Gaming

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

Slime Rancher 2 is my more recent go-to. Failing that, Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island will always do it for me

Outer Wilds. But I already know everything that happens. So I prefer watching a stream/VOD of someone playing it for the first time.

Half life 2 + Episodes One and Two, Portal, Civ 5. All fantastic games, completely unmonetized (except for the upfront price of course) and each with impeccable storylines (receipt Civ of course).

I just hope Valve make another game like HL2 or Portal sometime in the future. I'll buy it without second thought.

I always find myself going back to Civ V. I can lose weeks playing that game.

Transport Tycoon, using OpenTTD. If you've never played it you can download OpenTTD and use their graphics, sounds, and music replacement sets to play it for free. However as I own the base game I like to keep the original music as it helps to drive the nostalgia.

I love Doom, and I've been playing it since I first got hold of the shareware episode, but when I really need a comfort game it's almost always Transport Tycoon.

Bloons td 6

Civilization 4. Incredible quotes, amazing sound track, deep mechanics

• Quest 64
• The Last Guardian
• Cookie Clicker
• Mario's Picross
• Nanashi no Game
• Silent Hill
• LSD Dream Emulator
• Diablo
• The Hubris Game house demo made for Ben Drowned

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!

Castlevania Symphony of the Night is my go to. It has a pretty good pacing, with enough new things being thrown at you. Also since it's Igavania, there's a joy of finding new weapons / equipments, that's kinda lacking in pure metroidvania.

As you grow older, your eyesight worsens, and sore joints are becoming a common occurrence. So, I prefer it to newer waves of souls-like metroidvanias that require too much dexterity or precision platforming.

Tetris is an all time go to for getting out of my head.

I recently discovered Moonglow Bay and this was perfect for this.

Fishing and cooking, sailing around, and just the chill soundtrack.

I always find myself coming back to Monster Hunter every time I wanna chill and relax.

For me it's the original Wild Arms on PS1. The translation makes the game a bit of a slog to play through. But, the soundtrack alone puts me into a happy place.

A sad story, made lighter by the friends found along the way.

Mirrors edge is a series I always go back to. Really easy to fire up catalyst or the original and just focus on running really fast while I have an audiobook or some music on in the background. There is so many speedrunning techniques for each game that there is an endless depth to explore.

Slay the spire and BTD6 are games I play when I don't know what to play.

I used to zone out and blow shit up to music in Just Cause 2. Now I do the same thing in Deep Rock Galactic.

Probably FTL. The game and the soundtrack are enthralling. I completely lose track of time playing it. But in a good way.

Edit: also Stardew Valley is my newest obsession.

Im barely on Reddit anyway but when I do replys always feel like they take ages

So this is a pleasent surprise already here on the lemmyverse

Used to be Test Drive: Unlimited, then the second one. After that, I moved to The Crew 1 and later 2. A big open world and car/motorcycle to ride around is unmatched when it come to just kicking back and relaxing in a game.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2. Been playing it since I was 2. 21 now

I like to throw on a Dynasty Warriors game and just mindlessly start cutting down swathes of enemies.

One that I can think of is Journey. Another one that is pretty nice to play is Rime. There's a mobile game called sky or something as well that's pretty pretty to play as well.

I recently heard that a Skyrim was a comfy game and I'm one to agree. Now I haven't picked up the game in months, but I know I can go back and pick it up again knowing that I'll be able to get lost in the world of the Dragonborn.

Another one for me is Stardew Valley, and I've also started to play Veloren bit which could also go up there as a cozy game.

Skyrim, fire emblem(anything 3DS and up, I haven't played the older games) and Warframe ❤️ these games always make me happy and comfort me if needed

Surprised to be the first one to name it: Europa Universalis 4. Nothing better than to paint the map listening to either the EU4 soundtracks or your playlists.

Cozy endless games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, or Sims 4, where I can just get lost in the gameplay and don't have to stress out over objectives or missions.

Kerbal Space Program and Rain World

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.