Sweet Dreams Fuel / Video Games

Just another day of watching Cute Kittens stop by the yard.^note And yes, that's a hiking bobcat at the top of the scratching-post city. His name is Bob the Cat.

• The downloadable game Always Remember Me, a dating/life sim game where you play as Amy, a girl whose boyfriend, Aaron, has forgotten her after a car accident. Not only does the game allow you to get the happy ever after with Aaron, but also it encourages you to play through again to try to get a different happy ever after with one of three other guys who, in their own way, have feelings for Amy. Plus every happy ever after is the topped with a perfect ending scenario, making it like dipping a strawberry in ice-cream. And that's not even getting to the theme music for the game. It will rekindle your belief in true love
• Animal Crossing. An idyllic little town where you can talk to cute anthropomorphic animals, fill your house with fountains and spaceships (or whatever else you want), or just kick back and go fishing. This game is the perfect antidote to a bad day.
  • The music is uplifting too. Almost every track from the original Gamecube game is amazing, and cheery. Namely the title theme.
  • It's better on Portable. Nothing against the console versions, but it can be nice to pull out a 3/DS when you're having a bad day and escape into your own private utopia.
  • The Happy Home Paradise DLC for New Horizons lets you build a wide variety of vacation homes for different clients, all of whom are very much appreciative if you meet the requirements. Combine that with the slowly-developing camaraderie between the members of Paradise Planning, and it's hard not to feel happy while playing it.
• In Astroneer, you land on a strange planet, tasked with mining its resources, building a personal base and exploring the rest of the solar system. While the task may seem daunting, and the emptiness of the world foreboding, it's not long before genuine joy for exploration and innovation sets in. On top of being the space nerd's dream game, even the atmosphere of the game is breathtaking - gorgeous Scenery Porn with bright, starry skies, a space-y ambient soundtrack, lots of singing snail friends who can accompany you on your journey, and hidden stories that unlock the history of Astroneer's world, guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings.
• The Atelier Series, with the exception of the Atelier Iris and Mana Khemia games, are about as sunny as an RPG series can get. There are no real villains outside of the monsters you fight, no serious threats to the world, country, or town, no wars, and a cast of fundamentally good characters. Atelier Iris and Mana Khemia games have villains and higher stakes, but are still more light-hearted than most Role Playing Games.
• A somewhat odd example from Baldur's Gate... Imoen discusses her Superpowered Evil Side and mentions that yes, she gets... urges sometimes in the middle of the night. Luckily it's just that the slayer wants a sandwich.
• Banjo-Kazooie: Ignoring the more cynical In Name Only sequel Nuts & Bolts, it's a very fun series about a laid-back bear with a sarcastic bird in his backpack going on adventures. It somehow manages to be this and a World of Snark at the same time, perhaps because almost everything is too adorable or tongue-in-cheek to be taken seriously. Don't even get us started on Grant Kirkhope's gorgeous soundtrack. There's also the duo's reveal trailer for their debut as new characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which, in addition to being the first time they've been seen in years, is just so happy and upbeat, with a fantastic rearrangement of the Spiral Mountain theme by Kirkhope himself, Donkey Kong, Diddy, and K Rool cheering upon seeing them, and everyone posing for a group shot at the end.
• Bayonetta: An absolutely beautiful game where you're literally tearing apart apocalyptic horrors calling themselves angels with as much flair as possible, while snarking it up with epic-tier one-liners. There's no way to stay upset or sad from listening to the upbeat soundtrack, either. Eldritch Abomination out to wipe out all life on the planet? Kill the ancient evil Deader than Dead by punching its soul into the Sun.
• BioShock
  • The 'Good' ending of BioShock. Sure, the game has some of the scariest, most profoundly messed up things ever, but that ending... It was such a Heartwarming Moment that you may shed Manly Tears.
  • The sequel's good ending also qualifies. Eleanor is free. Delta's nightmarish existence finally ends, and he will continue to live within his beloved Little Sister / daughter. And Eleanor is going to teach the Little Sisters he saved to be good persons, just like his daddy taught her to be. Even Lamb, who for the whole game has been trying to kill you, is given a second chance at life, and will instead be a better person than she ever was. Awwww...
  • BioShock Infinite doesn't share the happy ending of the first two games, but has its own heartwarming. The relationship between Elizabeth and Booker grows from cynical self-serving on Booker's part, to genuine fondness, and finally familial love. This is sweet in its own right. Columbia itself is gorgeous, because unlike the fallen Rapture in the first game, the city has not yet become the dystopia it will eventually be. Your arrival in Columbia is accompanied by an awe-inspiringly beautiful view of the city nestled in the clouds, with a heartrendingly simple rendition of 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?' First you explore a light filled church, which is, despite its oddities, peaceful and solemn. You spend some time exploring the sunny streets of Columbia, which are filled with happy residents surrounded by beautiful greenery and architecture. At one point you pass a floating barge with a barbershop quartet singing a rendition of 'God Ony Knows', with a couple lovingly slow dancing to it on the grass beside you. All in all, the first half an hour or so of the game is filled with sweet moments - up until the raffle.
    • The DLC has its own sweet dreams fuel, in the form of Paris. Although it only exists in Elizabeth's imagination, it is incredibly beautiful, bathed in pink light with Edith Pliath's 'La Vie en Rose' playing in the background as you explore. You walk along the Seine and watch artists paint the Eiffel Tower, listen to pretty music, and pass dancing children who greet you happily. At one point a bluebird even lands on your finger and sings!
    • The ending of the DLC also deserves mention - despite being heartbreaking and a serious tearjerker, it ends on a happy note. The Little Sisters (Sally in particular) ascend to the surface, having being rescued by Jack, the protagonist of the first game. Elizabeth dies content, having paid her debts in full.
• BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm is a truly delightful hidden gem of an RPG. Sure, it has a few scary parts, but mostly it’s a sunny romp through the quirkiest depiction of the Internet you’ve ever seen. The cast is so loveable, and the game carries a positive message about accepting your flaws and learning to trust yourself in spite of them.
• Bully. As much of a Crapsack World it is with an almost frightening portrayal of Adults Are Useless, you can rest easily knowing that if this actually did happen in real life, someone would have called the police and Bullworth would have been closed within a year.
  • Better still, despite what Moral Guardians say, the storyline of the game encourages standing up for those too weak to stand up for themselves, and treats hitting girls, authorities and young children as the worst crimes you can commit. How many games based around bullying do that?
• Carrie's Order Up! is a sweet, brightly colored homage of the 16-bit era, with relaxing music and loads of adorable anthropomorphic sea life to wait on in a brightly lit restaurant, with no danger to deal with except the occasional bumped customer or unfortunate Banana Peel slide.
• Even the Nightmare Fuel -prone Castlevania has a few of this as well. The most notable should be the Lighter and Softer Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, where Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, the close childhood friends, make the adventure as an opposite-sex duet, as opposed to the other protagonists going solo in the other Metroidvania games. From the way they interact with and tease each other, it gives a hint they have a sincere crush on each other; Charlotte's wedding dress and engagement ring, especially when paired with Jonathan's tuxedo, further fuels this.
  • Just add any of the music of Salamander such as this, which happens to be from the same company as Castlevania, and you get a romantic duet adventure in space - Charlotte is a Vic Viper, and Jonathan is a Lord British/ Super Cobra, respectively.
    • How about adding Stella and Loretta as Jade Knight and Falchion Beta from Gradius Gaiden?? XD
  • Apart from the two protagonists, there's Jonathan regaining his respect for his father, and the general theme of familial love as expressed by Brauner, his daughters, and Eric Lecarde. The game even manages to make the relationship between Dracula and Death heartwarming!
  • Considering that the plot of the previous two installments of the series revolved around a Rival Turned Evil and the next one had a Big Bad Friend, it was surprisingly refreshing to see the protagonist find genuine True Companions in Aria of Sorrow. Especially when you consider that their You Are Not Alone speech essentially convinces the Big Bad of the series to change his ways, and gives him back what he had lost centuries ago. And the story's being told from his viewpoint.
  • Even though it has some of the most potent Nightmare Fuel in the series, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is almost pure 2-D sidescrolling bliss, with some incredibly enjoyable and atmospheric levels, some highly amusing and enjoyable weapons and familiars to use, and one of the beautiful soundtracks ever put to a video game. If the song Lost Painting doesn't put you in a dream like state, nothing will.
• cat planet is a game about collecting ridiculously cute critters! there is no explanation at all, and Death Is a Slap on the Wrist! it's just good, plain fun!
• Chibi-Robo! has, as its main objective, solving the Sanderson family's problems and making everyone happy. It is also cute.
• Try any of the Naughty Dog Crash Bandicoot games. A cute, cuddly marsupial who can take on some of the nastiest villains in existence and still win is guaranteed to warm anyone's heart. Special mention goes to Crash Team Racing, which is the definition of fun, especially with three of your friends.
  • Crash Bandicoot is such a fun, colorful franchise that's filled with hilarious moments. Particularly, Crash Twinsanity is this in spite of its obvious flaws.
  • In the same vein as Crash, Spyro the Dragon is a fun series that's perfect to play when you have nothing better to do. Although, that mainly depends on what game you're playing.
• Dark Chronicle. You go around the continent and restore things to its former beauty, helping and recruiting a colorful cast of NPCs to aid the heroes in their journey. The bright, cel-shaded visuals really add to the sunshiny look to almost everything. In between rebuilding the world and bopping monsters, if there's water nearby you can pull out your fishing pole and have at it, or play a funky cool version of golf (Spheda). And whenever you go fishing or play Spheda, a nice, soothing acoustic song plays.
• de Blob. The game's main theme is about expression and creativity, it's a coloring book in video game form, and the world and soundtrack evolve as you keep playing— and what an absolutely groovy soundtrack it is. And there's also the cute and lovable cast of characters— Blob himself, the Raydians, and even the Inkies are goofy in their own way.
• The entirety of Dead or Alive Xtreme/Paradise. A summer sports game and vacation sim with beautiful scenery, all about having fun on a beautiful tropical island vacation, which completely frees the series from the often quite dark storylines of the main series. They're even playing with the villain of the series as if they're all good friends! Awwww!
  • And for the male players, it's fuel for a whole different kind of "sweet dreams".
• The later installments of Devil May Cry, starting from 3 onwards, mostly due the series deciding to stop taking itself so seriously, and instead let Dante be...Dante. His flippant attitude, dorky moments, and complete badassery turns what would otherwise be a horrifying game into crazy, funny, and downright awesome adventure where you get to go to town on many demons, monsters, and other forces of Hell. By the time Devil May Cry 5 rolls around, the series finds itself firmly on the idealistic side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism, topped off by Dante and Vergil finally reconciling after years of fighting one another.
• Dikembe Mutombo's 4½ Weeks to Save the World: Everyone singing about not being dead, and living will ALWAYS bring a smile to your face.
• Disney Magical World: It's like Animal Crossing, if all the animal folk were replaced with Miis and Disney characters. If you don't feel like questing or running your own cafe, then you could always do a spot of fishing or even taking a walk around town, greeting people and Disney characters as you go. Everyone is always happy to see you, and when you wave at them, you can feel the warm, gooey feelings coming off them.
• Doki Doki Literature Club!: If you bond with Natsuki in Act 1, you'll definitely see a much sweeter side of her, which definitely counts for this. Two CGs in particular, the first scene if you impress Natsuki (her reading manga with the main character - and it's still cute in Act 2 despite having very bizarre glitching and text) and her stay at your house over the weekend to help you bake cupcakes for the festival.
