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Retro Games That Help With Anxiety


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5 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I would be careful of using games as an escape or as therapy -- falling into habituation and needing a "game fix" isn't super healthy.

 

 

4 hours ago, AtariLeaf said:

Flojomojo is correct though, games are a release, a help for anxiety and stress and not a cure. If severe enough, professional help may be required

With all due respect, if you don't suffer from anxiety then please don't opine. There is no cure for anxiety. I personally have found video games helpful as well as marijuana. Playing video games is more healthy than taking a drug with a shit load of side effects.

 

 

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Putt and Putter is a nice, mellow minigolf game on the Sega Master System. I discovered it one time when I was stuck with an emulator but no controller, and was looking for a game that I could play well with only a keyboard. (I know a lot of PC gamers prefer a keyboard to a controller, but not me...) Anyway, as I recall there aren't really any major "pressure" elements, it's just a laid back game where you line up your shots and then watch what happens.

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On 2/9/2020 at 1:26 PM, Zoyous said:

Putt and Putter is a nice, mellow minigolf game on the Sega Master System. I discovered it one time when I was stuck with an emulator but no controller, and was looking for a game that I could play well with only a keyboard. (I know a lot of PC gamers prefer a keyboard to a controller, but not me...) Anyway, as I recall there aren't really any major "pressure" elements, it's just a laid back game where you line up your shots and then watch what happens.

Thanks for the input, I wish I could find a safe place to get that rom, as for I only know of sites that carry sega genesis roms and not Sega Master System games like Putt and Putter

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On 2/9/2020 at 1:16 PM, VectorGamer said:

I personally have found video games helpful as well as marijuana. Playing video games is more healthy than taking a drug with a shit load of side effects.

I wish i could still smoke, it gives me extreme anxiety now a days, when in the past could smoke anytime i wanted to and it really calmed me down. Maybe one day i could relax from it again. Ive tried cbd as well, and it does not seem to help.

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On 1/11/2020 at 8:44 PM, homerhomer said:

I would try Super Mario Galaxy, such a good game.   

If Mario 64 helped I would agree on the Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 for the Wii (very reasonable priced used and a Wii costs almost nothing today), epic games, then there is always Super Mario 3-D land for the WiiU, another epic Mario game.  Also a 3DS as there is a bunch of mario games that are different..

 

True story, I didn't own a WiiU, and I was on the fence but, once I read that Mario 3-D land was coming from it, I got one right away. I LOVED the 3DS version... and had to play the WiiU version.

 

I have been known through my life to buy a console for 1 game (normally after I buy it, I do get other games for it)...there has been a few over the years...

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Most puzzles games should be relaxing, especially if they aren't timer based.

Sokoban is a relaxing game to me, just relax and sort the crates. Some people might find it boring, or some mgiht find it frustrating for later levels are hard, but if you like it... then it's a good relaxing time.

 

Nostalgia-fueled for me but that 1984 DOS version is awesome. Lots of animations and details for a seemingly simple game on a (back then) limited plaftform.

 

Taipei, more commonly know as MahJong Solitaire.

 

If you like more challenge and interactivity, OpenTTD is a modern/retro (it's an Open source recreation of an retro game, still updated as of today )

 

 

In other sims, someone named the Sims, then why not Sim City?

 

I'd recommand either Sim City 2000 or Sim City 4. The first Sim City is a wee bit limited, though interesting to explore and try. And Sim City 3000 is not as open as Sim City 4, which still get TONS of mods to keep it alive and fun. Also Sim City's add-on Rush out allow you to micro mange road circulation which can be a relaxing PITA task :D

 

 

 

One last game, that isn't retro but desn't require a massive computer to run, and that you might like for it's absolutely micro-management based and therefore, can be very immersing and relaxing is that mouthful of a title of "Workers & Ressources : Soviet Republic"

 

(there isn't politics involved in this game, it's pretty much a SimCity+Transport Tycoon Deluxe game mashed together with a twist on how to earn money and ressources)

 

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Sim City 2000 is a really good suggestion, I remember playing it on my PC a long time ago when it was released, and it is definitely a game that one can get lost into. Just to add another game to the list, I was playing Thunder Force III for the sega genesis, and i feel like that is a great game that one can get relieve some anxiety.

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Found another good one, its called Castlevania Draculas Revenge for the nes. Its a hack of the original castlevania. Seems like castlevania for the nes is one of those games i can get lost in no matter if its castlevania 1, simons quest, draculas curse, or any other castlevania hack. I havent really fully got into symphony of the night, but i will try to put more time into that one day to see if that helps. I know Castlevania for the n64 helped ease some anxiety as well.

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Seems like Im playing NES castlevania games for anxiety relief. I Found another great title that I'm going to try to complete in the near future. Castlevania Blood Moon for the Nes seemed to help me relieve some anxiety, i think it must have to do with the constant action that the game has to offer. I keep on going back to the Galaga NES port to try to ease some anxiety as well.

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Have to add another one to the list. Although its modern, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night is a great game and it helped me relieve some anxiety the first time i played it for more than an hour. Looks kind of like a symphony of the night style game, which i am hoping to try to complete sometime this year. I hope this helps anyone out there who has allot of anxiety.

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I find Sonic 1, 2, and 3 & Knuckles to be relaxing. Once you have mastered Sonic's movement and know all of the paths because you have spent at least 900 hours with each game, Sonic becomes a form of self-expression. Roll around at the speed of sound and take whatever path you desire at the moment. Be spontaneous and don't plan it out before you start. Get to the end of the act while being as stylish as you can without losing too much momentum.

 

Play Green Hill Act 1 6000 times trying to beat your fastest time every time. Just watch out for the glitch where you die if you go too fast through that tunnel after the loop. Take care of your reset button, since you'll be pressing it a lot. Keep your Genesis/Mega Drive within arm's reach so you don't have to go walk over to it.

