Gaming

Zelda games are this for me (except Twilight princess, its environment and visuals were depressive to me). Particularly, botw is peak to get lost in.

Mine was Diablo 2 for the longest time. I could get my summon necromancer out and play fairly mindlessly. He'd have so many minions that nothing ever really hit me. He wasn't super overpowered, so he didn't kill fast, but it was a nice, lazy walkthrough kind of build. He did better in big open areas rather than corridors, so I'd play him in those even if that meant a lower chance of finding good gear.

Super Mario kart and the original doom. I can play either of those games at any point and always have fun. There are newer games in both of those series, and I do love them too, but if I want some comfort gaming it's the originals for me.

If I'm just relaxing, probably Arma 3. It's editor is like playing with toys for adults. I love making missions or armies that aren't balanced or made for other people. I do this little mini-game with myself where I build up an army starting with only pistols and a few guys. Then as you beat more competent opponents, like maybe it starts put with poorly equipped pirates and looters and goes up to fighting the United States or PLA, you get more and more equipment and fight on progressivly larger maps. It's very fun, and feels like being a child again. Plus, maybe it has a bit of Metal Gear Peacewalker inspiration.

Harry Potter PC games. Particularly the first two - I played them a lot when I was younger so there's a nostalgia about them that I love. Fliiiipendo!

Cozy Grove or Wingspan, both pretty chill games with nice music.

Trackmania 2020 is great!

Elder Scrolls games, especially Oblivion. But for all of them counts that after thousands of hours I still find new things, walking around the world is just great, the music amazing, the quality issues and bugs feel more silly in a fun way than breaking, and the lore feels like it is never ending.

Otherwise there is also the Sims. Similar weird lore, funky cartoony animation, and otherwise just a do whatever you feel like.

Anything based on Kirby! The music, aesthetic, everything just makes me happy

It's not exactly cozy or anything but mine is probably Mini Metro. It's just a perfectly crafted puzzle game in every single way, I can play it on my laptop or my phone or my Steam Deck depending on the situation, it's always there and takes enough focus that there's no room to be worrying about life at the same time. Absolute masterclass in audio design which makes it very immersive considering you're just looking at lines and basic shapes.

Or or course as someone else already said, sometimes you just need to blast some bugs in Deep Rock Galactic. For rock and stone!

Big pro of both of these games is you can feel happy about supporting the devs as they're both genuinely awesome, which might help with the whole depressive headspace thing.

lately: against the storm. making a city builder into a roguelite was genius.

Lego Batman, the first one. God, I love that game. I just feel so cozy when I play it.

Me and my wife just finished It Takes Two. What an incredible game and story!

Transport Tycoon, using OpenTTD. If you've never played it you can download OpenTTD and use their graphics, sounds, and music replacement sets to play it for free. However as I own the base game I like to keep the original music as it helps to drive the nostalgia.

I love Doom, and I've been playing it since I first got hold of the shareware episode, but when I really need a comfort game it's almost always Transport Tycoon.

This may sound odd as a comforting game, but I fired up Fallout 3 a year or so ago, and it really made me feel good to be back in the Capitol Wasteland.

Minecraft, oblivion, fable, shadow of the colossus, dkc trilogy on SNES, virtually any Zelda game, final fantasy tactics

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.

Definitely Minecraft. Old Pokemon games as well. Just something about the grind is therapeutic

Outer Wilds. But I already know everything that happens. So I prefer watching a stream/VOD of someone playing it for the first time.

Journey (PS3, PS4, PS5)

A perfect emotional escape for a couple of hours, I have lost count of how many "journeys" i have done, and its made all the richer if you meet another traveller along the way and complete the journey with them.

Probably strange to call them comfort games but I've played them so many times they've become comfort games: Mass Effect trilogy, Dragon Age games, KOTOR and KOTOR II, and even SWTOR.

Yes, I recognise I have a BioWare bias but honestly no games feel like theirs. I hope they stick around for a long time and manage to claw their way back to being a trusted RPG maker.

I think the familiar world building, the fantastic characters, the cinematic conversations, dialogue options all make it comforting to me. And they're my happiest gaming memories.

I can always go for a game of Age of Empires 2. That game takes me back to my childhood.

Skyrim for sure. I have an embarrassing number of hours thanks to the modding community.

Elite Dangerous in VR. I can really disconnect from the real world and just enjoy being a space-pirate bounty hunter.

It'll be an odd one compared to everyone else, but DiRT 3 with some good music playing in the background is awesome.

The physics are awesome, a bit arcady but reasonably realistic and manageable even on keyboard and the replay mode is amazing, makes even the shittiest driver look pro with its camera work.

And the rallycross modes and the montecarlo track are amazing.

Deus Ex, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, and Cyberpunk 2077. Like you said, they are games I like to get lost in, just walk/drive around in, soak in the ambience. I like to pretend I'm there; it's a great escape, like you said, comforting.

I used to zone out and blow shit up to music in Just Cause 2. Now I do the same thing in Deep Rock Galactic.

Easily Path of Exile. There's something so relaxing about blowing up the entire screen with one flick of my wrist, and it really gets my endorphins flowing to minmax my stats using third party tools like Path of Building and testing out items on the trade site / changes to my skill tree to see how they'd affect my build.

To some people it sounds like work, but for me it hits that sweet spot of minmaxing and complexity that no other game really can.

Edit: I should also mention that I've been mostly playing on Steam Deck which has been a revelation for me. Endgame "alch and go" mapping is so perfect for the pick up and play style, only enhanced by having access to it from the couch/toilet.

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

Civilization 2 on PC. Play on easy, small map, raging barbarians, and just stomp on the PC.

This is going to sound silly, but Clicker Heroes. There's nothing necessarily "comforting" about it in the classic sense, but I have ADD, depression, and anxiety. Putting that on and just mindlessly clicking and resource-managing allows me to focus just enough on that, without it needing my full attention, to be able to also sort through my otherwise incoherent strands of thoughts.

But going by art, music, experience, gameplay, etc, I guess I'd have to say Bastion from Supergiant Games. It's definitely up there as one of my favorite games of all time.

RDR2 Ik it's a little intense at times, but between missions its relaxing to just ride your horse around, craft/cook, and enjoy the beautiful scenery

Skyrim, fire emblem(anything 3DS and up, I haven't played the older games) and Warframe ❤️ these games always make me happy and comfort me if needed

Civilization 4. Incredible quotes, amazing sound track, deep mechanics

Minecraft

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.

Depends on my mood, Stardew Valley is high on my list if I need a calm game to relax. Hotline Miami 1 & 2 if I need to get all my anger out, and Racing Sims like Assetto Corsa and iRacing for if I want to clear my mind driving cool cars around.