The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!
I’m in quite a bad place mentally at the moment, so I wasn’t really feeling like making a post. But then I thought, I could combine this in the form of a special discussion topic:
Let’s discuss your favorite Uplifting Games. What helps you when your feeling down or stressed out. What game series has comforted you in harder times. Are there certain genres that work better for you in these times? Feel free to share anything that comes up and react to other comments. Let’s get the conversation going!
If you have any recommendations for games or series for the next post(s), please feel free to DM me or add it in a comment here (no guarantees of course).
Previous entries: Final Fantasy, Visual Novels, Hollow Knight, Nintendo DS, Monster Hunter, Persona, Monkey Island, 8 Bit Era, Animal Crossing, Age of Empires, Super Mario, Deus Ex, Stardew Valley, The Sims, Half-Life, Earthbound / Mother, Mass Effect, Metroid, Journey, Resident Evil, Polybius, Tetris, Telltale Games, Kirby, LEGO Games, DOOM, Ori, Metal Gear, Slay the Spire
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i harp on it a lot, but Outer Wilds helps me a lot. It teaches the value of exploration, curiosity, friendship, compassion, and patience. it’s a deeply melancholic piece, which can be frustrating and obtuse at times, but just remembering it makes me happy. the soundtrack brings all the memories back every time.
It’s a great game but I wouldn’t call it uplifting at all. Some of the why is already in your comment. Some people may also get frustrated by being in a loop and having to start over time after time. Some of the puzzles aren’t easy, which again may add to the frustration.
it’s less about the details and more about the entirety of the experience for me.
Celeste!
It’s about overcoming internal struggles to achieve something. (something I’m still fighting with in real life, bad place mentally here too.)
Listening to the soundtrack always makes me feel a bit better though.
It’s cute, fun, and challenging (although never difficult in a frustrating way)
Excellent game. Still never quite finished it. I think have 3 screens left.
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That studio I believe also made Transistor, which is also phenomenal.
Supergiant Games, they made Hades and Hades 2, Pyre, Bastion, and Transistor
Stardew Valley is a good fit.
You tend to your farm, help people, maintain relationships with people by gifting them and changing their lives.
Unfortunately, i play the game like a maniac. Running around from morning 6 AM till 10 PM.
I have the utmost respect for ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley, I’m happy it’s a success and I’ve played it plenty. I have to say though, there’s something in the game that leads some of us straight into a minmaxing management race-against-the-clock frenzy. I think I could play it casually, but I’d need an unwavering discipline… and that’s the problem.
Yeah. I pretty much have to play it with mods that double/triple the daytime length, or I just feel perpetual anxiety over not being able to get anything done in a day.
If you want the full comfy chillax experience, add the mod that just lets you pause time whenever you want. Feel like fishing but don’t want to miss something? Take a pause and relax with a rod for a bit.
I also suffer from min/max gaming and this is the only way I could enjoy the game without being stressed.
Brilliant. I should do that. I’m not great at skipping stuff to race faster, so the skull dungeon is really hard for me and I end up save scumming after most runs. I read about people getting to floor 200+, but I can barely get to 100 unless I waste a whole stack of staircases.
Pausing time would make it a lot more relaxing.
Sorry to hear things are rough for you. I hope whatever is causing it improves!
Mine is an odd choice, or maybe not, but its the first thing that came to mind: Night in The Woods
It’s about a girl that comes home from college to her old dying town. I know that doesn’t sound terribly uplifting, and there’s some downer stories mixed in there, but overall I found it a very heartfelt and uplifting game, because the main character’s friends are the most wonderful bunch of people, and you hang out with them and go on little adventures throughout. It’s got a cool creepy mystery story going on, but the game is mostly about deep friendship, family, and overcoming struggles with their help, and I found that very uplifting and worthwhile.
