Taiko no Tatsujin (songs I already know how play only xD)

If I’m looking for good, simple, relaxing fun, usually my go-to is whatever I’ve already played several times and over. Mario 64 is definitely one of those games for me. Feels so good to just run around and blast through several dozens of stars in a single sitting! Same can be said for really any 3D Mario game. (Though YMMV depending on how much you’ve played Mario.)

Some Kirby games also do the trick— I’ve recently been playing Forgotten Lands, and that’s been a delightful chill platformer.

If I really want to relax I'll play something turn-based, usually a turn-based RPG.  That slows me down so much, that sometimes I want to go to sleep if I haven't slept enough.

Based on some previous posts, I think some people are saying they relax by blowing off steam while playing something familiar (which is a little different).  For me classic arcade games (Donkey Kong, Centipede, Dig Dug, etc...) fulfill this role.  It's relaxing in the sense that I can let the stress go, even though a lot of these games are very twitchy.

Stardew Valley is mine. Its just great to chill and unwind. 

Journey, Abzu, Gris and games of the sort do the trick as well. 

Other games like BOTW, Kirby/Yoshi games, Kena Bridge of Spirit do it for me as well, even if you engage in combat it really feels very low stakes and simple most of the time.

For me it's Euro Truck Simulator 2, or it's American sibling. After so many hours in it I have deeply memorized the controls and it's just a matter of choosing one city, decide how long I want the travel to be and off I go, trucking along while I listen to my own music, a real radio station or a podcast I like (tho the later is done outside the game).

Bonus relaxing points if it rains in the game.

Geometry Wars. Turn off the thinking part of the brain and just let the reacting part take over for a bit.

Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Arcade Archives and Atari 50 type stuff.

Story of Seasons games

No Man's Sky, although that can get kind of hectic when Sentinels start showing up or when a planet has violet weather.

And ironically, a few rounds of Virtua Fighter 5 REVO is quite cathartic.

I love classic arcade games. My Switch 2 is pretty much the arcade of my youthful dreams. 

I also play a lot of Atari 8-bit games on emulator. I had one of those when I was a kid. After the NES, it was the best gaming machine of the 1980s.

Picross games. Piczle Cross Adventure is my go to at the moment. Sunk quite a lot of hours into that one over the years.