Gaming
From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!
Please Note: Gaming memes are permitted to be posted on Meme Mondays, but will otherwise be removed in an effort to allow other discussions to take place.
See also Gaming's sister community Tabletop Gaming.
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Animal Crossing New Horizons. Extremely chill, no pressure to do anything in particular, just a very “go at your own pace” type of game.
If you like New Horizons, I recommend trying some of the earlier entries, like New Leaf or City Folk, if you haven't already.
New Horizons took a page out of Pocket Camp's book and turned a lot of the gameplay into a grindy collectathon (get wood to build stuff, seasonal events are just "collect 50 thingamabobs"), and personally, I've found that to be stressful.
So if you haven't tried the other entries, I definitely recommend giving them a shot. You might find that they're even more relaxing :)
Tropico 6, Cities Skylines, or any city builder. Planet Zoo once I get a less potato PC (CS too). I'll load up a sandbox map and build. And if I need to get up for any reason, I can hit pause.
Destiny. Been my favorite game since launch day in 2014.
Edit: made Destiny for any other Destiny fans to join!
Microsoft Flightsim for me. Pick a beautiful place, anywhere on Earth, and just explore. Even better if you do it in a glider: the only sound being the wind around you as you take in the view is incomparable.
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
Trackmania, The Witness, and recently Age of Wonders 4
For me it's Final Fantasy VIII, the first game I bought with my own money. Gaming was hard back then, I had no allowance or any sort of income. I bought games with money I got from Christmas and birthday. My friends all loved final fantasy VII and bragged about it but I just could not afford it when it launched. I bought Final Fantasy VIII on launch after reading glowing reviews on a local gaming magazine and I loved the game. I know the junction mechanic is flawed, I know the draw system is bad, I know the story isn't the best. I still loved it and played it to 100% a ton of times. Bought it in pretty much all platforms I own (including twice on Steam, even tho it was a ripoff). The game really makes me realize how far I've come in life and how fortunate I am on how everything turned out.
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.
MS Flight Simulator (Xbox Gamepass) - I often fire it up, pick a place in the world I've never been but would like to go and fly around. I never take off or land, just get low to the ground and buzz.
For me it's Ridge Racer Type 4 for the PS1. I think what comforts me is that soundtrack (listen to it everyone), but also it's the nostalgia kicking in for me
If you didn't know, Kohta Takahashi (the composer for Ridge Racer Type 4) has an album of what a Ridge Racer soundtrack would be today and it's excellent. Reiwa Type 4
Myrone's Drift Stage, vol 1 is in a similar vein. Drips with mid nineties Japanese racing game nostalgia.
Black Ops Zombies games.... at least until I found out every game has very well known hacks that allow for remote code execution of your PC. Yikes! Not touching those games anymore sadly
For me, for some strange reason, any resource management/city building game really soothes me. There is something about making thing ‘balanced’ and ‘streamlined’ that really puts my mind at ease and can distract me from just about anything.
Streets of Rogue.. I don't know what it is about that game, but I always find myself picking back up and getting lost in all the different ways you can play. I can't wait for the sequel, definitely, the game I am anticipating the most.
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.
Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flying Cessna around my town.
I always find myself going back to Civ V. I can lose weeks playing that game.
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!
Sims 4 is my comfort game for sure
It's a browser game, not a video game per se, but Flight Rising. I play it when I need to do something with my hands or distract myself.
I recently discovered Moonglow Bay and this was perfect for this.
Fishing and cooking, sailing around, and just the chill soundtrack.
Persona 4 or 5. Love them.