20 People Reveal The Video Games That Have Helped Their Mental Health

“Katamari Damacy, the original. You roll a big ball of stuff around and it gets bigger. It’s very rewarding to see your katamari get bigger. It’s also a ‘sandbox’ game in a realistic looking Japan. You start out with a very small katamari and later it gets huge. You will laugh when you’re picking up tugboats, etc. I won’t give too much away. It was for PS2 but you can still get it on PC (Steam).” — Constant_Will362

“Viva Piñata. Both versions…they’re wonderful games and Viva Piñata was the first game that I got all 1,000 achievement points for. Seriously you need to take a moment and chill the F out and play a game that involves piñatas. That’s the game you should play.” — Rachter

“Kingdom Hearts, just a wholesome, beautiful game that changed my life and taught me to value friendship and that no one is perfect and that we can improve no matter what mistakes we make and the Disney characters add to its wholesomeness.” — Groundbreaking_Web91

“Stardew Valley lets me live my best life and fantasize about having no responsibilities except tending my farm. So easy to play for hours!” — Soy_un_oiseau

“Undertale, recently played it for the first time and fell in love with all of the characters and world.” — shamrock12310

“Animal Crossing is to video games what lofi chill beats is to music.” — MrSaiyaman

“Microsoft Flight Simulator. The procedural generation can be a bit hit or miss, and disappointing at times. But in places which got a bit more love and attention it’s like you’re genuinely exploring the world by plane.” — Bribase

“Sims. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and my therapist believes my lifelong (since I was 10) Sims habit was a coping mechanism to escape my anxiety. The game provides enough to completely occupy the mind, but you are mostly in control of everything so it’s not stressful!” — frozen_marshmallows

“Celeste, a wonderful game about mental health. Highly recommended.” — Such_Run_8189

“Valheim. You can find plenty of action and challenge in the world but you don’t have to all the time. I find just sailing and exploring new meadow areas incredibly scenic, pleasant experiences with low demand on attention or mental or emotional energy. Feels especially satisfying after returning from a dangerous adventure or finishing a large building project. Just spending time chopping down trees rubs my brain the right way too. Mining, not so much, for some reason. Maybe the sound of the pickaxe is just less pleasant to the ear.” — daveyDuo

“Weirdly specific, but the Pokemon Infinite Fusion fan game. The community around it is super wholesome and creative, plus there’s just so much to do and explore. I like finding all the cute and funny fusions and doing quests for the NPCs. Gets my mind distracted.” — Western-Ad-9669

“Elder Scrolls Online. There’s always a new quest to do, new gear to collect, new antiques to uncover. And a lot of the more major zone quests actually have an impact on the world around you. I can’t remember which zone (I think either Deshaan or Shadowfen) has a quest involving the pact and some zombie plague type thing, and once you complete the quest that area becomes a merchant camp. Granted they don’t really sell anything worthwhile but still a nice touch. That and the fact that local guards comment on all your good deeds from time to time.” — ShadowSurgeGaming

“Death Stranding helped with my depression a lot. Thank you Kojima Productions.” — MihaiDsc404

“Skyrim. It really does let you do whatever you want with no pressures. Maybe today I just feel like foraging flowers and making potions. Maybe I’ll spend a couple hours just smithing some axes. Truly liberating.” — sirrustalot29

“A Short Hike was an amazing little game. It’s pure wholesomeness and me smiling for days after I played it.” — zachtheperson

“Kind Words is a great experience for spreading positive emotions. It can feel good to give messages but when I am feeling low I have found people are most often very kind and compassionate.” — AlaViridi

“Red Dead Redemption 2. Sometimes just going horseback riding or hunting or just roleplaying in your head is so nice.” — Crimsonzs_

“Detroit Become Human because it has a great storyline with over 50+ endings based on our choices.” — Dubey-Ji-6969

“Minecraft. Calming atmosphere and even more calming music.” — MTN_Dewit

“I would say No Man’s Sky. It’s a space exploration game, where if you don’t want to, you won’t have to fight anyone. All you have to do is go around planets and solar systems collecting materials, ships and upgrades, and building bases. You can also become slight friends with other alien races. It’s very simple, really. Honestly, for me it was a meditation to play that game.” — Tia_Mariana