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
Minecraft. It’s just a nice game to get lost in.
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OpenTTD is my happy space. It’s relaxing to just hop in and start building some railroads.
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.
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
Stardew Valley is my go-to. I found Firewatch really easy to get lost in too.
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.
It is still Guild Wars 2 for me.
It is very chill to play and only explore and it also has more challenging content if i feel like it. Best MMO out there. At least for me personally.
If anyone can show me the way to a guild wars 2 community here i would be grateful btw.
Portal. I’ve played through it enough times that I can complete it in a little under 20 minutes. I’m not very good at games but there are a lot of fun and easy tricks to run through it quickly. Playing it a bunch of times is relaxing and fun for me.
Stardew Valley is amazing for this. Minecraft was it for years and years, but Stardew is just like a nice hug. I adore it.
Hogwarts Legacy has also fallen into this category for me now.
Anyone of my simulation/management games. Whether it’s running a hospital, creating an auto manufacturing assembly line or helping some brave adventurers find oxygen I’m always more at peace with a single player goal driven experience.
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.
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.
As others have already touched upon, I think the Zelda series is masterful (pun semi-intended) at this.
I can’t count how many times I’ve replayed through Ocarina of Time just to relax and vibe. These games really excel at creating little moments of catharsis.
I used to spend hours in OOT just hanging around Kakariko or Lon Lon Ranch or soaking in the ambiance of the Forest Temple.
Or hanging outside the Stock Pot Inn in the morning, waiting for it to open in Majora’s Mask.
Or floating around on the Great Sea in Wind Waker.
Or taking Marin down to the beach in Link’s Awakening.
And so on, up through the BotW/TotK era.
