Games

My daughter loves A Short Hike and Wobbly Life.

And on her phone Toca Boca World. Though it has a tendency to crash every few months, taking her progress with it.

She also likes Spider-Man but I guess that's not very "girly".

My wife loves Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, and she's been way into Hello Kitty: Island Adventure lately. It seems to split the difference between those things and add some of its own spice on top.

Unpacking

Spiritfarer

Oh, also the Life is Strange games are great.

I've heard a lot of good things about VA-11 Hall-A. Haven't played it myself, but it looks like you play as a bartender in a cyberpunk-esque world and talk to the partons in your bar to get to know what's going on in both the world and their personal lives

Well there’s lot of shovelware girly games out there. Your best bet would be cozy games https://cozygamereviews.com/cozy-games-on-steam/ maybe try a dating sim or two? The KFC Dating sim https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator/ is free and one my absolute favorites. Granted, it’s stupid, it’s cheesy, it’s anime, it’s taking itself a little bit too serious, but I like it. One of my friends recently loved house flipper 2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1190970/House_Flipper_2/ a game where you clean houses, sell them, later even get to design your own houses. Also one of my new favorite cozy feel good games is little kitty big city https://store.steampowered.com/app/1177980/Little_Kitty_Big_City/ I just love the writing and the atmosphere of this game! Oh, and the Style-Boutique game series on the Nintendo 3 DS! If you know a tech savvy person who can Mod a 2DS or 3DS you can get the console for cheap and put the game on there from the internet. My wife and one of my coworkers loved these games!

[I totally want to start a thread about how Red Dead Redemption (GTA but it’s the wild wild west-era with cowboys) has the best horse riding experience in any game until now and how a horse riding game with the mechanics would be amazing, but I’ll just plant this seed here and hope for some game-dev to see it.]

The first life is strange game. I suppose there is technically a violent part but it's not a game based on violence.

A lot of !cozygames@lemmy.world and !lifesimulation@lemmy.world games would fit. !otomegames@ani.social are romance visual novels aimed at women interested in men and a lot would fit too.

!infinitynikki@discuss.tchncs.de is an open world dressup game very marketed at women and has that soft pink color scheme, warning for being a F2P gacha game although you can progress without ever spending money. I usually avoid gacha but gameplay is legitimately good and "good gameplay," "high budget," and "for women" is a combination this game hits that I do not see too often in video games. (Other commenter is right there is a lot of girly shovelware.) There is combat, but it's definitely not the main focus. Very soft and pink. You might also like Beglitched (DEFINITELY pink and soft), and Style Savvy for Nintendo DS. I have been meaning to play both of those so I can't offer perspective on if they fill the romance ask, though Beglitched has combat. You might also enjoy Slime Rancher, also lots of pink and soft. Although it's also not combat-free it's not the main point either. Cattails was fun, kind of like Stardew but with cats instead, although as with Stardew combat does exist (though if I recall correctly it's optional and not the main focus).

Now probably my recommendation least like what you are asking for: I love the Touhou Project series. Don't let the male-dominated fandom and the tons of sexualized art of the characters fool you, the games don't sexualize the characters at all—I would feel very comfortable showing them to a 5 year old or Grandma. It is basically a bunch of superpowered women from Japanese mythology/folklore shooting very pretty lasers at each other. The focus is actually combat here, but I figured I'd give it a mention. Not specifically aimed at women but it's not not aimed at us either. Lovely music too.

Source: am girly girl who also plays video games

I can't recommend Celeste enough, personally.

I will warn you that the platforming can be challenging, but if it's too stressful Celeste offers almost unparalleled accessibility options that will allow you fine control over the difficulty so no matter your skill level you'll be able to progress.

Great story, cozy atmosphere but still emotional impact, and the only "fighting" you do is against yourself.

Amazing game, highly recommend Celeste

Wandersong! You play as a Bard who has to save the world through music and singing. Minimal combat and absolutely wonderful storyline that will make you cry tears of joy.

A bit of a wilder rec would be Cassette Beasts, which is basically Pokémon but better and has really nice optional romances. Very combat focused tho.

Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Very fun and puzzly and you get to play as Zelda this time.

Peggle! It's a very fun and unique brickbreaker with lots of silly and cute characters, art, and music.

Not super girly/pink overall, but can be enjoyed by pretty much anyone.

