in about 201X I was having a terrible time trying to get through the thesis period of a master's program

picked up some bundle of the OG 2DS (black & blue variant) and Pokemon X and loved it

a world where I could pick my friends, people were pleasant, my next career moves were obvious, and my work was rewarded? To this day, this is my escapist fantasy.

i harp on it a lot, but Outer Wilds helps me a lot. It teaches the value of exploration, curiosity, friendship, compassion, and patience. it's a deeply melancholic piece, which can be frustrating and obtuse at times, but just remembering it makes me happy. the soundtrack brings all the memories back every time.

Celeste!

It's about overcoming internal struggles to achieve something. (something I'm still fighting with in real life, bad place mentally here too.)

Listening to the soundtrack always makes me feel a bit better though.

It's cute, fun, and challenging (although never difficult in a frustrating way)

Sorry to hear things are rough for you. I hope whatever is causing it improves!

Mine is an odd choice, or maybe not, but its the first thing that came to mind: Night in The Woods

It's about a girl that comes home from college to her old dying town. I know that doesn't sound terribly uplifting, and there's some downer stories mixed in there, but overall I found it a very heartfelt and uplifting game, because the main character's friends are the most wonderful bunch of people, and you hang out with them and go on little adventures throughout. It's got a cool creepy mystery story going on, but the game is mostly about deep friendship, family, and overcoming struggles with their help, and I found that very uplifting and worthwhile.

Stardew Valley is a good fit.

You tend to your farm, help people, maintain relationships with people by gifting them and changing their lives.

Unfortunately, i play the game like a maniac. Running around from morning 6 AM till 10 PM.

• Gris - A beautiful platform puzzle game. A very emotional game, but one that makes you feel like you're rebuilding something in yourself. Gorgeous art, amazing dynamic soundtrack.

• Meadow - I don't know how to describe this game. You log onto a server, pick a woodland animal as an avatar, and then you explore the world and meet other players. Your only means of communication is noises and emojis. It's so simple, yet so fantastic.

• Bokida - Heartfelt Reunion - A minimalist art puzzle game. I haven't played it in a while, but I remember it being super immersive. I just had to finish it, to see how all of the pieces of the story fit together.

Also, I hope you feel better soon.

It Takes Two! I played it with my partner and really enjoyed the story and very imaginative game play.

Journey - This game brought me to a sort of Zen, it is calm and peaceful and was just a wonderful experience that didn't out stay its welcome. By the end of it I just felt like I had had a nice uplifting experience.

Fallout games - Yeh this may not seem like an uplifting game experience for most people and I would generally agree but on a personal level I do find them uplifting by the end of them for the following reason. I have always picked up the modern fallout games when I have been quitting one substance or another in the past. There is something about the desolation of the people and the environment within those games with mirrors the desolation I felt withing myself at these times in my life. Working through the stories draws me in and helps me forget about whatever it is my body is telling me I "need" even if it is only for a few hours at a time. Multiple times though these games have helped me get through those feelings and so therefore for me they have a certain uplifting quality, like a weird unexpected safe space.

Dave The Diver: you run a sushi restaurant and go diving to catch fish. The writing is quirky, it's full of interesting characters and there's no time limits except for some events. I'll spend days just fishing for the restaurant instead of doing any "story stuff". I picked a steam key on CDkeys for £7 and I can already see myself pouring 40 hours in this thing if I want. The trailer if anyone is interested

Journey is a beautiful game with excellent music and visuals. It's coop where you can only make a ping noise and run around each other so no possibility of negative interactions. There's a little challenge and adversity at times but the ending is phenomenal and joyous.

Sayonara wild hearts is a playable music album about a lady learning how to love herself. It's got simple game mechanics but the mechanics all compliment the music and the music is so so good.

• Freshly Frosted - Puzzle game. Seriously, I don't remember the last time I felt so encouraged by the narrator. If you're in a bad mental state, I do recommend this one.

• Lost in Play - Two siblings go on an adventure through a fanciful wonderland of their imagination...or is it?

• Spiritfarer - A chill management game where you're Charon ferrying souls to the Everdoor. This one deals with death and saying goodbye to loved ones, but it does so in a very thoughtful and sensitive way. It definitely changed my paradigm.

• A Hat in Time - Cute 3D action platformer. Silly fun.

• Little Inferno - Despite its simplicity and obvious satire of consumerism/Capitalism, this has a very cozy feel and fun characters.

• Tinykin - Adorable collect-a-thon platform puzzler with no enemies, only obstacles.

• Gorogoa - Puzzle game with an interesting story that unfolds with each puzzle.

• Doronko Wanko - You're a cute doggo making a house as messy as possible.

• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People - Fun, silly point and click. I also recommend the show.

Well, I personally have several "types" of game that help me feel comfortable when things are tough:

• Puzzle Games: in relatively small doses, a good and somewhat challenging puzzle game can help by requiring focus, while not being stressful.
• Deckbuilders: Slay the Spire and Monster Train are similar games that require mental engagement, without being to stressful.
• Immersive Games: Games with an interesting mystery or otherwise immersive experiences. I am currently playing Killer Frequency and Hacknet, both for that reason.

