I used to play games a lot as a kid/teenager, but then I stopped. However, in 2021, I returned to games in a time of dire need, which I talked about in an earlier blog post called Gaming Saved My Life: Notes on Existential Dread and the Freeing Escapism of World of Warcraft. It's quite a mouthful for a title, but it literally sums up the situation.

I will split this Favourite Games list into two parts: the games that raised me - these are the games I played as a kid that had me in thrall and shaped me as a person. The second part is the games that healed me, so these titles have helped me overcome anxiety and offered me a slice of solace and a place to escape.

Part 1 - The Games That Raised Me

The Sims

Every kid born in the 90s has encountered The Sims in one way or another; it’s a canon event. And I am still partial to a sojourn here and there as a 30-year-old woman. I think I have owned (alongside my sisters) every single iteration of the game both on console and PC, which is pretty dedicated.

One of the most formative versions of the game for me was The Urbz Sims in the City. My older sister and I would play this game for hours and hours on our Xbox, and as massive fans of the Black Eyed Peas growing up, it was such a cool crossover for us - we loved the Sims, and they were in it, and so were some of their songs in Simlish.

The Oddworld Games

Which is to say Abe’s Odysee, Abe’s Exodus, Munch’s Odyessy and Strangers Wrath. However, I must say that I was a spectator for many of these games rather than a player, as they scared the hell out of me! I would sit with my older sister and watch her play - way before Twitch was a thing!

And I was quite honestly obsessed with the universe of these games; the world-building was insane, and the storytelling was compelling. Not to mention the character designs, I used to mull over the game manuals, drawing all the different creatures repeatedly.

Halo

Halo was the game of my early teen years. I would come home from school, turn on my Xbox and shoot aliens and weird mutated humans for hours on end.

Though I must say the Swarm did scare the shit out of me, and you would probably be able to hear me halfway down the street screaming when the mutated entities would suddenly pop out of nowhere and give me the biggest of jump scares.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

I can confirm that I was not 18 when I started playing this game, which I think is a universal experience for GTA players. I put so many hours into this game as a teenager, and I can confirm that in the words of Édith Piaf, “Non, je ne regrette rien”.

I loved GTA San Andreas for a multitude of reasons: the gameplay, trying to get 5 stars and seeing how long I could last before being annihilated by the military, the random different radio stations that helped to inform my taste in music, and so much more.

Part 2 - The Games That Healed Me

World of Warcraft

For me, Azeroth is a safe space to retreat from the real world. Well, it’s not entirely safe if you try to do dungeons or raids - you can really see the ugly side of people there! But I don’t generally participate in that side of the game; I’m there for the open-world exploration, the story and collecting pets, mounts and transmog.

Most recently, I have been playing The War Within expansion, and I can honestly say that it has been an amazing gaming experience, especially the exploration of Anduin Wrynn’s character and all the trauma the poor guy has been through. Like him healing and getting to know Faerin has been such a wholesome and healing chapter in wow and it has been so nice chilling out and questing in the Hallowfall zone because of this.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Did I buy Baldur’s Gate 3 after seeing the clip of Gale shouting at Tav to stop licking the damn thing (the thing being a giant spider corpse)? Yes, yes, I did. I literally laughed out loud and knew immediately that BG3 would become a new all-time fave game from that dialogue exchange simply because it told me that the writing would be insane - detailed and hilarious but also weird which is very much my kind of vibe.

Let’s just say that BG3 has been life-altering. It made me start to consider that perhaps I would like to work on games—in the narrative department, as I will probably never get to grips with coding. And it has been so cathartic to play such a complex game with beautifully realised characters who have gone through so much but keep on going.

Cyberpunk 2077

As someone who is forever obsessed with Blade Runner and the whole Cyberpunk aesthetic, playing Cyberpunk 2077 was a no-brainer for me. And despite the fact that I’m not really a fan of first-person games, I made an exception for this title purely because of the genre and interesting storyline…and maybe Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition has been my most recent gaming hyperfixation, and I literally got obsessed with the game in the middle of October this year and couldn’t stop playing it except to go to work and go to bed. And despite the game being 10 years old, it really held up well.

What I loved so much about DAI was the party aspect, it felt a little BG3, and I enjoyed that immensely. I also loved the storytelling aspect and the wonderful companions you get to adventure with; I was really intrigued by Solas, and tbh his evolving storyline is also really interesting in Dragon Age: The Veilguard (which I am currently playing the hell out of!)

Back in late 2021 to early 2022 (around three months in total), I had something of a breakdown.

I became a nervous wreck, having panic attacks left, right and centre about death and the inevitability of it all - perhaps rather embarrassingly, this came about because I binge-watched a space documentary series by Prof Brian Cox, and it scared the shit out of me.

My sister and I now have a running joke about the whole thing, and recently, I bought a book about Black Holes by him, which she found baffling and highly amusing, given the nature of my Brian Cox-induced mental breakdown!

But enough about Prof Cox and space. Where does gaming fit into all this, and how did it kind of save my life? Well, in February 2022, I decided I needed to find something to distract myself from the very negative and frightful thoughts flowing nonstop through my brain. In my teenage years, I loved playing games, from Sims to GTA to Halo. I was a bit of a console addict, so much so that I’d get told off for spending too much time playing games.

So, as I got older, I was led to believe that gaming was for kids and that I had to grow up - wrong on both accounts. And it was only when I was struggling to get through a day without crying or panicking that I decided to play a game again, and the game was World of Warcraft. As a fan of fantasy and the nature of it being an MMORPG, I thought that I wouldn’t feel so intimidated by the gameplay. So I decided to give it a go.

It’s safe to say that I was hooked after downloading the game and playing the free trial up to level 20. The game took my mind away from the real world to a fantasy landscape of elves, orcs, and so many possibilities. As I got more and more immersed in the game I felt my existential dread dissolve over the following months.

2 years have passed, and I’m still playing WOW (I’ve also been jumped onto the Baldur’s Gate 3 hype train recently - and loving it!). I am so glad that I came back to gaming, as it has honestly been one of the best things for my mental health.

Is it true that games have saved my life, possibly as I don’t know what would have happened if I’d continued to have so many panic attacks and obsessive thoughts about death?

My Favourite Games