Gaming

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

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

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.

Kerbal Space Program and Rain World

I always find myself going back to Civ V. I can lose weeks playing that game.

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.

A Short Hike had that effect on me, the re-playability isn't really there though, but for a one-off burst of peace and quite it will do.

Picking some goofy off-role champ in a /muteall draft game of League can also work, but the experience is highly rng based.

Edit: I forgot Trackmania both the latest polished release with its whimsical environments and the historical custom madness that was/is Trackmania: nation. I genuinely hate grinding (be it mmorpgs or soullike) but once I start a track in those I'm hooked for a couple of hours mesmerized by the smooth effect of my growing skills.

Through the years the one game I keep going back to when I just need a place to lose time

Elder Scrolls Online

Man I wish I had better tastes

Oddly enough I go through phases where I just level up a character on WoW. It's mindless for me and I can just zone out and watch TV while playing.

Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and puzzle games like Myst, Riven, or The Witness. I love these escape-type games.

I get the headspace thing. It's been really hard for me to devote my mental energy and time to playing games recently. I've picked up the new Zelda game and have barely touched it.

Nostalgia helps, but I guess any Mario or even a Street Fighter would work on my end. Easy to pick, nothing to remember really. I bought an arcade cab recently with Batocera, and that’s the perfect solution to have a good moment (especially with my kids).

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

Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flying Cessna around my town.

Believe it or not, Warcraft 2. There are three scenarios I like to play through. They are pretty mindless, have varying degrees of challenge, and are very low stress.

Just cruising around some cars listening to the radio in Forza Horizon. Fishing in Shadowprey Village in World of Warcraft. Improving flow of traffic in City Skylines or Transport Fever 2.

Cities Skylines tends to be the game I return to when I just need to chill for a bit. I'll come up with some silly idea for a city, fire up a map I haven't built on yet, and see what I can make work. There's no endgame, no goals aside from what I feel like doing, just a sandbox and some toys to play with.

Valheim is very chill and fun. Good playing solo, and good playing with friends casually.

Used to be Destiny, lately it's been "No Man's Sky". I just get lost there.

Im barely on Reddit anyway but when I do replys always feel like they take ages

So this is a pleasent surprise already here on the lemmyverse

Factorio. The base must grow

I'm playing The Big Con at the moment and it's loads of fun! I love the quirky graphics and witty humor.

My classic go-to is The Witcher 3 - honestly I beat this game like 4 times at least. The story (apart from the main quest which is a bit lacking to me) is absolutely amazing. The music, setup and dialogues really help you to sink in the world.

Oh! And GTA San Andreas - always a blast!

I have several comfort games to put my mind at ease sometimes.

At least once a year it is Skyrim with mods to improve the scenery.

But I love playing the Atelier series too. Crafting and optimizing stuff in these games is great.

And then there are puzzle games like Baba is You where I often just close the game and think about solving the problems for a long time. Helps to keep your mind occupied.

World of Warships. It is the game I play for years with friends. In times that is hard for us to meet face to face we jump on the game for some battles, during which we share our news and chat. It's almost like a coffee or a beer.

For me it's the binding of isaac, I'm not sure that it woukd work for everyone, but the game is just so large that it never gets old. 1500hrs, 100% the game and I still find myself diving into it after a stressful day.

Trackmania, The Witness, and recently Age of Wonders 4

Destiny. Been my favorite game since launch day in 2014.

Edit: made Destiny for any other Destiny fans to join!