Finding comfort in games after the terrible, horrible, no-good year of 2017
2017, with its natural disasters, human disasters, and all around horrible undercurrent that continuously barraged us with bad news and situations that sometimes seemed too difficult to bear, was a real fuckin' doozy.
In times like these, the world becomes a bit too difficult to deal with 24/7, and we need to slip away into something that can grab our attention, wash away all the reminders of the outside world for a few hours and make us feel calm.
In many ways, video games are great escapes from the real world. They require our full attention, making us watch, listen, interact, and solve problems, demanding our focus while the Earth, somehow, keeps spinning.
But games aren't always a healthy way to get away when life is too stressful to keep thinking about. At the end of a long, insane, month-long week, sometimes a difficult action-RPG like Bloodbourne isn't exactly the moment of respite one needs; sometimes a normally enjoyable multiplayer game like Overwatch frustrates with terrible teammates or over-experienced opponents.
That's where comfort games come in; games that envelop you with comforting sounds, colors, characters, and stress-free objectives, embracing you with a warm fire-like glow that melts away at the cold, dark, oppressive world that constantly attacks you at all hours of the day.
A game like Flower where you play as the wind and gently guide flower petals across environments full of color, collecting more petals as you move and experiencing the freedom that only wind in the wilderness can feel.
In the same vein as Flower, there's Abzû, a game where you swim around and explore the ocean, swim with dolphins, fish, and whales, and find ancient ruins to bring more life to the sea. All the while, there are beautiful underwater vignettes and calming music to make the entire game feel peaceful.
Then there are games like Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Star Dew Valley, where you simply runaround a town, interact with townspeople, take care of your home, and live your life exactly how you want to.
These town-life games are the definition of lax. Although there may be a push to pay off loans, grow crops, or complete certain objectives, you can usually just avoid them and do your own thing. If you just want to go fishing, you can go fishing to your heart's content.
All the while, some of the most welcoming and warming music in all of video gaming plucks along as you work on getting your virtual life in order and interact with friendly neighbors. Chores seem so much easier in video games than they do in real life, and give nearly the same feeling of satisfaction when you finish them.
Sometimes, though, there's more comfort in familiarity.
Games from childhood, games that you've sunk dozens or hundreds of hours into, games that have systems and worlds and characters that you know inside and out. Personal favorites can sometimes be the most comforting of all, especially if they aren't too difficult or offer the option to take it easy.
Grand Theft Auto games and Elder Scrolls games like Skyrim and Oblivion are all great open world games that many people have put tons of time into at one point or another. Revisiting these open world games and doing literally whatever you want, whether that means starting from scratch and exploring familiar areas or killing absolutely everybody you can, can be pretty cathartic and relaxing.
Digging back into games that you have fond memories of playing, classics like Super Mario World, Diablo 2, or Sonic the Hedgehog that might already have a soft spot in your heart, can bring a nostalgic sort of comfort with their outdated visuals and sounds.
Whatever your cure for thinking about the world is, it's important to fall into that every once in a while, to forget about problems even for just a few hours to feel a little calming moment of peace.
Topics Gaming
