Video Gamers Podcast - Crutch Games!!! - Gaming Podcast [REMASTERED]

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and Ace are diving into their personal libraries to talk about one of the most relatable topics in the world of video games—our favorite CRUTCH games. You know the ones: the comfort picks, the familiar go-tos, the titles we keep reinstalling no matter what else is out. Whether it’s the calming grind, nostalgic joy, or just solid mechanics, we’re breaking down exactly why these games never leave our rotation. From competitive shooters to cozy simulators, this episode explores the heart of why some video games just never get old. If you’ve ever found yourself ditching the latest releases to jump back into your tried-and-true favorites, you’re not alone. This episode is packed with personal stories, hot takes, and plenty of laughs as we explore what makes a gaming comfort zone. Plus, we’ll talk about how these games stack up in today’s fast-moving gaming landscape. Don’t miss this cozy, relatable ride on the Video Gamers Podcast!   Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf, Phelps and NorwegianGreaser, and Dettmarp   Thanks to our Legendary Supporters: HypnoticPyro, PeopleWonder, Bobby S.   Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/videogamerspod⁠ Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/h2cHKAvSmu Follow us on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/⁠  Follow us on X:⁠ https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod⁠  Subscribe to us on YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Visit us on the web:⁠https://videogamerspod.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the video gamers podcast. There's millions of games in the world, and we have the ability to be infinitely distracted, and yet no matter how many games are out there, we all tend to fall back to certain games over and over again. Today, we're going to be confessing the games we just keep going back to, but first, some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh and joining me If I was a betting man I'm going to go out on a limb and say Diablo 2 is probably on his list

It's Ryan I'm being on mute Oh that's staying in You know I was trying to be considerate I was I was laying into it And I was trying to be considerate I was drinking my drink While you were doing your startup or your lead in And I muted it and then I

I forgot. I want to know what you said now, but the world will never know. You'll never know. You'll never know. Ryan was going off on something there. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if you didn't know, we'd have video so you can try to interpret what I,

what I said if you are a lip reader. I was going to say, we need a lip reader to decipher. It was probably something like, Josh, I love your intros. Thanks for being such an awesome host. And I love playing games. And thanks for Carrie and Ace and I in Battlefield.

And that's what I heard anyway. Close enough. Close enough. And joining us, you can call me Nostradamus because I'm predicting dead by daylight is near the top of his list. It's ace. He's learning. You might be crazy. Right.

Oh, man, there's a whole much, oh my gosh. I couldn't resist audience. I couldn't. I did it. This is the most trolling I have seen in the first part of an episode. Ryan's pretending to be muted now. Well, welcome in to the video gamers podcast, everybody. This is what we do, man.

We are three friends who just love chatting games and being idiots, man, like friends usually are. So thanks for joining us today. Guys, this is, I don't know how I feel about this episode. I'm excited. I like it, dude. I like it, but it's also like, I feel like I'm confessing, like, some of these games that I probably shouldn't be playing. And at the same time, I would like to point out that I have four games on my list will probably only get to three. But I have rage quit and rage uninstalled three of these games.

And yet I keep going back to them over and over again. I don't know what it is. So yeah, that's where we're at, guys. We're going to be talking about the games that we just can't stay away from. The ones that for whatever reason we just keep going back to over and over again. Does this like make you guys feel like you have a problem? Or is this like a no way, man, this game's so awesome. Like, of course I'm going to keep going back to it.

The ladder, dude. This is when you find something, yeah, when you find something that's good like that, heck yeah, man. you just you just you know sometimes you go if you have that love hate relationship but it's not just all love like you just hit them with that why can't I quit you you know that's that I mean that was kind of what my brain was going towards is like why can't I stop playing these games that's fair some of these are like your toxic X you can't you keep going back to oh man look we've all got it though man I like this is every gamer in the world man you know

