The COVID-19 lockdown has been hard on all of us, but for gamers it’s just one of those periods where we can spend countless hours in front of our screens, mashing buttons, and drinking beverages, without much hindrance. (Read our post on The Importance of Mundanity & Serenity in video games in here.)
Video games can be an easy distraction in these dire times and help one escape the ever-growing problems of the real world. However, not every game can make you feel better or generate a much-needed sense of serenity, especially in a time like this. (I’m looking at you Dark Souls)
So if you’re confused as to what to play next, here is a list of the top 5 games that can easily make chilling out in your homes during this lockdown, much more relaxing and comforting.
5. Coffee Talk
Platforms – PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mac
Coffee talk is the perfect blend of lo-fi hip hop music, storytelling, and well, coffee. It’s an interactive, point-and-click adventure, set in a Barista where the player is the owner and the only employee.
Players can interact with their everyday customers who discuss their daily lives. Of course, your so-called “customers” are people of various races such as elves, mermaids, and even orcs.
And the best part, you get to make different kinds of beverages and yes that includes latte art. Now, what else would you want?
4. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Platforms – PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a dark, adventure with picturesque visuals, set in the eerie backdrop of Red Creek Valley, Wisconsin.
Players can freely explore the desolated, lush forests of the Red Creek Valley, interacting with the different clues left behind to find out how and where did the 12 years old Ethan Carter disappears.
Since we can’t go outside and explore the woods in real, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a perfect game to satisfy our adventure spirits.
3. Outer Wilds
Platforms – PC, PS4, Xbox One (and Xbox Game Pass)
Imagine waking up near a campfire in an alien planet, a soulful acoustic score playing in the background. You roast a marshmallow, wear your space suit, and off you go exploring an incredibly bizarre and enchanting world of the Outer Wilds.
Stuck in a time loop, where every 22 minutes, the local sun goes supernova and your progress comes to a halt. Outer Wild generates this magical sense of adventure and discovery that very few games are capable of nowadays.
2. What Remains of Edith Finch
Platforms – PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Every so often we stumble upon a game that mesmerizes us and leaves our minds with this sense of wonder and amazement as to how far video games have come.
What Remains of Edith Finch is one such video game. You play as young Edith, who recalls her last voyage back to her family home somewhere amidst the coast of Washington.
As the only remaining descendant of the Finch family, Edith explores her family’s mysterious house and the death of her relatives, as she comes to understand the idealogy behind death, which sometimes is not as dramatic as people claim it to be.
Also, What Remains of Edith Finch features one of the most powerful gaming moments of this generation. You can read about it here.
1. Life is Strange 2
Platforms – PC, PS4, Xbox One( and Xbox Game Pass)
DontNod’s sequel to the 2015’s beloved Life is Strange is a thoughtfully crafted, beautiful, sometimes emotional, and deep social commentary on various modern-day trivia such as racism, drug cartels, abandonment issues and much more.
But over everything else, it’s a tale of two young brothers, struggling to survive in a country that has made them outcasts. It’s a road trip full of friendships, love, ignorance, and empathy, one that makes us believe that everyone in this world deserves to be loved. In a time such as now, this is needed more than ever.
What games out of these are you looking forward to playing the most? Tell me in the comments down below.
