Topic: What are your comfort games?

XC3, it’s my favorite game ever and it feels like home to me whenever I boot it up. I also love replaying certain songs and levels in Rhythm Heaven and Warioware

Ah yes, that'll be this game...

... very comforting 😁

I can identify with a lot of the games mentioned so far, particularly Animal Crossing and Zelda (Ocarina, Wind Waker, Breath of the Wild). Maybe a bit less so with Mario Kart 8/D - it's my favourite game of all time, but so frantic that I can't really justify the use of the word 'comfort for it particularly.

Super Mario 3D World is defo a comfort game, and Galaxy too.

For some reason, when reading the thread title, my mind reaches first for The Secret of Monkey Island, and it pains me that it hasn't been ported to Switch or 3DS.

But when I ponder the question a bit deeper, the most obvious contenders, that I've not seen mentioned above, are the Yoshi games - Island, Woolly World and Crafted World - they just epitomise the idea of a cosy comfort game for me.

Neko Tomo - Nintendo Switch
My Universe My Baby - Nintendo Switch
Pui Pui Molcar Let's Party - Nintendo Switch
Pikachin Kit - Nintendo Switch
Doraemon Learning Collection - Nintendo Switch
Doraemon Nobita's Brain Exercise - Nintendo Switch

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

1. Slay the Spire
2. Forza Horizon 4
3. Soulcalibur VI
4. FTL
5. Shadowverse

@Servbot_EJ Nice, similarly with Sonic the Hedgehog, I've gotten Sonic Mega Collection on Christmas Day and the first thing played on it was Sonic the Hedgehog. So for me, I always like playing Sonic 1 every Christmas season. Any version really. I even have an ornament of a Sega Genesis that plays sound and music from the game.

It's nice I think a lot of comforting gaming memories happen during the holiday season.

@Sunsy That's awesome. That reminds me, I especially love the snow levels in Super Mario 3D World. The ice skating shoe that you can hop in is so much fun! I also love the music that plays in those levels, too. It's my favorite snow level music because of how cheerful and festive it is.

At the moment, I'd say my comfort games are those that are under 5-10 hours long: there's something very therapeutic about being able to knock out a bunch of games in a row while still having time for stuff like schoolwork, TV, etc.

Other than that then, it'd generally be puzzle games like Tetris, Picross and even Panel de Pon on occasion.

@MarioLover92 Snow level music always gives those comforting Christmas vibes. Yeah I remember playing Super Mario 3 on Super Mario All-Stars snowed in and on World 6. It was also snowing outside, lol.

For me it is probably favourite games from childhood.
Secret of Mana, Kirby's Fun Pack, Yoshi's Story, and Mario Bros 2 (first game I ever played).
These ones I keep coming back to for either a full play through or a quick level.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, followed by….

• Dreams
• New Super Mario Bros 2
• Mario and Luigi BIS/DT
• Mario Kart Wii
• Minecraft
• Yoshi’s Woolly World
• Celeste
• Stardew Valley
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons (god, I miss when the online on this game was so active in 2020/21)

Low stress and rather short Metroidvanias for me, like
-Metroid Fusion
-Metroid Zero Mission
-Steamworld Dig 2
-Timespinner
-Ori 1 and 2

Super Mario Galaxy
RiME
A racing game of some kind, basically whatever the newest Forza Horizon is at the time
and of course Minecraft

Stick any of those on with a good podcast or some chill music, a blanket and a hot chocolate and I'm brought back to childhood instantly

Wii Sports Resort, WarioWare Smooth Moves, Yoshi's Woolly World, Mario platformers - those are the first ones that come to mind, but basically anything split into levels or minigames so you don't have to worry about getting lost, levelling up your character or missing online events.

Dragon Quest 11S. I love Zelda, but for me this game is the goat.

DKC2
Ocarina of Time
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Super Metroid
Resident Evil Remake
Super Castlevania 4

Used to be Pokemon games and World of Warcraft, but both have lost their appeal around 5 years ago. I don't have any real comfort games anymore, but these would come closest:

Rollercoaster Tycoon
Minesweeper
Super Mario Galaxy
Assassin's Creed II
Bioware games between KotOR and Dragon Age: Inquisition

I mentioned the main Super Mario series back in my original post, and I noticed that you folks have your own lists, so I'll make my own. Because why not?

Here are the 2D Mario platformers that I'd consider comfort games for me:

Super Mario All-Stars (it's my favorite way to play the original Super Mario platformers)
Super Mario World
New Super Mario Bros. (the first one on the DS)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
...and if that counts, Yoshi's Island (the SNES original)

And the 3D ones:

Super Mario 64 (the original N64 version)
Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario Odyssey

And some non-Mario games, as well:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past + A Link Between Worlds
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild + Tears of the Kingdom
Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, and 3 & Knuckles
Sonic Mania
Super Metroid
Tetris Effect Connected

I guess the game I always go back to is Rocket League. Picross is another I'll quite happily lose whole evening to if I'm not careful!

Mario Maker 2 - just easy to pick up and chill

Tetris - Tetris 99 or Tetris Effect

Farming/Life Sum - these change over time and I don't have one right now but ACNH and Stardew were up there in the past.

snes Mario/Zelda on NSO. These have been ingrained into my earliest memories of life, so always relaxing to play through some.

random chill puzzle games - picross sometimes. Watermelon game lately.