whether you are a gamer ADD guy like I am where it's like I can't stick with a game for more than, you know, 10, 20 hours at most to somebody like Ryan who has 1,700 hours in destiny, you know, to where it's like some people just they find what they like, they play what they like and they're fine with that. And that's okay too, you know, but I feel like no matter what every gamer out there has their kind of just comfort games. And that doesn't mean cozy. Let's not confuse the two to where it's like, this is just what I fall back to, man. When I don't have any friends on to play multiplayer games with and there's no like awesome new game release, it's like, I'm going to go back and I'm just going to put more time into

this game that I probably sunk way too many hours into in the first place. So that's interesting, man, because like I'm looking at the games on my list and these are fantastic games, but I don't know why I have like a certain amount of like, why? do I keep playing these to them at the same time? You can't, you can't quit it, man. You're just, uh, I don't know why. I just, it's one of those, baby. Yeah, it's, it's one of those things where like when you, I know for me personally,

like I like, I, I, I may or may not tend to have a very addictive personality. And if it gives me that dopamine boost and I, and I get that hit and it just makes me feel good. And I'm comfortable with it. Like, I'm going to keep coming back until I don't get that anymore. And, and these certain games just always deliver. They may not be the best in the world. They may not be everybody's cup of tea. But for me, like, they always deliver what I'm looking for,

especially if I'm just, you know, looking for something to play and I have nothing else. Yeah. You've talked about, like, having games you don't want to really think while you're playing them. That's what, like, crutch games are for me. They're the games I know so well. I don't have to think about a thing while I'm playing it. I can just jump in and enjoy it. I think that's a good term, the crutch, right?

because it's like this is this is what limps me through those kind of gaming doldrums, right? Where it's like we're in between good game releases or nothing is fitting the bill and just I'm not interested in anything. My hype meter is dead, right? Like I don't have any height for a game that's coming out. So it's like, okay, well, now I'm in this lull and I've got this, these, these gaming crutches. I think that's a good way to put it, Ace.

So, well, Ace, why don't you start us off here? I'm curious. I tried to, I tried to. to kind of pin a game for each of you. I'm curious if these are on your list because I have a feeling they are, but I could be wrong. So Ace, why don't you start us off?

What is your first game? I hate to give you the satisfaction, but it is absolutely dead by daylight. Every time I think I'm done with Dead by Daylight, I find myself back in the fog, man. It's just... What is it? Okay, so I'm curious because we played Dead by Daylight.

We did a deep dive. on Dead By Daylight way back in the day. I mean, I think it was like five years ago, I think. Yeah, because I remember it was me, Todd and Paul at the time. I think we did a deep dive on it. That's on release then. Maybe it is on release. I didn't see that.

But like, but I actually have experience playing Dead by Daylight. And I probably put in, I'll say, five hours, right? I mean, we played a dozen rounds of Dead by Daylight. And I can appreciate what it is. But at the same time, I fail to understand, like, the longevity to it for my brain. And that's not anything against the game. So what is it about Dead by Daylight that keeps you returning to it over and over again? Well, there's just, there's so much customization and variety within Dead by Daylight where no two games feel the same, honestly.

You've got all these perks. You've like over 100 perks in the game that do different things that you could mix and match to bake your own builds. Like I specifically, to no one's surprise, I run a support build in Dead By Daylight. that lets me heal faster if I'm like in chase or if I've been in the killer's aura for long enough. But I'll also maybe run a build that like lets me see the oras of things around me. So I'm more aware because news flash audience, I am not the most self-aware individual when playing a game. I get a little. We play Battlefield 6 with you.

Yeah. I get a little focused on one target and I forget what I'm doing. The guy he's right there. Where? Right there. Yeah. That did happen a lot. the guy that's shooting us.

Oh, you mean that guy? The lens flare. But yeah, like, and Dead By Daylight has, like, a variety of different killers with different powers, and they all play differently. So, like, there's, there's just variety in that game, as well as I've spent a ridiculous amount of money on the cosmetics, so I'm going to darn well use it. At least you played this one, though. I do. Oh, my gosh. I think I have, like, over 500 hours in Dead By Daylight.

Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, that's kind of the thing, too, is, like, it. dude, these, like, these are going to wind up being some of our most played games, you know, because again, like, you just keep falling back to them. I think variety is really important. Ace, I, like I said, Dead by Daylight is an interesting game. I like the idea of the asymmetrical horror games.

