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What are your relaxing games?

SinDelta

SinDelta

Member
There are certain games that are just right right for this.

Age of Empires 2 DE skirmish against AI. - Just turtling up and building a civilization across half the map.

Stronghold/Stronghold Crusader - Building a sprawling castle in the economy or skirmish settings.

Anno 1404/1800 - Building a settlement.

Zeus Master of Olympus - See above.

Emperor Rise of the Middle Kingdom - Ditto.

Ocarina of Time - Going fishing.

Twilight Princess - Even more so. Later Zelda games could have used fishing holes like the one here.

Breath of the WIld - Just going in a random direction and seeing what happens.
 
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German Hops

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Awesome thread .


Here are some of my favorite relaxing games.


Tetris - Tetris is so addictive but it's simplicity makes it not very stressful or intuitive, you can lay back in bed and play it on anything you have from phone to switch or other handhelds. And the Russian theme music is iconic and very relaxing .

giphy.gif




GTA V - This sounds like a very high pace crazy game and usually it is with explosions and theft and sex and crime lol. But it can also be a relaxing game. taking a nice night time cruise down the Santa Monica high way or walking around big mountain ranges. The tennis mini game is fun too.


0c6003333744cd4ec0b9e47ba8d94a97.gif




Minecraft - This game is truly the most meta and time consuming game ever, it absorbs you into this digital blocky utopia where your imagination fuels the fun. A game where you simply place blocks but somehow even after mining millions of blocks and placing them in different configurations, it almost never gets old . The piano music in the background is so peaceful. playing this in the dark makes you sleepy. It's so relaxing and beautiful.

giphy.gif




Absolute Drift: Zen Edition - I don't own this game, and have never played it lol. But I get mesmerized and relaxed looking at it so I can imagine it's truly beautiful to play. It's so stunning and relaxing. Anything called Zen Edition says it all . I want this game once I get a PS4.

ezgif.com-optimize_2.gif
 
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Bartski

Bartski

Gold Member
Games with no fast reaction required. Walking sims, point and clicks, artsy games. Recently Abzu now that's relaxing.
 
V

vodka-bull

Member
Celeste. Whenever I finish a day of playing exhausting games, I put in a random level of Celeste and enjoy the calming easyness of its gameplay mechanics.
 
Cutty Flam

Cutty Flam

Banned
It’s been The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for me. I used to relax by playing these games a while back

Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, GTA: San Andreas, GTA V, Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, and Resident Evil Remake. I bought Yoshi’s Crafted World to relax and enjoy the laidback gameplay




^^^I wish we could listen to the music in the Divine Beasts even after their completion in BOTW. That track makes me think pretty deeply of all the villains and their motives
 
Krappadizzle

Krappadizzle

Member
Breath of the Wild:
hyrule-grass.gif


Going into Rito Village or just galloping across Hyrule Fields while the OST lightly plays in the backround. Or climbing a cliff and just seeing the sun shining and clouds casting shadows across the land is so damn relaxing.

Or a good 98% of Journey:

journey-gif.gif


Surfing along the golden desert while that music plays......So good.
 
Algan

Algan

Member
Stardew Valley is my favorite relaxing game. I spend several hours planting, collecting and talking to the characters.

stardewvalley-418723.jpg


The in-game fishing is also well is a very relaxing activity.

stardewvalley-341917.gif
 
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Alpha Male

Alpha Male

Member
Strategy games like XCOM, Halo Wars, Stellaris, Planetfall, Endwar, C&C, Supreme Commander, etc..

Racing games, especially Forza Horizon and The Crew

Sports games: MLB The Show, Everybody's Golf, Pro Evo, Super Mega Baseball, Madden

Steep
 
sublimit

sublimit

Banned
Currently it's Genshin Impact. I'm just having fun exploring its beautiful world casually.
50272117098_4902e671b7_k.jpg
 
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Miles708

Miles708

Member
Before I would have said something like outrun, or grinding useless shit on rpgs, which is always relaxing in its futility.

But now that Dreams came out, i have to say that. You can relax and go on a YouTube-like spree with content.
If you feel, you can create simple scenes (the lighting is amazing) or even music. I usually take on some projects just to decompress, it's simply enjoyable in its relaxed mood. I'm pretty stressed lately, so that's basically all i am playing since a couple of months. It's endless.
 
