The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!
I’m in quite a bad place mentally at the moment, so I wasn’t really feeling like making a post. But then I thought, I could combine this in the form of a special discussion topic:
Let’s discuss your favorite Uplifting Games. What helps you when your feeling down or stressed out. What game series has comforted you in harder times. Are there certain genres that work better for you in these times? Feel free to share anything that comes up and react to other comments. Let’s get the conversation going!
If you have any recommendations for games or series for the next post(s), please feel free to DM me or add it in a comment here (no guarantees of course).
Previous entries: Final Fantasy, Visual Novels, Hollow Knight, Nintendo DS, Monster Hunter, Persona, Monkey Island, 8 Bit Era, Animal Crossing, Age of Empires, Super Mario, Deus Ex, Stardew Valley, The Sims, Half-Life, Earthbound / Mother, Mass Effect, Metroid, Journey, Resident Evil, Polybius, Tetris, Telltale Games, Kirby, LEGO Games, DOOM, Ori, Metal Gear, Slay the Spire
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Frog Detective!
It’s a lighthearted detective series, more of a walking sim with humorous characters than anything. The magnifying glass doesn’t even do anything! The dev did a fun talk about comedy in games if you’re into that
Here’s a shot I got from the last game (corruption at cowboy county)
Well, I personally have several “types” of game that help me feel comfortable when things are tough:
- Puzzle Games: in relatively small doses, a good and somewhat challenging puzzle game can help by requiring focus, while not being stressful.
- Deckbuilders: Slay the Spire and Monster Train are similar games that require mental engagement, without being to stressful.
- Immersive Games: Games with an interesting mystery or otherwise immersive experiences. I am currently playing Killer Frequency and Hacknet, both for that reason.
Journey is a beautiful game with excellent music and visuals. It’s coop where you can only make a ping noise and run around each other so no possibility of negative interactions. There’s a little challenge and adversity at times but the ending is phenomenal and joyous.
Sayonara wild hearts is a playable music album about a lady learning how to love herself. It’s got simple game mechanics but the mechanics all compliment the music and the music is so so good.
A friend of mine has (had?) most of the world records in Sayonara Wild Hearts; it’s not as relaxing if you’re going for high scores since you need to get close to collisions for bonus points, but if you just play to beat levels and chill, it’s great.
That’s impressive. My wife got all the achievements for it and that seemed very stressful. But just as something to experience is a really chill game.
I found Iconoclasts to be pretty uplifting to play. The ending is marvellously satisfying.
The Shantae games are good.
Disney Illusion Island fits in here too.
I see a bunch of mentions of Journey. Recently, I’ve been playing Sky: Children of the Light for the first time, which is made by the same devs. It is beautiful, and feels like a spiritual successor to Journey, to me. It is also free to play, so it is easy to recommend trying it out.
What’s the monetization like?
I just read the top review on Steam and it answered this question well: TL;DR it’s a shame this is a F2P game since the seasonal cosmetic FOMO is diametrically opposed to the message/spirit of the game, but if you can ignore the cosmetics, then it’s a fantastic experience that’s completely free.
Seems like it is just some cosmetics? Seems like many items you get by interacting with NPCs and others are somehow paid, but I haven’t looked at how that works.
in about 201X I was having a terrible time trying to get through the thesis period of a master’s program
picked up some bundle of the OG 2DS (black & blue variant) and Pokemon X and loved it
a world where I could pick my friends, people were pleasant, my next career moves were obvious, and my work was rewarded? To this day, this is my escapist fantasy.
ooblets is one of my favorite in this genre. it’s got a great soundtrack, the humor is spot-on, and it’s got an anti-capitalist message.
Love Ooblets! The dance battles are a fun little replacement for regular creature collecting fights, and they also scratch that deckbuilder itch.
rarely, i like to play a fluffy, feel good game with no real stakes. enter: Flynn, Son of Crimson
there is absolutely no chance of anything really bad happening in the game, the worst that happens is your powerful guardian diety dog loses his powers at the beginning of the game (but it’s OK, he just rests until you reclaim his powers and he feels better). you never really feel like anyone is really in danger, you get to play a pretty fun 2d action platforming game, and it has some really fun sections later on that make you feel awesome
it wraps up nicely in probably 20 hours too, if you want to 100% it, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome and lets you experience all of its content with low demands. really a lovely little experience. it’s not pushing the envelope at all, but if you want basically 20 solid hours of lighthearted fun, this is a great way to get it
Actually playing games during dire emotional states throws fuel unto my dissociation/depersonalization/derealization problems; but just mindfully sitting in my favorite place in the Temple of the Moon on a private vanilla WoW server works great for me. The sounds, music, colors, lighting effects, and water create a very zen space that helps me observe my thoughts and feelings without getting so tangled up in them. That kind of presence helps me better understand what is really going on and how it all happened.
If things are merely bad then maybe I’ll play some original Sims 1 or Rimworld on the coziest of settings. So long as there’s no nest of trash around then it’s probably okay. Eufloria in relaxed mode is a lovely RTS game that hasn’t ever caused me any problems.
Hopefully you find your way through this soon!
