Here's a fun game named Dice Wars (link, rules and review) that apparently has been around for a while, but I only discovered two days ago. I've played it three times so far, and enjoyed it a lot, but expect it will get old very fast because the computer AI is so poor. At this point it is already down to "mindless and soothing".
There is a multiplayer version named kDice (link, rules and review). Apparently it requires Internet Explorer to run smoothly (on Firefox the game's map does not update). I do not currently have time play a game that a requires actual diplomacy and negotiations, and would hesitate to use IE on my home computer. But it's nice to see someone made this game for others to play.
Another soothing game I've tried once and had enough of, but others might enjoy more, is a game were colors spread across a grid, named Virus. The game is single-player, and the objective is to minimize the number of turns it takes to spread the color, sort of like solitaire Chinese Checkers.
If I had played more Doom in my youth, the new Doom rogue-like would be quite entertaining. As it is, I'm curious how well a rogue-like with sounds creates a mental narrative, but am not about to try that game. Currently soothing games are all I desire.
