A guide to finding happiness in your life and in your games.

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A blog about finding happiness in your life, and in your games.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Relaxing Games

A lot of us tend to get stressed out or overwhelmed quite often in our lives. Now and then we all need a chance to just relax.

Everyone likes to relax, though relaxing isn't something we tend to think about when we're playing video games.

Lots of people like to use video games as a way to unwind after a long day. But how many times has that backfired on you? How many times have you jumped into a game looking for a good time only to get riled up and stressed out even more?

Have you ever thought about playing games that are relaxing and calming instead of games that are aggressive and stressful at times?

I love playing Gears of War online, but let's face it, it's not the best way to relax and let go of the day.

Though there are plenty of ways to relax, sometimes a nice calm game is just what we need. Here's some of my favorite games to just chill to.

Chime


What is Chime? 
This is my number one game to relax to. Chime is a game about placing Tetris-like shapes on a grid that effect the music. A beat line crosses across the grid in time with the music effecting the blocks as it passes over them. Your goal is to cover as much of the board as possible in the time allotted, though there is a free play mode where you are not timed which is the most relaxing and care free way to play. 


I'm chilling just listening to this video... Ahh...


Why it's relaxing
One of the most relaxing features of Chime is it's music. Each stage has it's own set of music that is very tranquil and relaxing. The music is influenced by the shapes you place onto the grid. Chime is very stress free and simplistic in its design. This enhances the relaxation factor. It wouldn't be very relaxing if it were flashing strobe lights at you would it?

If you just want one game that you can kick back and relax with after a stressful day, you need to get Chime. It's on Xbox Live or Windows and it's cheap, only $5. Better yet that money goes to charity.


Uno, Poker, Catan, Etc


What are they? 
There are plenty of card and board type games available on all platforms.  Find one that you like and have fun with. I personally love Uno and Catan.




Why they're relaxing
Card and board games as video games are also good ways to relax. Like Chime they're very low stress and low intensity. They are very good ways to unwind and not worry about getting fragged or teabagged. Often they're also a good place to socialize with other players online with a lower risk of profanity, racism, and assholness.









Minecraft


What is Minecraft? 
If you haven't heard of Minecraft yet, you must not be on the internet much. Minecraft is an open world game where you can pretty much create anything you can imagine by placing blocks. Sounds boring? It's not.

Your imagination is all that limits you in Minecraft


Why it (can be) relaxing
Minecraft is one of the scariest game's I've ever played (aside from the 10 minutes I played the Amnesia demo). At night monsters come after you in Minecraft. I actually spent my first ever night in the world of Minecraft in a hole in the ground hoping the monsters wouldn't get me.

But there is a peaceful mode where there are no monsters and no worries (except drowning and falling from heights). In peaceful mode it's just you, the world, and you're imagination. Letting your imagination run free in Minecraft is a great way to release stress and cultivate your own creativity.  Just remember to keep an eye on the clock as it can get very addicting.

Other games to try


I haven't played these next games, but from what I've seen of them they have the potential to be very relaxing games.

Flower: A game where you blow around as flower petals in the wind.

Flow: A game where you control an organism as it evolves 


I hope you'll remember to take time out of every day to just relax.

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy your life.



1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the recommendations! I've been searching for a relaxing game, plus I was looking for a reason to try Minecraft. It looked boring when I first say it, but the style and popularity always brought it back to my attention.

    Finally, and reason to try it. Hope I can relax and enjoy it at the same time ;)

    Interesting article.

    ReplyDelete

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