Written by Everyone has a favorite video game that they’re not exactly proud of loving as much as they do and we at ComedynGaming are no different. Here’s a round-up of our gaming guilty pleasures:
One of my favorite ways to blow off steam from the frustration of a challenging game is to play another game that soothes the soul. Something easy, something relaxing, and something that still retains a bit of excitement. And that’s where Stardew Valley comes in. Stardew Valley is, primarily, a farming simulation role-playing game with sanity-saving capabilities that will prevent you from lighting your console on fire. The game’s regimented task requirements such as farming, foraging, and mining give the player enough mental stimulation to keep things interesting without too many complications or road blocks. Its surprisingly complex character designs provide a soulful connection to the game itself, giving an alternative realization of “success” within the game. And even at 16 whole bits, the game is still beautiful to look at. Video games are fun and a little (or a lot of) challenge can be too, so don’t let yourself burn out. If you find yourself in a tough spot, try a change of pace with a game like Stardew Valley to keep your spirits up and stress levels down. — Caroline Hayden
Buy Stardew Valley Here: http://amzn.to/2pDobFf
Should you ever find yourself needing to scratch every mental itch at once, do yourself a favor and crack some skulls in Hotline Miami. At its core, Hotline Miami is a top-down, twinstick shooter. The goal of each stage is pretty straightforward: don your animal mask, enter the target building, murder everybody in increasingly brutal ways, and finally, escape with your own life. This game succeeds in blurring the lines between A-to-B puzzlers, such as N+ or Sound Shapes, and the glee-inducing anarchy of Grand Theft Auto. Hotline manages to be so many things at once without ever feeling unfocused. This puzzler-meets-mass-homicide-sim is always my fallback when I need to cut loose and spill some blood (or brains, intestines, whatever) or if I’m looking to test my wit and reflexes. Alongside blood, this game drips with style. It’s trippy, technofunk soundtrack is the perfect backdrop to Hotline’s psychedelic 80’s vibe. Everything about this game is masterfully crafted. It’s always managed to bring out the tactician and psychopath in me and likely will for some time to come. — Sean Glass
Buy Hotline Miami Here: http://amzn.to/2q8gFWh
I have two. The first is Happy Home Designer, a delightful little sandbox game from the world of Animal Crossing. I am a woman obsessed, having spent an ungodly number of hours creating tropical paradises, haunted fortresses and landscaped gardens for the town’s quirky residents. The game itself isn’t particularly rewarding, as there isn’t any narrative or progression system, but perfectly crafting home after home is its own reward for a perfectionist like myself. My second guilty pleasure — I apologize for this one, guys — is camping. In an age of run and gun, nothing makes my heart happier than finding a perfect vantage point and sniping some fools. I’ll do it in almost any game, PvE or PvP, it doesn’t matter. Sorry, not sorry. — Gabby Sullivan
Buy Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer here: http://amzn.to/2ppJZc7
My guilty pleasure will forever be Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64. Developed by Rare as their last crack at the genre they pioneered, DK64 was met with lukewarm reception by both fans and critics. With such revered titles as Banjo Kazooie and Tooie to compare to, DK64 came off as a bloated, lazy excuse for a game. With 5 separate playable characters, each with their own set of collectables, the game was massive to say the least. This size didn’t translate into massive sale or review numbers though. However, I adore this game. With its infamous opening DK rap and countless hours of running and jumping across perilous platforms and blasting out of barrels, my childhood sense of obsessively collecting everything gelled perfectly with Rare’s massive banana collection. Although achieving that 101% isn’t worth all the trouble considering your only reward is a cast slideshow of the game’s characters, I still spent all that time to 101% all three files on my iconic yellow cartridge. Hopefully you can check it out on the Wii U eshop channel and experience the same. — Zachery Wright
Before Pokemon Go and Fire Emblem Heroes took over my life and my wallet, there was Ndemic Creation’s infectiously fun, Plague Inc, which allows players to create, evolve, and perfect a deadly virus or bacteria to wipe out the Earth. There isn’t much gameplay, but the formula is simple, easy, and consistently replayable. You pick some symptoms and skills in classical RPG style and wait for vast groups of people to either be infected or die. Your little button clicks decide which countries will be affected and doomed first, and you’d be wise not to affect a developed country until you know there’s nothing you can do. It’s the perfect, misanthropic remedy for those long commutes on crowded subways. — Otter Lee
My guilty pleasure involves potential healers and supports on the enemy team in team-based games like Overwatch, League of Legends and Paragon. When I notice the other team’s healer turtling down or hiding around a corner, healing their allies from a “safe” vantage point, I’ll go a long way around the map to come up from behind them. Nothing compares to the euphoria that follows mowing down the unsuspecting healer and then attacking the enemy team from behind, throwing them all into disarray. I may go down fighting, but at least I took the healer with me, and my team can sweep up the remains. — Nicholas Santiago
Buy Overwatch here: http://amzn.to/2pDdvGT
Oh, the morbidly satisfying feeling you get when you know you can never be defeated, especially, for me at least, in Halo Wars. I love lowering my settings to the easiest difficulty for maximum effect and putting on some deathmatch. I play as the monstrous Convenant, mowing down the weak CPUs’ bases in a matter of minutes, then crushing them barebones with two scarabs and a few engineers to repair them, just in case. Halo Wars is one of those fun stress relief games where you can care less about your troops and more about sweet savory destruction. — Marc Gonzalez
Last modified: July 3, 2018
