Top 5 Relaxing Mobile Games to Help Relieve Stress and Promote Self-Motivation

After a long stressful workday, you may just want to get home and rest your head on a big soft pillow to take a nap or, as I do sometimes, close your eyes and think, and you just realize a long boring list of things to do that you plan to get done by tomorrow. You get even more stressed and helpless. You need motivation.

I am no different who needs the motivation to get everything needed to be done out of my head. People try all kinds of activities to get them motivated: exercising, going outside, or other activities that require little physical effort such as writing (I love jotting down goals and thoughts, sometimes!) Considering myself an active gamer, I can’t help myself from thinking that playing video games is one of the best ways to gain motivation.

And, I don’t mean any sort of intense action games such as PUBG or Call of Duty with shooting and blood and all kinds of similar stuff from the background. A relaxing game to help refresh your brain is all you need, and choosing the right game can have positive impacts on your mental health such as improving cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills as well as enhancing decision-making and multi-tasking capabilities.

Don’t know where to start? Below are the top five games I’ve been playing to help me keep up with my tasks on a daily basis:

1. The Kreator

If you are a nature type or haven't had time with nature for a while, this game may make you want to fly on the endless field of soft grass under the warm sunlight. The Kreator brings the player into a dreamy picture of glaring stars in the sky, fields of trees and flowers on the road, and the peaceful aura of the universe.

The game features original animations with twelve different relaxing soundtracks in the background and a simple one-button control where you tap your screen to jump and press it to float midair. You, 'the Kreator', join in an endless journey and attempt to collect all the yellow dots scattered along the way.

And also, watch out for the "dark elements" that chase you!

2. Alto's Adventure

Alto’s Adventure is a snowboarding-themed adventure game set in an endless journey through a cycle of day and night. Alto, a mountain shepherd, gets on his snowboard to catch his escaping llamas and be amazed at rows of pine trees, scattered buildings, and lighthouses glowing, whether under the beautiful sunset or in gloomy rainstorms, in excitement to discover the marvel of the mountain.

The controls are easy to learn, where players tap to leap over terrifying rocks and chasms covered in snow and tap and hold to do backflips while in the air. It is truly a meditative experience when flying through day and night under the warm sunset with relaxing music in the background mixed with the sounds of the weather and forest.

Join the adventure today!

3. Tiny Wings

Humans are beautiful partly in the fact that we attempt to do something beyond our imagination against science, and so are the birds with Tiny Wings. They, like us, dream of flying high with those soft white clouds, and, luckily, the world is filled with beautiful colorful hills.

Tap and hold your finger to slide down along the mountainside and release to fly! Don’t let the annoying gravity let you down because endless undulating mountains are waiting for you ahead.

4. Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a stunning puzzle game of dreamlike exploration through many magnificent structures. The player leads the princess Ida, also known as the ‘silent princess’, through mazes of incredible optical illusions. The game allows players to interact with certain structures such as moving pillars or creating bridges to help the princess find the way out.

The game generally receives complimenting reviews for its simple but creative visual art style that carefully gets mixed with surprising illusions hidden behind unconnected structures. It quickly went to the top of the App Store paid apps chart and later was chosen as Apple's best iPad game of 2014.

5. Energy

Energy is an anti-stress game for anxiety reduction and mediative support, which presents a relaxing gaming experience with simple game mechanics where players tap the circuits to rotate and connect them to the energy source. The goal here is to light up all lines and create an infinite loop.

Energy features a simple yet peaceful visual style along with ‘meditation-based’ soundtracks that help reduce stress levels and promote focus and motivation. Although there are no challenges such as scores and countdown clocks, the game allows players to exploit their curiosity and puzzle-solving skills through a ‘myriad’ of puzzles with increasing difficulty. And instead of getting a reward for every successful level, players will be surprised with a simple drawing created by the connected circuits.