• Dream Daddy: Best described by Extra Credits when it was an item in their series "Games You Might Not Have Tried": "It's well written, the music is happy and it's just a wholesome good time. Look, life's hard and sometimes you just need a game that makes you smile.". The game is inclusive, fun, sweet, with lovable characters, with special mention to Amanda, who is impossible not to care about as you play her dad. It's just an extra layer of sweet that the creators have took that extra mile of hiring LGBT developers to make sure that the game was respectful to all players.
• Endless Ocean. Launch the game. Listen to the smooth music. Dive. Pet cute fishes. Relax.
• The Epic Battle Fantasy series and its Bullet Heaven spinoffs seem to be made with this in mind. While rather hard, the series does not take itself seriously at all, is absolutely overloaded with Shout Outs, and the art style makes everything look either adorable, badass, or both. Cutesy oozes and bushes are in no short supply, and neither are awesome-looking robots and golems.
• The mobile game Fantasy Forest. Filled to the brim with ludicrously precious creatures, including what basically amounts to a chibi-fied dragon, all drawn in rather excellent art with some cool designs on top, it's hard not to get caught up in what's probably one the fluffiest games in the app store. And it's free to download!
• Final Fantasy VIII. Yeah, it has its shortcomings... but you can't help wanting to live in that world because of the beautiful, sunshiny look to everything.
  • The main point of the entire plot of the game is Squall coming to realize that friendship and love make life worth living and that the world is worth saving, dammit!
  • Even better is that VIII is one of the few FF games to end on an unambiguously high note. Heck, Squall and Rinoa get to live Happily Ever After, and Squall smiles!
• For that matter, Final Fantasy IX, a charming throwback to past Final Fantasies, where you play as chibi-characters consisting of a cheerful, Chivalrous Pervert Lovable Rogue with a monkey tail, a six year old Genki Girl with a small, adorable horn, and a klutzy Child Mage who is a walking embodiment of The Woobie, who each gain an integral and heartwarming lesson throughout the story. The save points consist of a wide variety of adorable Moogles (tiny winged bears with pomp pomps on their heads) that write your progress in a story book brought out of Hammerspace for goodness sake!
• The Golden Ending to Final Fantasy X-2.
• Florina and Serra's A support in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Florina's declaration of admiration and friendship is so sweet it renders Serra speechless beyond simply "Aww... Florina!"
• Five Nights at Freddy's World has the entire cast of animatronics looking outright adorable, in stark contrast to the rest of the series. Even the nightmare animatronics and Springtrap look huggable, considering what they really are.
• The ending of Ghost Trick: After a night of undoing death after death Sissel finally manages to fix the world so Everybody Lives. Even Kamila's mother and Yomiel's fiancee. The ending sequence is an entire montage of everyone going about their newly renewed lives, peaceful and happy—including lonely kitten Sissel himself, who is adopted by Jowd and his family. Think about this again: You broke one of the most persistent curses that inevitably plague any anime-style storyline: The dead mother. It feels like you flat out ignored the laws of the universe when you realize you actually brought Kamila's mother back from the dead!
• Genshin Impact, while having its fair share of Nightmare Fuel at times (not to mention its dark overall Story Arc), more than makes up for it with its cast of lovable characters (especially the female characters), sweet moments, fun one-off events, and its lush and vivid visuals that are on par with many Zelda games. There is a reason it's commonly referred to as "Breath of the Waifu" in many gaming circles. (Its sister game, on the other hand...)
  • And Paimon. Who can forget Paimon? Especially in the Japanese dub, where she's voiced by none other than Kaguya Shirogane herself.
• Giana Sisters DS stars a cute protagonist, has bright and colorful pixel art graphics, and some of the best Retraux chiptune music ever. Punk Giana even has elements of this, being an adorable Perky Goth. The game is simply a fun time from start to finish. The game is All Just a Dream, making this one of the more literal examples on this page.
• Go Vacation: Bamco wants to send you on a vacation to an absolutely beautiful island full of white sands and glittering waters, a thriving city dedicated to fun, a mountain that's snow-capped year-round, and a beautiful lake with a castle at its heart. You can ride around the lovely scenery, do mad skateboard tricks in a gateless skatepark, hang out with a pack of dogs, go dancing, skydiving, snorkeling around coral reefs and taking pictures of sea life, build and decorate your dream vacation home... basically, this game wants you to have the happiest, most relaxing time possible while you play it.
• The music in Gradius gives this, in spite of the game's tendency to give Nightmare Fuel just like Castlevania. Hearing it over the course, how would one not think of an amazing, heroic space adventure even if one is fighting a war against the Eldritch Abomination??
• Growing Up has some darker moments, but in general invokes childhood nostalgia with its beautiful soundtrack, wonderful art, and relatable stories about growing up in the 90s.
• Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak, the adorable characters and the entire premise of helping bring the couples together, not to mention the "Duets" song
• The entirety of the Harvest Moon series is this, really; a pleasant little utopia where nothing bad ever happens and you can spend your days watering virtual crops and petting virtual animals. It's so soothing.
  • Nothing bad ever happens? What about Nina's death? Or worse, your own at the end?
    • Super-bad stuff may or may not happen depending on the game. Most of the bad things are minor in the scope of the games, and can be fixed. Crops drowned out by rain? You can replant. Animals mad at you or sick? You can make it up to them/heal them with medicine.
• Headpats, Please!, a game about patting cute girls on the head.
• Journey (2012) has amazingly sumptuous visuals; a few parts are dark and scary, but most are either quiet and contemplative or full of pure joy.
• The entirety of Katamari Damacy. Na naaaaaaaa, na na na na naaaaaaah na naaaaa na na na na na naaaaaa...