 

Finally, it's not a retro game since it's from 2009, but the first half of Steins;Gate. JAST PC version is best release if you can't Japanese. Vita has text-wrapping issues, and I think PS4 and Steam do as well. These are things that I find calming, but maybe you might not. I was kind of joking when I said 900 hours, but it does require quite a bit of practice to be able to do this.

 

I have not played it too much, but also try Pilotwings or maybe even MS Flight Simulator.

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I recently got back into Shanghai. It's available for pretty much every system through the turn of the millennium. I've been playing Shanghai II on the Genesis - I get the impression that the layouts are completely random and, as such, they're often impossible to completely clear. But it's too complex for me to know for sure... like if I had just selected a different tile 20 moves ago, maybe it would have been possible? I seem to remember that I cleared the layouts more often on the Master System version. The SMS layouts may be pre-designed - my wife played it quite a bit and said she got the impression that they were repeating after a while. But in any case, it's a pretty relaxing game for me, although it has that "just one more" addictive feeling that might keep you up late!

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Yeah, it's possible that on weaker systems the game designers may have set up pre-made patterns to make sure that each game was winnable in some way. Designing a randomizer that will check if the game is alway winnable is time consuming and running it is time consuming too (for the player).

And running one that is random is easier, the programmers counting on the fact that people would assume they chose a wrong path instead of running into an impossible game.

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On 2/21/2020 at 5:16 AM, Steven Pendleton said:

I find Sonic 1, 2, and 3 & Knuckles to be relaxing.

I feel the same way when i completed Sonic 1. I am only a little ways into Sonic 2, but i feel like it was a game I could get lost into as well. I think maybe its because of the retro fast paced movement that helps me get lost into the game. Good suggestion

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On 2/21/2020 at 10:00 AM, Zoyous said:

I recently got back into Shanghai. It's available for pretty much every system through the turn of the millennium. I've been playing Shanghai II on the Genesis - I get the impression that the layouts are completely random and, as such, they're often impossible to completely clear. But it's too complex for me to know for sure... like if I had just selected a different tile 20 moves ago, maybe it would have been possible? I seem to remember that I cleared the layouts more often on the Master System version. The SMS layouts may be pre-designed - my wife played it quite a bit and said she got the impression that they were repeating after a while. But in any case, it's a pretty relaxing game for me, although it has that "just one more" addictive feeling that might keep you up late!

I tried Shanghai II out on the Genesis and i could not figure out what to do at all. I was only able to relocate one tile with another tile, and after that it seems like i was not able to move any tiles at all. Every time i selected a tile, it would not allow me to move the tile no matter where i clicked next.

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So you're trying to match and remove tiles in pairs, and the tiles have to be free on their left or right side to remove them. They also can't have a tile overlapping on top of them.

Image result for genesis shanghai ii

So in this image there is (what I call) a "3 of dots" on the top of the stack in the middle of the screen. You can also see two other "3 of dots" near it, but neither one of those tiles is "free." One is overlapped and the other has tiles on both sides of it.

 

Near the bottom left, there are three "1 of dots" tiles. The upper two are free so you can match and remove those, but the bottom one isn't free yet.

 

In the top right corner there is a Season tile (Winter) which you can match and remove with the Summer tile that is near the middle right of the second level.

 

There are four of each type of tile, and the strategy comes into play when you have to make a decision about what order to remove them - especially if you can't see all four at the same time because some are still concealed under others. If you don't like the mahjong style tiles, you can press pause and go into the options and choose different designs. Also somewhere in the menu you can find a hint about what move to do next. The game will stop automatically if it's impossible to find any more matches.

 

A couple of other notes - I found a setting in the game options where you can choose only a "winnable" layout; confirming that, by default, the game generates random layouts which may or may not be possible to fully clear. Also, over on the right side of the menu, you can find options to change to layouts of different shapes/designs, but I haven't tried many of those yet to see if they are harder or easier.

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Speaking of Shanghai, Connect 2 faintly reminds me of a variation of Shanghai (a game based on Mahjong) that I played on the 3DO. I have it on my web site, but I will be deleting all Flash games on my web site in December since Flash will no longer be supported, so enjoy it while you can:

 

randomterrain.com/games/connect2/index.html#game_top

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For an action game that I've heard several people say is relaxing, try the Sega Master System version of Hang On.

Image result for sega master system hang on

Yes, it's based on a quarter-munching arcade game, but something about the SMS version is pretty meditative... the drone of the engines and a fairly accessible difficulty level (it doesn't really get increasingly difficult, it just kind of cruises at the same level of challenge throughout) make it so that, with a bit of practice, you can enjoy some pretty long and mellow play sessions, as the game cycles through different stage backgrounds and loops overall several times.

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On 2/23/2020 at 12:17 AM, Nintendo64 said:

I feel the same way when i completed Sonic 1. I am only a little ways into Sonic 2, but i feel like it was a game I could get lost into as well. I think maybe its because of the retro fast paced movement that helps me get lost into the game. Good suggestion

Sure. Just don't expect the same feeling from Sonic CD, which is why I didn't mention it. That game has some weird-ass level design and you might hate it at first. I hated it until I beat it maybe 7 or 8 times and now I love it. Sonic Mania is also really great since I find it to be even more fluid than Sonic 1, 2, 3&K. Again, not retro, but it's really good. Recommend that you spend a lot of time with 1, 2, 3&K, and CD first before Mania, and do yourself a favour and don't look at any of the levels from Mania before you play it so you can be all surprised and happy like I was when you see all of your favourite levels from Sonic 1, 2, 3&K, and CD.

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