What is your gaming "comfort food" and why?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It'll literally always be Minecraft. I think I'll revisit it every couple months till I'm dead.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

DOOM

So many mods

So many difficulties

Beyond that I'd say Half-Life because that's also a good classic.

Stardew Valley or MechWarrior Online.

Skyrim for me. I always run across a new mod or modlist on YT or socials and it inspires me to venture in again and again.

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.

Monster Hunter. I must have spent over 1,800 hrs. on the two latest series. I can't exactly turn my brain off with this game but nothing makes me more comfortable than having a Lance or Charge Blade in my hands.

Mirrors edge 1.

The level design was just really good. There were many different ways to tackle various obstacles in the environment and the time trials had many routes you could take.

Now that I'm relatively good at the game I can beat the story levels in around 4 hours ish?

I like to revisit it from time to time.

Diablo 2. I return to it about twice a year and have a good time starting a fresh playthrough farming gear for a few different builds. Especially with the QOL that resurrected has brought.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Doom (1993) for me. The newer custom maps and mods too, ofc, but more often than not I'll spin up episode 1 or 2 just to play through it.

Actually, if I'm really stressed, sometimes I'll "play" Doom maps in my head - just walking around, trying to remember as much detail as I can. I find it strangely soothing. Damn, I guess Doom is my happy place

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

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

I just love the building up from nothing with friends.

Baldurs Gate 1.

Company of Heroes

When it came out in 2006, I played it with all the time with my brother against Bots only and planning out every move.

I recommended it to my friends a bit later and every few years we made a LAN party or an all nighter online session. Through the years all of us moved into different parts of the country, got older and building families.

But around this year's new years eve, we got into it again, play it every Friday since then. We spend more time together through the game and everybody is having fun, because every match turns out different since everybody got really good at it. Also, it has a surprising strategic depth once you're really in it and it runs on every shitty PC without any bigger issues.

I really love the game for enabling us this good time together.

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.

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

HBS's Battletech (2018). One, it brings me back to some good high school memories playing tabletop with my friends, and two, you can never have too much big stompy robots shooting each other.

Spyro the Dragon - the first game specifically, I find it more of an immersive treasure-hunting experience than the next two games, which are more obviously... I dunno, video game-y. I like all three but I always 100% the first game at least once a year.

Any SoulsBorne, Doom (mostly Brutal Doom), PSX Resi's or SOTN. Mostly the total comfort of playing what I know so well for a wile.

League of legends obviously I enjoy the toxicity

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

NieR Replicant and or Final Fantasy 7

Super Mario Bros and Wolfenstein 3D

Remembering simple times, no complexities, pure fun. While chugging coffee and oreo.

Battlefield 1. I hop on the same server every time and it's a nice way to calm myself down if I'm stressed about something in real life. It's much more fun to be stressed about staying alive and helping my team the best I can. The game sparked a strong interest in history for me aswell, so it's also a comfort zone in that sense too.

Super Metroid. I replay that every year and I've been doing that since I was 12, I'm now 29. Greatest game ever made. The rest of the metroid series gets replayed at least every other year, absolutely amazing games and there's not much else like em unfortunately.

Sid Meier's Pirates

I have dozens of thousands of hours logged in that game, all because it's so easy to get in to and so hard to get out of. Just turn it on, do some pirate shit, then realize it's been hours and you probably should have eaten or slept at some point.

Tetris. Always down for a quick game

Was thinking about this earlier today, but lately I've gotten burnt out on Final Fantasy XVI whether that be due to the tone, design or combat I am not too sure. Had a slow weekend for once and decided to pop in Atelier Ryza 2 as I recently picked up Ryza 3 due to it having a small print run. Spent most of the day playing it off and on, but the brighter and more positive tone was a boon compared to the drudgery of FFXVI.

Atelier isn't always my comfort food, but that was a nice change. That distinction would have to either go to rhythm games or to stuff like Trackmania or Minecraft where you can "shut off your brain" and just play. TM has a certain "flow" to the tracks that isn't like anything else out there and Minecraft just throws you into the world and lets you go. (Albeit on Peaceful.)

1. Rogue Legacy

I could play it endlessly. Death is expected and you constantly upgrade. And when you have a good run it really feels like you've earned it, as opposed to a lot of Rogues that make you feel like you got lucky with buffs.

2. Final Fantasy VIII

There's so many ways you can play it. And there are so many ways to grind beyond the typical RPG way of killing more monsters.

3. Morrowind

It's simply the most amazing world to get lost in. There's something to do or explore around every corner. And the game practically begs you to break it.

4. Final Fantasy XII

This one is my current game. They made an ATB turn based system somehow real time. And it's so cathartic to wonder around beautiful landscapes killing monsters in classic ATB style seamlessly.

Borderlands 1

It's the perfect game. The story is tight. The builds and weapons are fun. It's not too grindy, but you can benefit from grinding if you want to. The post-apocalyptic trash planet setting has yet to be diluted and the characters have yet to be flanderized by later entries in the series.

It's a game that I can pick up anytime and just vibe. My favorite part is collecting all of Tannis' ECHO Logs throughout the game and getting to follow along with her trauma and descent into madness.

It helps that it has the second best DLC in the series to date. Secret Armoury of General Knox is chef's kiss. Assault on Dragon Keep is only better by a hair.

Assassin's Creed 3. I know I'm probably the only one in the world but I love just getting lost parkouring through the forest and hunting animals

Killing Floor. I'll probably be playing that game till the day I die.

Stellaris and Fallout 4.

Stellaris was the game that got me into gaming. I remember talking to one of my friends back in high school, and he recommended it to me. I picked it up on sale, and I've played it regularly ever since. Not only is a good sci-fi grand strategy game, but the sheer amount of mods available means you can make it into whatever you want. Want to play in the Star Wars galaxy? There's mods for that. Star Trek? Same deal. Want to add weaponized moons, death-rays that monopolize the power of a star, and a bunch of robot cats that are hellbent on consuming all matter in the galaxy? There's a mod for that as well.

Fallout 4 was the first game I brought after I got my own dedicated gaming setup. I decided that since I had a proper setup now, I might as well buy something that'd take advantage of the new resources I had. Fallout 4 had been a game that had caught my eye since the first ads way back in 2015, so I figured I'd pick it up on sale. And what really made me fall in love with it was the settlement system. A bit strange, I know, but I just really love building things in games. Most of my mods for the game are related to the settlement system in some way or another, and I'll often find myself booting up the game and building a new shack in Sanctuary or expanding Vault 88 a bit more.

I have over 500 hours in Particle Fleet: Emergence. Very chill level-based game where you can slowly move forward and beat a map over an hour or so. All the Knuckle Cracker games have tons and tons of user content available so there's no shortage of maps to play.

Halo 3, any of the older guitar hero or rock band games. Or OSRS.

Don't Starve Together. I suck at it, but I love opening up the map and building up my base.

Older: Command and Conquer Generals. I’ve started playing it with my kid which is fun. Newer: Rocket League. It’s been fun especially when I stop caring about ranking up. It’s just a game and I can play for 10 minutes and walk away.

Idle games or incremental games are my go-to for casual play. At the moment I'm playing through NGU Idle mainly because It's a super slow burn but unlocks lots of goofy features over time. I've been progressing for a couple years now.