Games

Minecraft. I go through phases of not playing it, but once or twice a year I'll start up a new world and just mindlessly build and mine while listening to a podcast or an audiobook, and will play every night for several weeks. I've started so many minecraft worlds over the years that I really don't need to think about what to do next

Civilization. There is nothing quite as cathartic as subjugating the world under my iron fist....

Morrowind! It’s such an amazing game and such a break from reality. There is tremendous depth there, if you go and look for it, but you can also just dungeon dive and smack monsters in the face with a sword if you want.

Check out OpenMW for a great, easy to use, source port of the game engine.

A bit different from the question but

Outer Wilds.

I've spent a lot of time in it and have 100% it, so it's hard to find a reason get back in, but even just booting to the title screen just completely transports me.

Why? Outer Wilds was just an incredible experience, and the OST is astounding and the music completely soaked up the experience and can bring it all back just by listening.

Factorio for me. There is always some old megafactory to pick up again or a new mod nightmare to try out.

Hades is one that I’ll still fire up now and again if I’m not sure what to do. Currently losing my mind at the lack of Hades 2 news.

It'll literally always be Minecraft. I think I'll revisit it every couple months till I'm dead.

I always play a game of Stellaris every few months. The combination of roleplay and grand strategy massages my brain just right to make the happy chemicals.

I go back to a few almost routinely.

• Mount and Blade: Warband (with and without mods)
• Rocket League
• Crash Bandicoot 2&3
• OpenTTD
• Pokemon (The mainline ones are all basically the same game lol)

For M&B and OpenTTD, being able to rely on my old knowledge of the game to succeed feels satisfying since they both have a steep learning curve.

For RL and Crash, muscle memory taking over the majority of play is relaxing.

For Pokemon I just have a crippling amount of nostalgia

Hollow Knight for sure. Just load up a couple of randomizers and explore hallownest for the millionth time

Dynasty Warriors (and its many, many spinoffs). I know they're not objectively good, but man does it feel great to kill 1,000 enemies just by mashing Square and Triangle.

The older entries also had endearingly bad English voice acting.

Definitely Stardew Valley. It's not necessarily like I could play it endlessly forever but whenever all other alternatives seem boring or like they require more energy than I feel like spending, I always turn to Stardew exactly for comfort.

Animal crossing. Enough said

Mirrors edge 1.

The level design was just really good. There were many different ways to tackle various obstacles in the environment and the time trials had many routes you could take.

Now that I'm relatively good at the game I can beat the story levels in around 4 hours ish?

I like to revisit it from time to time.

Skyrim for me. I always run across a new mod or modlist on YT or socials and it inspires me to venture in again and again.

DOOM

So many mods

So many difficulties

Beyond that I'd say Half-Life because that's also a good classic.

Monster Hunter. I must have spent over 1,800 hrs. on the two latest series. I can't exactly turn my brain off with this game but nothing makes me more comfortable than having a Lance or Charge Blade in my hands.

Stellaris, Rimworld, or Borderlands 2. Depends on how much I want to use my brain. If I just want to turn my brain off, Borderlands. If I want to really sink into a game, Rimworld. Somewhere in between, Stellaris.

Company of Heroes

When it came out in 2006, I played it with all the time with my brother against Bots only and planning out every move.

I recommended it to my friends a bit later and every few years we made a LAN party or an all nighter online session. Through the years all of us moved into different parts of the country, got older and building families.

But around this year's new years eve, we got into it again, play it every Friday since then. We spend more time together through the game and everybody is having fun, because every match turns out different since everybody got really good at it. Also, it has a surprising strategic depth once you're really in it and it runs on every shitty PC without any bigger issues.

I really love the game for enabling us this good time together.

Doom (1993) for me. The newer custom maps and mods too, ofc, but more often than not I'll spin up episode 1 or 2 just to play through it.

Actually, if I'm really stressed, sometimes I'll "play" Doom maps in my head - just walking around, trying to remember as much detail as I can. I find it strangely soothing. Damn, I guess Doom is my happy place

Beat Saber. It's not my usual type of game/genre, but somehow I just keep coming back to it when i want to chill out.

Maybe also Dead Cells. And again, I actually usually hate rogue-like mechanics.

Fallout 3. I know New Vegas has a better story and proper ADS. I know 4 is a markedly better handling experience. But 3 holds a special place in my heart

Diablo 2. I return to it about twice a year and have a good time starting a fresh playthrough farming gear for a few different builds. Especially with the QOL that resurrected has brought.

Stardew Valley or MechWarrior Online.

On my steam Deck I play Stardew, Mario kart 8, slay the spire with mods. Because these game I can pick up without feeling I lost the Story.

On my phone all the kairosoft games. It's easy , fun and and there is usually a end goal.

On my laptop it's sid meyers SimGolf or the Sims 4. Just nostalgic.

Original Quake, RimWorld, crusader kings, and it’s looking like Against the Storm

Sorry I know that’s 4 but fuck it, I can’t decide.

Spyro the Dragon - the first game specifically, I find it more of an immersive treasure-hunting experience than the next two games, which are more obviously... I dunno, video game-y. I like all three but I always 100% the first game at least once a year.

Slay The Spire, I've accumulated over 2000 hours over 3 different platforms since it launched, I've 100%ed it and I've even played some of the mods (which I never ever do for any game) and I never get sick of it, whenever I have an hour and can't be bothered with doing something new I play a run.

Such an amazing game.

For me, Mini Metro. I can just zone out on it. I get that with Tetris and similar games (rymdkapsul is another, Civilization to an extent but not in the same way) - there's that thing of, 'this will end at some point, but before it ends just focus on the now' which puts the mind at ease. But Mini Metro has a more relaxing theme and art style for me than Tetris.

Battlefield 1. I hop on the same server every time and it's a nice way to calm myself down if I'm stressed about something in real life. It's much more fun to be stressed about staying alive and helping my team the best I can. The game sparked a strong interest in history for me aswell, so it's also a comfort zone in that sense too.

Any SoulsBorne, Doom (mostly Brutal Doom), PSX Resi's or SOTN. Mostly the total comfort of playing what I know so well for a wile.

Sid Meier's Pirates

I have dozens of thousands of hours logged in that game, all because it's so easy to get in to and so hard to get out of. Just turn it on, do some pirate shit, then realize it's been hours and you probably should have eaten or slept at some point.

Baldurs Gate 1.

Super Mario Bros and Wolfenstein 3D

Remembering simple times, no complexities, pure fun. While chugging coffee and oreo.

Dark Souls. Makes my own life feel not quite as hard 🤘

NBA 2K

I've been an avid fan of NBA 2K since the early 2000's. I absolutely hate how money hungry the game has gotten; that being said, the core offline gameplay is still extremely strong. I'll pop in and play a few offline games just to decompress. It's gotten to the point where I'll put on music or a podcast and find myself idly playing through four quarters of basketball.

Before I fell off blizzard Heroes of the Storm was amazing comfort food. Short matches compared to most Moba, and so many fun characters.

Borderlands 2, there’s just something about it. I’ve put so many hours into it on various platforms, and it never gets old. The story is so good and I just love the play style. It’s super easy to restart the campaign or there’s always some farming / grinding to do, depending on the vibe for the day