It's not a genre that keeps my attention for very long, because, again, I kind of feel like everybody just wants to be the monster, you know, or the, the hunter or whatever. You don't want to be the survivors because it's, It's like, well, that's just the normal thing. But the, I can absolutely appreciate the every round feels like it's unique. You know, you're going to get people that play the killer differently. You're going to have different teammates. Some of them you're going to instantly vibe with.

Other ones, maybe not so much, that kind of thing. But it's like each run feels like it's a unique run and it keeps you going back time and time again. Plus you get that like adrenaline from being chased for an hour. And then when you escape, you just feel so. accomplished like I did it I survived I survived I made it how long do those matches typically last I think it like 15 20 minutes if at the longest but like I've gotten out in seven minutes that's cool too because it's also um one thing I think with a lot of people's crutch games or comfort games like this where where you only have 15 20 minutes you're like what can I play and

like that's something that you can always go back to like you know worst case you have like a 25 five-minute match or whatever. But yeah, it's nice to have that timely game as well. That doesn't, you know, you don't have to sink in two hours to do anything or an hour or something like that. So that's cool benefit as well. And the customs matches are also really fun to get a group together and just play together too.

So there's that too. Ryan, you bring up a really interesting point, dude, because every game on my list is short consumable rounds of these games. And so it's like, is that. Oh, yeah. I think we do. You guys are. I know what your list is.

I know what my list is. We're chatting over in the side. Yeah, we are. I'm, but it's, dang it. Whatever.

You guys are predictable too. I called out your games. You know. But it actually does make me wonder, is this because of where we're at in life with we're older, you know, we have jobs, we have families,

that kind of thing. And so these easily consumable rounds fit into that. Or is it that when you, that when you think about crutch games and you think about these comfort games, that it's like, I fall back to these because again, I don't have to think about them very much. I don't have to spend 30 minutes getting invested into this storyline.

Like, you know, I'm sure like Skyrim is a comfort game for a lot of people, right? But it's like, but it takes a little while to kind of get back into the quest that you were on. Or, you know,

the mission that you were working on or the achievement that you would have been working on or something like that. So it's just, it does make me wonder, is this like, are Crutch games by default, these easily consumable ones? Or are there people that go,

bro, Witcher 3 is my, is my comfort game because I just want to live in that world, even though it's not a super easily digestible play session at the same time. I think it is mostly those shorter play session games, but I do have a game similar to the Witcher 3

on my list for Crutch games as well. So, all right. Now I'm curious. But Ryan, hit us, buddy. What you got? Well, you basically called it right there for me with games that aren't those quick, digestible ones. And this Skyrim, dude.

I can't. Not only have I played a bazillion hours, I've bought the name game a bazillion times. And this is the one that I always, if it's like, you know, it's rarely cloudy and rainy in Arizona. And when it's cloudy and rainy, I'm like, oh, I can. gotta play Skyrim. Like this is... Six days a year. This is Skyrim weather here, you know? Or, or, you know, I got off early and I'm like, oh, I got some Skyrim time. And I can go in, the amount of times I've restarted characters, replayed things, like,

it's just one of those games where no matter what, I always go, sometimes I'll have same experiences and stuff. But I still, every time I find something unique. And with the ability to have all the mods you can have now and everything you can do with the world of Skyrim. It's just one of those that something about it just sits so well with me and it makes me have the warm and fuzzies

and I feel so good. I just feel good playing it even if I'm not doing anything amazing. Just playing the game, exploring the world, makes me feel at peace almost, you know? So it's just that fallback every single time if I have nothing to play I'll just run around in Skyrim. And you know

that's what the Is it the world that draws you back? over and over again? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, no, it's, it's having, having the ability to just cruise through the forest and a giant grizzly bear comes chasing after me. And I'm like, oh, crap, you know what?

