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Games That Put Me in the Zen Zone

When December rolls around, there’s always that shift in the air. Even if life is stressful, most of us get at least a sliver of time to breathe, whether that’s surrounded by family, quietly hiding from them, or finally grabbing a few peaceful minutes to ourselves. It’s the one point in the year when the world slows down just enough to let us settle for a moment.

And for a lot of us, that moment involves games.

So this year, I wanted to talk about the games that reliably put me in the Zen Zone. These are the titles I return to when I want familiarity, warmth, nostalgia, or just something that reminds me of good moments. Some are simple, and some are tied more to memories than mechanics, but each one brings me to that little pocket of calm I seem to chase more and more as the years go on. Also, I have covered many of these games in the past, but no harm in a revisit once in a while.

If you have your own Zen Zone picks, I’d genuinely love to hear them. But here are mine.

Halo: Combat Evolved — Snow, Brotherhood, and Legendary Difficulty

Halo might not sound like the most peaceful game to put someone in the Zen Zone, but for me it’s tied to some of my happiest Christmas memories. When my older brother went off to uni, Christmas became one of the few times I saw him, and without fail, he’d insist we play Halo together. Always on Legendary. Always the two of us grumbling our way through Assault on the Control Room, that snowy, slightly festive-feeling mission we practically knew by heart.

We never looked up guides, never used anything but our own clumsy teamwork, and somehow that made it ours. He was a sniper, I was a rocket dude. Even now, whenever I think of Halo, I don’t think bigger-than-life battles; I think of that small living room, the two of us shouting nonsense at the TV, and the feeling of having him home again. That’s the Zen Zone at its strongest: not the game itself, but the moment it connects you to.

Someone burned the turkey again

Mortal Kombat (Mega Drive) — A Rare Shared Moment

My dad was never a gamer. Not even close. He tolerated the hobby the way parents tolerate loud toys: with patience that was probably forced. But *Mortal Kombat *was the strange exception. He’d sit and watch me or my brothers play, oddly fascinated by it. Maybe it was the spectacle, maybe the fighting, maybe something about it just clicked, but it was one of the only times he seemed to genuinely enjoy being part of the gaming world.

To this day, *Mortal Kombat *brings me back to that tiny small pocket of shared interest between us. One of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it memories that you hold onto because it mattered more than you realised at the time. Whenever I boot it up, it quietly drops me back into the Zen Zone, where nostalgia softens the edges a bit.

What happens when you talk politics at the dinner table

Resident Evil 2 (PS1) — Facing Fear Until It Feels Like Home

Resident Evil 2 probably shouldn’t be as comforting as it is, but the original PS1 version has become one of my most familiar “reset button” games. As a youngling, the demo absolutely scared the life out of me. I avoided the full game for ages, convinced I’d never make it through. But when I finally picked up the platinum version, it was time to face my fears.

Over the years, it’s become a comfort piece, a weird, monster-filled comfort blanket, but still. I know it inside out. I can run it end-to-end without saving. It’s one of the very few games I replay once or twice every single year. Not because I’m chasing nostalgia, but because it reliably drops me into the Zen Zone where I don’t have to think too hard. I just move, react, and settle into something that’s as familiar as muscle memory. And just to niggle folk, this version to me is still far superior to the remake.

He sees you when you’re exploring

Kingdom Two Crowns — Quiet Co-Op, Loud Laughter

Kingdom Two Crowns is easily one of my biggest Zen Zone staples. I’ve put more than a hundred hours into it on Steam alone, plus more across other platforms. It’s beautiful, simple, and strangely meditative, and that simplicity leaves space for something more important: the friend I play it with.

He’s one of those people you can talk absolute nonsense to after a long, stressful day, and this game became our unofficial way of decompressing. We build, repair, plan, chat, joke, vent, and wander through pixel forests while the world slows down for an hour or three. There’s something special about a game that supports conversation rather than replaces it, and this one does it beautifully. Kingdom Two Crowns doesn’t just put me in the Zen Zone, it keeps me there.

I said bring your finest steed, but did you have to show off

Yooka Replaylee – Passing on the Vibes

When I was tiny, I used to sit and watch my mum play Rainbow Islands. I didn’t understand anything about games back then, but the colours, music, and the magic of watching someone you adore totally immersed in something, that stuck with me. It’s one of my earliest gaming memories, and probably one reason I fell in love with games at all.

Now the roles have reversed. My young son sometimes sits beside me, giggling at the silliness on screen while I play platformers. He doesn’t care if the game is good or bad or polished or broken; he just sees colours, characters, and a bit of fun. Yooka-Replayee is his favourite. It’s impossible not to feel something soft when I see that spark in him. It’s a different kind of Zen Zone, built out of innocence and connection. Even playing the game alone on the Steam Deck reminds me of those memories.

And honestly, that’s the best one of all.

Maybe next time wear a jumper

Closing Thoughts

So that’s my little Christmas list: not the “best games ever,” not the most impressive, and definitely not the trendiest, but the ones that gently guide me back into the Zen Zone whenever I need it. They’re stitched into memories, friendships, family moments, and the quieter parts of my life.

If you have your own Zen Zone games, share them. I’d love to see what brings other people that same small moment of peace during a loud time of year.

And whatever you’re playing or doing this Christmas, I hope you get at least a bit of time to settle, breathe, and recharge. You deserve that.

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