Sky: Children of the Light

You get to run/fly/swim/dive around and explore several mostly chill realms, helping out “spirits” and collecting light (one kind for currency, another to increase flying ability), and optionally interacting and cooperating with friendly randoms from around the world. There is a story to it which I won’t spoil, but there is always more to do even after playing through it.

There are zero ads.

There are some optional transactions, but they aren’t pushed constantly (there are changing “seasons”, and you can buy a pass for each one which will give you access to special cosmetics and the in game currency to buy them with, but there is plenty to collect without it).

Seasons also repeat (not exactly as they were, but the spirits from them return and their items become available again) so if you missed something the first time around because you didn’t have enough in game currency, or you took a break from the game, you’ll get another chance at it (I also think items that were initially only available with the pass you buy for real money, later become available for in game currency).

Keeping that in mind, you can grind as much or as little as you like, and there is also a limit to how much currency you can collect a day, so there’s only so much grinding you can do if you are so inclined. If you’re not that bothered about buying all the items, you can take a really relaxed approach and just play through the tasks and explore at your own pace (even learn how to play an instrument lol).

The first time I played it a few years back, I didn’t really “get” the game, or think to look up any information about it, so was just randomly flying around and getting confused and frustrated when things were a little less chill at points, so I quit. But a few months ago I decided to give it a second chance and having actually taken the time to understand what is going on in the game, this time around I’m enjoying it a lot more.