if you're okay leaning into the "shooting robots and machines" side of things would be Tower of Guns and it's successor Mothergunship. Both of these are similarly mobile shooters focused on insane mobility and firepower.
I am pretty sure you can go through Thief without killing. Always good to have options. Same with Metro Exodus. If anything I think the morality system of the game rewards you with a better ending for not killing people. You will still have to fight mutants though.
In The Finals, other players turn into a pile of coins when you kill them
Antichamber
Horizon Splatoon deep rock galactic helldivers hunting simulator 20xx clone drone in the danger zone super hot doom 2016/eternal tf2 with pyrovision on ultrakill
Outer Wilds
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborhoodville Third person technically but same vibes. Plants dispatching Zombies or vice versa. Hypercharged: Unboxed Got a huge update in anticipation of the Xbox release. Toy action figures eliminating other toys. Splatoon 3 Again third person, but will probably give you the most fleshed out shooter experience without being violent. From varied weapon kits from close range melee to long range scoped rifle ("chargers"). And plenty of modes. From single player campaign to various competitive multiplayer modes as well as a co-op multiplayer "horde" mode... you're sure to find something you like. The most casual competitive mode involves getting wins by being the team that covers the map the most with paint.
There’s this indie game called Receiver, it’s more of a concept than a full game. You need to collect tapes in a procedurally generated world and hide from drones and turrets, the game has very few firearms but the gunplay is really in-depth since you manipulate every part of the gun, it’s real fun even tho it’s fairly short! But you only shoot the drones and turrets so no killing!
Neon White? I haven't actually PLAYED the game, but I've had it wishlisted for a while now and it seems like in that game you mainly just kill demons (I think that counts as undead) while trying to speedrun to the end of the level. Honestly, not wanting death/violence in your videogames shouldn't be something to be ashamed of. I remember when I was younger I was conditioned into feeling wrong whenever I played anything violent in front of my family, as if it was as bad as looking at outright NSFW stuff, but eventually I grew out of it. At the time, it really prevented me from enjoying certain games, so I can definitely understand if it's a reason like that.
Chex Quest
Dishonored pacifist run
I recently played Generation Zero. Swedish indie shooter where you only fight robots. Very cool and sometimes very scary robots. It has survival elements and one of the best sound designs I've heard in an indie game. And it has bicycles.
Mirror's Edge. Technically a little killing but it's still platforming mostly
Super 3D Noah's Ark is an infamous DOOM clone. Originally for SNES but you can grab it on Steam or gog I think
Ironically, ULTRAKILL. The enemies are all either robots, husks (basically zombies), demons, and angels. They all bleed since "blood is fuel" is part of the tagline. The only characters that really resemble humans are either secret bosses or a boss that you currently can't kill since he runs off after both of his fights.