Gaming

Nethack. I first bought it in a floppy in a mall in the 90s for my 486 and it's still the same today.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker can be a super relaxing game. You sit back and slowly disassemble massive spaceships in a salvaging yard. I love playing it when I want something mindless but relaxing. It's nice sitting alone in the salvaging yard with the catchy music and slicing apart a bulkhead.

I've been really enjoying the We Love Katamari remaster.

Rimworld- I can and have lost hours managing my little space colony. You can make it as action oriented as you want, so if I want to focus on building my base and farming then I can switch off the raids for example.

I also love Two Point Hospital - so relaxing as there's no firm end point to levels, you can keep going if you want.

Minecraft. It's fun to see what new mods or mod packs come out every now and then. I tend to like the magic based ones like Thaumcraft, Botania, Ars Magica, etc. My partner prefers the Tech ones and together we build a massive base that's a fusion of the two.

There are a lot of games I've spent a lot of time in, but none come close to Fallout New Vegas.

I left my heart in the Sierra Madre.

My first go to games for this would be Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow. I played those so much as a kid, and the nostalgia is wonderful.

Others that are high on my list would be Stardew Valley, Valheim, and one I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned yet - Satisfactory.

Townscaper or Islands & Trains. Just totally chill and fun, no goals or time limits or anything. Just hang out and build what seems neat to you.

In order of comfort:

• Rust on a PvE server (I happen to host one, they're rare xD)
• RimWorld
• Vampire Survivors
• Factorio
• Sid Meier's Covert Action
• Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)

Lately I've also really been enjoying Sheltered 2.

Slay the Spire is a big one. Casually smacking out wacky runs during a lunch break is the bee knees.

Brotato is good for this too, even if the game can be a bit repetitive. I wish it would grow even bigger with more items, more deep mechanics, more everything. Thank goodness there's modding.

As a kid, Alien versus Predator co-op survival maps were a big one. Mindless mayhem clears the mind like nothing else.

For me it's Terraria. When I don't feel like fighting bosses, I just go explore and dig or build a new settling for my NPCs. I can also set my own goals and try to collect as much as I can for example.

Of course the right answer will alway be Roller Coaster Tycoon! Combined with this: https://openrct2.org/ ... calm and peaceful bliss.

Modded dwarf fortress. I've always been a bit of a baby, so I mod out the invasions and aquifers. It's almost like watching ants work once it all gets going.

Trackmania! So many user made maps you never have to see the same map twice, and every map looks unique. You have a simple task: go from start to finish after collecting all checkpoints. Endlessly trying to get random bounces on "LOL" maps just never gets old.

No one has said it yet, but I find Raft to be incredibly relaxing. Especially if you just ignore objectives and just sit there collecting debris. It can be so tranquil and a ton of fun

!!! Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Easily in my top 3 games holy shit they're so good

!!! Hogwarts Legacy

!!! Control (if you're into 3rd person shooter with powers and a neat story)

!!! 7 days to die is probably my most addicted to game. (it's zombies) but imo way more fun with friends

Age of Empires II HD is a classic if you're into RTS (but I go brainless overpowered farming mode lol)

Any of the Assassins Creed games (I like 2,3,origins,odyssey,and Valhalla the most) if you want some stealth and fun combat

Walking sims:

• the first tree
• !! lost ember
• spirit of the north

Cozy adventure/puzzle games:

• !! rime
• !! the last campfire
• pumpkin jack (super fun gameplay)

I always prefer to play with people. If I do:

• 7 days to die(as mentioned)
• valheim
• portal 2
• it takes two
• ibb & obb
• shift happens

Wind Waker for me. I love the game, but it's more that it brings me back to cozy weekends when my sister would ask me to "play the boat game" so she could watch.

Any of the Yakuza games for me! I love the feeling of walking around Kamurocho or Sotenbori and just trying different arcade games, karaoke, food, baseball etc 😊 the ambience and overall vibe is so nice (even if you do have to beat up random thugs every few minutes). Also, there are so many (very long) games in the series that there's always something new for me to try

Morrowind and Mario Maker 2.

rimworld - so many different things to make your pawns do - endless mods as well. recently picked up factorio, still getting used to it but it looks like a fabulous timesink

Super Mario kart and the original doom. I can play either of those games at any point and always have fun. There are newer games in both of those series, and I do love them too, but if I want some comfort gaming it's the originals for me.

Subnautica.

