Top 5 Comfort Games
You know when you are feeling sick, depressed or otherwise down you always turn to that certain pick-me-up game. Maybe its all rainy outside and gloomy, you're vomiting buckets and you need something to pass the time and keep you from killing yourself. Comfort games are a big part of gamer's lives, and here is the top 5 comfort games from The Weekly Geek. Enjoy!
Frodo
- Katamari Damacy - Classic gameplay, easy to pick up and stop whenever you want to, and a soundtrack so familiar it might as well be the theme to my life. It's the combo of great gameplay and cozy j-pop that make this a comfort game for me.
- Harvest Moon - It's hard to not find comfort in a game like Harvest Moon, where repetitive tasks become routine as you slowly build your farm empire. No action here, just all relaxing.
- Animal Crossing - I used to fall asleep playing the Gamecube version and just leave the title screen on all night, with the music still going. Now with the DS version, I still fall asleep to it, but I don't have to lug a huge tv into bed with me.
- World of Warcraft - WoW is just so easy to turn on and find something, anything to do to take your mind off of things. Check the auction house, do some crafting, or sit back and get into a 4 hour raid group. Tons of stuff to keep you occupied, and you can still be social while you are sick! Neat!
- Final Fantasy 9 - Something about FFIX struck me the first time I played it. It was like FFVI all over again, great midieval storyline with well-defined characters, memorable soundtrack, lush landscapes and the tried and true Final Fantasy RPG random battle system. It's like coming home, everything is strangely familiar and cozy, like a hug. I think I will be the first person ever to describe FFIX as "a hug".
White Mage
To me a comfort game needs to be open-ended or one you can play over and over and it never gets old.
Honorable Mention: Animal Crossing – Seeing as this game has no end, it is perfect.
- Harvest Moon – I'm a newcomer to this series but the style is just right for a comfort game.
- Tetris – I’ve been playing Tetris since I was 7. My childhood was a happy time and I played Tetris as a child; therefore the game is a good pick-me-up.
- Wild Arms – This is a RPG series that never gets old to me. The original was the first game I ever finished and I have replayed/restarted it many times. The last time I was sick, I played through 30+ hours of Wild Arms 2. The music and the simple style of the series make these great comfort games.
- Final Fantasy Tactics – I started this game 9 years ago and I am still playing the same save file. I made a choice early on to level all my characters to their max before progressing (since I watched The Geek finish the game before I started my own). This made the game nearly open-ended. I have used this game for comfort in the past and continue to come back to it.
- Azure Dreams – I rented this obscure game 9 years ago and got so hooked I had to buy it, even though The Geek and I were just dating and the Playstation was his. On your 15th birthday you decide to go earn your fortune in the Monster Tower. Every floor of the tower is randomly generated on each visit and you always start at level one. You search the tower for treasure to keep or sell and hope to find a monster egg. You can sell the eggs or hatch them and raise the familiars. Familiars gain experience in the tower and they keep the experience they earn (so you are level one when you enter the tower but your familiar may be level 10.) As you reach certain floors in the tower and earn money you are able to improve your hometown and woo girlfriends. Azure Dreams is an almost open-ended dating, collection, rpg, puzzle game that I am determined to finish someday.
The Geek
- Tetris: - C'mon man, it's Tetris. Everybody likes Tetris. It's just a great simple game to just drop right into and zone out.
- Halo 2: - I know, I know, Halo? Yeah, Halo. I'm talking about the online multiplayer. Between Xbox Live being such a good service and the fact that there's about 2 bazillion people playing Halo 2 online at any given time, it's a great game to just plop on the couch for a while, log in, and just shoot some people. And contrary to what ol' JT will tell you, shooting the hell out of a bunch of strangers online is very cathartic.
- Katamari Damacy: - Roll the Katamari. Collect stuff. Get bigger. Roll the Katamari. Collect stuff. Get bigger. Roll the Katamari. Collect stuff. Get bigger. Smile.
- Mega Man X: - MMX is a true classic in every sense of the word. I love the visuals, the music, the animation, everything. It's fun to just blast your way through levels and then use the right weapon against the boss. The thing I really love about that part is the fact that the weapon the bosses are weak against actually have a physical effect. Chill Penguin gets set ablaze, Spark Mandrill is frozen in his tracks, etc.
- Super Mario World: - SMW is one of the all-time greatest platformers. And with good reason. Bright, beautiful visuals, fun level design, creative enemies, lots of hidden exits, smooth sprite animation, wonderful music, and still a decent challenge to boot. The best part about it that makes it a great comfort game is the fact that I can go back to any level at any time once I've cleared them all. Just a couple of weeks ago, I loaded up the old SNES with Super Mario World, hit the Secret Area to load up on some power ups and hitch a ride on Yoshi, and then just picked and chose some of my favorite levels to run through. And then I went and beat the game just so I could hear the end music. Man, I love that ending music.
Caspian
- Any 2K Sports Hockey Game - I know I'm not in the company of many sports game fans here, but the top element of a comfort game for me is one that you don't really have to think about playing. There's nothing quite like smashing some CPU skaters into the glass, watching the red light go off when you fire a wrist shot past the goalie, or watching the zamboni sweep the ice clean on the intermissions. Pretty theraputic after a sucky day at work.
- Final Fantasy IV - Classic Turn-Based RPG action is the best genre of comfort game, in my opinion, and I always go back to the one I first fell in love with. I'm gonna have to pick that one up on Game Boy Advanced.
- Tetris - I have to side with The Geek on this one. Not only is it a fantastic comfort game, but with it on my cell phone, it's also a great "i have ten minutes to kill and I'm nowhere near a game system" game.
- Any PS2 Grand Theft Auto Game - Sometimes there's something getting in the way of my comfort. And that's my intense ANGER and FRUSTRATION!!! Ahhhhhhhhh!!! (Shoots a cop.) (Punches a pedestrian.) (Rips off a Ferrari.) ... I'm feeling comforted already.
- Reading a Book - Seriously. Pick one up. And yeah, I could only think of a Top 4 Comfort Games. Sorry guys.