  • Ah dun dun dikadika dun dika dun dun... The soundtrack is definitely what makes this one break the Happy Meter. DISCO* PRINCE is awesome driving music, Katamari Star is both happy AND melancholy, Walking On A Star and Fugue #7777 make me smile and giggle EVERY DAMN TIME I HEAR EITHER, and I have Beautiful Star for an alarm.
  • Katamari Damacy is essentially a direct antidote to the horrors of the Silent Hill series. It's the polar opposite!
• The first Kingdom Hearts is this... when it's not too busy being Nightmare Fuel.
  • Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Days also dip into it when they delve into the True Companions the heroes have.
  • The antics of your Dream Eater allies in Kingdom Hearts 3D can be quite adorable, even in the case of the ones who don't look particularly adorable.
  • "Traverse In Trance" is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, and fitting a "sleeping" version of the already relaxing Traverse Town theme.
• King's Quest games have a fair amount of Nightmare Fuel, Everything Trying to Kill You, and Guide Dang It!... but if you reach the Golden Ending? They are a banquet of sweet dreams.
• Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
  • And Kirby's Dream Land 3. The 'crayon art' is solidified glee.
  • Let's push it up to Kirby in general, at least when you're not facing bleeding eyeballs.
    • Even then, you can take comfort in the idea that the abominations can, in fact, be defeated.
  • Kirby's Epic Yarn is made on this stuff (and also yarn), so much so that it mellows out the other kind of dream fuel that usually lurks around the Kirby series. It helps that the Big Bad's One-Winged Angel form is a Tankbot-esque robot instead of the usual Eldritch Abomination. And it doesn't impede on the awesome moments of the game, either.
  • Kirby is so good at this that the usually manic Keet Medibot was incredibly mellow in his LP of Crystal Shards.
  • Y'know, it's been joked about how deep and scary Kirby lore can be, especially in more recent games, but as this amazingly well-crafted video explains… it's all meant to show that even the deepest and scariest things you can imagine can ultimately be overcome with the same love, joy and friendship that defines Kirby himself.
• Klonoa. For all the Tear Jerkers and Nightmare Fuel it contains, the series still manages to be very sweet. Klonoa himself is a cute, polite character with whom players everywhere can sympathize. The music and visuals are gorgeous and mind-blowing, and no matter how dark things may seem, the games promise us one thing: In the end, good will always conquer evil.
• Knytt: One of the best freeware games ever created, it's basically what happens when you take the atmosphere of ICO and turn it into a side-scroller. The graphics are deceptively simplistic but soothing, the music is ambient and lively, and the gameplay is so peaceful and dreamlike — there are almost no enemies in the game, no boss fights, and the only non-enemy way to die is to touch liquids. The crisp pacing and Metroidvania based gameplay, as well as its short length (it can be beaten in an hour) make it a soothing gaming experience.
• The Legendary Starfy <3! He's so cute and loveable and Kirby-like and has an even cuter sister to boot. The game is adorable.
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky: Almost every character, even a few villains, are just such nice people. The protagonists are two energetic youngsters determined to become Bracers (which pretty much means heroes) and help people, there's a lot of focus on the value of friendship while still including some mature themes, mostly about responsibility. The kingdom of Liberl is breathtakingly beautiful even within the engine limitations, and it seems to be a very happy society, managing to mix old-fashioned aspects with modern sensibilities and respect of nature with a good lifestyle standard, so much that it could almost be defined Utopian. And while the ending of the game signals that the story has taken a harsh turn towards the dark, up until then everything is very, very optimistic.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Midna is considered by many to be pretty adorable.
  • Even Midna's One-Winged Angel powerup isn't really that scary. Like, yeah there's a house-sized black chitinous spider-thing with a trident stomping around... but it's on your side.
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, all the way through. Little Link is so brave and cute!
    • 90% of the cast of Wind Waker and the overall design and mood of the game also apply.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Especially flying around on your giant bird, and anything Link does, and any scene where Link and Zelda interact, squee! <3
  • Zelda's Lullaby from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time really would make a good lullaby. The way Link sways back and forth while playing it on his ocarina is also charming, as is the blue magic that surrounds him while he does so.
    • Prelude to Light is a pretty good candidate as well.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Link and Zelda scenes. That is all.
  • Can we put The Legend of Zelda in general here? When it's not being dark, scary, or sad, there's enough charm, wonder, and beauty found in Hyrule to make it an enchanting place that many gamers would love to visit.
• LittleBigPlanet is a sweet dreamscape put into the form of a video game. Even the soundtrack alone is uplifting. And when your pretty little dream is over? You can always have some more just the way you want them, or someone else's.
• LocoRoco. Just... Loco Roco. Look at the cute rolling smiley face blobs roll to the music is the brightest, happiest place ever!
• The entire ending of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. The once again friendly ghosts playing with the protagonists really sells it. Even Luigi, who's normally deeply afraid of ghosts, is actually enjoying himself. He even adopts the Polterpup!
• Mario Kart: Any of the Rainbow Road tracks could qualify, especially in regards to their aesthetics and definitely their music. The one from Mario Kart 7 excels in this regard, being a journey where you go around planets, on the moon, and drive on Saturn's rings, all accompanied to a beautiful rendition of Mario Kart 64's Rainbow Road theme.
• Roll's theme song "Kaze yo Tsutaete", originally from Mega Man: Battle & Chase and then repurposed for both Marvel vs. Capcom and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. It makes you feel warm and happy inside just listening to the cute singing voice of Yoshino Aoki, especially when she sings the Japanese version of said song in TvC!
• Minecraft: If you play in Creative Mode on the Peaceful setting, it's just you and a whole wide world to explore. Want to built a giant castle that reaches to the sky? The Normandy from Mass Effect? Kami's Lookout? You've got an infinite supply of tools you can use to build all three of them and an infinity more. No worries about enemies, no worries about supplies running out. Just you and your imagination.