When I'm not running for my life from creatures trying to kill me then ambiance is actually very chill. Something about being in a giant ocean. Not to mention the soundtrack is pretty chill. And the environments are cool as heck!

GTA San Andreas brings back so many memories for me. There was a specific summer, when I was 12 years old, that I spent hours just driving around listening to music. I really wish rockstar would do an actual remaster of this game instead of whatever they crapped out.

Cruising around in BeamNG.drive is fun

lately: against the storm. making a city builder into a roguelite was genius.

Me and my wife just finished It Takes Two. What an incredible game and story!

Minecraft and Stardew Valley.

Symphony of the Night. I've beaten it more times than I can count. Played it for the first time on my dad's old PSX. Probably my favorite single player game ever.

Audiosurf for me. Just listening to my favorite mp3s and not really caring if I set a new world record or not.

In the same vein, doing a job in American Truck Simulator or Euro Truck Simulator 2. Just chilling out, driving across the map to deliver cows or whatever.

Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, and the NHL/MLB games are always my go-to when I just want to chill out and be comfortable. There's lots of comfort in being "with" some of your favorite characters time and time again. There's a different comfort (more of a zen feeling) in booting up my favorite sports games, turning off my brain and just letting instinct and reflex take over. Most Friday nights at the end of a tough week, I play MLB with some beers until late in the night after my friends log off.

Breath of the wild has some chill situations, just going about in nature, or walking through the villages. It can also go absolute bonkers when you're unprepared.

In addition to RimWorld, I would say Deep Rock Galactic has never even once left me in a worse mood after playing it. Every time I boot it up, I cannot stop admiring the love and care GSG has put into their game and almost all of it for free. The only monetisation in this game is purely cosmetic, but they make sure that the stuff you can get through gameplay alone doesn't look worse than the stuff you pay real money for. Add on top of that the awesome gameplay, atmosphere and community and you got a game that pretty much never fails to lift you up.

If shooting native lifeforms as an exploited space miner isn't quite your mood right now, you could also try Tchia. Super pretty and lovely game, although I suspect it doesn't offer too much replayability, once you completed it. But the same could be said for Okami and that is the game I first say when asked what my favorite game is.

Elite Dangerous in VR. I can really disconnect from the real world and just enjoy being a space-pirate bounty hunter.

This is going to sound silly, but Clicker Heroes. There's nothing necessarily "comforting" about it in the classic sense, but I have ADD, depression, and anxiety. Putting that on and just mindlessly clicking and resource-managing allows me to focus just enough on that, without it needing my full attention, to be able to also sort through my otherwise incoherent strands of thoughts.

But going by art, music, experience, gameplay, etc, I guess I'd have to say Bastion from Supergiant Games. It's definitely up there as one of my favorite games of all time.

Rimworld, honestly. I've logged 3k hours already. Probably have closer to 4k, if I had had the moolah for the game when I pirated it. It's the game I play when I don't really feel like playing something sweaty, just load up my latest colony and drink coffee or have my breakfast while watching my colonists go about their work. I just ended a 23 year colony based on aztec, kemetic, hellenic and solarpunk themes, due to mod conflicts making advancing a hassle. I've since cleaned up my modlist and I'm running a... Hm, dunno how to describe it. Monastic bounty hunters colony ig. Rootin tootin prayin magic cowboys in the desert.

Recently I picked Tunic as well as a chill game. It's pretty fun!

Either Stardew Valley (for the chill vibe and calming soundtrack) or Old School RuneScape (for the massive nostalgia bomb)

Fallout: NV

Pure comfort? Pokemon Crystal Clear - it's like healing for the soul after a long day of marking.

Less pure comfort? Darkest Dungeon - because sometimes you need to feel pain to really relax!

My chill and waste time games.

• Lego's Builders Journey
• Sims
• Untitled Duck Game
• Gnome Mahjongg
• Sonic 1
• Mario Bros 3 (NES)

This might sound weird but Dark Souls 1 does give me a certain level of comfort, not sure what that says about me lol. I haven't played it in a while but back then, creating new builds and trying out new weapons was really fun, and I got very accustomed to the game's mechanics and its general progression and pathing. I could run through the whole game without even thinking about it. I'll still go back to it every now and again and it still gives me that comfortable nostalgic feeling.

OG Star Wars Battlefront I & II.
Easy to just put on, play a few rounds and clear my head.
Simple & fun to play.

The binding of isaac (still working out my skill issues)

I simply cannot get over simcity 2000. forever in my heart