Our favorite games to play when it’s hot as frick outside

Last month, the UK broke its previous record of how hot it had ever been in May. It got to be 35°C/95F where I was, and now, we’re in the middle of another record-breaking week where forecasts are claiming everything from 33°C/91F-39°C/102F. I’m not in the mood for dense games. No reading, no comprehension, no instructions, I just want something to click to pass the time.

So I looked through my Nintendo Switch, my Steam library, and the gacha games I have on my iPad for something to give cool vibes and an easy setting. While Honkai Star Rail is a simple fare of clicking menus and combat options, I didn’t have the strength for team comps. I wasn’t in the mood to simulate labor in an outdoor-themed farm game or play a city-based game with the thought of hot concrete streets.

While looking through lists, I also wondered what my fellow teammates were up to in the sweltering, heavy, dense, endless UK heat – here are the games we all chose.

PowerWash Simulator 2 – Holly’s choice

What I settled on is PowerWash Simulator 2. Putting the air con on in my room, setting up a tiny desk fan pointing right at me and a damp towel about my neck, then blasting nasties away with a huge, cold water gun and imagining the splashback and gentle mist from the tools is almost enough to make me forget about the absurdly hot outdoor temperatures, if only for a while. Almost. I gave it an 8/10 in my PowerWash Simulator 2 review for a reason, so I highly recommend.

Pokémon Sun and Moon – Daz’s choice

If I want to get away from the stifling humidity of the UK in summer but still enjoy the heat as it was intended, Pokémon Sun and Moon are the perfect escapes. I can just pretend I’m on a sandy Alolan beach while playing my favorite game series of all time.

Mad Max – Kayleigh’s choice

Mad Max, because I get the 4D experience of feeling like I’m in the Wasteland as the heat causes me to melt, and the atrocious amount of fur that my dogs shed in the summer is like little tumbleweeds blowing around the house.

Mixtape and Just Cause 3 – Sam’s choices

It might be blisteringly hot outside, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave the vibes outside. With one last night of partying on the horizon, Mixtape on Switch puts you in various gaming formats, from skating and rock skimming to soaring across the skies in one fell swoop. Beethoven & Dinosaur’s latest game is a short and sweet treat, with all the hallmarks of a memorable summer. Heartache, nostalgia, friendship, and a cold one with the squad? I’ll take all of that with the game’s impeccable soundtrack, featuring bangers from Devo, Roxy Music, and the Smashing Pumpkins. For a full rundown of the summer’s antics, check out our Mixtape review.

If you want dazzling blue seas, heat, and some action this summer, you don’t need to travel across the world for it. Avalanche Studios’ Just Cause 3 on Steam Deck has all of that and a healthy dose of explosives to keep you entertained. Stepping into the leather boots of not-so-secret agent Rico Rodriguez, it’s up to you to liberate Medici one firefight at a time. Armed with a grapple hook, wingsuit, and an arsenal of weapons to wreak havoc with, Just Cause 3 is still a great time, whether you’re playing on your Steam Deck, ROG Ally, or Lenovo Legion Go.

Mario Kart World – Quinn’s choice

There’s no easier way to escape your melting pot of a living space than with Mario Kart World. You can roam the snowy shores of Starview Peak, or imagine a better life in the icy caves of DK Pass, as you brutally trample your knockout opponents to get on the podium. You can even head over to Koopa Troopa beach if you want to embrace that sunny feeling, because it’s hard to overheat while playing Mario Kart World – while the common man’s PC heats up like a NASA space engine, the Nintendo Switch 2 stays perfectly cool and easy to use in any weather conditions. Just be careful not to get annoyed if you get eliminated from your race, though, as you’ll find it hard to stay cool under duress.

Quinn’s not the only one who rates the latest Kart – Connor’s Mario Kart World review praises the game massively.

Vampire Survivors – Connor’s choice

When it’s unreasonably hot, there’s no better game than Vampire Survivors. Outside of picking my weapons, it basically plays itself, so I can sit there, sweating, feeling a sense of achievement with each level without having to think about it. Better still, there’s the Whiteout bonus stage, which is so covered in snow that I can momentarily forget about the horrible sun beating down on me like a kid with a magnifying glass. You can even play it on other platforms – our Vampire Survivors mobile review goes over another format.

Depending on how you feel about the heat, we at Pocket Tactics recommend a winter-themed game to help imagine cold vibes, or something akin to Hades, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, a Fallout, or a Doom if you want to immerse yourself in the hot settings of Mars or the literal underworld.

This week would be a great time for Splatoon Raiders to come out, for more liquid-based gameplay – although I’m sure we’ll get another heatwave closer to its release. It would also be great to get Red Dead Redemption 2 so I can live out more sweltering Western fantasies while it’s hot enough, but I digress.