I got to run and, and, uh, or, or just exploring, uh, this cave or seeing if I can just, you know, spam jump up the mountain to get up to this area because I don't feel like going around to the trail and just the thing is I've played it so long and so much that there's not a lot of, uh, and it's, um, and it's, sound crazy, but there's not a lot of weight to anything. There's not panic or I'm not worried about beating a mission. I've beat them all 100 times. So I can just go in there and it's almost just like kind of an explorer sim. Like I just wander around, beat stuff, expand my guy, get new characters, you know, or I mean, get new spells, new weapons, whatever it may be. But I just know the game

inside and out and I'm able to just play it at my leisure and have fun and there's no stress. So I can just kick back, play the game, have a good time. I have to wonder at what point, like, does somebody put enough time into a game that it just kind of naturally becomes comfortable? Because it's like, I don't want to call it the sunk cost thing, but it's like, you know, when we have put enough time into a game, you have that certain level of just natural comfort by fact that you know all the mechanics, you know what you're doing. There's not that, you know, discovery necessarily that is coming into.

a place so much is just the, I know exactly what this experience is going to be. And that's why I keep going back to it over and over again. That's the same way, like you have your favorite restaurants. Yeah, right. You know what to expect. You know what to expect. It's awesome to try new places. But if you don't go out a lot and you want to have a meal, like you go to the same

spots because you know, I'll get this, I'll order this and I like it. And it'll make me happy and transaction complete. Like, there you go. But then you occasionally order something different off the menu. And then you're like, why did I do that? I should have just gotten my favorite dish, man. Dude, why are you watching me? That's me every time we order Chinese.

I'm like, I want something different. And I'm always looking for like half an hour. And Sarah's like, dude, come on. Just pick what you're going to pick. We know you always go back to the same thing. And I'm like, oh, I'm going to try this. And then I was like, oh, I shouldn't order that. That was not that good.

I'm always trying to change it up. But yeah, man. I just, yeah, Skowram. Skyrim is a great pick, man. Honestly. Thank you. I have not played a ton of Skyrim, but I could definitely see like getting so comfortable in that world just because how expansive and interesting it is. Dude, I forget the name of the town, but it's in like the northwest part of the map.

But it's just there's like a huge waterfall and river that runs through. And then there you have winter hold where there's snow and then you have these other areas that are just beautiful. You can kind of see all the seasons of the year. you can explore like mountains and tombs and you know underground there's just there's a lot to to behold like within that world so yeah that's the one for me well as no surprise to anybody hearthstone oh yeah we call it it's mine you know what you know what i'm not ashamed anymore guys i hid this from people for a while you know but now i you know there's a certain freedom to just coming out and saying hey man i play this game all the time and while i

I hate this game at times. It is, it is absolutely my number one fallback game. So much so that it's funny because like, I love playing a round of Harstone. You know, it is the, I, you know, sometimes, hey, there's nothing going on. I eat at my desk, you know, that kind of thing. And I'll just pop up Harstone.

And it's funny because now it's to the point where my wife is like, oh, you must not have any friends that are online because you're playing horse stone again. And I'm like, I like this game. And she thinks I only play it if I'm bored. Yeah. But it's like because she like, I don't think she understands like this is my comfort game, man. You know, this is the game that I don't have to think about. It's got enough variety to it. It's competitive. So it keeps me interested. I like the kind of idea of trying out these different builds. As much as I hate RNG sometimes I also can admit that sometimes the RNG the cards makes it where I'm like, oh, I just got so lucky to get these like these cards all paired together and things like that the rounds the one

downside is the round like i play battlegrounds almost exclusively but the rounds can take if you do well take up to like 30 to 40 minutes if you make it to like the final two or something like that but yeah i i have rage uninstalled this game i have cussed this game i have i have done you know but it's like i when i need that just comfort to fall back on i don't have to think about it most of the time when I'm playing Harstone, I'm doing something else, whether it's work on the side or like, you know, just browsing the internet or social media or something because you have this time in between rounds that lends itself to I can have the fun of playing this game and yet I can be doing something else at the same time to kind of keep me distracted. I don't know what it is, but that is my number one. Like honestly, I've been playing Harstone forever. And as I did uninstall it for like a year. And then I went back to it and I'm so back into it again that it's just like, this, okay, listen, you guys are laughing at me. And, you know, I see the screenshot that you guys said. We're like, Josh, you're going to pick Harsstone.

