Project Zomboid, or one of the Arkham games.

I’ll load up Spider-man a couple times a month just to go on patrol, and stop random crimes.

Been doing this since Spider-man 2 came out on the original Xbox. Glad the new one came out, and I don’t have to chase that kid’s damn balloon anymore.

Modded Minecraft for sure. But there are a handful of games I keep going back to and common theme for those games that I can listen to a podcast or audiobook while I'm playing them, like Rimworld, No Man's Sky, Stardew Valley, Skyrim.

When in doubt, true doubt, Doom is always there for me, in every device I own.

When I'm too tired or depressed to dive deep into something it's always something really simple like Ring of Pain, Vampire Survivors, or other slow paced stuff.

Helldivers 2 is great for short to medium sessions.

Stellaris with the Star Trek: New Horizons mod. Currently doing a Borg run, at war with the Dominion right now, but of course, resistance is futile.

Guild Wars 2 and Dear Esther

Risk of Rain 2. And if that doesn't work, Risk of Rain 2.

Marvel Snap

For me its titanfall 2. Simply because its quite casual and the rounds don't take too long. Just hop on and if you get absolutely obliderated the next round will be better.

Creeper World 4, the daily map usually has a good duration. Takes your thoughts off everything else pretty well, yet is not too demanding. And you can vary your play style yourself a bit / set your own limitations, depending on how much of a challenge you want right now or how much time you want to spend.

we could always use more valiant Helldivers to protect our way of life. for freedom and democracy.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker. If I’m wanting to play a game but don’t have anything specific it usually means I just want a mental break from life. Shipbreaker is perfect for that. It’s fun and engaging but you play at your own pace and no one is shooting at you. Plus you’re floating around in space with 6 degrees of movement (not considering 360 degrees of rotation) tearing apart spaceships!

I've been chipping away at that deep rock galactic reverse bullet hell game for a while now. Don't have the patience to play anything for more than half an hour these days.

Destiny 2. I have no idea what's going on but I sure do love shooting those aliens.

what's your "I will keep playing this game for the rest of my life" fallback?

Lately it's OpenRCT, Counterstrike 2, or Cities Skylines. On the phone it's minecraft.