What games represent your happy place?

In this age filled with chaos and uncertainty, stress has become an integral part of everyone’s lives. That’s why having a safe, happy place is so important - and luckily for us, so many games are designed to be just that.

They don’t have to belong to any specific genre - some people will feel the coziest playing horror games (and I pity their therapists), some may prefer a game like Stardew Valley, some may fall prey to the hype and nolife the new big AAA title until a newer one comes out, and some may chase that burst of nostalgia reliving the moment they had 20 years ago playing War3 TFT DDay all summer break. But no matter what’s our chosen category, we all have the games that represent our happy place.

The game that represents my happy place is Last Epoch. It’s been my absolute favorite since the day I bought it, and I’m still enjoying every moment I put into the game. The reason I feel so cozy playing the game is that it reminds me of my favorite high school games - Titan Quest and Diablo - and incentivizes strong nostalgic feelings in me. Combine that with amazing in-game mechanisms, and voila, there's a pleasure cocktail in your PC ready to be sipped whenever you feel like it... or downed, if you're thirsty enough.

Then again, this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning Heroes of Might and Magic 3. God, is that one an all-time great...

My childhood buddy and I still have the "tradition" based around HoMM3 for whenever we have a couple of days free. We usually come to my place, order the largest pizza on the menu, buy a case of beer, and play a 2v6 HoMM3 game on a 252x252 map. I'm always THE necro because I just love farming skeletons from lvl 1 all the way until I have too many to count, and he plays Stronghold because he loves to rush one of the bots early, take their castle and double his economic growth. The sessions usually last for as long as we can keep playing, and during them, we're both in our happy place away from real-life issues.

In any case, I feel like I overstayed my welcome here so I'll have to wrap it up. What are the games that represent your happy place, and why? Let's share recommendations and experiences with other fellow gamers