Night in the Woods was such a standout game. I started to watch a let’s play, realized that it was going to be fantastic, stopped the let’s play, played the game, then finished the let’s play to see their reactions. If you like wholesome let’s plays, I highly recommend PlayFrame. Here is their Night in the Woods play list
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFQJa1XAXzwACGBYEbmPy0ooBeXr1TAv&si=eHJtQjyoVNrpfgB3
KNIFE FIGHT!!!
There’s a lot to do outside the main plot, the townspeople were really interactive. Great rec! The falling leaves give it a cozy vibe too
SMASH CAPITALISM
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Gris - A beautiful platform puzzle game. A very emotional game, but one that makes you feel like you’re rebuilding something in yourself. Gorgeous art, amazing dynamic soundtrack.
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Meadow - I don’t know how to describe this game. You log onto a server, pick a woodland animal as an avatar, and then you explore the world and meet other players. Your only means of communication is noises and emojis. It’s so simple, yet so fantastic.
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Bokida - Heartfelt Reunion - A minimalist art puzzle game. I haven’t played it in a while, but I remember it being super immersive. I just had to finish it, to see how all of the pieces of the story fit together.
Also, I hope you feel better soon.
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It Takes Two! I played it with my partner and really enjoyed the story and very imaginative game play.
gonna throw in my caveat here; ITT is a really good co-op game but there’s like a 25% chance the story isn’t for you. it’s the kind of story where, if you think about it too much, you start to realize that the characters do some pretty fucked up stuff including
::: graphically tearing a plush doll apart while it screams for mercy
:::
i don’t want to come across as judgemental if you enjoyed it; i get that some people are gonna find it more slapstick than anything. but it was more than enough to make me and the person i played it with flush it, and i wouldn’t feel right not mentioning it for specifically “uplifting games”
if you can ignore the story, the co-op gameplay is super solid, though
(sorry if the spoilers don’t show up right, my client doesn’t show them properly)
Most of the game is fantastic, but yeah my partner and I were surprised when that happened!
There was one other plot point where we raised our eyebrows, but I don’t know to do spoiler text
Journey - This game brought me to a sort of Zen, it is calm and peaceful and was just a wonderful experience that didn’t out stay its welcome. By the end of it I just felt like I had had a nice uplifting experience.
Fallout games - Yeh this may not seem like an uplifting game experience for most people and I would generally agree but on a personal level I do find them uplifting by the end of them for the following reason. I have always picked up the modern fallout games when I have been quitting one substance or another in the past. There is something about the desolation of the people and the environment within those games with mirrors the desolation I felt withing myself at these times in my life. Working through the stories draws me in and helps me forget about whatever it is my body is telling me I “need” even if it is only for a few hours at a time. Multiple times though these games have helped me get through those feelings and so therefore for me they have a certain uplifting quality, like a weird unexpected safe space.
Dave The Diver: you run a sushi restaurant and go diving to catch fish. The writing is quirky, it’s full of interesting characters and there’s no time limits except for some events. I’ll spend days just fishing for the restaurant instead of doing any “story stuff”. I picked a steam key on CDkeys for £7 and I can already see myself pouring 40 hours in this thing if I want. The trailer if anyone is interested
Seconded. Dave the Diver is very uplifting and not punishing at all - if you make a mistake, it has very few consequences
Journey is a beautiful game with excellent music and visuals. It’s coop where you can only make a ping noise and run around each other so no possibility of negative interactions. There’s a little challenge and adversity at times but the ending is phenomenal and joyous.
Sayonara wild hearts is a playable music album about a lady learning how to love herself. It’s got simple game mechanics but the mechanics all compliment the music and the music is so so good.
A friend of mine has (had?) most of the world records in Sayonara Wild Hearts; it’s not as relaxing if you’re going for high scores since you need to get close to collisions for bonus points, but if you just play to beat levels and chill, it’s great.
That’s impressive. My wife got all the achievements for it and that seemed very stressful. But just as something to experience is a really chill game.
