Are you once again questioning why you were put on this earth? Do you sit and ponder what the meaning of life is? Maybe you’re just questioning the logic of a societal model that forces us to follow a structure of living that leads us to waste most of our lives doing something we hate in the pursuit of an ideal that never existed and then we die?
Don’t worry I have you covered. You’re having another existential crisis. Well, I’m a writer, which means my whole life is an existential crisis so I have the expertise to help you through it. You may be wondering what kind of life-affirming activity can add purpose to your life, or what kind of meditations to do to discover enlightenment. I’m here to tell you there is none, those don’t exist, there are only video games.
That’s right, the only thing that’ll help you now is to accept there is no greater purpose and play some video games. Searching for meaning is a fool’s errand but you can play video games and they’ll help you feel better about the fact that there is no great meaning to our existence. You’ll never find the answer to the eternal question but you can play Doom Eternal.
Doom Eternal
You might never be able to find a fulfilling reason for your own existence but with Doom Eternal you will be able to rip and tear until it is done. Life’s purpose is meaningless in the face of a demonic invasion, just as your shotgun and get those glory kills. It doesn’t matter why you were put on this Earth because Doom Guy was created to slay demons while heavy metal plays and he needs your help to do it. And truth be told, once you’re in the rhythm of Doom Eternal’s demon slaying combat, you won’t even remember you were having an existential crisis to begin with.
Mass Effect
Are you questioning your purpose? Feeling down about the nature of human existence? Just play through the Mass Effect trilogy. Even Andromeda if you’re feeling a little masochistic. You’ll be transported out of your malaise and into an epic and hopeful sci-world. Humanity has advanced, we’re part of galactic interspecies relations now. That means that you can sleep with hot aliens. Life’s problems disappear when you sleep with hot aliens. You also go on adventures to save the galaxy from an omnipresent destructive threat. Few things will help put things into perspective more than the saga of Commander Shepard. And did I mention you can sleep with hot aliens cause you can.
Fortnite
Existentialism is meaningless when you can kill Mr. Beast with a rocket launcher while playing as buff Peter Griffin and then dance on his corpse while Goku and Rick Sanchez play guitar behind you.
The Legend of Zelda
Any Zelda game will do. They’re all epic adventures that will suck you in from beginning to end. Okay, maybe not the CDI ones…or the DS ones, and Twilight Princess will suck you in but not until like 4 hours in. The point is that these are epic and grand adventures and playing through them is sure to keep your mind off the fact that you haven’t found your purpose in life. Traveling across Hyrule, battling enemies, solving puzzles, defeating epic bosses, and proving you have courage, power, and wisdom are some of the best gaming experiences you’ll ever have. So what if life might be meaningless, Link’s life isn’t, and if you play Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, you won’t have a life anymore anyway. So if life is getting you like a pissed off cucco, just play some Zelda.
Walking Simulator
This is a really calm game that will let you collect your thoughts. It’s called Going for a Walk. To play you leave your house and go for a walk. It’s pretty chill, you can listen to music or a podcast while you play, the threat of death is minimal but still ever present so it’s not completely without stakes and it’s almost as good for your well being as Ring Fit Adventure. Seriously, it’s great, you should try it. And if you want an extra challenge you can attempt the touching grass mini-game, most gamers fail that one but maybe you’ll be different.
Psychonauts
I’ve never taken drugs but the developers of Psychonauts sure have. Both games are 3D platformers where every level takes place inside someone’s mind. If you think there are messed up things going on in your head, Psychonauts is sure to give you some perspective because there are messed up things going on in everyone’s head. Sometimes that manifests as an existential crisis and sometimes it manifests as a meat circus, either way, everyone’s got problems buddy. Your current problem is you aren’t playing Psychonauts because really they are just delightful games. Solid, platforming, funny writing and Jack Black sings in one of them. If that doesn’t cheer you up I don’t think anything will.
Soulsbourne
The worst part of an existential crisis is the ever present dread of knowing one day you will die and eventually, your memory will fade to dust like an old Playstation franchise. But you can learn to accept death by playing a Soulsbourne game. Die, die, die, and die again as you attempt to overcome the grueling challenge of n̶o̶t̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶ Malenia. You’ll be too immersed in the macabre worlds filled with death and failure to care about not having a purpose in life. These games will give you a purpose and that purpose is to kill the bastard enemy that killed you and get your damn souls back. By the end of it, you still won’t know the meaning of life or why you exist but at least you can brag to your scrub friends that you got good and in the end isn’t that what really matters most?
Bear & Breakfast
You know who never has an existential crisis? Hank the Bear. Hank is too busy ensuring his guests have the absolute best experience possible. Like a less high strung Mr. Moseby who is a bear. There’s simply no time to contemplate the nature of existence when you’re catering to the whims of guests and their incessant demands to ensure your hospitality business remains profitable. The loop of collecting items to use to craft things that will improve your establishment is the thing every small business owning bear dreams of and now it can be yours too.
PowerWash Simulator
Power washing things is fun. The sound of the blast of water as it hits the surface, the way the dirt and grime dissipate to make way for the shiny and clean object underneath, the satisfaction of slowly clearing every section. It’s therapeutic and downright sexual in how satisfying it is. You have no problems, you have no purpose, you only have only a power washer and various, dirty, filthy, naughty surfaces that need to be cleaned.
Lego Games
I don’t care how old you are, what gender you are, or what race you are. Everyone loves Lego games. More importantly however, everyone loves the sound effect when you collect studs in Lego games. It might be the greatest sound of all time. Good luck having an existential crisis while you listen to the beautiful clink of that stud collecting sound. Once you hear that sound, you’ll be so moved by its beauty, so compelled to collect more studs that everything will finally become clear. The meaning of life is to collect Lego studs, to hear that wondrous, scrumptious sound, and to buy all the characters in the game. After all, what’s a Batman game if you can’t play as Gotham Cop #3.
