Feeling low? It’s okay. Join us in our gaming happy places
Let's all take care of each other
It's been a tough weekend for a lot of people. And there's a tough season coming up, too. Despite Saint Nick's PRs working over time to make us all cheerful, Christmas can actually be a sad and stressful time, can't it?
Listen: it’s ok to be sad. It's fine. You feel what you feel. So, I asked the RPS hivemind what their gaming happy places were, so we could all share them together. They might turn out to be places you'd like to visit too.
A few Christmases ago I found out our landlord was selling our flat to people we didn’t like. Flat hunting over Xmas in London was enough to lead me to seek out solace in Elite Dangerous in VR. I took my ship down to the surface of a planet and just sat there. Alone. Far far away. It was nice.
I actually have footage of it.
Graham would park in a station, watching the ships come and go, listening to the tannoy announcements, and tinkering with menus.
He also simply states that “every bit of the island in a Short Hike” is his happy place.
For me, there’s nothing in this world that can take away from a rainy night beside a campfire in Minecraft. Maybe a Creeper, but if you see one just offer it a seat and ask it how it is. It might be going through some things.
You don’t need to be alone. Astrid liked to sit among friends. “There's an interim moment during the summertime in Metro Exodus where you're just cruising along, playing guitar, smoking cigarettes, drinking with your friends, and taking a moment to forget about the horrors of the world. It's lovely.”
As is the wedding, where everyone gathers to listen to a song.
Alice O’ likes parking herself down in Destiny.
Or that bit in Life Is Strange, where you and Chloe just lay in bed half-awake for as long as you wanted.
Alice B loves the forests of Dragon Age: Inquisition.
You don’t need to just sit around on land. Why not make friends with the fishes of Abzu? Take a big gulp of air and just sit in the ocean as its life glitters all around you.
Those are some of our favourite places in games. I'm sure you have some of your own, too.