Gaming

Stardew valley. Its not the type.of game I usually play, but for some reason whenever I feel down, just the sinple game play and music is very soothing.

This might sound weird but Dark Souls 1 does give me a certain level of comfort, not sure what that says about me lol. I haven't played it in a while but back then, creating new builds and trying out new weapons was really fun, and I got very accustomed to the game's mechanics and it's general progression and pathing. I could run through the whole game without even thinking about it. I'll still go back to it every now and again and it still gives me that comfortable nostalgic feeling.

The Metroid series and Final Fantasy XIV

Minecraft and Stardew Valley.

This is going to sound silly, but Clicker Heroes. There's nothing necessarily "comforting" about it in the classic sense, but I have ADD, depression, and anxiety. Putting that on and just mindlessly clicking and resource-managing allows me to focus just enough on that, without it needing my full attention, to be able to also sort through my otherwise incoherent strands of thoughts.

But going by art, music, experience, gameplay, etc, I guess I'd have to say Bastion from Supergiant Games. It's definitely up there as one of my favorite games of all time.

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.

Journey (PS3, PS4, PS5)

A perfect emotional escape for a couple of hours, I have lost count of how many "journeys" i have done, and its made all the richer if you meet another traveller along the way and complete the journey with them.

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.

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

• 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

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

Minecraft and No Man’s Sky. Explore a little; build a little; shoot a few baddies; chill; repeat 😊

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

Hmmm probably civilisation is the one that I always go back to… but for pure comfort warm fuzzies - animal crossing.

As well as just being a nice, no pressure game it’s also associated in my mind with when my little boy was born. Spent many sleepless nights & mornings with our newborn snoozing in my lap while I played to keep myself awake. It was perfect as it’s such a nice gentle game.

Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, and the NHL/MLB games are always my go-to when I just want to chill out and be comfortable. There's lots of comfort in being "with" some of your favorite characters time and time again. There's a different comfort (more of a zen feeling) in booting up my favorite sports games, turning off my brain and just letting instinct and reflex take over. Most Friday nights at the end of a tough week, I play MLB with some beers until late in the night after my friends log off.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Cruising around in BeamNG.drive is fun

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.

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

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.

I can always go for a game of Age of Empires 2. That game takes me back to my childhood.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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 and the digital version of Ascension, solo play. I guess I like deckbulders. Ascension especially is so comforting for me, chill gameplay, no time pressure and I can put it down anytime and resume later on. Or not and just start a new one instead.

Or Isaac if I am in the mood for some action. plop plop plop plop.

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.