Good games for when you are depressed

Audiosurf is usually my go to game for when I'm depressed. Sometimes I kind of wallow in the depression and play something incredibly dark and moody like Silent Hill 2, Limbo, or Amnesia.

First off, know you aren't alone, there's plenty of us who go through this stupid crap and fortunately once you come out the other side you gain awesome spider touching superpowers, see here

For me, the original American McGee's Alice helped me a lot, the soundtrack is superb and accompanied many a dark and lonely night and the game, essentially Alice fighting her own mental demons, was great for providing comfort and strength.

These days I throw myself into big open world stuff, Skyrim, X3, somewhere big, with lots to do and great music helps me out of my funk.

If I'm struggling from boredom or stress, there's nothing like a good amount of Portal to ease that.

Beat Hazard

"The Void",it's also best played while withdrawing

( play games in which I own, because owning makes me happy. So it's like Dota 2 or TF2. Or if I'm in the next stage of beeing depressed, I just watch TV Shows.

Edit: Also listening to Hardstyle or Going Quantum Podcasts, because they make me feel better.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare or Saints Row The Third are great for a laugh. DLC Quest made me smile too.

Fallout 3 especially with Point Lookout or the Pitt dlc

"Race to the bottom of the bottle" - Its like a cross between a racing sim and a FPS.

Audio surf is good 4 me as well when im in that mood, another one is Little inferno and sometimes poker night :)

I like games like The Sims or Sim City (whatever version suits your fancy). You get lost in them so easily and they take your mind away from things.

To the Moon. WILL make you sad and then motivated.

when i play i dont think to anything else so i can say that every game help me to not think about problems. but when i am really angry or sad, I play some mp fps like counter strike go with my own music at loud volume, it relaxes me a lot

Tetris, When I depressed, i may able to beat the world record on Tetris. Thus there are many version of Tetris, here is the proof how far I am into the game.

1/ Fixed Horizontal speed: This type of tetris game has fixed speed for moving horizontally. Thus making it extremely hard on higher level.

2/ Phase movement: You can rotate the pieces to fit in a tight spot without colliding with other pieces.

3/ Custom pieces: DIfferent from original pieces.

When I'm depressed I don't even think about playing games.

Bejeweled 3, Spider solitaire and Mahjong.

To The Moon

Sonic, or maybe some funy point'n click games like monkey island or deponia

1. Peggle. Seriously. You can't but help and smile at the end of a level.

2. Bejeweled 3's zen mode - it actually has affirmations, breathing modulators to help you relax and think positive.

3. Aquaria. Just has a beautiful world to escape into.

I'd also recommend word games, but really anything that's absorbing but not taxing seems to help.

Good luck and know that you're not alone.

I don't know your situation, but you sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and will work your way through this.

I'd recommend most of the DoubleFine games, specifically Psychonauts and Costume Quest. CQ is relatively fast, 5 or so hours? That's my top pick. Think back to all the good parts of childhood, and that's what the game is trying to give you. Fairly easy, really lovely. Psychonauts also deals with childhood, but it is kind of the other way... all the crap that made no sense when you were a kid, that's what Psychonauts is about. I think you could do the story in a long-ish day, but I put over 20 hours in trying to 100% it. I failed, still loved the experience.

BTW: shrinks and meds are generally overrated, as long as you're able to think. You will always be better at talking yourself into/out of behaviours (good or bad) than anyone else. If you need to be sad, BE SAD! If you need a break, TAKE ONE! Seriously, just don't hurt anyone else and it's all good. Society as a whole may not understand, but a lot of us individuals will.

*A MILLION DAYS LATER: So, I got a lot of negative reaction to that... I'm speaking as someone who has been in therapy/on/off meds for close to 20 years now. I acknowledge that I didn't get my entire meaning out there with that statement, but I've also been my best off on minimal meds and talking with friends when I needed it rather than shrinks. YMMV.

You should play Botanicula, that game makes me lol.

tf2

Definitely play some Happy Wheels. If you don't know it (which is unlikely) it's browser game - something like turning Happy Tree Friends into a "real life".

I think everyone can agree with me.