Gaming

Cities Skylines tends to be the game I return to when I just need to chill for a bit. I'll come up with some silly idea for a city, fire up a map I haven't built on yet, and see what I can make work. There's no endgame, no goals aside from what I feel like doing, just a sandbox and some toys to play with.

Not so much any one game, as a genre: action adventure games. Games like Tomb Raider, God of War, stuff like that. I love playing through a really immersive, well-told story.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Final Fantasy 15 in the beginning for the bro-adtrip and RDR2

Trackmania, The Witness, and recently Age of Wonders 4

Recent ones I come back to a lot are Sable and A Short Hike, both have great atmosphere and are nice to just amble around. Sable had a fishing update recently which I haven't tried yet, so that'll be nice when I need something chill.

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.

For me it’s definitely Pokémon. When I was a kid I used to spend so much time just going through a million sapphire playthroughs. Even now if I’m having a bad day I’ll boot it up and play it a little.

Also special shoutout to factorio and stardew valley. It’s so easy to just lose all sense of time with those games lol

Ace Combat 2 for me. It always makes me happy to pick it up again.

Pajama Sam! That was my introduction to gaming and I still run through them every once in a while. Pure nostalgia

Journey and Flower

Persona 4 or 5. Love them.

Cruising around in BeamNG.drive is fun

Probably World of Warcraft for. Feels like pulling on a pair of worn comfortable jeans when you haven't touched it in ages.

MS Flight Simulator (Xbox Gamepass) - I often fire it up, pick a place in the world I've never been but would like to go and fly around. I never take off or land, just get low to the ground and buzz.

Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flying Cessna around my town.

For me it's the binding of isaac, I'm not sure that it woukd work for everyone, but the game is just so large that it never gets old. 1500hrs, 100% the game and I still find myself diving into it after a stressful day.

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

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

Everquest, Rimworld and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Bloons td 6

A Plumber of All Seasons Super Mario World romhack is super fun and beautiful game. One guy spent years to make it, it is a work of love.

Valheim and Stardew Valley. Both make me forget time exists.

For me, for some strange reason, any resource management/city building game really soothes me. There is something about making thing ‘balanced’ and ‘streamlined’ that really puts my mind at ease and can distract me from just about anything.