Like 15 minutes ago, we did a screenshot of, uh, and it's like, but like this is why I started the episode kind of coming like, I think there's something wrong with me, man. Like, I feel like he went through all the stages of grief with Harthstone. I think that's it. And now you finally, you've reached, you've reached acceptance, which is now recent. And listen, if you guys have any, like, smarts at all, you will wager that in another three months, I will be cussing Harstone and say, this is the stupidest game I've ever played, you know? And then the cycle, it's the circle of life, man. Do you think that it's, um, it's the ability to play like mostly quicker matches that is nice? So you can hop on, it's comfortable.

You can hop into a game and like, play like an eat. I think the thing with Harstone primarily for me, because again, if you do well in Battlegrounds, it's like a 40-minute match. Yeah, that's a big time commitment. It is, but it's the, it's just the fact that I can do other stuff. So it's like my brain gets to play a game. So it's like I'm doing the, I'm relaxing and playing a game. But at the same time, it's like, because it's slow-paced, I can actually get things done

at the same time. So I think that's why it lends itself for me to be that kind of pop option to where it's like, Oh, I have to answer some emails. Oh, I want to work on the podcast. Oh, I need to do this. Or, you know, that kind of thing to where it's like, I can get things done and yet play this game at the same time kind of thing. So I think that might be why I tend to default to that just instantly.

But like, it's just the game. I'll kick back. I'll put my feet up on the desk. Like, I can just play it. I don't know. How fair enough. Yeah. So, all right.

Well, see, this just proves that we. all know each other so well. Yeah, we do. And if you guys had to guess what we're about to do right now, what would you guess that's that that is? Oh, I bet it's an ad break. We'll be right back. Yeah. We're taking an ad break. People will be back in just a second. All right. We're back. We're talking crutch games here. Comfort games. A says dead by daylight so far. Ryan has Skyrim and I have Harston. All right. guys let's pick this up just a little bit because we got to cover a few of these ace what's up next for you all right next up for me to no one's surprise despite you both abandoning me here is marvel rivals marvels is absolutely my crutch game right now hold on i want to ask a question josh do you still

have rivals installed i do not oh i do not uninstalled it i haven't played it in over a month yeah dude the fact that it stayed on my desktop for that long when i haven't played it For that long is a testament to rivals. I'm not saying that I won't ever play it again. But also my next my next crutch game might be the reason why I'm not playing rivals. What character would rivals have to add to make you come back and check it out? Oh, man. I would say probably silver surfer.

Silver surfer? I figured you'd say Gambit. Silver Surfer would get me back, dude. I was going to say Nightcrawler. That was the other one that I was kind of. kind of going towards is like night crawler because that little like ability to teleport and stuff would be neat. Gambit would be a close one, but I don't know that Gambit would be enough to bring me back. But if it was like, hey, silver surfers and rivals, I would be reinstalling

and being like, I'm back. I would one million. I, I, it's still installed for me. And I played a match, uh, the first match in a while, believe it or not the other day. I was like, it was, you know, same exactly scenario we're talking about where I had, you know, not a lot of time, wanted to play something. I'm like, I'll check a match of rivals. And I played it and I was like, oh yeah, that's why I don't play anymore. We won. I was like 15 and 5 or something, whatever. You know, it was

an okay match. But like, it's just, man, I'll tell you what, though, if they add Gambit, like I learned to throw playing cards because of Gambit. I love, he was like one of my favorite X-Men ever. So, uh, that's a good, that's, they don't have to add anyone for me. But if they had Daredevil, I'll be there forever. Daredevil? He can't even see.

That's what makes him cool. Dude, I would love nothing more than you click into Daredevil and it's just a black screen. It's just like, and that's it. And you're like, wow, the realism for this guy is great. This is authentic. Look at this. I think I hear Captain America around the corner. Yeah.