  • Also, Cats. Their meowing is extremely adorable.
  • C418's soundtracks of the game saw some emotionally beautiful songs like "Sweden" and "Mice on Venus".
• Servbots! Whether from The Misadventures of Tron Bonne or Marvel vs. Capcom 2, you just can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy when these guys are around. Even when they're beating up manly men.
• Monster Girl Quest: The game is definitely a Porn with Plot that manages to pull off a surprising number of Heartwarming Moments: the protagonist is a idealistic young man with strong morals and driven by the ideal of acheiving equality between humans and monsters. His partner is a haughty at first lamia that starts liking him pretty soon, despite considering him childish, secretly shares his own ideals and slowly grows to respect and admire him precisely for his dedication and noble ideals. The talks they have about their philosophical differencies and their own personal problems manage to be really, really moving.
• Monster Hunter:
  • In a game series rife with massive monsters with the capability to destroy towns and ecosystems, the Felynes stand out as being adorable biped kittens who sprinkle cat-like Verbal Tics into their speech and offering many services such as cooking meals for you, managing your house, and going hunting with you to provide support abilities. In games where you can recruit them as battle comrades, each map will have a small area that serves as a safe and enemy-free Felyne hideout, with a handful of Felynes and the otherwise-hostile Melynxes just going about their usual businesses, while one of them sits or prances around offering to become one of your helpers. Monster Hunter 4 features Sunsnug Isle, a small Felyne village where you can watch your reserve Palicoes lounge around and partake in a couple of Felyne-powered minigames, one of which consists of sending out a squad of Palicoes to battle monsters, with the battles being rendered as cute, cartoonish dioramas. Despite being non-monsters by the common sense of the word, the Felynes serve as the Series Mascots, with the cute, friendly critters being seen by the fanbase as an integral part of the series.
  • The Poogies, little piggies who often serve as the player's pets. You can pet them, carry them around, and have your Palicoes ride on them around town. They get very affectionate with you whenever you rescue them from sticky situations in the Expeditions of Monster Hunter 4, or when you pet them properly.
  • Monster Hunter: World features the Coral Highlands, said to be the most beautiful biome ever in a Monster Hunter game. It is a vast mountain region filled with colourful coral, and populated with all manner of alien-looking creatures including the giant flying Grandfather Mantagrell, the pretty Coralbird and the bioluminescent Flying Meduso. And that's not even getting into the megafauna that you hunt: the striking Tzitzi-Ta-Ku, the fluffy Ugly Cute Paolumu, and the elegant king of the winds, Legiana.
• Monster Tale is about a girl and her monster and an adventure to save The Monster's world, full of ridiculous cute critters, and even the creepy parts aren't that creepy.
• The Mother series, when it's not being bizarre, heartwrenching, or terrifying. Especially the soundtrack, which has songs like this.
  • This song alone can combat the Nightmare Fuel of the game.
    • It's so sweet, it's even the Sugar Wiki anthem.
  • Take a melody, simple as can be, give it some words, and sweet harmony. Raise your voices, all day long our love grows strong, now sing a melody of love, oh love.
  • The adorable little Mr. Saturns, from the way they talk to their various activities, such as "playing ladder" by stacking up on top of each other.
• My Singing Monsters is pretty much Exactly What It Says on the Tin: a game about collecting various monsters who sing (or play instruments). There’s something that’s just so sweet about seeing the songs come together and go from solos to a symphony!
  • The Prequel Dawn of Fire features the monsters as babies in a Sugar Bowl world with a colorful and charming style that’s somehow even cuter than that of the original. While some retain their Ugly Cute status from the original, most become Ridiculously Cute Critters, and raising them to adulthood is a joy.
  • As you would expect from the premise, the games are also full of incredibly satisfying sound effects, particularly in Dawn of Fire with all the machines you use to make the items.
• MySims, the often ignored Animesque Spin-Off of The Sims, is probably a prime example. It's all about building your world and your relationships with other characters, feeling important, and-most importantly-having fun. Plus everything and everyone is just so cute! <3
• The Namco Museum series for the original PlayStation is full of it. There's a huge museum to explore, and every corner is filled with sheer love to the arcade games within. Although other characters sometimes appear, you're mostly by yourself to browse the rooms and play the games, leading to a lonely yet dream-like atmosphere. It feels like a reminder that some things will always be timeless.
  • The game room for The Legend of Valkyrie in Namco Museum: Vol. 5 is a peaceful forest clearing underneath a bright blue sky. Valkyrie can be seen having a nap, and Sandra is talking to his family about how Valkyrie came down from the heavens, after which they all give you a friendly look. To top it all off, this is the background music.
• Neko Atsume has Cute Kittens that you can bring to your yard with food and toys. The cat sprites are minimal in animation, but their tendency to do activities like sleep, stick their butts out, and actively play with your toys makes them absolutely adorable. Even Tubbs, the big fat kitty who grabs all the food in the bowl for themselves, is too adorable to hate. And yes, official merchandise exists.
• The Neptunia series is pretty much built on this. Imagine a gaming world (industry) where there is no real war between the countries (console makers) and all the leaders (companies) just work to make people (gamers) happy. Plus they're all lead by fun loving and cute girls; one of which loves to make friends and give them adorable nicknames.
• NiGHTS into Dreams…. Something about having a creature who is technically a nightmare protecting you in your dreams is incredibly comforting. Plus, "Dream Dream" is such a wonderful song.
• No Man's Sky, a game that shows how beautiful the cosmos can be when you're at the helm of your own journey. It's just you, your trusty starship, and an infinite myriad of stunning planets to explore from the comfort of your own home.
