The 10 Best Video Games to Play When You're Stuck Inside During a Heat Wave

When the temperature exceeds a reasonable point, the smartest thing to do is to stop fighting it. Close the curtains, point the fan at your face and let the game cool down for you.

Some of the best tips for steamy afternoons are the ones that put a chill on the screen – survival under the snow, icy mountain climbs, the silent blue of the deep sea. Others simply give you a cast-iron excuse to stay put for hours. Either way, these games make hiding from the sun a joy. At least a little. Absolutely. Close the curtains and don't forget the ice in your drinks.

10

Celeste

Literally a cold mountain climb and few games turn the cold into atmosphere as well as this one. Madeline's climb up Celeste Mountain is enveloped in snow, wind and crystalline blues, every screen sharp and invigorating.

Platforming is challenging, not relaxing, so this is the choice for an afternoon when the heat hasn't completely dissolved ambition. It's also one of the most moving games of its generation that makes time disappear. Watch the snow, ignore the sun, and try not to die on the same spike for the hundredth time.

9

Dave the Diver

The next best thing to actually getting into the water is spending hours under it, and Diver Dave makes it ridiculously easy. The days are split between exploring the gorgeous, moving reef and running the sushi bar at night. And the loop is dangerously larger: one more dive, one more service, suddenly it's dark outside and you're not moving.

The art is bright and cool, the pacing is indulgent, and the whole thing requires very little of the brain that's been poaching gently since noon. An almost perfect companion in the heat.

8

Frostpunk 2

Few games are as passionate as Frostpunk 2, where the whole premise is to keep a city alive by freezing the world endlessly. The setting here has real teeth, but the thematic reward makes sense on a hot day. Looking at the frozen sprawl while the generator roars in the middle is its own relief.

It's heavier than the cozier picks on this list, so keep it in case the heat hasn't completely exhausted your hardening capacity, slightly monstrous decision.

7

Coffee Talk Tokyo

It's a little strange because Coffee Talk Tokyo doesn't so much chill you as empathize. Set in a sweltering Tokyo summer, the characters drifting into a late-night cafe carry the same sticky exhaustion you feel on the sofa.

That shared misery is the appeal: there's something genuinely soothing about brewing hot drinks (and quite often refreshing cold drinks!) for weary souls while the city outside sweats with you. The pace is slow, the writing is smooth, and there's no failure to raise your heart rate. Solidarity in a cup, basically.

6

PowerWash simulator

Counterintuitively, the most chilling game on this list might be a cleaning game. PowerWash Simulator is just you (or you and some friends suffering from the heat, too!), a high-pressure hose and an endless supply of dirty surfaces – and the sound of water hitting dirt is strangely, profoundly comforting.

There is no danger; you simply blast away the dirt and watch it creep satisfyingly clean across the screen. It's the closest a game gets to taking a cold shower, and it scratches the same brain itch as a good word puzzle. Ideal soup-brain food.

5

God of War Ragnarok

Ragnarok opens in Fimbulwinter, a great endless frost before the end of days, and as a result there is snow for several days. The Norse realms are shrouded in ice and storm, and the sheer scale of the thing makes it the perfect excuse to stay home for a fortnight.

The combat is massive, the sets are huge, and the central father-son story is a beautiful twist on the old GoW formula. It requires more energy than the cozier games here, but on a hot, low-light evening, its cool majesty is just the escape the heatwave calls for.

4

ABZÛ

Few games are as purely soothing as ABZÛ, a wordless dive between shoals of fish and sun-dappled ruins that never feels like drudgery. There are no enemies to speak of and no real way to fail; you simply float through increasingly beautiful underwater spaces while a gorgeous score swells around you.

In an hour or two, it's a brief, restorative palate cleanser rather than a time sink, which is part of the charm on a sultry day when concentration is in short supply. Put it on, immerse yourself in the blue and let your pulse slow down.

3

Final Fantasy 14

When it's too hot to face the real world, few escapes are as complete as Final Fantasy 14. Eorzea is a whole second life, and a heat wave is the perfect alibi to lose yourself in for a few days.

Whether you're working your way through the latest patch or just standing around the hub looking fabulous, there's always something to do without ever seeing the light of day. The cooler zones help the fantasy along, but the real appeal is that this is a world you can disappear into until the weather turns bad.

2

Spiritual

Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about transporting spirits to the afterlife, set in a soft, watery world of ships and gentle island hopping. There's a comforting grind every day and subtle gameplay mechanics, but every time you finally say goodbye to one of them, it packs a real emotional punch.

The aquatic setting gives it a cool, drifting quality that suits a steamy afternoon, and the unhurried beat means it never demands more than you can give while your brain is half-melted. Beautiful, sad and justifiably immersive, it's the kind of game that makes time fly by.

1

Skyrim

A perennial go-to and on a hot day, its frozen north deserves its place justly. Skyrim's snowy peaks, frosty trolls, and biting nordic winds are practically air conditioning, and the bottomless vastness of this thing is a huge reason to never leave the cool of your front room.

Whether you're starting over for the umpteenth time or loading a modded save that barely resembles the base game anymore, there's an almost endless amount of things to do. It's a comfortable blanket that still gets the job done after all these years. Fus Ro Dah, friends. Fus Ro Dah.