Ranked Games Before Going to Bed?
It’s 3 am. You log off Discord after a long play session with friends, your eyes tired after endless ranked games, and of course, you’ll do it again tomorrow.
“Time for bed,” your eyes say, but the urge to play something before shut-eye is still there.
Since competitive games have become so popular, not only do they fill our hard drives, they fill us with adrenaline that gets our blood pumping. That good feeling we get after clutching a match keeps us in queue for another game, until we realize the sun is up and we pulled another all-nighter.
So instead of all these games warming you up, what about games that can make you cool down?
Instead of winning, you just want to relax. What game will you boot up before bed?
Try these 5 relaxing games before going to bed.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
It’s just you, your island, and your huge house loan that Tom Nook gives you.
Does it sound relaxing to pay your debts to your landlord? Not really. But there’s a reason why this game is loved by a lot of people.
It’s because there’s charm in this game makes you feel something comforting when you’re tired.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons doesn’t rush you to expand your island. There are no deadlines for your loan or tasks, Tom doesn’t send Timmy and Tommy after you like loan sharks, it’s all at your own pace and you can take as long as you want to pay that loan.
The game encourages you to explore your island by rewarding you for fishing, hitting rocks, talking to your villagers and more through the Nook Miles on your phone. And before you know it, opening the game to take care of the island and to earn bells has become part of your daily routine.
And when all the loans are paid and the constructions have finished, you feel like you’ve done a lot when all you did was just sell fruits to pay your debt.
The trees have fruits for picking, your villagers trying to catch butterflies, a soothing guitar in the background as you walk around, you feel like things will be alright, even if it’s just for that moment, you feel calm and relaxed like nothing worries you to do anything urgent.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a good pick because it encourages you to do things at your own pace, no rush to pay that debt, it’s all about taking your time and enjoying the island.
You can get Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch.
Minecraft
Minecraft doesn’t really need an introduction. It’s pretty much everywhere, and I’m sure you’ve heard of Minecraft before.
But why though? Why is this game always mentioned? What’s so relaxing about fighting zombies and spiders creeping up to you every night?
The relaxation you get in Minecraft comes from exploring the generated world, seeing all the things you built work together, mining for diamonds, creating all those farms, the music, the ambience, everything seems to be crafted to fit any type of adventure you want.
Minecraft didn’t have the goal of defeating the Ender Dragon when it started. It was meant to be played as a sandbox game where you can build anything you want. And until today, people find peace and accomplishment from building small houses to entire cities.
When the main focus of the game is placing blocks on the ground and digging down for diamonds, it could get monotonous for some, but that’s the feeling that soothes people, and finding diamonds makes it rewarding for players who spent hours looking for them.
Minecraft is a relaxing game if you enjoy exploring, or if you like building things from your imagination.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
You should never drive if you’re sleepy (or nemui, like this website), but if you want to drive without worrying of crashing and dying, you could try Euro Truck Simulator 2.
What makes this game relaxing is the driving itself, you’re not going to be drifting and using nitro here, only pure truck power.
The game’s main goal is delivering cargo on time, but as you drive across the highway, you forget about the deadlines as you focus more on the trip, rather than the destination.
The realism in Euro Truck Simulator 2 gives that relaxing feeling on the road. Your surroundings look and feel calm, from the green mountains near the highway, to the busy towns you visit, the taps of rain hitting the roof of the truck while your wipers sweep your windshield, I didn’t know a simulator game could feel this calming.
The atmosphere doesn’t feel like you’re in a race against time, it’s as if you’re on a road trip, going to wherever the road takes you.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 is great game for those who find road trips calming, I recommend that you play this game while listening to your favorite songs or podcasts, it’s an experience that you may never knew you would enjoy.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 is available of purchase on Steam.
House Flipper
The walls need repainting, there’s tons of garbage on the floor, the old couch is still in the basement, and guess who’s going to fix all of that.
House Flipper is a game where you take an abandoned house, give it some love, and then sell it for profit.
House Flipper is like being a part of those viral cleaning videos. It’s relaxing and satisfying to play when you’re fixing a house, and the best part is that you don’t get exhausted after cleaning like in real life.
Like those viral videos of floors being power washed or dirty shoes transforming into new kicks, it’s satisfying to watch, and it’s that same feeling you get when playing House Flipper.
Though, it doesn’t sound relaxing to install toilets, does it? But if you find peace when you watch those viral restoration videos, you can find enjoyment playing this game for hours.
Painting the walls, redecorating the living room, planting shrubs around the front yard, it’s these kinds of actions that feel repetitive, yet so therapeutic after spending time in game.
There’s this satisfaction you get from cleaning a dirty house in House Flipper, seeing how the place looked like before and after you cleaned it up feels so satisfying, what was once a crack house has turned into a modern house for a family of four.
After a tiring day, you wouldn’t see yourself clean a virtual house, but House Flipper begs to differ.
House Flipper is the game to play when you want to chill, but have the itch to clean something that isn’t your room.
House Flipper is available on Steam, Xbox, and on PlayStation.
The Sims 4
You leave your Sims alone for a few minutes, and they find out how to set the bed on fire. You love to see it.
The Sims lets you to experiment with life without actually going outside. There’s no specific way to play The Sims, no clear win condition (aside from lifetime goals), no competition or leaderboards, it’s all about living in the world through the Sims you create.
This game is a time sink if you love working on all the details. You can spend hours creating new Sims, and even days to weeks building houses and commercial lots.
One thing that Sims players can agree on is that the soundtrack of The Sims series is like no other. As you create, build, and buy, the soundtrack carries you to your creative area in your brain with its optimistic and calming tunes.
When all the creating and building is done, all that is left is to see how your Sims live their lives. Guide them to get rich and have a family, put them in a room then delete the doors and see what happens, it’s all up to you.
Being in the moment with your Sims is a peaceful time to be in, The Sims takes you away to a different world, a world that you can shape for yourself.
Grab a copy of The Sims 4 here on Origin.
Further Reading
Maybe you’re the type that likes to listen to music before sleeping, why not give rhythm games a look?
Take a look here: 5 Rhythm Games for Beginners to Try Out
Summary
The best thing to do when you’re tired is to get some sleep. Getting tired after playing competitive games is normal, we all need to step away from ranked queue for a while.
But for some of us, it could be hard to fall asleep with our minds racing around thinking about work or that last ranked match we had.
So, the second-best thing is to find a game that isn’t keeping you up at night, and the games listed above could be one of them.
These games have the potential to be a part of your nightly routine, try these games before going to bed tonight, and maybe you’ll be hitting the sack faster than usual.