• No Straight Roads is a colorful, generally upbeat adventure taking place in a city literally powered by music. The characters in this game are likeable and have a lot of funny dialogue, and the catchy soundtrack (which incorporates quite a few music styles) is fittingly well-made. While there are a few emotionally-heavy moments here and there, most if not all of them are eventually cancelled out, with special mention going to the ending where both sides realize the error of their respective ways and agree on a compromise that works for everyone. This whole game feels like it could be a cartoon.
• Ōkami has its moments. Scratch that, it's 90% Sweet Dreams moments. Sidequests include feeding kitties and making sakura bloom. The characters are all so loveable, from silly Mr. Orange to Queen Himiko. The brush gods are awesome, and Amaterasu is humorous as well as good-hearted. Even some of the battles are sweet—fighting Waka with his amazing flute-sword and fighting Hayabusa as he tries to trap you in a hole in the ground and do doggy business. Heck, in the Moon Cave and Oni Island dungeons, which are supposed to be NIGHTMARE fuel, just don't seem that scary once you meet imp chef Ajimi and Demon Paper Tobi.
  • Admittedly it has a lot of Nightmare Fuel too.
  • Come on, we've got to mention the ending. After being stripped of all your powers by Yami, the final boss, nearly all of the characters whose lives you've been working to improve throughout the game come to your aid, not by fighting, but by expressing their belief in you and your efforts. They finally show that they realize you've been working all along for them! The love these characters express inspire and empower you to regain your own power and defeat the embodiment of evil. Not to mention the Riding into the Sunset And the Adventure Continues closing scene.
• Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and its sequel, as well as the Westernized counterpart Elite Beat Agents. Some songs are funny. Some songs are heartwrenching. But every time the world is saved by everyone getting together and dancing, you'll smile for the rest of the day.
• Even though it's only for Facebook and MySpace, the game Pet Society by Playfish. It's where you make a pet, and try to raise coins to buy nice-looking clothes and furniture. Absolutely nothing there is inappropriate, violent or creepy-looking at all. One of those games for all ages that all could enjoy.
• Persona 4: Regardless of how you feel about the game's story, it cannot be denied that it qualifies for this trope thanks to its strong themes of helping each other in accepting one's strengths and weaknessess in equal measures, the heartfelt interactions between the main characters and the Non-Playable Characters, and the true ending which makes the adventure ultimately worth it!
• Pikmin 2: The cynical ideas aside, in Captain Olimar's notes about a certain treasure you pick up, he describes how he choreographed a musical in which his Pikmin danced and sang on top of the "podium" that this treasure was perceived to be.
  • Imagine being able to hug Pikmin—if you want to get cavities...
    • Bring on the cavities, then!
  • The final ending cinematic. All of it.
• The Birdman mode in Pilotwings 64. Fly at your leisure, exploring the game's four islands that are each packed with sights to see, while listening to one of the most relaxing songs in video game history.
• Pokémon:
  • Hey You, Pikachu! is pretty much cute in cartridge form. Not only is the only point of the game to have fun romping around with a young Pikachu, said Pikachu is pretty much the most adorably scatterbrained member of the species ever. Also, when you become very close, he will present you with Valuable Treasures like magnets and Pidgey feathers while singing a pirate song in Pika-ese. Eeeeeeee! The same can be said about its successor Pokémon Channel.
    • This game is made of the cotton candy from your childhood.
  • It has kind of a Bittersweet Ending where you have to let Pikachu back into the wild, but Pikachu comes right back and the game continues forevermore. After, again, the cutest credits sequence ever. Pikachu sings you a song.
  • My Pokémon Ranch. Chibified Pokémon playing with each other. A good deal of them are those you transferred yourself. The concept is way too adorable.
  • Don't forget Pokémon Snap. Pretty much just a leisurely tour of an island, taking pictures of Pokémon in their natural habitat. One lap around the ultra-serene starlit skies of Rainbow Cloud, with the ultra-cute Mew as your lone photography subject, and you'll be having sweet dreams in no time.
    • Let's not forget the Rainbow Cloud's relaxing music!
    • Unless you're dreaming about how tough it is to get that picture... But then, that only makes GETTING it all the sweeter.
  • In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the first member of your party walks with your Trainer. If they are sufficiently fond of you, when you interact with them, sometimes they'll dance happily, cuddle or hug you, find small trinkets like shiny pebbles or flowers and give them to you, or just is happy walking beside you. It's incredibly cute. And you can get ANY Pokemon to become like this, Arceus can love you just as much as Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and so on.
  • In Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, there is a character named Dr. Footprint, who analyzes how your Pokémon walk (or fly or scoot or whatever) and tells you how they feel about you. Show him a Pokémon that has a high/maximum friendship rating, and he'll spout adoration on their behalf. Even sweeter if you show him a Pokémon of a typically scary/evil species with a good friendship rating; he lampshades the species's ill repute and thanks you for loving it anyway.
  • Let's not forget the Pokemon Dream World in Black and White (2)! Just your Pokemon in a cute style doing cute things with other Pokemon with relaxing music.
  • PokéPark Wii is about as innocent and friendly as the series has ever gotten without being boring. Even the characters can be fun, including the sequel's benevolent Mad Scientist Reuniclus and its antagonist: Darkrai as a Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant with a jealous streak who genuinely wants to entertain everyone. And you can go out of your way to bring him back after his defeat and befriend him properly. When's the last time you've seen a Make My Monster Grow sequence in a Lighthearted Rematch?
  • The bridges in the Unova games, especially the Village Bridge and Marine Tube.
  • The Pokémon-Amie feature in Pokémon X and Y is made of this. Petting, feeding, and playing with your Pokémon and seeing their joyful reactions to it is a soothing experience. Even some of the Pokémon who are more readily associated with Nightmare Fuel like Hydreigon behave in such an adorable fashion that it's hard not to get warm fuzzies from them.
