With gaming often bringing me into a really depressive headspace sometimes with how the markets are developing, whats a game you can always go to and just be lost in, or just be happy with?
Personally i would go for advance wars 1 and 2 on the gba (there is no remake and never will be)
the artstyle, the music, the game-play is just simple, yet effective, a sublime experience of very fun times.
Whats yours?
I haven’t seen anyone mentioning this gem:
Vampire Survivors
For me, it’s always Ocarina of Time. The music always improves my mood and there is something oddly comforting about the game.
MH Rise (Lance for tank mode) - fighting Melvor - idling Disney Dreamlight Valley - collecting Hardspace Shipbreaker - dismantling
I can always go for a game of Age of Empires 2. That game takes me back to my childhood.
Minecraft. It’s just a nice game to get lost in.
Try not to have an overly rosy retrospection about this. There were plenty of crappy, cash-grabby games in decades past. We just don’t remember them because they were crappy, cash-grabby, and not worth remembering. They hadn’t invented microtransactions yet, but that’s just one more flavor of crappiness.
Euro Truck Simulator/American Truck Simulator
It quickly just becomes a virtual road trip simulator, and as someone who generally enjoys driving and road trips its very chill
Stardew Valley is my go-to. I found Firewatch really easy to get lost in too.
Yeah, definitely Stardew Valley with some mods. It’s pretty close to endless things you can do in that game. Thinking of Stardew Valley have me wondering about the state of the Haunted Chocolatier game.
The last couple of years my comfort game has been Ori and the blind forest and Ori and the will of the wisp.
TES Oblivion and Sonic Adventure 2. SA2 was a childhood favorite I got very good at, and the extra mission, game modes, and pet sim aspects makes it fairly re-playable without having to start a new game file. Oblivion is just whacky and fun, and if you know how to exploit mechanics you can get up to some pretty crazy stuff in a matter a minutes after starting the game. While grinding skills could be seen as… Well a grind, it’s a grind I personally enjoy. Both games let me dive straight into what I’m feeling like doing, and reward mastery (even if one of them is cheese mastery).
No Man’s Sky is a good mix of nice scenery, low stress, and engaging without requiring a lot of mental capacity that can be comforting.
Outer wilds. The music is so pretty, and going back to it after you’ve explored it all feels like being on your childhood playground again. Sometimes now I just go out into space and watch how the planets move.
Second this. Outer Wilds is amazing. If you do play, try not to look up anything as the satisfaction of exploring and figuring things out is so cool. The sound track is very good as is the DLC.
Unraveled (Unraveled 2 is great for 2 players, too), and Hue. Then there’s always Slayaway Camp. All good on Steam Deck as well.
But those are for the times when I’m not addicted to RL.
Chrono Trigger. Always feels like being home with old friends. A joy every time I playthrough
It has been a while, but there was a time when, if I was feeling really anxious and almost panicky, a quick playthrough of Enter the Gungeon would chill me right out.
