Gaming

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.

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

Portal (and 2). Replayed them so many times.

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

I recently discovered Moonglow Bay and this was perfect for this.

Fishing and cooking, sailing around, and just the chill soundtrack.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night is my go to. It has a pretty good pacing, with enough new things being thrown at you. Also since it's Igavania, there's a joy of finding new weapons / equipments, that's kinda lacking in pure metroidvania.

As you grow older, your eyesight worsens, and sore joints are becoming a common occurrence. So, I prefer it to newer waves of souls-like metroidvanias that require too much dexterity or precision platforming.

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

Easily Path of Exile. There's something so relaxing about blowing up the entire screen with one flick of my wrist, and it really gets my endorphins flowing to minmax my stats using third party tools like Path of Building and testing out items on the trade site / changes to my skill tree to see how they'd affect my build.

To some people it sounds like work, but for me it hits that sweet spot of minmaxing and complexity that no other game really can.

Edit: I should also mention that lately I've been mostly playing on Steam Deck which has been a revelation for me. Endgame "alch and go" mapping is so perfect for the pick up and play style, only enhanced by having access to it from the couch/toilet.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I always find myself firing up a few round of Battlefield 4 or, for longer stretches, doing a new playthrough of Fallout 4 (with mods of course).

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

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.

Final Fantasy 15 in the beginning for the bro-adtrip and RDR2

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

Probably World of Warcraft for. Feels like pulling on a pair of worn comfortable jeans when you haven't touched it in ages.

I always find myself coming back to Monster Hunter every time I wanna chill and relax.

Trackmania 2020 is great!

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

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.

Kerbal Space Program and Rain World

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.

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.

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.

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

Animal Crossing New Horizons. Extremely chill, no pressure to do anything in particular, just a very “go at your own pace” type of 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!

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

Minecraft

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.