Unpacking, it's a relaxing puzzle game with some great environmental storytelling. Gameplay amounts to unpacking after various times moving house throughout a woman's life. It's really interesting to see how the different stages of her life are shown by the different living situations she moves into.

Check out Flower by ThatGameCompany

I feel like spiritfarer is in this vein. Really cozy game

I'll add Spiritfarer. It's not "pink" per se, but it's a much more "happy feelings" game. It's about taking lost sould and ferrying them on your ship, talking to them about their lives and feelings, and you can give them hugs of course.

A little to the left is a cute puzzle game that might fit that category

Don’t know if this fits the bill for you or not but my partner occasionally falls into the clutches of the Sims on their laptop. They’ve customized their installation with lots of outfit + hairstyle mods and expansions, so you kinda get to make it your own

Team Fortress 2 is a fun game about hats. There is a combat element, but it's not really the important bit.

Euro-Truck Simulator

A recent one is Wanderstop, loved the vibes on that one. If you want to read more I wrote up some demo impressions here: https://lemmy.world/post/26452334

Already mentioned.

• Slime Rancher
• Fields of Mistria
• A Short Hike

Not yet mentioned (at least that I saw)

• Potionomics

• • A game where you play Silvia, a potion crafter who has taken over her uncle's shop on an island full of adventurers. You get to meet many kinds of people, both adventurers and not, and have a chance at romancing pretty much all of them (at once, if you select the polyamory mode). The art style is adorable (please physically release the cards, devs) and the voice acting is so well done.

• Monster Prom

• • Strictly a slice of life / dating sim about trying to get a date for prom. The cast of characters are very cute, as is the art style. It's also multiplayer if you're into that.

• Emily is Away

• • I believe this one is free. It's a nostalgia blast for those of us who grew up with instant messaging like MSN or AIM. It's been a while since I played, but I remember it being cute and very interesting.

Throwing in a recommendation for Tiny Glade. Not so much a game as a sandbox where you make small cottages, towns, or castles. Lots of options in photo mode for showing off your creations.

Hello Kitty Adventure Island is the game my friends and I use when we want something that isn't a shooter

Highly recommend Haven. Has some combat but it's very minimal and it's mostly slice of life focused on the romance of a pair of runaways.

Gris

Oh I think I know a good one! Haven, and it's currently 60% off. You play as a couple who escaped a controlling society to a foreign planet. (Three gender combinations can be chosen for the couple)

There is a combat element, and I don't think you can avoid it, but what you do is essentially clean the corruption off the local wildlife, instead of killing. Don't know if that works for you, but it's worth giving it a look I think.

Undertale, mercy run. The goal is to never kill a monster. It has combat, but the combat mechanic is moving your "heart" to dodge attacks and keep chosing mercy.

Kirby.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land can be played co-op. You can play it for free on your computer using the Torzu emulator.

Also The Sims.

Not really "pink", and lacks romance, but very pleasant: Dave the Diver. Cozy-ish game with nifty characters. Only thing would be I don't know if you meant "no/minimal combat" because you don't want the mechanics or the vibes. Dave has not particularly challenging combat mechanics, and paw patrol levels of violence levels (although you are catching and eating fish).

If you like park builders, Zoo Tycoon is cozy as hell. Beware the DLC trap though. You can get the base game with a lot of meat pretty cheap, but the DLCs are like $10+ each and not really a good value IMO. But the game has a great vibe with some really neat mechanics that try and imitate real conservation efforts.

What would check the boxes through a "Hot Topic" lens is Promise Mascot Agency. Surprisingly wholesome, completely off the wall, combat is all card/deck builder based... I... it's a hard one to describe.

Doughnut county checks all the boxes but is rather short. Katamari if you haven't done it.

I hear good things about, but have not played: Naiad, Tempopo.

Life Is Strange

https://www.gog.com/fr/game/life_is_strange_complete_season

It's not an action/combat game but there are violent parts in the story

Metal Gear Solid

Doki Doki Literature Club

• Fields of Mistria
• Roots of Pacha

Easy recommends if you liked Stardew Valley.

Weird recommends would be My time at Portia/Sandrock. They absolutely have combat, but have romance systems and a cuter aesthetic. Even the enemies are derpy/cute.

You could try Animal Well. Dark yet pastel-oriented colorschemes. Minimal "combat" but more of a puzzle and exploration style of gameplay. More mysterious than scary. Mild peril. Not romantic in the slightest, but very original.