ometimes the pressure just gets to you — whether it's the ticking clock of timed missions in Assassin's Creed, the frantic search for intruders in your base during a CTF match in Halo 3, or even the all-encompassing need to keep your tank healed during a raid in World of Warcraft. Games, at times, can be anything but low-key. As technology progresses, so does the ability for developers to cram in more and more content into today's games, making them increasingly more complicated.
Don't get me wrong — games like this are very enjoyable. Many gamers play the games they do specifically for the challenge their favorites provide, myself included. However, sometimes it's nice to just sit back, turn on your console of choice, and load up a game with which you can just relax. Personally, I need times where I can play a game in which rank, gamerscore, and leaderboards just don't matter.
You remember "fun," don't you?Just the other day I was in the local game store with my girlfriend looking around for a new game to play. We were specifically looking for something co-op and fairly straightforward. I think we were both a little burned out on anything that required real computing power...from a mental standpoint, that is. So what did we settle on? LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga.
While I've found that over the years more Star Wars games have failed rather than succeeded, this game is quite enjoyable. You run through a myriad of movie scenes over the six episodes as little LEGO Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, blasting the forces of the Dark Side into little bricks. It's adorable, and as a really easy game with a lot of rewards, it's just what the title of this article implies — relaxing. Since I started playing it, the game got me thinking. What are some other fun, rewarding, and relaxing titles out there for when "uber-gamer" needs a break? Here is a short list of games, past and present, which can be paired with a glass of wine and some Brie:
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Nintendo DS) Ratchet and Clank series (PS2, PS3) Beyond Good and Evil (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC) Viva Piñata (Xbox 360, PC) Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC) Animal Crossing (GC, Nintendo DS) Hexic (Xbox 360) Jax and Daxter series (PS2, PSP) Drawn to Life (Nintendo DS) The Sims series (PC, Xbox, PS2, GC, GBA, Nintendo DS, PSP, Wii)
While this is certainly no definitive list of games of this type, it's a good start. I think most gamers would agree that every now and then it's good to take a break from all the l337 and w00t of more competitive gaming, and just get back to what makes gaming fun in the first place. They are a healthy diversion from the daily responsibilities we all have, a fantasy in which we can do just about anything. So the next time some 12-year-old opens his mouth to trash you in Halo when he should be doing homework, shoot him in his little prepubescent head, and go pop in some Super Mario Galaxy — and relax.
