I usually turn my brain off when I'm playing a game, it's the only way for me to get rid of all the stress

The one game that really let's me just mindlessly rest in a brain dead state is GTA San Andreas - get on a motorcycle, ride around, maybe ride off a skyscraper.

Or Flatout 2 with a friend, just crashing into friggin cars.

it depends on the game. sometimes i use games to relax myself a bit.

i had a huge assignment due, and whenever i felt i just couldnt concentrate, and started writing incomprehensible rubbish, i just stop, load up some tf2, kill 20 minutes, then im ready to get back to my assignment again.

but games that are quite involving (mentally, or emotionally, or with intense atmosphere), i play when im ready to engage myself, and havent just come fresh from a draining experience (ie work)

In order to veg out, you need to be able not just to put no effort, but also to put no attention. How many tv shows do you even remember when vegging out? You can even tune out and let your mind adrift, catching only glimpses from what you're watching, but in fact, you're just resting with the TV turned on and flicking channels.

Every game demands a reaction from the player. You can't be passive. I can unwind while playing against bots on Unreal Tournament 2004, since I already know some of the maps pretty well, but I am paying attention to what I'm doing. It's not overly demanding, it's not really thinking, it's just reacting to what you see on the screen, but it's not vegging out. I can do it while tired, but not for long, since the body will demand some rest and I might even start to fall asleep while playing.

So in short, I play games to destress and relax myself, while I watch TV or listen to music when I want to rest and fall asleep.

It's escapism for me. Truly enjoy getting into a new world and losing myself for a few hours. Which is my problem too! These days, I rarely have time to play games for more than half an hour or so, and since I prefer RPG's, that just doesn't work. I find myself playing games like Wing Commander (mission based) or Super Mario Brothers (where I don't really care how far I get), instead.

basically, yeah

EDIT: as in, I have a hard time playing games as anything other than a mentally present experience. I can't really "veg out" on them.

This is somewhat of a tricky question to me. While I enjoy games that require a lot of thought and strategy, it seems like a majority of games, particularly on consoles, are "mindless" in the sense that most of what you do is to respond to on-screen cues telling you where to go and what to do. Responding quickly is more important than responding intelligently in these cases, and they all but require the ability to shut off the brain and put one's self into a quasi-meditative state.

These are the kinds of games you can "veg out" with, but that doesn't make them "mindless entertainment" in the same way that Hollywood blockbusters can be. It's more like exercising or playing a song on an instrument you're familiar with. Games enhance mental agility, which is an important part of cognition. They offer a kind of relaxation that is also rewarding.

I can't say I play many games that are totally "relaxing" though, in the sense that they require neither thought nor skill. Most of the time, I tend to go toward games with heavy storytelling and deep gameplay. Deep puzzle games, adventure games, RPGs and the like are usually in this category. I definitely go for skill-based games, too, especially when I'm stressed or need to unwind, I'd include most FPS games, rhythm games, and almost anything claiming to be "action" in this category.

I like controlling things, particularly projectiles in games. But, when I want to relax, a great point-and-click adventure or platformer does the trick. Games are so versatile and they suit all kinds of needs, but player control is first.

Hmmm... I think I definitely relax better watching a tv show or something like that. But I can destress with computer games.

If I'm playing Morrowind I get invested in it and caught up in the story and what I'm doing, so I'm not relaxing necessarily, but it can help me destress about work or something like that.

I zone out really easy when playing Mount and Blade. I love riding by a foot soldier at full speed and smashing my battle axes into his head. O I laugh and I laugh…….hmm that kind of sick now that I think about it.

Tetris is my game of choice when vegging out. I fire up some music and then fire up the blocks.

I've probably logged more hours into Tetris than any other of my games as a result.

Most of the games I prefer aren't particularly suited to just vegging out, but I do have a few regular go-to games when I just want to shut off for a bit. Shmups like Raptor and Tyrian are great for this, and easier strategy games (like Civ4 and Alpha Centauri on the easiest setting) also work well for me.

I play a lot of shooters to relax myself during those hectic 10 page essays. :D

Weirdly enough, I find strategy games to be one of the easiest form of mindless entertainment there are (especially the turn based ones).

After I exhausted reading and watching TV because I'm too tired (you have to "absorb" a fair amount of info to get the most out of those modes of entertainment and I feel like I'm missing out on it if I do an half-assed job at grasping the details), I can still play some strategy game I know to put myself to sleep.

I played so many that for most of them, I can put my brain on autorun and do a decent job against the CPU on average or hard.

I think it stems partly from growing up playing games like Populous and Master of Orion.

It also helps that the final complexity of what you have to input is rather limited and it's mostly about processing.

And finally, the endgame result is binary. You win or you lose. Doesn't matter that you didn't play your 'A' game in a given map as long as you won it in the end. You don't have to feel like you could have reached a more satisfying result if you hadn't played it half-asleep.