Minecraft. I go through phases of not playing it, but once or twice a year I’ll start up a new world and just mindlessly build and mine while listening to a podcast or an audiobook, and will play every night for several weeks. I’ve started so many minecraft worlds over the years that I really don’t need to think about what to do next

Hollow Knight for sure. Just load up a couple of randomizers and explore hallownest for the millionth time

Borderlands 1

It’s the perfect game. The story is tight. The builds and weapons are fun. It’s not too grindy, but you can benefit from grinding if you want to. The post-apocalyptic trash planet setting has yet to be diluted and the characters have yet to be flanderized by later entries in the series.

It’s a game that I can pick up anytime and just vibe. My favorite part is collecting all of Tannis’ ECHO Logs throughout the game and getting to follow along with her trauma and descent into madness.

It helps that it has the second best DLC in the series to date. Secret Armoury of General Knox is chef’s kiss. Assault on Dragon Keep is only better by a hair.

Stellaris and Fallout 4.

Stellaris was the game that got me into gaming. I remember talking to one of my friends back in high school, and he recommended it to me. I picked it up on sale, and I’ve played it regularly ever since. Not only is a good sci-fi grand strategy game, but the sheer amount of mods available means you can make it into whatever you want. Want to play in the Star Wars galaxy? There’s mods for that. Star Trek? Same deal. Want to add weaponized moons, death-rays that monopolize the power of a star, and a bunch of robot cats that are hellbent on consuming all matter in the galaxy? There’s a mod for that as well.

Fallout 4 was the first game I brought after I got my own dedicated gaming setup. I decided that since I had a proper setup now, I might as well buy something that’d take advantage of the new resources I had. Fallout 4 had been a game that had caught my eye since the first ads way back in 2015, so I figured I’d pick it up on sale. And what really made me fall in love with it was the settlement system. A bit strange, I know, but I just really love building things in games. Most of my mods for the game are related to the settlement system in some way or another, and I’ll often find myself booting up the game and building a new shack in Sanctuary or expanding Vault 88 a bit more.

A bit different from the question but

Outer Wilds.

I’ve spent a lot of time in it and have 100% it, so it’s hard to find a reason get back in, but even just booting to the title screen just completely transports me.

Why? Outer Wilds was just an incredible experience, and the OST is astounding and the music completely soaked up the experience and can bring it all back just by listening.

DOOM

So many mods

So many difficulties

Beyond that I’d say Half-Life because that’s also a good classic.

Sid Meier’s Pirates

I have dozens of thousands of hours logged in that game, all because it’s so easy to get in to and so hard to get out of. Just turn it on, do some pirate shit, then realize it’s been hours and you probably should have eaten or slept at some point.

Stellaris, Rimworld, or Borderlands 2. Depends on how much I want to use my brain. If I just want to turn my brain off, Borderlands. If I want to really sink into a game, Rimworld. Somewhere in between, Stellaris.

I go back to a few almost routinely.

• Mount and Blade: Warband (with and without mods)
• Rocket League
• Crash Bandicoot 2&3
• OpenTTD
• Pokemon (The mainline ones are all basically the same game lol)

For M&B and OpenTTD, being able to rely on my old knowledge of the game to succeed feels satisfying since they both have a steep learning curve.

For RL and Crash, muscle memory taking over the majority of play is relaxing.

For Pokemon I just have a crippling amount of nostalgia

Fallout 3. I know New Vegas has a better story and proper ADS. I know 4 is a markedly better handling experience. But 3 holds a special place in my heart

Diablo 2. I return to it about twice a year and have a good time starting a fresh playthrough farming gear for a few different builds. Especially with the QOL that resurrected has brought.

Dynasty Warriors (and its many, many spinoffs). I know they’re not objectively good, but man does it feel great to kill 1,000 enemies just by mashing Square and Triangle.

The older entries also had endearingly bad English voice acting.

Definitely Stardew Valley. It’s not necessarily like I could play it endlessly forever but whenever all other alternatives seem boring or like they require more energy than I feel like spending, I always turn to Stardew exactly for comfort.

Halo 3, any of the older guitar hero or rock band games. Or OSRS.

Red Dead Redemption 2, Chapter 2.

Galloping around, taking in the hazy morning with a cup of coffee at a makeshift camp, the ambient music and noises as you travel. It gives me such wanderlust.