Frog Detective!

It’s a lighthearted detective series, more of a walking sim with humorous characters than anything. The magnifying glass doesn’t even do anything! The dev did a fun talk about comedy in games if you’re into that

Here’s a shot I got from the last game (corruption at cowboy county)

For uplifting, I like chill games where people are nice to each other.

Hades has you piece back together your family and has a lot of great dialog.

Carto is a cute puzzle game involving rearranging maps where you help people on your way back home.

Haven is a young couple trying to make it on an alien planet.

Children of Morta is a family fighting together against an apocalypse.

Dreamscaper is a rogue lite where you get mechanically stronger through self care as you work your way through trauma by hitting it in your dreams.

Ni no Kuni 1 and 2 are longer jrpgs in a Studio Ghibli style world.

Grandia is another jrpg that does a good job at capturing an adventurous spirit.

Like everyone else Journey was the first thing that popped into my mind.

Id give a shout-out to Death Stranding, too. The game is far from perfect but it's basically a hiking simulator which I find soothing. You also carry things so you could say it's uplifting in the literal sense haha!

Outer wilds felt really good to play, optimistic nihilism and a happy lonliness. One moment that really stood out to me was when I followed a certain object out of the solar system, spent pretty much 20minutes drifting in space listening to the other astronauts play together planets apart and watching the stars

It's one of the most peaceful times I've had with a game, and playing it in the middle of covid I cried happy tears. Go in as blind as you can.

I'm gonna go with Forza (Assetto Corsa also works to a lesser extent). Sure the focus of the game is on racing, but it can be extremely relaxing to hop into any car you want from any era and just take a cruise and look at the scenery

I'm playing factorio with my friends two days straight and we plan to keep playing, it was years since I could play for so long with them, normally I start to fell bored and hang up, but i'm 14 hours in and stil want to play more!

Pokemon Emerald: I used to play it a bunch to escape reality. Now my mind just associates it with safe spaces. It never fails to cheer me up when I hear the ost or see pokemon from that gen. Only bad part is that I can't play for longer than 20 mins without feeling so cozy I fall asleep.

Guilty Gear Strive: Strangely relaxing once I got a hang of the controls. I just play a few rounds against the AI for a pick-me-up. Not sure if it's still uplifting at higher levels.

Muse Dash: The music and cutesy artstyle are so overwhelmingly positive, it's hard to stay negative when you're in the zone and grooving.

rarely, i like to play a fluffy, feel good game with no real stakes. enter: Flynn, Son of Crimson

there is absolutely no chance of anything really bad happening in the game, the worst that happens is your powerful guardian diety dog loses his powers at the beginning of the game (but it's OK, he just rests until you reclaim his powers and he feels better). you never really feel like anyone is really in danger, you get to play a pretty fun 2d action platforming game, and it has some really fun sections later on that make you feel awesome

it wraps up nicely in probably 20 hours too, if you want to 100% it, so it doesn't overstay its welcome and lets you experience all of its content with low demands. really a lovely little experience. it's not pushing the envelope at all, but if you want basically 20 solid hours of lighthearted fun, this is a great way to get it

Kerbal Space program wasn't on the list, and maybe OpenTTD? The latter is also great when you have a random setup (the game is 10Mb, runs in anything and has zero needs) and have only 20 minutes to play.

I see a bunch of mentions of Journey. Recently, I've been playing Sky: Children of the Light for the first time, which is made by the same devs. It is beautiful, and feels like a spiritual successor to Journey, to me. It is also free to play, so it is easy to recommend trying it out.

ooblets is one of my favorite in this genre. it's got a great soundtrack, the humor is spot-on, and it's got an anti-capitalist message.

Wandersong: that game has so much character, it’s insane. The game can feel very emotional without heavy themes, idk how it did it.

Actually playing games during dire emotional states throws fuel unto my dissociation/depersonalization/derealization problems; but just mindfully sitting in my favorite place in the Temple of the Moon on a private vanilla WoW server works great for me. The sounds, music, colors, lighting effects, and water create a very zen space that helps me observe my thoughts and feelings without getting so tangled up in them. That kind of presence helps me better understand what is really going on and how it all happened.

If things are merely bad then maybe I'll play some original Sims 1 or Rimworld on the coziest of settings. So long as there's no nest of trash around then it's probably okay. Eufloria in relaxed mode is a lovely RTS game that hasn't ever caused me any problems.

Hopefully you find your way through this soon!

Sorry to hear things are rough, I hope you get some reccs you like ❤️

I thought In Stars and Time was really uplifting, but it does deal with mental health issues throughout the game. One of my absolute favorites and something I go back to in rough spots tho :)

Fields of Mistria is similar to Stardew. Its still early access, but there is a lot to do in the game as is. Traveller's rest is similar to Stardew, except you have a tavern.

Tiny Glade is good if you like sandbox games. Minami lane is also alright.

For adventure games, I thought Caravan SandWitch was fun, kinda bittersweet. I havent finished Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, but i would be shocked if it wasnt uplifting. Islets and Crypt Custodian are also nice metroidvanias. I thought they were both funny and cute.