    • The similar Pokémon Refresh feature in Pokémon Sun and Moon streamlines the experience and makes it possible for you to treat your Pokemon's status conditions without using items! Not to mention adorable new Pokémon like Rowlet, Pikipek, and even Lunala. Sun and Moon are full of this, honestly (well, mostly). Everyone is so friendly, and Alola is a beautiful tropical island where people live in harmony with nature.
  • Mimikyu. It looks like nightmare fuel at first, but once you know its story, that it only wants to make friends with everybody, and made its own Pikachu costume to make people like it, you just want to give it a hug. Mimikyu's Song in particular is sweet dreams fuel incarnate.
• Many of pop'n music's characters.
  • Especially notable with Minit. Everything about her is cute, including the song she's in. Even her miss animation (in which she cries) and her "stage failed" animation (in which she cries and needs her brother Timer to comfort her) are cute.
• The turret opera at the end of Portal 2. The translated lyrics are so sweet.
  • No mention of the Portal ending song? Sure, GlaDOS is making grim jokes at parts, but the entire song, being clever yet still good sounding, was a great way to end the game.
• Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. Happiest ending of the series and some really adorable moments, including a mini-game where you take care of a rabbit and teach it tricks for performing circus acts.
• Purr Pals, an underrated DS and Wii game where you take care of an adorable kitten and play games with it. Also, it has the cutest rendition of "Toreador" ever made.
• Puyo Puyo, particularly the Sega run of the series. Such a colorful world full of fun, quirky characters, each with their own endearing moments, and an incredibly magical soundtrack. It just feels... welcoming. There's barely any proper violence going on, and even the scariest of scenarios can be stopped with just some squishy Puyos. It's hard not to feel relaxed by it, even with the intense gameplay.
• As silly, weird, and surprisingly difficult as it is, Rhythm Heaven is sure to make you happy with its adorable characters and catchy songs. Good luck watching or listening to Flock Step, Flipper Flop, Monkey Watch, Tambourine, Air Rally, or Kitties without smiling.
• The soundtrack to Ristar; yeah, you were on your way to take down the evil empire, but some of the music really made you feel everything would be OK by the end of the adventure. (Ristar's little "waiting" animations and the pictures during the end credits helped to drive that point home.) It would be great to dream about exploring planets 2, 4 and 5.
• A Short Hike is a very positive and relaxing game, which manages to have fun and engaging traversal mechanics while remaining completely conflict-free. The low-poly graphical style may bring Animal Crossing crossing to mind, yet it manages to display a great sense of beauty and atmosphere to the small Wide-Open Sandbox that makes it a joy to explore. The music is calming and joyful. And the characters are all charming Funny Animals and all interactions with them end in warm and fuzzy feelings.
• While Silent Hill is pretty scary, the much-renowned second game did give us "White Noiz". It's a beautiful ambient song that feels like your spirit being lifted out of your body and floating away numbly. It manages to make a scene in a Disgusting Public Toilet bathroom utterly transcendent.
• Sonic CD: Everything from the polished visuals to the music and the opening anime cut scene are an absolute delight; the Japanese Good Future themes (and the Japanese soundtrack as a whole) are Sweet Dreams Fuel incarnate. The American soundtrack also has some nice ambient music throughout as well.
• Chao Garden, especially the Sonic Adventure 2 version, with the overly cute song playing during your stay.
• Splatoon: Unlike other darker and grittier shooters, Splatoon is a bright-colored romp where you play as utterly adorable squid people called Inklings. You participate in Turf Wars, become a secret agent fighting goofy octopus monsters, dress in the freshest clothing available, all accompanied by a cheery and vibrant atmosphere, set to absolutely fun music. The sequel is also a hoot, and introduces playable Octolings in its ultra-fun DLC campaign Octo Expansion - if you can get past all the Nightmare Fuel, Fridge Horror and the existence of Commander Tartar - and did we mention how cute and badass these Inklings and Octolings are?
  • And don't even get us started on both versions of "Calamari Inkantation..."
• In comparison to Spyro 1's theme establishing and Year of the Dragon's standard game level theming, the homeworlds in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! are much more peaceful and relaxing, allowing for moments of respite before entering new worlds. Summer Forest resembles a zen bathhouse, Autumn Plains is an arboreal paradise amidst floating islands, and Winter Tundra is a calm, snowy mountainside atop a starry night.
• The Freedom Ending of The Stanley Parable; we see Stanley liberating himself from his old life and getting ready to start anew in the wilderness. Add the soothing voice of the narrator and a beautiful song, and you have one of the nicest endings you could get in a video game.
• Sticky Business: You design cute stickers and sell them online with little to no pressure at all. Other than fulfilling requests for specific sticker types, there's no right or wrong way to make them, and you receive nothing but compliments from your customers. Some of them even have their lives positively influenced by your store and send you photos at the end of their storylines. Additionally, the soundtrack is soothing while the crinkling of packing materials makes filling orders and delivering them feel satisfying.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • Princess Peach. When she's not the Damsel in Distress, she kicks ass and takes names while smiling and looking like a picture book princess. Both of her games are chock full of charm and cheery optimism. The former being a bright and colorful romp through the colorful Vibe Island with uplifting music. The latter being a charming theater play adventure as Peach helps the cute little Theets by wearing fancy costumes in wonderful setpieces.
  • Super Mario World. Look at the GBA version's special intro if you have any doubts. This game is made of childhood and curiosity.
  • Super Mario RPG and its Spiritual Successor, Paper Mario. These inventive and charming Role Playing Games will give even the most jaded gamer a warm and fuzzy feeling when playing through them.
  • The Soar Star theme from Super Mario Galaxy. Everyone likes the flying dream, and it's the perfect soundtrack.
