How does gaming help you “beat the heat” or “cheese the freeze”?

My wife has been listening to the Jack Reacher series via audiobooks and last week was a tough one for her: the titular character was enduring the heat of Texas while we were sweating through a 90 degree heat wave. Fortunately the next book took him to Atlantic City in November so the fictional setting wasn’t compounding her weather discomfort. Our own Anna made the comment in our staff Discord channel the other day that “it’s way too hot to play a cozy [game]” — oh hey, did you know reading staff chat in Discord is a Patreon perk? — and I expressed regret that we had to wait until this month for Frostpunk 2 (which has subsequently been delayed, meaning we can’t find solace in freezing to death until summer is nearly over).

It did get me thinking, though: does playing “warm” games in cold weather make you toasty, or “cold” games in the heat help you beat it? I have to admit I never gave it much thought before, mainly because I love frosty gaming environments regardless of the season. That said I realized that ever since it’s gotten warm I haven’t been lighting the fireplace in Spirit City even though there’s no reason I couldn’t, and holy heck I just realized I’m wearing a hoodie and slacks in-game when I could be wearing a t-shirt and shorts! Let me change real quick …

That’s better. Back to the topic at hand, I do see Anna’s point: cozy games are like virtual sweaters or blankets, designed to comfort you and warm your heart and brain. When there’s already a thin film of sweat on your skin just sitting at your desk with a fan on at full blast, do you really want to feel any sort of warmth, virtual or emotional? At those moments a cool breeze is what we need, no matter how you get it. Games can be that source for you, whether you switch to a lighter transmog or just spend more time in Northrend.

So what about you, do you use gaming to help cool off or warm up? What sort of games/activities help in these endeavors for you? Or are you able to ignore your virtual environment so that it doesn’t compound your local weather?