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?
Minecraft. It’s just a nice game to get lost in.
Bloons TD 6. Just so incredibly addicting, and there’s depth to the different monkeys and how they interact, especially when you think about all the upgrades.
Is it better than 4 or 5?
Imo it is, the three distinct paths on towers and the balance patches lead to many different play styles. A dwnside is that unlocking stuff will take a little time.
the game is gigantic now compared to its predecessors, it’s kind of overwhelming honestly lol
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.
I haven’t seen anyone mentioning this gem:
Vampire Survivors
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.
OpenTTD is my happy space. It’s relaxing to just hop in and start building some railroads.
Stardew Valley is my go-to. I found Firewatch really easy to get lost in too.
Stardew Valley comes to mind right away, but I think it applies to all titles after you get the hang of it, with the exception of heavily RNG-based games like Risk of Rain 2, Hades, Dead Cells where you have to be alert almost all the time. Currently I’m enjoying playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Definitely a comfort game just riding your horse around.
Star Wars: Racer - I know every track by heart at this point, have it on my Switch and still play quite a bit. Amazing flow state game.
Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 - absolute classic and the nostalgia I get from playing is unmatched
Age of Empires 2 - the music is just muah
KotoR - Best Star Wars game ever made next to Dark Forces 2 and Jedi Outcast
For me that’ll be Stardew Valley. I can just zone out to the really nice music. Also a few years ago I used to have Planetside 2 in that rotation. I was kinda bad but with the MMO aspect, I could always run somewhere for the objectives and have fun. Finally, I like Trackmania to discover new tracks and just chill.
Stardew Valley actually stressed me 😅. I felt like I was always falling behind. And no one wanted to dance with me at the dance :(.
I recommend Sun Haven then. There’s no stamina and you can adjust the day to last from 15 mins to 40 mins (although passout time is 12am compared to 2am in SDV) but with the 40 mins per day, I felt a lot less rushed
I can see how it’d do that to someone, I know some people that are in it only to optimize their revenue to squeeze out more golds for instance, and that’d be stressing to me. Personally I don’t care about completing the game, at a given time I just try to fill a few objectives, like getting a spouse and finishing the community center bundles, or reaching the deepest in the mines while upgrading my tools… Just free yourself from that FOMO feeling and you’ll be better off :)
Gaming is probably the only sphere of my life where I actually experience FOMO. There are several games where I can’t resist trying to do EVERYTHING, only to get burned out and leaving the game before I finish it. If I’d just concentrated on the story, I’d probably have actually finished in half the time, but instead I walk around trying to achieve everything.
I can understand to an extent, to me it’s appears a lot in open world games such as Skyrim and to a lesser extent Zelda BotW/TotK. Or maybe it’s a hoarding issue hehe ^^’
Lots of love for Stardew. “The Valley Comes Alive” is, for my money, one of the finest pieces of video game music out there.
I couldn’t agree more!
I’ve been enjoying this game on the phone. It’s really chill and perfect for playing in short spurts.
Exactly! I myself have it on Switch and PC, and I don’t regret buying it twice cause that was damn cheap given it’s (almost) a one man game!
I’m surprised Katamari Damacy hasn’t been mentioned yet. Both that game and its sequel, “We Love Katamari,” have been remastered in recent years (in fact, the sequel just came out last week) and they’re a joy to play.
The game has all that OP mentions… Quirky art style, awesome music, simple tactile gameplay, and just overall a relaxing and fun time.
I have a few, Skyrim is my biggest one. I basically maladaptive daydream Skyrim. If I’m feeling bad I play through it in my head. Some others are No Mans Sky, Vampire Survivors, and generally pixel games are always really comforting to me. I also like to go back and play dragon fable sometimes when I need some nostalgia.
Satisfactory ! This game is an addiction for me, I can play for hours, for me it’s very relaxing to build factory with no timer and great graphics !
edit : missing word
Stardew Valley. Pretty much the community I wish I could live in.
Factorio, mostly. I can play it slowly and methodically with an audiobook when I want to, or throw my brain into it and build a beautiful large processing plant when I need to. Sometimes it’s an exercise in fighting personal demons of paralyizing choice and breaking down overwhelming tasks.
Second is Rimworld. Getting lost in the drama of my colony is an effective escape from the world.
