Its not that I'm bored of games, I just need something cheap that I can sink into but leave easily (as in without $20+ of regret) Hobbies are just rationalized money pits in most cases
Dolphin Olympics is actually pretty fun. QWOP is retarded though. It's supposed to be some thing to teach people how bio-mechanics work, but the game itself doesn't work. How's it supposed to teach when it's broked?
Someone missed the point of QWOP. If you want something casual that you can easily jump into, but at the same time lost a lot of time with, I'd recommend something like Dungeons of Dredmor. You wouldn't play it for hours on end every evening, but you'd waste some time on it here and there. Some other's I'd list (You said no Steam games, but that's like saying no video games): Terraria Cave Story (Free) One of the old Fallout games. Super Meat boy Torchlight Voxatron Depending on your laptop, you could emulate higher end games too. I run a laptop that can barely run AoE III, but I play Crash bandicoot and Spyro games sometimes too.
I know the point is supposed to be mindless fun, but it's also supposed to be mildly educational. ;P In saying that, I did play it for about half an hour. It was hilarious at first, but then it became a battle to move the guy more than three metres, and I gave up.
I guess that was a kind of harsh generalization. What I meant was I would prefer free but at least somewhat immersive (as in no super meat boy or bit trip runner style repetition, I've almost snapped my laptop in half at the aggravation of bit trip runner)
On the free side of things: Cave Story Dwarf Fortress (You probably wouldn't like it if you want a game you can just pick up and play, the learning curve is batshit insane). Legends of Yore Spelunky Triple A Epic Inventor Not free, but cheap: Fallout Fallout 2 Dungeons of Dredmor Solar 2
I noticed you said you don't want to pay much for games, why not just pirate? If you end up not regretting it, buy it.
Any free combat strategy game that either doesn't end or takes longer than three hours to completely beat would be great.