Gaming

I always find myself going back to Civ V. I can lose weeks playing that game.

Easily Path of Exile. There's something so relaxing about blowing up the entire screen with one flick of my wrist, and it really gets my endorphins flowing to minmax my stats using third party tools like Path of Building and testing out items on the trade site / changes to my skill tree to see how they'd affect my build.

To some people it sounds like work, but for me it hits that sweet spot of minmaxing and complexity that no other game really can.

Edit: I should also mention that lately I've been mostly playing on Steam Deck which has been a revelation for me. Endgame "alch and go" mapping is so perfect for the pick up and play style, only enhanced by having access to it from the couch/toilet.

Slime Rancher 2 is my more recent go-to. Failing that, Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island will always do it for me

Cruising around in BeamNG.drive is fun

A great deal of SNES games do this for me. Super Mario RPG, Mega Man X, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Chrono Trigger, even the Mario All-Star games to a point. It's all likely because it's such a great system and developers really hit their stride with what they could do with 16-bit gaming on that console.

Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flying Cessna around my town.

Knytt Underground

You play as a little Sprite with two fairy companions. You're left to explore 1000 rooms of a sprawling underground labyrinth, discovering all sorts of secrets that humanity left behind.

Portal (and 2). Replayed them so many times.

Just cruising around some cars listening to the radio in Forza Horizon. Fishing in Shadowprey Village in World of Warcraft. Improving flow of traffic in City Skylines or Transport Fever 2.

Valheim and Stardew Valley. Both make me forget time exists.

A Short Hike had that effect on me, the re-playability isn't really there though, but for a one-off burst of peace and quite it will do.

Picking some goofy off-role champ in a /muteall draft game of League can also work, but the experience is highly rng based.

Edit: I forgot Trackmania both the latest polished release with its whimsical environments and the historical custom madness that was/is Trackmania: nation. I genuinely hate grinding (be it mmorpgs or soullike) but once I start a track in those I'm hooked for a couple of hours mesmerized by the smooth effect of my growing skills.

Believe it or not, Warcraft 2. There are three scenarios I like to play through. They are pretty mindless, have varying degrees of challenge, and are very low stress.

For me it's the binding of isaac, I'm not sure that it woukd work for everyone, but the game is just so large that it never gets old. 1500hrs, 100% the game and I still find myself diving into it after a stressful day.

Final Fantasy 15 in the beginning for the bro-adtrip and RDR2

Every few months, I will do a randomizer run of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I've played it so much that it's like taking a relaxing walk through a familiar neighborhood. It also has a great soundtrack.

Slay the spire and BTD6 are games I play when I don't know what to play.

Fallout 76. Nice community, and I really enjoy the open world game and the dark humor that's Fallout.

World of Warships. It is the game I play for years with friends. In times that is hard for us to meet face to face we jump on the game for some battles, during which we share our news and chat. It's almost like a coffee or a beer.

Factorio. The base must grow

Used to be Destiny, lately it's been "No Man's Sky". I just get lost there.