Rivals is good. Hero shooter is like one of those easy to fall back on because, again, you've always got something to practice. You're trying to get better with people. Every match is unique. And I still have other groups to play it with, too. So it's not like I'm always alone, but I am usually playing so long. Yeah. But I mean, like six months ago, I probably would have put that on my list.

Like, you know, having the ability to just hop into like a, you know, you're not playing a comp match. You just go play a quick match and you're in and out in 15, 20 minutes if you need to be. Or you can sit for an hour, play a few till you're done and miserable. And then you can go about your day. But no, that's, it's still installed for a reason because it's the what if. What if I want to play it again? you know. Yeah.

All right, Ryan, what's up next on your list? Well, I didn't get a chance to respond in the intro, because I was muted, but it's got to be Diablo too, man. That is the ultimate, like, ultimate game for me. That just, no matter what, I don't know, especially the fact that they did Diablo D2R, where they kind of redid this and you have all the run words. So there's a lot of new stuff you can do. You're able to hop on and just do bail.

runs or anything, you know, it's just, there's so many options and it's, it's so comforting. And no matter what, you can always just start a new character and it's comfortable. And it's one of those games that I always, always fall back to. I just, I love it, man. Diablo is the best. The action RPG genre is really conducive to that. Very easy to get into and start just playing. Very easy to get out of and, you know, just pick up and then put it down.

Like you said, play for 15 minutes and do a run. little bit of loot or play for two hours if you've got time. But I think it's one of those that lends itself to the very simple to get into and just play. And again, you can kind of tune out to a degree unless you're doing like hardcore runs or something where it's like, hey, I'm just clicking and just slaughter and everything. Titan Quest 2. We talked about it recently. That's going to be one of those ones that will wind up like that for me where it's like I can just jump in and play. Or you can be like me and tune out while you're doing hard code runs and then die. And then die with like a 78 sork.

sork and then you're like oh i just wasted 40 hours yeah and then ryan just goes oh i hate this game well i'll restart a new character i i kind of alluded to this next one overwatch uh yeah called that one we called that one we call that i know you guys did i'm predictable we got a list buddy we know you know i'm very curious if you know my next one though um i love hero shooters you know it's overwatch then it went rivals i'm back to overwatch primarily because my daughter plays and it's the one game that we can play together because she really just loves Overwatch more than anything. And it's, again, it's comfort for me. I know all the characters. There are still characters. I'm like, I should try to get better with this guy, you know,

or something like that. But it's easy. It just, I jump in. We play three, four matches. I jump out. It's great. I'll uninstall it. I'll rage with it because my teammates are stupid, you know, but at least I have one good teammate and my daughter at this point, you know, um, it's a weird cycle for me, but yeah, Overwatch is just that comfort for me where it's like, I know this game inside now.

I know the maps. I know the characters. I don't have to invest a lot of mental energy into it, even though I want to be good and do well, but don't, you're just giving us a bunch of baloney, dude. We all know you like to play it because you're good at it.

And it makes you feel good. And you're like, yeah, I'm pretty good at this game. Dude, here for any older gamers, This is the kicker, dude. My daughter smokes me, dude.

Yeah. She is approaching master level. She is two ranks away from master. She's Diamond 2 right now. She is better than I ever was. She's Healer, right? Overwatch. She plays Healer, dude.

And she is insane, dude. And it's like, so, like, I used to be good at Overwatch. But, like, now I'm playing at, like, people that are at her level. And I'm the anchor. I'm the anchor for the... team and I don't like it. How's it for you? I'm like, I think, dad, you're kind of holding this back.

Dude, she? I am not joking. The other day, dude. And this was like, and I started to argue and then I was like, dang it, she's right. I, maybe I pushed up a little too far. I was trying to get the team to kind of push. She's calling you out. And they were. And she called me out. And I, and she literally was like, dad, you need to quit pushing up. And then I was like, yeah, you're right. Yeah.

