Gaming

This may sound odd as a comforting game, but I fired up Fallout 3 a year or so ago, and it really made me feel good to be back in the Capitol Wasteland.

Zelda games are this for me (except Twilight princess, its environment and visuals were depressive to me). Particularly, botw is peak to get lost in.

lately: against the storm. making a city builder into a roguelite was genius.

Definitely Minecraft. Old Pokemon games as well. Just something about the grind is therapeutic

Anything based on Kirby! The music, aesthetic, everything just makes me happy

Cozy Grove or Wingspan, both pretty chill games with nice music.

Recent ones I come back to a lot are Sable and A Short Hike, both have great atmosphere and are nice to just amble around. Sable had a fishing update recently which I haven't tried yet, so that'll be nice when I need something chill.

If I'm just relaxing, probably Arma 3. It's editor is like playing with toys for adults. I love making missions or armies that aren't balanced or made for other people. I do this little mini-game with myself where I build up an army starting with only pistols and a few guys. Then as you beat more competent opponents, like maybe it starts put with poorly equipped pirates and looters and goes up to fighting the United States or PLA, you get more and more equipment and fight on progressivly larger maps. It's very fun, and feels like being a child again. Plus, maybe it has a bit of Metal Gear Peacewalker inspiration.

Euro Truck Simulator/American Truck Simulator

It quickly just becomes a virtual road trip simulator, and as someone who generally enjoys driving and road trips its very chill

Pure comfort? Pokemon Crystal Clear - it's like healing for the soul after a long day of marking.

Less pure comfort? Darkest Dungeon - because sometimes you need to feel pain to really relax!

A Short Hike might be my favorite peacefull one. Or death stranding on a lower difficulty.

Outer Wilds. But I already know everything that happens. So I prefer watching a stream/VOD of someone playing it for the first time.

Not so much any one game, as a genre: action adventure games. Games like Tomb Raider, God of War, stuff like that. I love playing through a really immersive, well-told story.

Skyrim for sure. I have an embarrassing number of hours thanks to the modding community.

Depends on my mood, Stardew Valley is high on my list if I need a calm game to relax. Hotline Miami 1 & 2 if I need to get all my anger out, and Racing Sims like Assetto Corsa and iRacing for if I want to clear my mind driving cool cars around.

Cruising around in BeamNG.drive is fun

honestly any shoot em up or bullet heaven game. its nice and cathartic to blow up a fleet of spaceships in super galaxy squadron or mow down a thousand monsters in vampire survivors.

Elite Dangerous in VR. I can really disconnect from the real world and just enjoy being a space-pirate bounty hunter.

Depends, sometimes its a quiet peaceful game like Minecraft, as others have said. Sometimes its Civ, keeps my brain thinking the whole time usually. Sometimes its Postal 2 or a Saints Row or GTA. Depends ont he mood, do i want calm, do i want my brain to be forced to think, or do i just want to do awful things for a little bit to virtual people.

Minecraft, oblivion, fable, shadow of the colossus, dkc trilogy on SNES, virtually any Zelda game, final fantasy tactics

My two most frequented games would be Stardew valley or Animal crossing. Specifically the GameCube version (emulation if you don't have one) or New Horizons (been surprisingly refreshing)

Nothing against the other versions I just haven't tried them.

Civilization 2 on PC. Play on easy, small map, raging barbarians, and just stomp on the PC.

It's not exactly cozy or anything but mine is probably Mini Metro. It's just a perfectly crafted puzzle game in every single way, I can play it on my laptop or my phone or my Steam Deck depending on the situation, it's always there and takes enough focus that there's no room to be worrying about life at the same time. Absolute masterclass in audio design which makes it very immersive considering you're just looking at lines and basic shapes.

Or or course as someone else already said, sometimes you just need to blast some bugs in Deep Rock Galactic. For rock and stone!

Big pro of both of these games is you can feel happy about supporting the devs as they're both genuinely awesome, which might help with the whole depressive headspace thing.

Slay the Spire is a big one. Casually smacking out wacky runs during a lunch break is the bee knees.

Brotato is good for this too, even if the game can be a bit repetitive. I wish it would grow even bigger with more items, more deep mechanics, more everything. Thank goodness there's modding.

As a kid, Alien versus Predator co-op survival maps were a big one. Mindless mayhem clears the mind like nothing else.

Elder Scrolls games, especially Oblivion. But for all of them counts that after thousands of hours I still find new things, walking around the world is just great, the music amazing, the quality issues and bugs feel more silly in a fun way than breaking, and the lore feels like it is never ending.

Otherwise there is also the Sims. Similar weird lore, funky cartoony animation, and otherwise just a do whatever you feel like.

Lego Batman, the first one. God, I love that game. I just feel so cozy when I play it.

Slime Rancher 2 is my more recent go-to. Failing that, Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island will always do it for me

Spore. I love making little creatures. Gameplay is simple but it's still fun!

RDR2 Ik it's a little intense at times, but between missions its relaxing to just ride your horse around, craft/cook, and enjoy the beautiful scenery

Half life 2 + Episodes One and Two, Portal, Civ 5. All fantastic games, completely unmonetized (except for the upfront price of course) and each with impeccable storylines (receipt Civ of course).

I just hope Valve make another game like HL2 or Portal sometime in the future. I'll buy it without second thought.

I simply cannot get over simcity 2000. forever in my heart

I found gaming exacerbated my feelings of loneliness after many years of gaming daily. I also found the FOMO nature of a lot of games I was playing really took the enjoyment out of gaming.

Took a break in April (To watch lots of Star Trek) and only recently have had a few urges.

Hunt: Showdown may get picked up again and there are a couple of games coming that could be fun but we shall see.

It'll be an odd one compared to everyone else, but DiRT 3 with some good music playing in the background is awesome.

The physics are awesome, a bit arcady but reasonably realistic and manageable even on keyboard and the replay mode is amazing, makes even the shittiest driver look pro with its camera work.

And the rallycross modes and the montecarlo track are amazing.

For me it's Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight and Rollercoaster 1. Just building up my farm and getting to know every NPC in stardew is fun and I haven't played a game that let me feel progress and level ups as much as this game. Hollow knight is just so chill, the music is awesome and even though the setting seems depressing it spark so much hope for me with every new NPC. And Rollercoaster is just the dream of a child building an amusement park.

The Metroid series and Final Fantasy XIV

Tetris is an all time go to for getting out of my head.

• Quest 64
• The Last Guardian
• Cookie Clicker
• Mario's Picross
• Nanashi no Game
• Silent Hill
• LSD Dream Emulator
• Diablo
• The Hubris Game house demo made for Ben Drowned
• The Father: Reboot