We All Have Our Happy Places: Somewhere - Real or Otherwise - to Escape, Relax, and Replenish Away From the Stresses of the Modern World

Perhaps yours is in nature, lost in the reverie of a spirited hike up a windy hill, or sweatily squatting your cares away amid the pounding Daruda Sandstorms of your local gym. Perhaps your demands are simpler: the call of a good book and an escape into the realm of imagination, or the familiar celluloid embrace of a favourite film, or - as I finally drag this intro into relevance - the soothing rhythms of a beloved video game. And hopefully it's the last one, because that's what we're talking about today.

As you might have noticed, it's Optimism Week here on Eurogamer - a chance, at a time it isn't always easy to remember, to reflect on how special video games can be. And to celebrate the occasion, we're reviving The Big Question to tackle another topical talking point before wafting it lovingly over to you. And this time: what's your video game happy place?

Do you prefer to take solace in the cosy idylls of the farming life, sinking dreamily into the comforting mundanity of turnip whispering? Perhaps your gaming happy place is one of nostalgia, the warmth of a retro favourite of old. As it happens, I've already written about one of my own favourite happy places: the vast procedural universe of No Man's Sky, where I can amble serenely with the vaguest of purposes, tweak my infinitely expanding base, dip into its wonderfully kind community, or idly tinker with its latest toys.

But I've got other happy places, far removed: harsher, crueller worlds to explore. FromSoftware's Souls games might not be what you'd typically call relaxing, but their exquisitely forlorn spaces are so meticulously, completely realised, I find it hard not to get lost in it all. But more than that, they practically force you into a meditative state; demanding calm, cautiousness, and clear-headed focus if you're to survive their merciless worlds.

Nobody ever beat Ornstein and Smough by being impatient, after all (but I'm now ready to be informed otherwise in the comments!) So they're my happy places, but what about the rest of the Eurogamer team? We've asked, they've answered, and then it's over to you! There's a very special house in Hyrule Castle Town.

The guard inside will never stop you from smashing them. You can smash, smash, smash away to your hearts delight. Leave the house only to return and all of the pots will be back in place.

Slip into an nirvana of pot smashing. - Lottie. I've celebrated a very special anniversary this year as 2026 marks my 20th year of playing RuneScape.

Something I definitely didn't expect when I made my first account on an April afternoon many, many, many moons ago. Sure I've taken a break - a month here, a month there whenever the new content hasn't interested me or I simply haven't had enough time - but I've always come back, because I simply love the world of Gielinor. Sometimes I log in, not to play the game, but to simply go for a walk - be it the farmlands of Misthalin or the mountains of the Fremennik Province.

Whether it's RuneScape 3 or Old School RuneScape, I feel like part of me is tied to Gielinor and hearing the opening score as the game boots up feels like going home. - Lottie.