Well, I personally have several “types” of game that help me feel comfortable when things are tough:
- Puzzle Games: in relatively small doses, a good and somewhat challenging puzzle game can help by requiring focus, while not being stressful.
- Deckbuilders: Slay the Spire and Monster Train are similar games that require mental engagement, without being to stressful.
- Immersive Games: Games with an interesting mystery or otherwise immersive experiences. I am currently playing Killer Frequency and Hacknet, both for that reason.
I think you should try “outer wilds” as it is a puzzle game and also quite immersive. I am not done yet with this game (only 15h or so) but it is a master piece. If you never heard of it, do not look any video or guide on the internet !
It is literally my favorite game of all time ;) great suggestion though!
I’m not sure if I would really say it’s that uplifting, but if you like puzzle and card games, you’ll love Inscryption
Might I recommend Journey and Abzu? They’re both wonderful experiences with a healthy dose of zen if you decide you want to just pause and appreciate the environments.
If you like hacknet, you should give Uplink a try sometime. It’s the inspiration for the series, and a wonderfully immersive hacking game.
There’s also a modern UI mod for it.
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Freshly Frosted - Puzzle game. Seriously, I don’t remember the last time I felt so encouraged by the narrator. If you’re in a bad mental state, I do recommend this one.
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Lost in Play - Two siblings go on an adventure through a fanciful wonderland of their imagination…or is it?
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Spiritfarer - A chill management game where you’re Charon ferrying souls to the Everdoor. This one deals with death and saying goodbye to loved ones, but it does so in a very thoughtful and sensitive way. It definitely changed my paradigm.
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A Hat in Time - Cute 3D action platformer. Silly fun.
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Little Inferno - Despite its simplicity and obvious satire of consumerism/Capitalism, this has a very cozy feel and fun characters.
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Tinykin - Adorable collect-a-thon platform puzzler with no enemies, only obstacles.
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Gorogoa - Puzzle game with an interesting story that unfolds with each puzzle.
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Doronko Wanko - You’re a cute doggo making a house as messy as possible.
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Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People - Fun, silly point and click. I also recommend the show.
Little Inferno can be beaten in ~3 hours and… let me check… yes, it’s on mobile! It’s by the people that made World of Goo, don’t sleep on it
Hat in Time is a great modern 3D platformer, movement was fun and I liked the variety of characters across the levels. The Murder on the Owl Express quest was my favorite!
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Frog Detective!
It’s a lighthearted detective series, more of a walking sim with humorous characters than anything. The magnifying glass doesn’t even do anything! The dev did a fun talk about comedy in games if you’re into that
Here’s a shot I got from the last game (corruption at cowboy county)
Outer wilds felt really good to play, optimistic nihilism and a happy lonliness. One moment that really stood out to me was when I followed a certain object out of the solar system, spent pretty much 20minutes drifting in space listening to the other astronauts play together planets apart and watching the stars
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Watching the stars slowly blink out and realizing that I won’t be able to save the sun, that it’s the whole universe going away. Givining in to the inevitability of it all ending and just watching everything end.
It’s one of the most peaceful times I’ve had with a game, and playing it in the middle of covid I cried happy tears. Go in as blind as you can.
It’s a gorgeous game experience. Not to mention they put so many other gamedevs to shame with their technical accomplishments (especially in the expansion – flooding waves in a ringworld!).
Don’t look up spoilers. Get yourself a copy and play it. Find somewhere to land your spaceship :)
Pokemon Emerald: I used to play it a bunch to escape reality. Now my mind just associates it with safe spaces. It never fails to cheer me up when I hear the ost or see pokemon from that gen. Only bad part is that I can’t play for longer than 20 mins without feeling so cozy I fall asleep.
Guilty Gear Strive: Strangely relaxing once I got a hang of the controls. I just play a few rounds against the AI for a pick-me-up. Not sure if it’s still uplifting at higher levels.
Muse Dash: The music and cutesy artstyle are so overwhelmingly positive, it’s hard to stay negative when you’re in the zone and grooving.
