10 Video Games To Take Your Mind Off The News All Weekend

It’s uncertain times like now that video games come to the rescue. With stress pouring in from every tablet, smartphone, and TV, why not use electronics for what they were truly intended for – entertainment? It’s safe to say some healthy escapism is in order. I’ve got suggestions to help you check out for the whole weekend.

Animal Crossing New Horizons

If you have a Switch and have not tried New Horizons yet…I mean, seriously? There has never been a better time for a new Animal Crossing to drop than right now in quarantine season. It is a virtual island getaway for the soul. Filled with soothing sounds, pretty graphics, and immersive worldbuilding, it is easily one of Nintendo’s best games yet. It is everything you need to escape daily life in a brilliant Switch pack. Get lost in the charming apple trees gently blowing in the wind as you create your own island paradise.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This is one of those video games that are so good you might just cry when you get to the credits. The heart-warming tale of Link and Zelda has been completely reinvented to introduce a world of unfamiliar, exhilarating wilderness. Even if you have played every Zelda game created, you will not be prepared for this new game. The breathtakingly massive open world is loaded with surprise, whimsy, nostalgia, and adventure. The map is so large it will take you more than one weekend to discover it all – and you will enjoy every second of it. Whether you are a veteran player or a newcomer, this game is sure to hook you.

Stardew Valley

It is charming video games like this that provide the player a routine in a time when staying at home all day can feel rather unproductive. Stardew Valley gives you a warm, rewarding pat on the back for starting your own farm, watering your crops, fishing, and popping by your neighbor’s house to drop off a birthday gift. You might doubt how enthralling mundane tasks can be, but it is not just the sense of accomplishment Stardew Valley gives you that makes it good. It is also the inspiring message it carries in its story about a someone abandoning their cubicle cell to become the creator of their own world, in a way that helps their society as well.

Untitled Goose Game

This aptly titled game uses puzzles and minimalist art to let you terrorize a peaceful English village as the naughtiest goose ever born. Finally, we get a glimpse inside the mind of a goose to confirm our long-held suspicions: peace was never an option. But the goose prefers the slow knife over a sudden death. It chooses to torment the village’s peaceful natives by sabotaging their mundane daily tasks, stealing a shoe, or just plain honking at a scared child. If you’ve ever met a goose before, you can surely understand where the inspiration for this game came from.

I Am Bread

The objective is simple: become toast. But that may be easier said than done with brain teaser video games like this. Your life force is your edibility, and making it across a cluttered, filthy room to a toaster, radiator, hairdryer, or any other means to toast yourself alive with, can make it difficult to stay fresh. Meanwhile, a hilarious backstory unfolds in each level about the owner of this domain (and you) who tries to convince his therapist his bread is sentient. All I can say it, just play it.

The Sims 4

Perhaps the king of all simulation video games, The Sims breaks through the threshold for art and graphics with their fourth installment. The world is bigger and more beautiful than ever with exhaustive customization options and gorgeous DLC packs to keep growing your world. Whether you are someone who likes to build towns or lock sims in your basement just because, Sims 4 has it for you. Create a family with an endless lineage! Build a mansion! Have an affair (or twenty)! Delete all the doors and make your sims pee themselves! The world is yours!

LittleBigPlanet 3

The third of this Stephen Fry narrated series, LBP 3 is the perfect puzzle-platform game to play if you are sheltering in place with a friend or partner. It might be a kid’s game, but people of all ages enjoy it. It’s got the adorable Sackboy, the delightfully raving villain Newton (who is played by Hugh Laurie, by the way), and an artfully designed world full of color and character called Bunkum. The physics of the game can be absurdly frustrating, but it just fuels the fun for you and your teammate to try and navigate the tricky stages. Overall rating: lovely.

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Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

You’re a single dad who has just moved into a cul-de-sac in Maple Bay, a small town surprisingly chock full of the most eligible queer bachelors around. You want a sweet coffee-date? Check. A bad boy? Check. A weird goth guy obsessed with Victorian fashion? Check. It might read like a meme, but this meme has heart. Its hilarious script manages to balance between bone-achingly good humor and true, genuine family emotions encountered with raising your daughter, Amanda. Dream Daddy asks the necessary question of which relationship matters more – the one with Craig, the hot jock, or your daughter?

Flower

Even the title feels like a breath of fresh air. This stress-free game is more like meditation than any puzzle game you’ve seen before. You are a breathtaking force of nature in this game that is meant to soothe you by letting you soar through the wind bringing vibrant color to a dull world. No score. No time limits. No death. Flower is all about taking you to sensory nirvana with peaceful music, tranquil graphics, and lovely experience. Final rating? Sublime.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Maybe your version of escape is as a sword-wielding warrior smashing through quests in a fantasy world with no end. A world that feels so real sometimes you must question your actions before you make them. A world so vast you can discover an entire continent filled with mysteries and gold. Look no further, adventurer. Skyrim has enough story and campaigns to get you through a whole week, much less a weekend. Also, there are dragons, did I mention that?

What are your go-to video games for staying at home? How many hours have you put into them? Are you more of an RPG gamer or a puzzle gamer? Let us know below!