So, as the title says, this pretends to be a thread where we can share our "comfort games", the ones that we pick up and play/complete every now and then, even if we have completed them a thousand times before, just for the sake of enjoyment, just because they keep being fun to us. Maybe that way we can get recommendations from others and discover new games that make us feel great whenever we need that nice feeling of going back to something so familiar, but so nice and fun, that doesn't ever get boring.

I suggest picking up short games (5-6 hours max.), the kind that you can complete in one, two afternoons, and move to other things until the need to play them comes back again  =)

For me, in recent years I've found myself coming back to 3 particular NES titles that have become so familiar that start playing and going through the whole game feels extremely easy and natural. Ironically, these are 3 games usually considered very difficult/cryptic, but after playing them so many times they have turned up to be really pleasant experiences. I'm talking of The Adventure of Link, Castlevania II and, more recently, The Battle of Olympus.

Maybe it is because they're so similar gameplay wise that I've become used to the shared mechanics, but whenever I'm tired of these long, dense games of today, I just pick up one of these and get my gaming needs instantly satysfied. Moreover, as I said previously, these are short games that you can complete in about 2 to 5 hours, maybe a little more in the case of The Adventure of Link, what makes the experience of playing through them in one day feel complete and self-conclusive. And, contrary to popular belief, when you understand enemy behavior/patterns and identify the more "controversial" difficulty spikes, you learn how to easily deal with them: for exaple, Iron Knuckles, Dairas or Fokkas in Zelda II, usually considered very challenging by most people, can be easily defeated after you discover that well timed jump attacks always hurt them; or that the combination of Sacred Flame + Whip in Castlevania II paralizes and destroys even the strongest boss; or that, similarly, to Zelda II, well timed jump attacks can destroy in seconds the much feared Amazons in The Battle of Olympus.

So... this is my take and these are my picks for "short, fun "comfort games" you keep coming back to". What are yours? What short/satisfying games would you recomend to pick up an play in just one afternoon?  =)

Only got like 1.5 minutes, so I’ll make it quick. Biggest ones for me would be SMB3, Sonic 2 (sometimes 1), Link to the Past (sometimes Zelda 1 and 2), DKC trilogy.

I’ll expand on this later.

Any 2D Metroid. Vampire Survivor. Hades. Super Hexagon. Tetris. Punch-Out!! (NES).

The early Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games are great for a quick pick up and play. Easy to get through career mode in one sitting - I've often done it multiple times in one go.

Pick any mainline 3D Mario. I can have that 100% complete within a single sitting (unless we’re talking SMOdyssey…in whxih case I may need an extra couple of sittings). I always love to see how far I can push my platforming technique, as well how quickly I can pile up all the stars/shines/flagpoles/etc.

Puzling Places for me, although it's not replaying the same content, it's puzzling away on the next puzzle for an hour or so at a time.

I've accumulated 362 hours on it so far, takes avg 2 to 4 hours (or sittings) on a 600 piece puzzle, 6 to 8 hours (or sittings) on a 1000 piece puzzle. I'm currently 'building' the Monolith of life 1000 piece puzzle, it's hard but so satisfying when each segment starts to come together. (I play on 'simple' 1000 that divides it up in 10 sets of randomly cut out 100 piece parts, basically 10 sessions for this one, intertwining 3D bodies are hard to put together lol)



And Synthriders, currently replaced by Audio Trip (similar). Rhythm games you can pick up and play for half an hour to warm up :)

GT7 falls in that category too nowadays with the weekly races. Complete those every week to put some cash in the bank for the next batch of cars.

Tetris I guess. It's short but mainly no, I don't think so. The games I return to are usually large like The Witcher 3. There are a few games I have speed ran like Resident Evil 2 remake and a few others that are unreliable short once you know where you are going, like two hours or something for that one in particular but I wouldn't say I have returned to them. I'm sure there is something short that I have returned to.

Oh, well I guess MGS 1 & 2 years ago which I could beat in one sitting and restart it right after the ending, both are really short when skipping cutscenes and focusing on progress, I wouldn't be able to do that now since 20 years have past at least. Super Mario Bros 3 is really short if you whistle your way to world 8 but I've never been able to beat world 8 after three decades of trying aswell as Sekiro which is kinda short when you get good at it and you're in the right headspace. I can still get stuck on some bosses in that game extending it's length but I can beat it now in sub five hours for the main endings if I'm sharp and I have ran through it in about three hours on NG+ 4-7. I can get stuck on the owl boss and Isshin if it's been a while but I can wreck most everything else and only going for the easiest of the sub bosses for leveling that are directly or close to the main path as well as the items but I don't need to gather everything anymore and of course avoiding going for the monkey as the last of the three items to avoid that fight with the two monkies which I still have never found a way to fight them without getting lucky.

Super Metroid. There’s always time to at least get through the first half in a quick sitting. The only question is whether I’m going for 100%, speed, or both. And there’s the occasional, now let me waste a minute trying this speed running technique that I can never get to work right.

While until recently I had gone over 10 years without playing it, Luigi's Mansion fits the bill. As long as you enjoy it like I do you can play it a lot for how short it is. The PAL Hidden Mansion now accessible to me on NSO adds extra life to the experience.

I'm like this, but with Zero Mission. I love going for the Varia Suit right after getting the Bombs. Then do Kraid without the Power Grip. Then I do whathever xD