that make me feel like I’m playing Nintendogs on my pink DS in the back of my mum’s car

Let’s be honest guys the world is quite scary at the moment and I like high-octane exciting video games just as much as the next nerd but honestly right now I just want to chill. So if you are looking to hide away in a digital world where there are no consequences and you can just relax then check out our list of our favourite calm video games.

Animal Crossing

Let’s be real the ultimate calming experience is living out your fantasy of being a homeowner in a town populated exclusively by animals. Whether you are playing wild world, new leaf or you are one of those lucky people who has already got your hands on new horizons playing animal crossing is one of the most relaxing experiences possible while playing a video game. Your only responsibility is to remember to save and after that you are good to spend your days planting flowers and fishing. Even the guy who’s collecting your mortgage is chill, there’s no interest, no deadline and you can pay it back by just selling him fruit and random furniture that fell out of a tree!

Stardew Valley

Who doesn’t want to escape the busy city life and move to the old farm you inherited off your grandad? Sure, maybe I’m a total inside kid and if I was actually faced with the prospect of trying to live off the land it would go incredibly poorly, but I’m a fantastic digital farmer. You can plant crops, you can go mining and you can even get married, Stardew Valley is a perfect little escape where you can trick yourself into believing you might actually have some practical skills.

Monument Valley

Monument Valley is easily one of the prettiest games on this list, a simple indie puzzle game that plays with perspective as you take the tiny Princess Ida through some impossibly built architecture to reach the next level. The music and the aesthetics' of this game are honestly what earned it it’s spot here, I challenge anyone to not be charmed by the gorgeous world of monument valley.

No Man’s Sky

If exploration is your thing then No Man’s Sky is for you, the procedurally generated worlds include over 18 quintillion planets! Yep I just had to type the word ‘quintillion’. Each planet has a unique eco-system with it’s own flora and fauna and even sentient alien lifeforms. If you are looking to dive right into an unending exploration then No Man’s Sky is certainly the game for you

Katamari Damacy Re roll

When my Xbox 360 finally kicked the bucket the greatest tragedy to me was the loss of Beautiful Katamari. The Katamari franchise is certainly one that has achieved ‘cult status’ in that there is a very large group of people who have been campaigning for any sort of re-release of this game ever since the 360 was discontinued but the rest of the world at large seems to have no-idea it ever exsisted. Honestly one of the main reasons I wanted to buy a nintendo switch was so that I could play Katamari Damacy Re-roll when they announced it. The concept is simple you play as the prince of the cosmos and you need to make ‘katamari’s’ which are basically just balls of stuff that your father the king can turn into stars and planets. You are teleported to earth and you have to push around your little ball collecting tiny objects from honestly, the messiest houses in all exisistence, until you get it big enough that you can pick up whole buildings. It’s one of those where you’ll have to try it to understand it’s charm but just the soundtrack alone is enough to chill me out.

The Sims – literally any version but I will always have a soft spot for 2

The Sims, when EA brought out this little simulation game in 2000 no-one could have predicted the worldwide phenomenon it would become. Honestly I might have to write an entire article on the ways that the Sims revolutionised gaming. Whether you are playing the original game with its clunky camera views, children who can’t age and very weird method for having a baby or you are on the most up to date version of the game with it’s emotional sims and weird build cheats that mean you could build a house that’s just a giant toilet this game is the ultimate escape fantasy. Sims 2 has a special place in my heart but whichever is your favourite it’s hard to deny that the complete open-ended story can keep even the most easily bored entertained for hours, even days... what time is it