I was like, she's telling me how to be good. And I don't know that I like this, man. But I'm the anchor guys. How badly did you get stomped that first week back from rivals into Overwatch? It's pretty bad. But again, it's because I'm playing with my daughter who was almost master level. And I know that it tries to balance the teams. You're playing with all the sweats.

I'm out of my league. You're in trouble, man. So now it's like, I'm apologizing to her. Like, I'm like, hey, I'm really sorry. I know my KD wasn't that great this round. And I probably shouldn't have like tried to pursue that healer and get the pick. Dude, you know she's made it when she tells you to uninstall. I pray for that day, brother.

Oh, man. She's definitely she is, I'm really, like, we're not playing anymore. She's a very sweet gamer. She's always like complimenting piece. So she is the opposite of me in that regard, thankfully. Oh, man. All right. I love it out there, boys.

I'm sorry. We forgive you. We forgive you, man. Watch teammates. This has been cathartic, guys. I'm feeling like stuff's coming out here. We're in the trust tree here, man. All right, Ace, real quick.

What's your third one here? You will never guess it in a million years. But one of my comfort games, I love to go back to, like, all the time. If I'm feeling like I can't find something I want to play, dude, I'll pop in Bloodbourne. I'll go sit on my couch and I'll go play Bloodborn. Really? Really?

Okay, I'd never would have guessed that. That seems like a weird crutch game to go back to. I mean, dude, once you get into the flow of Bloodbourne's combat where it's like knowing how much stamina you can use, you know, to get the perfect combo and then when the enemy is about to strike to counter him with the gun at the last second and get the visceral attack, you feel so good, man. Like, I just, oh. And I know Bloodbourne like front to back at this point too, so I can get through the game

in like 20 hours. It takes no time. It seems like a lot of these two are what we're so comfortable with, like things that we just like can settle into whenever, wherever. And it just makes you feel good. And I think that's a lot of the reason like why we go to these games, you know. Yeah, I know, like a normal gamer. I could see Eldon Ring being a comfort game for people to be honest. Like you start to just see the world.

There's always something to explore. There's always something to work for, you know, that kind of like that's another one, which sounds really weird for being like a comfort, dark. soul's crutch type game, but like I can see Alden Ring being that as well. So like the Bloodborne, even though it's weird and I never would have guessed it, I can actually kind of wrap my head around that too. Because you know the feeling of like getting your build exactly where you want it to the point where like, I'm not worried about anything. Like I could steamroll all you fools. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Ryan, what's what's the last one for you, buddy? I'm sure you all can guess this one. I'm going to go with one that is tried and true and the best game of all

time so why wouldn't I want to go back to it and it's red dead. Oh yeah. That was yep. An open world sandbox that I can always again, kind of like Skyron, but even more so to where I never play a scenario where I didn't have a new experience. I never have any situations that I haven't, you know, done before. Like it's always I, as much as you don't like them, I like the controls. I enjoy the shooting.

I enjoy the gunplay. and I've gotten maybe a little too much into the online Red Dead lately with Aces Deep Dive. I'm like, well, I played the game 400 times and I did the entry level, the snow level, and I played probably four or five hours, and then I had

auto save off, and none of it saved. I was like, well, I'm not doing that again right now, so I hopped online and I've been playing a ton online, doing bounties, and now that making moonshine, and I just, it's one of those games. I always wanted to be a cowboy since I was a little kid,

the world is beautiful. There's always so much to explore. There's always so much to do. Sometimes I'll just go and I'll just fish. Like I'll go look for fish and I'll just go hunting or do, you know, do whatever. So that's 100% a game that if I'm like, what do I want to play? I don't want to do that. Let's hop on to Red Dead.

And it's just, you just click it, you know? I get that 100% dude because I got so in the vibe of Red Dead. We're just riding around. I was like, I totally like that. When you mentioned Skyrim, I was like he's absolutely going to have Red Dead. We had the same thought. I'm an action RPG. Like action RPGs are like my,

my bread and butter. That's what, that's what just makes me happy. I love any, I love all these other types of games, but those are what really, really, really,

uh, do it for me. It's, it's interesting to me because you like the sandbox. Like you, you just say, give me the sandbox and I'll find something to do. I'll build a castle.

