Gaming

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

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.

For me it's the original Wild Arms on PS1. The translation makes the game a bit of a slog to play through. But, the soundtrack alone puts me into a happy place.

A sad story, made lighter by the friends found along the way.

Used to be Test Drive: Unlimited, then the second one. After that, I moved to The Crew 1 and later 2. A big open world and car/motorcycle to ride around is unmatched when it come to just kicking back and relaxing in a game.

It's very short, but if you need a small (big) dosage of weirdness - try The Good Time Garden. It's an experience that I like to go back to from time to time, always gets some chuckles out of me!

Transport Tycoon, using OpenTTD. If you've never played it you can download OpenTTD and use their graphics, sounds, and music replacement sets to play it for free. However as I own the base game I like to keep the original music as it helps to drive the nostalgia.

I love Doom, and I've been playing it since I first got hold of the shareware episode, but when I really need a comfort game it's almost always Transport Tycoon.

For me it's Ridge Racer Type 4 for the PS1. I think what comforts me is that soundtrack (listen to it everyone), but also it's the nostalgia kicking in for me

Trackmania 2020 is great!

For me it’s definitely Pokémon. When I was a kid I used to spend so much time just going through a million sapphire playthroughs. Even now if I’m having a bad day I’ll boot it up and play it a little.

Also special shoutout to factorio and stardew valley. It’s so easy to just lose all sense of time with those games lol

I like to throw on a Dynasty Warriors game and just mindlessly start cutting down swathes of enemies.

Slay the spire and BTD6 are games I play when I don't know what to play.

Minecraft

Everquest, Rimworld and Final Fantasy Tactics.

For me, for some strange reason, any resource management/city building game really soothes me. There is something about making thing ‘balanced’ and ‘streamlined’ that really puts my mind at ease and can distract me from just about anything.

I used to zone out and blow shit up to music in Just Cause 2. Now I do the same thing in Deep Rock Galactic.

One that I can think of is Journey. Another one that is pretty nice to play is Rime. There's a mobile game called sky or something as well that's pretty pretty to play as well.

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

Deus Ex, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, and Cyberpunk 2077. Like you said, they are games I like to get lost in, just walk/drive around in, soak in the ambience. I like to pretend I'm there; it's a great escape, like you said, comforting.

Super Mario Sunshine and SM64 are at the top of that list for me. Also, Banjo Kazooie. Pretty much any of the N64 classics tbh.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2. Been playing it since I was 2. 21 now

Harry Potter PC games. Particularly the first two - I played them a lot when I was younger so there's a nostalgia about them that I love. Fliiiipendo!

Kerbal Space Program and Rain World

Surprised to be the first one to name it: Europa Universalis 4. Nothing better than to paint the map listening to either the EU4 soundtracks or your playlists.

A Plumber of All Seasons Super Mario World romhack is super fun and beautiful game. One guy spent years to make it, it is a work of love.

I recently heard that a Skyrim was a comfy game and I'm one to agree. Now I haven't picked up the game in months, but I know I can go back and pick it up again knowing that I'll be able to get lost in the world of the Dragonborn.

Another one for me is Stardew Valley, and I've also started to play Veloren bit which could also go up there as a cozy game.

Morrowind and Mario Maker 2.

I don't play this often enough lately but Jigsaw Puzzle Dreams is a super simple & cosy game. It's jigsaw puzzles, yes, but you also get to decorate the apartment where you're doing the puzzles. It is just a very chill, no-pressure time and often I will just mess around doing the decor side of it so I have a few different apartment vibes to choose from for when I finally decide to do a puzzle. When I get super sad & unmotivated I will do a really small easy puzzle on the bedroom desk and it helps me to get the feeling that I have completed a thing, which is sometimes enough to help get me moving on non-game things.

Lately, mine has been Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour on the GameCube.

Skyrim, fire emblem(anything 3DS and up, I haven't played the older games) and Warframe ❤️ these games always make me happy and comfort me if needed

Cozy endless games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, or Sims 4, where I can just get lost in the gameplay and don't have to stress out over objectives or missions.

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

Mine was Diablo 2 for the longest time. I could get my summon necromancer out and play fairly mindlessly. He'd have so many minions that nothing ever really hit me. He wasn't super overpowered, so he didn't kill fast, but it was a nice, lazy walkthrough kind of build. He did better in big open areas rather than corridors, so I'd play him in those even if that meant a lower chance of finding good gear.

Civilization 4. Incredible quotes, amazing sound track, deep mechanics

Probably FTL. The game and the soundtrack are enthralling. I completely lose track of time playing it. But in a good way.

Edit: also Stardew Valley is my newest obsession.

Mirrors edge is a series I always go back to. Really easy to fire up catalyst or the original and just focus on running really fast while I have an audiobook or some music on in the background. There is so many speedrunning techniques for each game that there is an endless depth to explore.