Just Stare at Your Game Catalog
Dread it, run from it, your backlog arrives just the same. Look at it, look at all those games you own but haven’t played yet. Look at the aftermath of dozens of Steam Sales and Black Fridays. So many games, and so little time. Surely one of those unplanned games will help you as you try to reconcile with the fact that you’re drifting aimlessly through the cosmos until granted the sweet release of death. But which one? Just state at them, hoping one will jump out at you even though much like your purpose in life, it never will. Don’t give up though, John Cena wouldn’t. Just keep staring, hoping beyond hope you’ll be able to pick one to play and cross it off your ever-growing backlog. Hoping that this futile effort to take your mind off your life’s lack of meaning won’t be an exact mirror of the very crisis you’re hoping to sweep under the rug. Will you run out of sweet precious time before you discover your purpose in life, will you run out of time before you pick something to play? What’s that, another game you’ve been mildly interested in is now $5 off, better go buy that instead.
Skyrim
I know you’ve played Skyrim five times already, we all have. But there’s a reason it’s available on every device with a motherboard. Skyrim is the world you want to be in. Not this hellscape that we call Earth. You don’t want to be worried about the cost of living, employment status, or inflation. You want to join the Thieves Guild and be a stealth archer. You want to prove that it is possible to take an arrow to the knee and still continue being an adventurer. You want to climb a mountain by endlessly hopping up surfaces you weren’t made to hop on. Maybe one day you’ll get to saving the world by defeating the evil dragons but until then there are hundreds of side quests to complete.
Any 3D Sonic
3D Sonic games range from pretty awful to pretty awesome and no one in the Sonic fandom can agree which is which. What everyone can agree on is no matter what Sonic game you play, you’ll be treated to the most butt-rocking butt-rock soundtrack you’ve ever heard. Now I’m no therapist but I know that good butt rock solves everything. You don’t even have to play the games really, although you should, just go listen to Escape From the City on repeat and it will make you realize life doesn’t need a purpose when Sonic butt rock exists.
Watch The Nice Guys
I don’t care this is supposed to be a list of video games, go watch it. I will not rest until everyone on earth watches The Nice Guys and you won’t either once you watch it. Go watch it. Finish this list first but go watch it. Actually, go watch it first then come back to the list so that counts as more site traffic.
FFXIV
Have you considered that the meaning of life is to play the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV which has an expanded free trial that you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning HEAVENSWARD and STORMBLOOD expansions up to level 70 for free with no restrictions on playtime! Soon to also be available on Xbox Series X & S!
Grand Theft Auto
What better way to cull an existential crisis than by playing a game about the awfulness of the exploitative capitalist social culture that led you to have one in the first place. Take a nice vacation to Los Santos or Vice City or Liberty City and wind down by doing some crimes. Drive through red lights, park next to fire hydrants, dare I even say, jaywalking. Really stick it to the man, show them you won’t abide by their ridiculous rules. Don’t kill any NPCs though because that’s totally not cool and a lame thing to do. Commit financial crimes instead because there’s nothing morally wrong with those.
Any Ubisoft Open World Game
Explore vast and beautiful worlds with fun gameplay and more activities than there are seconds in a day. Checking activities off your map is now your only purpose in life. Clear out enemy camps, climb a tall thing to unlock more of the map, go hunting, do some crafting, and find a collectible. Look there’s a reason Ubisoft still makes all their open-world games this way and there’s a reason everyone else copied them for so long. They’re fun. They’re exhausting sure but there’s an undeniable way that clearing a Ubisoft map scratches your brain. You’re eyes will be bleeding by the time you’re done and you won’t beat the main story until you’re on your death bed but you’ll have had fun.
Balan Wonderworld
Sometimes The best way to gain some perspective is to play something really really truly terrible. So go on ahead and play Balan Wonderworld. After all, if this could get made, there’s no reason you can’t realize your dream. Turns out the bar isn’t that high so go out and achieve.
Life is Strange
Maybe all you need is a good cry.
That One Game You Loved As a Kid
You know the one. The one you played the most as a kid. The one that made you fall in love with gaming. The one that started your slow downward spiral into video game addiction that led you to be completely unhappy and unfilled in your life. The one that’s better than all the modern games but they refuse to remake or remaster. The one that will fill you with temporary happiness as it transports you back to your age of innocence. All your current problems wash away like the grime in PowerWash Simulator as the game from your childhood represents the last time in your life you were truly happy so playing it now makes you feel good. Go play that.
Cyberpunk 2077
There are a lot of games on this list but perhaps the one game you really need to play whilst having an existential crisis is the one where the protagonist is also reckoning with their life in the face of an ever-ticking clock to death. Much has been said of the game launching in a state more broken than the American democracy but that time has passed. The bugs are fixed and it is legitimately an incredible RPG experience. If you want to tangle with life’s meaning and what you do with your limited time on this plane of existence, do it in Night City. Shoot bad guys as the techno soundtrack makes you feel like John Wick while the actual John Wick lives in your head and fills you with bad ideas. Explore the streets of a city that’s every capitalist’s wet dream and everyone else’s flaccid nightmare. Certify your legend by going out in a blaze of glory with both middle fingers raised to the ones who tried to tell you what you could be. Or just romance Judy.
Therapy
Seriously go to therapy. Even if you’re not having an existential crisis you’re probably here because you’re a gamer and all gamers need therapy.
