What are your Relaxing Games?

[Mr Masker]

I saw the thread Do You Believe Challenge Is The Core Of Video-Games? And I saw people bring up playing games to relax rather than being challenged, and that got me thinking...

 

What games fit into this genre for you? Games that you can relax to without getting too stressed out by stuff. Of course, there are different comforts for different people and some people don't mind difficulty as much, but I'd appreciate your answers either way.

 

This is partly because I'd totally want to try some games like this, where I can just relax without having to worry about messing something up. (That last bit is probably something I need to work on myself...)

Edited October 15, 2023 by Mr Masker

[Merry Widow]

I find mahjongg, and video poker relaxing. But I find Doom relaxing as well.

[Sonikkumania]

2010 called in to say hello.

[Jayextee]

I literally play Sonic the Hedgehog on PSP as I'm getting my heart rate and blood pressure measured at the doctor's surgery to relax me since I suffer what's known as 'white coat syndrome' and my anxiety fucks with the concept of getting a 'resting' HR/BP. So yeah, the original Sonic game is most definitely my comfort-blanket game.

[Mr Masker]

Actually there is one I didn't think to even mention...

 

I do find Euro Truck Sim 2 relaxing for some reason, I've never been interested in Truck Driving but I got the game anyway. You don't do much but I think that's part of the charm of it, you just drive and deliver stuff. Just explore all of Europe and have a pleasant time, good stuff, mods are great too.

[Captain red pants]

Dropping Rimworld to the lowest difficulty setting so I can play a more sci-fi or medieval themed stardew valley.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Captain red pants

[Cosmic79]

Minecraft

[Lila Feuer]

Wolf3D especially user content, Doom especially user content, Quake, Diablo, Blood, Carmageddon, Unreal, Silent Hill 1-4, Fallout: New Vegas. Some of these have gotten me through rough times in my life or else consume my entire day/throughout the week/rest of the month once they are launched.

[Geniraul]

Hmm... Let's see...

 

• King's Bounty (DOS)
• Wolfenstein 3D
• Open Arena
• Quake III Arena
• Doodle Jump
• Traffic Racer
• Quake 2
• Black Mesa

[openroadracer]

For me, it's going to be racing games.

But not just any racing games.

The ones that let me relax are the ones where you can select a course, select a machine, and go out and drive without worrying about garbage like rocket launchers or turtle shells.

It's just you, your ride, the track, and maybe a pack of rivals. The only timer is just a stopwatch telling you how quick you're running. Beyond that, you can just tune out the world with the sounds of engines roaring, tires squealing, maybe the sound of the crowd in the background.

It almost becomes zen when you can just hit that PERFECT line and FEEL like you're driving right up to the limit of your vehicle's performance.

[Andrea Rovenski]

spyro the dragon 

[Shakariki Heisenberg]

Street fighter alpha 3,  btd6 & tetris are prob games that i play to chill fr

[Psychagogue]

Journey and ABZÛ

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Psychagogue

[chomorkuz]

me place block, me happy

[coderamen]

I play Tetris.

[Mr Masker]

5 hours ago, Captain red pants said:

Dropping Rimworld to the lowest difficulty setting so I can play a more sci-fi or medieval themed stardew valley.

Interesting game to see. I generally associate Rimworld with random events and frustration, but I guess lowering the difficulty make that more manageable. I really want to get into Rimworld but I usually go off when something bad happens, which is probably something I need to work on.

 

Also interesting to see Tetris, I could never really get into it. I'd usually play it once and then just stop, the experience feeling fairly unremarkable to me. I suppose I can see the satisfying appeal, but I guess the addictiveness never really hit me. The backstory behind it is interesting though, how it went from the blocked off Soviet Union to becoming an iconic international game.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Mr Masker

[Black Star]

The Souls games (Bloodborne / Elden Ring included), Doom, Quake, Blasphemous, Silent Hill, Super Metroid, Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger.

[TheShep]

Mahjong, Solitaire, and the Truck Simulators (Euro / American).

[ducon]

Sunder.wad -nomonsters.

[DoomGuy999]

Doom 2016, doom 1993, doom II.

 

Car eats car 3 hill climb race is underated

[cannonball]

Rollercoaster tycoon when I was younger. There isn’t much better feeling of building your own theme park and rollercoasters from scratch.

[Not Jabba]

Knytt Underground
Sheepo

[Naarok0fkor]

Brutal doom...

[OceanMadman]

The Long Dark

[Eric Claus]

Stardew Valley (though have not played it in awhile)

Minecraft

Grand Strategy games like Hearts of Iron 4 and what not I find to be relaxing, or at least not overly stimulating most of the time, especially when you are in build up phases.

Doing things in MMOs like gathering or crafting or doing side grinds can be nice too

[durian]

Thumper. It chaotic, and not exactly easy, but I've never known a game that was able to put me so quickly into a flow state, and that's very relaxing.

[smeghammer]

Angry Birds Blast. 

[Nikku4211]

For me, it's Lockjaw: the Overdose on GBA.

 

I'm not linking to it for anyone who has epilepsy, as it is a very trippy Tetris clone.

[CasualScrub]

Well besides Doom, I tend to relax most playing simple puzzle or strategy games. I like to call these "Podcast games" given I can enjoy them while listening to something like a podcast or watching a youtube video since they don't require a ton of attention.

[Mr Masker]

1 hour ago, Eric Claus said:

Grand Strategy games like Hearts of Iron 4 and what not I find to be relaxing, or at least not overly stimulating most of the time, especially when you are in build up phases.

Funny you mention Hoi 4, that's partly what brought me to do a thread like this.

 

I've got alot of hours on Hoi 4 (mostly on mods like Kaiserriech and The New Order) but recently whenever I've tried to do a play through, I'm good for the build up section, and then screw up in the battle section and get really annoyed at stuff.

 

I probably should learn the game more really, I'm pretty basic in my strategies. In the meantime though, instead of games like that, I also wanted to try games that'd be less stressful for me. Which is partly why I made this thread.

 

18 minutes ago, CasualScrub said:

Well besides Doom, I tend to relax most playing simple puzzle or strategy games. I like to call these "Podcast games" given I can enjoy them while listening to something like a podcast or watching a YouTube video since they don't require a ton of attention.

Ooo yeah I've done this sometimes, usually some rougelikes maybe. What are some examples of "Podcast Games" for you?

Edited October 15, 2023 by Mr Masker