I'll dig a ditch. Like, you know, it is literally a sandbox where you can just do, like, it's neat that works for you because like, for me, it's the opposite.

Like, I need a structured round, you know, or something like that. I can't hop into the sandbox because it's almost overwhelming to me to go like, I don't know where I want to go. I don't know what I want to do. What was I doing last time? You know, like that kind of thing. And I get it, but it's just neat that it's like you can kind of get a glimpse of like

how our brains just work different because you're happy as a pig to just be wandering around. Well, that's the thing. You just, you load in, pick a direction and something will happen. And then you'll get back into the flow. You'll get back into the vibe of the game and figure out what you're doing as you just kind of play an experience. And so I just love being able to hop in and then just go somewhere. And whatever happens happens. So it's almost like kind of a real world experience.

But it's in a video game. And it's something I can fall back on. And if it doesn't save, whatever, I've beat it a million times, you know, or if, you know, I does save, then cool, I got more money. So it's, there's just there. And I mean, I've never come close to 100% in this game. if I ever wanted to really start getting into stuff, like I have probably another 50 to 100 hours I could probably do if I really wanted to.

Yeah, I took a look at that trophy list. That's a nightmare. No, thank you. No, thank you. So I bet you guys thought I was going to say Rocket League for my other line. It was on our list. It was on our list. It is not Rocket League.

I love Rocket League to death. I actually haven't played Rocket League in probably eight months, believe it or not. But Rocket League is my competitive exciting game. It is not like my crutch game. My other crutch game is Slay the Spire. I'll put that up there with like Monster Train because I really like that one too. But like I, Slay the Spire is just that again, I kind of know the cards. I know the builds. I kind of know what I want to go for. I don't have to think about it. And yet every run is different. I'm not on a timer. So if my daughter needs me for something or my wife needs me, I can just right in the middle of a turn,

just get up and go do something. So it's very easy to just walk away from. but you know there's still cards to unlock and challenges to overcome and things like that I'm also a huge fan of like card-based rogue-like type games if you can't guess from Harstone and Slate the Spires so this also fits that like it just vibes with me at the same time I know you guys were thinking it was Rocket League and while I love it it's not Rocket League is Rocket League's just my I want to be competitive and try to be good that's a sweaty game it's not necessarily like a crutch game yeah it is my sweet that opposite of a crutch game Ooh, we should do that at some point

sweaty games You guys, I can get sweaty about any games You guys know me I'm super competitive It's like all right I'm gonna build the best Stardew Valley farm You guys may see my farm's gonna wreck your farm man Raw four

I was gonna say I can turn anything into a competition man You'll never play Udo again Yeah Oh well listen good This is guys this was fun And now I just want to go play around a hearthstone because my wife's almost done with dinner.

There you go, you're a perfect amount of time, buddy. Exactly. Let us know what your crutch games are. We love hearing about the games that people go back to time and time and time again that you just find that comfort in. Leave a comment. Let us know what your game is. We read all the comments.

The comment section for our episodes that's been blowing up lately, which is awesome. So let us know what game you go back to over and over and over again. And, you know, hey, maybe one of us will give it a try and see if we can't find a new game too. So it's funny how that it does change over time. We get very comfortable, but then there's nothing like finding that new game that becomes like your go-to at the same time. Oh, yeah, dude. Yeah, kind of like that new restaurant, you know, like Ryan was talking about it.

We just found a new favorite place. Like, yeah. So if you haven't already, make sure you follow the podcast so that you get all our episodes the day that they release. Remember to rate us five stars or leave. a review if you haven't done that already. And if you're not a member of our gaming community, click that link in the episode description. We're almost 1,100 gamers strong. It is an awesome community. We love meeting new people. People are always talking about games, grouping up together, playing games. It really is an awesome place. And if you have been enjoying this podcast and you

want to go the extra mile, you can support us over on Patreon. There's a link in the episode description for that. That's going to do it for this one, boys. Until next time, happy gaming. See ya. Peace out.