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fart town usa

fart town usa

Gold Member
OG Resident Evil 1996.

I know the game like the back of my hand and it's like zen meditation every time I play it. Pure bliss. The Spencer Mansion might as well be my childhood home, ha.

Same can be said for the original RE2.

Twilight Princess too, I get so absorbed into the world and the game is notoriously easy so it's never a stressful experience. Love that game.
 
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22:22:22

22:22:22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
Having Complex PTSS means it's very, very hard for me to relax anyways, let alone gaming. I try though. JRPG's, Abzu, admiring and spacing out at scenery in BotW etc. I get restless very fast. For me relaxation comes from doing something that gets me in a zone. Like racing games. Which is not true relaxation but merely a way to detract as much as possible attention from experiencing my unrelenting thoughts.
Which works in SP.


Meh I'm jealous of you guys.
 
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Hoya Destroyer

Hoya Destroyer

Member
Right now its State of Decay 2.
I just wander (or drive) around killing zombies, destroying Plague Hearts and collecting a bit of loot, at a nice relaxing pace.
For me this game is just GTA with zombies.
 
Perrott

Perrott

Gold Member
Diablo 2, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and also Spider Solitaire from the Microsoft Solitaire Collection.
 
Ceadeus

Ceadeus

Gold Member
It's gonna be sacred 2 on Xbox 360 later on today.

It's relaxing as long as you can explore a world at your own pace and loot stuff
 
sackings

sackings

Member
Games I can always go back to: Contra, Soulsborne, City Builders (zeus, caeser, pharaoh, etc). Bloodborne is pretty much an annual replay. Though waiting for that 60fps now...
 
Miles708

Miles708

Member
22:22 said:
Having Complex PTSS means it's very, very hard for me to relax anyways, let alone gaming. I try though. JRPG's, Abzu, admiring and spacing out at scenery in BotW etc. I get restless very fast. For me relaxation comes from doing something that gets me in a zone. Like racing games. Which is not true relaxation but merely a way to detract as much as possible attention from experiencing my unrelenting thoughts.
Which works in SP.


Meh I'm jealous of you guys.
Click to expand...

I don't want to sound like a salesman, nor do I want to minimize your condition, so sorry if the tone comes out wrong.

If you have a creative mind, or vaguely interested in game programming or art creating, Dreams is a stunning, even dangerous, time sink.

I can spend hours "in the zone" figuring shit out, or creating horrible art, and even if the end result is often not even that good, it's still feels good to be able to concentrate on making something, anything.

I usually can't create anything at all, but with Dreams i look at the time and somehow 3 hours have passed.
Never happened to me before.
 
22:22:22

22:22:22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
Miles708 said:
I don't want to sound like a salesman, nor do I want to minimize your condition, so sorry if the tone comes out wrong.

If you have a creative mind, or vaguely interested in game programming or art creating, Dreams is a stunning, even dangerous, time sink.

I can spend hours "in the zone" figuring shit out, or creating horrible art, and even if the end result is often not even that good, it's still feels good to be able to concentrate on making something, anything.

I usually can't create anything at all, but with Dreams i look at the time and somehow 3 hours have passed.
Never happened to me before.
Click to expand...

No worries my man! Appreciate your post! Funny you mentioned Dreams in regards to losing yourself in a creative process no matter the outcome; the game has been on my mind for the same reasons on several occasions. As well as Super Mario Maker. I'll keep it in mind. Again thanks!
 
IDKFA

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Total War, especially one of the classics like Med 2 or Empire.

For me, the most relaxing time is when I'm brewing a shit. You know, that time when you need a dump but it's not quite ready to come out. Playing a TW game then is pure bliss.
 
nemiroff

nemiroff

Gold Member
To actually relax I listen to podcasts while playing games like Dead Cells and Pinball FX (and many years ago f.ex. Geometry Wars).
 
IDKFA

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Total War, especially one of the classics like Med 2 or Empire.

For me, the most relaxing time is when I'm brewing a shit. You know, that time when you need a dump but it's not quite ready to come out. Playing a TW game then is pure bliss.
 
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