Civilization. There is nothing quite as cathartic as subjugating the world under my iron fist....

Minecraft. I go through phases of not playing it, but once or twice a year I'll start up a new world and just mindlessly build and mine while listening to a podcast or an audiobook, and will play every night for several weeks. I've started so many minecraft worlds over the years that I really don't need to think about what to do next

Portal 1 followed immediately by 2 after I’ve completed the first. I own them on every console and also PC and I just love the feeling I get when I play them.

I’ll never forget finding the Orange Box in a bargain bin at BestBuy and how much fun I had playing Portal. GLaDOS being cheeky then becoming full on sadistic and homicidal was something I’ve never experienced in a game before. I laughed a lot and remember my heart beating so fast in the final stages - the thrill I felt when I finally beat her and then starting all over in order to get all of the achievements. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in a game.

Needless to say how excited I was when 2 was announced and I was not disappointed. They’ll never get old for me.

Hades is one that I’ll still fire up now and again if I’m not sure what to do. Currently losing my mind at the lack of Hades 2 news.

A bit different from the question but

Outer Wilds.

I've spent a lot of time in it and have 100% it, so it's hard to find a reason get back in, but even just booting to the title screen just completely transports me.

Why? Outer Wilds was just an incredible experience, and the OST is astounding and the music completely soaked up the experience and can bring it all back just by listening.

Factorio for me. There is always some old megafactory to pick up again or a new mod nightmare to try out.

Hollow Knight for sure. Just load up a couple of randomizers and explore hallownest for the millionth time

Binding of Isaac and Death Stranding. I just keep going back to these 2 even after I've 100% them.

Morrowind!

It’s such an amazing game and such a break from reality. There is tremendous depth there, if you go and look for it, but you can also just dungeon dive and smack monsters in the face with a sword if you want.

Check out OpenMW for a great, easy to use, source port of the game engine.

Dark Souls. Makes my own life feel not quite as hard 🤘

Red Dead Redemption 2, Chapter 2.

Galloping around, taking in the hazy morning with a cup of coffee at a makeshift camp, the ambient music and noises as you travel. It gives me such wanderlust.

I always play a game of Stellaris every few months. The combination of roleplay and grand strategy massages my brain just right to make the happy chemicals.

Definitely Stardew Valley. It's not necessarily like I could play it endlessly forever but whenever all other alternatives seem boring or like they require more energy than I feel like spending, I always turn to Stardew exactly for comfort.

Dynasty Warriors (and its many, many spinoffs). I know they're not objectively good, but man does it feel great to kill 1,000 enemies just by mashing Square and Triangle.

The older entries also had endearingly bad English voice acting.

For me, Mini Metro. I can just zone out on it. I get that with Tetris and similar games (rymdkapsul is another, Civilization to an extent but not in the same way) - there's that thing of, 'this will end at some point, but before it ends just focus on the now' which puts the mind at ease. But Mini Metro has a more relaxing theme and art style for me than Tetris.

On my steam Deck I play Stardew, Mario kart 8, slay the spire with mods. Because these game I can pick up without feeling I lost the Story.

On my phone all the kairosoft games. It's easy , fun and and there is usually a end goal.

On my laptop it's sid meyers SimGolf or the Sims 4. Just nostalgic.

I go back to a few almost routinely.

• Mount and Blade: Warband (with and without mods)
• Rocket League
• Crash Bandicoot 2&3
• OpenTTD
• Pokemon (The mainline ones are all basically the same game lol)

For M&B and OpenTTD, being able to rely on my old knowledge of the game to succeed feels satisfying since they both have a steep learning curve.

For RL and Crash, muscle memory taking over the majority of play is relaxing.

For Pokemon I just have a crippling amount of nostalgia

Fallout 3. I know New Vegas has a better story and proper ADS. I know 4 is a markedly better handling experience. But 3 holds a special place in my heart

City builders seem to be my comfort food. I go back to Banished every now and then to get my fix. I'm currently playing Kingdom Two Crowns to fill it.

Beat Saber. It's not my usual type of game/genre, but somehow I just keep coming back to it when i want to chill out.

Maybe also Dead Cells. And again, I actually usually hate rogue-like mechanics.

Slay The Spire, I've accumulated over 2000 hours over 3 different platforms since it launched, I've 100%ed it and I've even played some of the mods (which I never ever do for any game) and I never get sick of it, whenever I have an hour and can't be bothered with doing something new I play a run.

Such an amazing game.

Subnautica and Flight Simulator. They just have a way of immersing me into another world and keeping my attention the whole time.

Open TTD.

Its free.

But its just so cozy and fun. Who doesnt enjoy seeing a train arrive to the new station for the first time?

I dont play it a whole lot at a time.. But i do enjoy it every time i get back to it.

Original Quake, RimWorld, crusader kings, and it’s looking like Against the Storm

Sorry I know that’s 4 but fuck it, I can’t decide.

Katamari.

I can pick it up, play 10 minutes, and put it down. I've played this game every few weeks for several years now because I just love rollin shit up.

Toy Story PSX and Super Mario 64 (DS version in my case, or the improved ports).

Stellaris, Rimworld, or Borderlands 2. Depends on how much I want to use my brain. If I just want to turn my brain off, Borderlands. If I want to really sink into a game, Rimworld. Somewhere in between, Stellaris.

Games that I had, wanted but never got, or just missed growing up. It's like a nostalgic topiary. I find hunting, testing, and playing very relaxing.

Turn based rpgs, the sort of thing with just enough challenge to be fun but not too quick or difficult. Like I love dark souls but when I just want to chill give me something like dragon quest. Sadly it seems to be dying out as a genre.

For me, I always come back to multiplayer survival games.

I just love the building up from nothing with friends.

Walking simulators and story/emotion heavy games like Life is Strange. Sometimes a good feels helps.

And Skyrim is my comfort game. Helps with panic attacks.

Before I fell off blizzard Heroes of the Storm was amazing comfort food. Short matches compared to most Moba, and so many fun characters.

NBA 2K

I've been an avid fan of NBA 2K since the early 2000's. I absolutely hate how money hungry the game has gotten; that being said, the core offline gameplay is still extremely strong. I'll pop in and play a few offline games just to decompress. It's gotten to the point where I'll put on music or a podcast and find myself idly playing through four quarters of basketball.

Animal crossing. Enough said

Basically anything single-player from BioWare and Bethesda that's not Mass Effect Andromeda.

Tunic for me, simply going, walking around, revisiting a place know well

And "A Short Hike" for my SO, they where feeling bad one day and came to see me. I got Ice Craem, some Blankets, and gave them the controler next while I was against them. Now everytime they felt sad they go on a walk to this mountain. I surprised them preparing their laptop by putting A Short Hike Wallpaper, and made their day like that

Baldurs Gate 1.

Borderlands 2, there’s just something about it. I’ve put so many hours into it on various platforms, and it never gets old. The story is so good and I just love the play style. It’s super easy to restart the campaign or there’s always some farming / grinding to do, depending on the vibe for the day