Borderlands, Fallout Series (modern), Wii Sports/Resort, Eufloria.

Games that get me INSANELY frustrated but I still love/am addicted to: Trials 2 Extreme, Trials HD.

I am assuming that particular choice of wording was deliberate...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMV_RoEMxE

Boulder Dash! Cum Supaplex!

For those of lesser reflex reactions, frustration is guaranteed to supplant all other emotions... but in a most cheerful way. And any triumph then again deserves an Arc, lol.

Or wishing that even a mild depression could erase my previous play-througs of Baldur's Gate series, so I could play it for the first time again to uplift me from it. No amount of drinking seems to resolve this wish, though! :-P

You mean entertain me? Like... almost every game I ever played? For example, now I started (at last!) playing Crusader Kings 2 and I already executed 2 of my older brothers. It feels amazing :P

If you mean actual "life is good" cheering up, I can't recall any right now. It requires really powerful storytelling, and it's not often in gaming.

I have to admit that my very, very first employer, as a student during my university years, had not disabled minesweeper, nor solitaire... but this was a supremely boring job, might I add.

I do like the relaxing, random element of it to begin with... but then at least it gets a bit more analytical.

It was quite fun, and more than a little competitive, that a number of keen players in the circles I knew always fought to win the supremacy of Minesweeper at a given computer. This required certainly a favorable combination of heuristics, analytical approach, speed and luck!

Depends. I usually don't bother with games because 1) I'm not in the mood, or 2) my bad mood affects me so that I can, technically, play the game but will simply suck at it, hence not really improving things or 3) the mood allows me to play the game decently but my memory becomes unable to register anything that's going on in the screen, taking the joy out of it come the next morning/hour/minute. I'm not sure which one is the worst. I usually resort to physical excercise (running, usually), walking around the city without a particular destination, music, tinkering with my bike/computer/whatever or, in more extreme cases, alcohol. The latter is so that I can talk to my friends about shit, because otherwise I'm so stoic and reserved that I probably wouldn't talk to anyone about anything that's tearing me apart even if it drove me to suicide.

I think the randomness is one of the reasons I like it so much, too. Every game is similar, but different.

Also, It would be kind of nice for me to have someone to compete with, but unfortunately, none of my other family members and none of my friends (at least as far as I know) even know how to play. Thus, I have only myself to compete with. It's still a fun challenge, though. Currently, my best time is 101 seconds. That was a month or so ago. The closest I've gotten since is 108. I'm determined to get below a hundred, but my brother is convinced I never will.

Avadon series usually cheers me up, especially with Redbeard's hilarious yet sociopathic quips during the 1st game.

I was hoping someone would pick up on that :)

This is one of the best posts I have ever seen. +1

I agree, you just made my day!

Borderlands 1&2 are practically therapeutic. Portal 2 and Saints Row the Third are also great in this regard.

I almost always have a huge smile on my face when playing The Elder Scrolls games (especially Skyrim).

Portal is another one that, even though some frustration enters the picture, it's so hilarious that it puts me in a great mood.