What's Your Comfort Game?

For a long time it was Baldur's Gate 2, but I've spent so many hours playing it that it's on my "no more replays until I whittle down my backlog" list. These days it's Jagged Alliance 2, but again, I've played it so much that I'm thinking it's time to retire it to the "no more replays" list.

Minarchist wrote:
Amoebic wrote:

Edit: Oh dear, I even posted in that thread.

Out of curiosity, is yours still Katamari, or have you found a new old love?

Still is.

For actual comfort, I regularly play old final fantasy games or SMB 1-3.

I haven't gone more than 5-6 weeks without playing Starcraft 2 since it has been out, and I still play it at least a couple days a week even though I got enough games for Christmas to last me a year. That might be more in the category of masochistic habits though.

When I was a kid, I played Resident evil 2. I was replaying this game so many times like crazy) Still my favorite RE of all time.

Angband. Every time I'm sick: Angband.

I'm starting to think that playing Angband actually makes me ill.

Civ 5 for me. Its just so easy to get going. And thats the trick. Your hooked before you know it!

Pokemon games are the only ones I can think of in any long-term sense. I picked up Yellow when a client of mine was habitually late or didn't show up at all for meetings. I've been defaulting into Pokemon X lately to get that same relaxation.

Used to be whichever version of MS flight sim I had lying around, that has recently converted over to Euro Truck Sim 2. Saying that, I really want to go pop open Flight Sumulator X now

Portal. Every now and then I feel the need to play it from start to finish in one sitting.

Also, TF2 - if there are Goodjer's playing.

Also any good match-3 game on the ipad. I know, I suck.

My comfort game changes from time to time, but it's usually something sandboxy: Bethesda RPG's, Mount & Blade, and X3 (in its various iterations) all had particularly long-lasting turns.

Unreal Tournament III, video pinball, any one of hundreds of games on MAME.

For the last year, Path of Exile. Just hits the spot.

ChrisLTD wrote:

The original Sonic The Hedgehog.

You know, now that I think about it I might be in that same boat. It's a three way tie with WC, Sonic, and Kid Chameleon

CptDomano wrote:
ChrisLTD wrote:

The original Sonic The Hedgehog.

You know, now that I think about it I might be in that same boat. It's a three way tie with WC, Sonic, and Kid Chameleon

The artwork and music are great, and it doesn't challenge the brain too much.

I have to be careful about that, because if I first play a game when I'm sick, I usually find that I don't want to play it anymore once I'm well. That happened with GTA5, for instance... I wasn't feeling good when I was first playing it, and I think that's why I've never finished.

So, if I'm feeling lousy, I'm careful to avoid new games, and stick with great classics that won't be tainted by the association... MOO1 is a special favorite there. 1830 is another go-to title, and FTL might end up making that list as well.

Itsatrap wrote:

These days it's Jagged Alliance 2, but again, I've played it so much that I'm thinking it's time to retire it to the "no more replays" list.

With or without mods?

For me it's Okami, Final Fantasy Tactics, Minecraft and whatever the most recent Elder Scrolls game is.

Gremlin wrote:
Itsatrap wrote:

These days it's Jagged Alliance 2, but again, I've played it so much that I'm thinking it's time to retire it to the "no more replays" list.

With or without mods?

I've been playing the latest revision of 1.13, so basically it's the stock campaign but with the improved interface and game mechanics (like the redone inventory system). Lately, I've been doing gimmicky stunt runs, like enabling MERC on day 1 and then doing a complete solo run with Flo.

At the moment I'd say mostly Skyrim. Not following any particular questline, just running around the world and seeing what I encounter.

Before that it was Morrowind, so there's probably a pattern here...

Comfort to me is the gaming equivalent of a piping hot bowl of stew on a cold, rainy winter's night. It's something warm you can nuzzle into; challenging but without the frustrations of having to learn something or deal with technical issues. I have 2:

1) Master of Orion 2. I have that soundtrack (granted it's like 3 songs) drilled into the reptilian part of my brain so deep that I'll probably be humming the instrumental in the nursing home. This is what a comfort game is to me: something that is complex to engage my brain, but no work in order to learn the mechanics. It's also fast. Turns fly by really quickly, and there's little waiting. Nothing makes a hard day evaporate like smashing the Meklar homeworld.

2) Kind of a weird one: Any MU* (MUD/MUSHes). It's all text. A proto MMO. It's sort of the opposite... it's all mechanics and imagination. No graphical glitches, specs to worry about, server lag, sound issues.. nothing but a dark terminal screen, ANSI letters, and infinite possibilities.

Hero Academy. Can play in very short bursts and always picks me up.

For years it was either Starcraft Brood War against the AI or Diablo 2.

Now it's Starcraft 2 (Plus HotS) and Diablo 3.

Blizzard gets me.

Right now, Spelunky. It's not at all that I'm good at it; the quick levels are satisfying in the same way that Minesweeper can be, if you have an OCD streak like me I suppose.

Angry Birds.

Sins of a Solar Empire.

Either the latest GTA. I fire it up, hop in a car and drive round listening to music.

Or Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I must have played the campaign eight or nine times now. It just gets so much right and can be completed in a session.

Hmm, it seems that I need to find a comfort game for me. Ever since I quit playing MMOs I just don't have a to go to game.

World of Warcraft, Chronotrigger, Ultima 7, Baldur's Gate, formerly Civ, Master of Orion (1)

Edit: Also Gabriel Knight 1, and formerly Quest for Glory III.

Star Wars Battlefront on PC - I'll load up the Cloud City maps + Hoth + Endor and play single player on hard difficulty.
It always makes me smile, it is always satisfying and it always makes me feel better (especially when I get to play a Stormtrooper !)