  • Super Mario 3D World is an absolutely beautiful and stunning game for the Wii U! From the Sprixies to the Call Backs, this game is full of heartwarming moments and memorable levels! Especially the fact that this marks the first time after many years, the cast of Super Mario Bros. 2 are finally reunited and better than ever! Not to mention, the mind-blowing orchestrated soundtrack, courtesy of Koji Kondo and Mahito Yokota. And plus, cats.^note The only problem is, in order to get all of the five stars on your save file, you have to experience it all five times...
  • Super Mario Odyssey is pure unbridled joy from beginning to end. The graphics are beautiful, Cappy is adorable, and there are so many unique places to explore. The theme song, "Jump Up, Super Star", is very jazzy and fun. In their video about the subject, Girlfriend Reviews said that if Joy was a game, it'd be this one.
• Super Robot Wars. Imagine growing up watching all kinds of Super Robot and Real Robots shows, like Mazinger Z, Daitarn 3, the various Gundams, Getter Robo and all others and see them all join forces to defeat the forces of evil and save the day even from world-ending tragedies like those of Neon Genesis Evangelion or Space Runaway Ideon... No villain ever becomes a Karma Houdini, and - if you play you cards right - the sympathetic characters can all be saved from their untimely death.
  • Not just that, but it turns out more than just music is overriTROMBE! Seriously, how can you stay in a sad mood with that lodged in your ear?
  • If you add this unrelated music from Virtual-ON Force... Holy shit!! Even more of a Sweet Dreams Fuel for both game series!!! Imagine all the heroes making a victory march together in space after defeating the ultimate force of evil!!!
• Team Fortress 2. A beautiful First Person Shooter in a lovely cartoony style, with the most hilarious characters and voice lines imaginable and utterly funny gameplay. Hell, this entire game is one big Funny Moment!
  • Crack open the supplemental material, though, and it's a different story...but it still manages to be so over the top that it's still funny.
• Tetris Effect manages to make the classic puzzle game Tetris into this. Produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi — creator of similarly trippy audiovisual experiences like Rez, Lumines, and Child of Eden — Tetris Effect features abstract, yet beautiful visuals and a wondrously lively soundtrack that interacts directly with the basic Tetris gameplay we all know, and the fusion manages to be both hypnotizing and surprisingly emotional. Tetris has always been a game that famously makes players "zone out" among its aesthetic and falling-block gameplay (hence the namesake term), and Tetris Effect is practically engineered to make it the best, most beautiful and strangely uplifting form of it possible.
• Thomas Was Alone narrates the story about how 7 weird rectangles developed a true bond of love, friendship and made a selfless sacrifice in order to save everyone and guarantee that all other rectangles would experience the chance to go beyond what they could all with a soundtrack that can bring you to tears. The gameplay was made to be this as well. It's impossible to finish a level without making everyone work together, bigger rectangles have to make way and help smaller rectangles to reach high places and little rectangles have to reach places the big ones couldn't to create a way for them, each stage only ends when everyone gets to the end, no one gets left behind.
  • The narrator's words in a certain stage summarizes how the rectangles would treat each other for the rest of the game:
  "As the water began to rise, Claire vowed to save this little rectangle, in as many restarts as it took."
  • James is a rectangle that has always been the weird one, however, he decides that he doesn't need to be normal, and that he can do amazing things being weird.
  "James still felt weird, but he realized now that everyone else was too. They were a crew of weirdos. Weirdness that would save all the normals up above. The other A.I.s would escape, and it would all be down to seven rectangles with very different relationships with gravity"
• Tokimeki Memorial is generally a big dose of sweet dreams fuel, but "love mode" in the DS version of Girl's Side 2nd Season is just full of squee. It has a wonderful song and the guy you've been chasing muttering things in a mushy voice (you don't even need to speak Japanese to get the gist of it). Plus it only activates when he really likes you and the date went especially well. Poking them too much occasionally results in a Funny Moment, too.
• Touhou Project has veritable boatloads of Badass Adorable girls in stylish outfits, all of whom come with their own awesome theme songs, and although the main gameplay is known for being difficult, the stories are charming and have happy endings, oftentimes ending with the game’s antagonist befriending the protags (some even become playable in later installments!).
• Undertale. While the game never truly sticks to one tone throughout, and has some Nightmare Fuel and Tear Jerker moments in it, the wide bulk of the game is extremely uplifting and happy; particularly, every single optional "date" is the most adorable thing ever, and the True Pacifist ending is incredibly touching. Just avoid the Genocide Route and it's probably one of the loveliest games you can find. Put simply: In what other video game, or even franchise, would a skeleton and a spider be among the cutest members of the entire cast?
  • If you're playing as a pacifist, the whole game can be this, but especially Snowdin. The music is very sweet and cheerful, the whole town looks like it came out of a Christmas card, it's where you meet two of the most lovable characters, Sans and Papyrus, it's crawling with humorous side characters like the dogs, and almost all the monster encounters are nice and friendly once you spare them (and even before). Except Jerry. Fuck Jerry.
• Yoshi's Island, at least until you lose Baby Mario. Then it's pretty creepy.
  • Try Yoshi's Story, then. Eat fruit. Listen to happy music. Look at pretty pictures. <3!
  • He also manages to carry it over to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Right after Link draws the Master Sword, usually a key point in his games, we see Yoshi...sleeping happily on a treestump.
    • And then Link gets attacked, and Yoshi just wanders up, still half-asleep, with an air that says, "Hey bro, what's goin' on over here? Oh, is that all? Cool, I'll give yez a hand."
  • Yoshi's Woolly World, much in the same vein as the below-mentioned Kirby's Epic Yarn.
• Yume Nikki is mostly made of pure Surreal Horror and Nightmare Fuel. But interlaced with the surreality and horror are some truly beautiful realms, like the Sky Gardens or Neon City.

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