I don’t know about any of you, but video games seem to raise my mood whenever I feel particularly down in the dumps. While there are many different genres, most games seek simply to tell a story in an interactive format that cannot otherwise be expressed. I even find ways of incorporating these games into various school projects.
Anyway, to the top five:
1) Cyberpunk Bartending Action: VA-11 HALL-A (Steam)
This game centralizes around the protagonist Jill who is a broke bartender trying to make it to the next month’s rent. Though it may sound depressing, the locals at the bar as well as Jill go through stages of their life that relate to our lives in so many ways. Through Jill’s sense of confusion and overcoming odds, it definitely provides a story that I can see myself in.
2) Harvest Moon (Nintendo)
I know, farming games. Some people love them, some people hate them, but going through your life in 30 day seasons in various towns provides quite a bit of entertainment. The rhythmic farming, various bonds you can make, and steadily increasing your farm to a beautiful empire makes me feel like I am actually doing something with my life. The cows are pretty cute too.
3) Animal Crossing (Nintendo)
Animal Crossing, unlike most games, operates in real time. The only thing you do in this game is design your house and celebrate holidays with your animal neighbors, but there is so much more to the game than that. From fishing, bug collecting, selling items, and in newer iterations building the entire town, the calming atmosphere of Animal Crossing can be molded to any need or playstyle.