Topic: Strategy game recommendations for a one handed player!

Greetings everyone,

I am totally new to this forum and would genuinely appreciate some advice on recommending a game, but with one very specific criteria.

Unfortunately due to an accident three months ago, I have lost the use of my dominant right hand and am looking at a minimum of 1-2 years before I may regain the functional use of my hand. I was wondering if anyone could possibly recommend a strategy type game that does not require quick movements that I could operate with just my weaker left hand?

I have (out of necessity) improved my left hand coordination and dexterity over the last few months, but it is still very much my weaker hand, thus quick reactions and fine movements on the controller are pretty much a non-starter at the mo 😀.

Any advice would be welcome and much appreciated.

Cheers

Sorry to hear about your accident and hope that you regain full use of your other hand - sooner, rather than later.

There are some awesome strategy games on the Switch (one of my fave genres), but many will require the use of two hands. I've got a fair few, but haven't got time to test out which can be played single handedly, but three spring to mind that might -

IronCast, Tiny Metal and LetterQuest Remastered. All are turn based strategy games and can be played with the touchscreen IIRC.

IronCast is a Match3 type RPG - don't be put off by its looks (or Match 3 style concept), it really is an awesome strategy game.

TinyMetal is basically Advance Wars for the Switch.

LetterQuest Remastered is a scrabble type game where you create words given random letters to beat the tar out of monsters. It's great fun.

Have a look on YouTbe to see if these might be to your personal tastes.

While not actually Nintendo focussed and not a game recommendation, have you looked at the Microsoft adaptive controller?

@zitpig

Cheers zitpig, I’ll look into these

@meppi64

That looks perfect, it’s a shame they don’t do something similar for the Switch. I’m not very well up to date with Xbox or PlayStations unfortunately, my previous console before the Switch was an Atari 2600! 😀😀

@Winstable Sorry to hear about that! I’ve got CTS but have been able to avoid doing open reduction surgery on the right hand so far.
I recommend checking out a gameplay vid for This Is The Police. It’s a strategy/sim that can or played entirely with touchscreen.
Also found that Harvest Moon is all touchscreen, as well, though not a strategy game. (Living in the rural southeast US gives me a soft spot for growing crops haha)

@Winstable There was talk of it being compatible with more things that just Xbox consoles, but I haven't kept up on the developments.

If it doesn't necessarily have to be on Switch, I would highly recommend picking up a Nintendo DSi XL, especially for games that have a touch screen only controls setup.
One that immediately comes to mind was a brilliant strategy game I myself just picked up a couple weeks ago on the recommendation of @Lroy.
It's Might & Magic Clash of Heroes and can be fully played with just a stylus. It's absolutely brilliant!

Also games such as Meteos and Zoo Keeper come to mind. Oh and Puzzle League as well. Oh and Puzzle Quest 1,2 and Galactrix as well.

But if you want strategy games, I believe that games such as Advance Wars and Fire Emblem on DS all have stylus only control options as well, although you might have to check up on that to make sure.
I think even the Final Fantasy games have a stylus only mode.
And there are the Zelda games that can be played with just the touch screen.
I really loved Yoshi Touch & Go and Kirby Canvas Curse. Oh and Picross 3D.

Sadly on the 3DS, this feature seems to be used a lot less. Then again, it's fully compatible with the DS catalogue.

@Winstable
Oh, sorry to hear that...
Well....
If you like Tactic RPG, you can try Final Fantasy Tactics Advance GBA / Final Fantasy Tactics A2 NDS.
Since you play with one hand, you can skip the dialogues quickly by pressing A button.

Other games (Not Strategy games) that you can play with one hand + stylus :
1. Cooking Mama NDS / 3DS
2. Tomodachi Life 3DS
3. Final Fantasy III NDS

Get well soon !

Disgaea - awesome strategy rpg, there is nothing that requires reflex in this game, i believe you can play it all the way with one hand(switching between joy cons obviously)
The game is made in anime style, has gimmicky storyline and extremely developed combat system, there are literally hundreds of things you can do, you can level up pretty much anything making your character as overpowered as possible.
In my opinion the Disgaea series is the best strategy rpg ever so i definitely recommend you to try it out.

Most turn based RPGs should be simple enough to play.

I usually play Pokemon one handed, since most games in the series allow you to use the L button as the A button.

And they're treating one handed play as a main selling point for Pokemon Let's Go.

idk, try something like the darkest dungeon. good luck with your recovery

Any JRPG should be good.

I feel your pain. I haven't had anything quite that bad but I once lost the nerve on one side of my mouth after an operation on my jaw.

They said it might heal and come back or I might be stuck that way permanently (unless I had further surgery to fix it). I got lucky and it ended up randomly coming back about 4 months after the operation.

Firstly Ladies and Gents, many thanks for the replies! I will look into the suggestions and ideas.

I suppose I thought of strategy games as being the best genre as they don’t necessarily require instant quick fine motor control, but I’d consider any genre to be honest if it is playable on the control with one (weaker) hand.

Once again, many thanks for the input😀

@Winstable You can also contact Nintendo Support about your situation and they also can give help there remember they most likely have user with your situation that probably asked them. And knowing NIN if they want you as a NIN gamer they probably have knowledge that could help in your situation. You don't have to buy what they offer but you can get a helps up on what they know what other options you can find.

@Winstable There's a brilliant little platformer called Bomb Chicken which can be played one-handed, as the only controls are moving left or right (using a control stick or the D-pad) and placing bombs (which can be done with any button). There are some quick reactions required, but it's slower paced than most other platformers, and I played some of the game with just my left hand despite being right-handed. Maybe check out some videos of the game and see if you think you'd be able to play it. Either way, I wish you luck with your recovery!

I recommend Banner Saga 1, 2 + 3.
Yesterday I burned my hand by being dumb and thus had to cool it for 4 hours. In the meantime I played one of the final chapters of Banner Saga 3 and it went quite well!
It is slow paced, strategic and you can control everything via touchscreen.

Other than strategy games, I recommend World of Goo, Little Inferno, Human Ressource Machine and Thimbleweed Park. All completely touch-screen-controlled aswell.

Have you seen this one handed controller? https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/16/16155858/3d...

@toiletduck Thank you so much for this link, I downloaded the specs and ordered one to be made from 3dhubs, it only cost £8.50 in total including postage! Should be here in a couple of days so will let you know how it goes 😀

@Winstable awesome! Good luck with that and be sure to share your impressions. I guess it could take you some time to get used to it

@Winstable If you don't mind going old school, I knew a kid who broke his hand and for months played games with his off hand on a Game Boy Advance SP. The size of the device makes it almost perfect to set on a table and play with one hand. At least according to him. I get that the GBA is pretty old now, but it has a lot of great games. Games like Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are excellent strategy titles and totally turn based, meaning you don't need any reaction time. There are also a lot of old school RPGs on the device that can be played that way too.