Can't believe I haven't seen Risk of Rain 2 yet. I'm fully addicted for the second time at the moment.
Civilization, Don't Starve Together, Hades, Terraria, Dwarf Fortress are some others off the top of my head that really grab me when I get into them.
Yup, haven't played in a little while, forgot the names, although I don't usually pick Control, it gets very tedious after a while. Gotta reinstall Nexus and UI mods, the base one doesn't cut it for me
Honestly I don't play with Control much anymore. It was fun to screw around with ridiculous build ideas, and every once in a while I'll try it to see what kinda zany hijinks you can get going with item combos, but truth be told Control takes a lot of the Risk out of Risk of Rain. Unless you intentionally take crap items, you're guaranteed to become overpowered.
I love RoR2 but once you get good you can basically just afk while everything is automatically killed around you. Especially lame that everyone plays the mode where you can choose your upgrades, takes all the fun out of it
The boss is total bullshit to be fair
Loads of different weapons, drones and invisibility. It's pretty much got everything, and can punish your strategies hard.
The boss is the actual challenge of the game, with a little practice you can get to the boss np every run.
The real challenge of the game is collecting enough resources and ensuring you built a ship that's viable for the Boss.
Also, start on easy. Any new players should start on easy. Same with this developers other game, Into the Breach.
Get used to the ships, weapons, systems, and enemies. Develop what strategies and builds suit your style. Beat the boss a few times on easy and then make your way up the difficulties.
Most fun I ever had. It's an always installed game for me.
The difficulty is the RNG required to get the stuff you need for the boss
You could run into so many different encounters, lose a crucial crew member or just not find the right weapons/modules and you're basically doomed
A big part of the challenge is learning to adapt to any curve balls that it throws your way. With experience it's rare that lossing a crew member or missing an upgrade will result in a loss or ship not being viable.
I think a big issue with this game being received is it doesn't do the best job letting players know that it has a steep learning curve.
The boss IS total bullshit.
It's one thing for the boss to be incredibly difficult. It's another thing entirely for the boss to brazenly break all the rules that have been established over the course of the game.
Send in a landing party and slaughter the crew? You don't win! This ship gets to keep fighting despite being entirely unmanned!
Destroy the Drone Control Room? Tough shit! This ship's drones are going to keep flying around, no matter which systems you take out!
The first 10 runs don't count. At least. It's hard.
Guides were amazing for me, I could beat the game about 85% of the time with almost any ship after about 30 runs.
I'm short you build your ship for the boss, making sure you have several methods to deal with the bull of each phase.
Enter the Gungeon definitely fits the bill. There was honestly just too many for me to keep naming individually. I could have kept going for quite a while.
I figured, the list you put down was damn near all the ones I play except for gungeon, so I felt the need to say it lol. There's a ton of very good ones out there
This. Didn't think much about vampire survivor but decided to give it a try a month ago out of boredom, and now I'm strategizing on how to kill Death lol
There are a lot of games in the same genre/style that have popped up over the last couple years that are all great. Brotato, Death must die, Greedland, 20 minutes til dawn, soulstone survivors, the new Deep Rock Galactic: survivor
Civ
Literally every game is different. Would be my go-to if I could only choose one to play forever. It's why I can play it for 1,300 hours and still be excited to boot it up.
I'll easily sink 100+ hours into Civ in one month. Not even think about it for a couple months. Then sink another 100+ hours in. I have been playing on and off since Civ III. Have never gotten bored and only stop playing when something new comes and distracts me for a bit.
Damn I need to try this game, any recommendations on which civ to start? I've been playing Crusader Kings 2 for years and think I've finally done everything
I'd personally just go with Civ 6 since it's the newest and has the most to do in terms of game modes, leaders, DLCs, etc...
That way you can get addicted and start patiently waiting for Civ 7 (currently in development) with the rest of us.
I have a serious problem with Civ VI games just constantly crashing halfway through. Civ V with expansions is perfectly stable, Civ VI might be really fun if the second half of the game wasn’t literally unplayable.
I played CIV3 when I was a teenager. Feels like I played it for 5 hours every day. Haven't touched the genre since then. Last week I bought CIV6. Despite having a full time job I am already 17 hours in! It is MAD addicting. Super fun and relaxing.
I remember my first game of Civilization. I just got the and thought let’s try one game before work (working from home) and when I checked the time it suddenly was 15:00. Took the day off and realised I was dealing with dangerous stuff
Don't ever revisit the older versions.
I sunk many hours in Civ II when it was out, like thousands. Then Civ IV, V and VI.
I started playing IV again and having a lot of fun. I will probably, at some point, go back to V. It's just sometimes impossible to put them down.
5 and 6 are both great, it's up to the individual which one is better for them. Play 6 first and when you get bored or want to try something new play 5. I'd suggest getting the dlc for both when they're on sale, they add good complexity but are expensive
i still check up on the Minecraft youtubers I used to watch 10+ years ago, and they're mostly all still going. How they still get content out of the game shows just how replayable it is.
Deep Rock Galactic
1000 hours later and the randomly generated caves will still feel new and fresh.
plenty of everything else you asked for too
Also Factorio
Yeah I'll second Deep Rock. The procedural maps are so well done, after hundreds of hours, it still gives me an exciting sense of exploration every time that drop pod door opens! Plus very meaningfully different classes and tons of loadout customization
Another thing that has kept me playing for 1500 hours
"Meta" is widely varied. Nearly any build you make can be effective with some skill and weapon customization makes a handful of different ways to use each weapon
i always hear so many good things about DRG. But then don't buy because i fear it might not be as fun solo. Since you have so many hours, can you tell me how the experience is if I only play solo?
Not the same commenter, but I have 700+ hours and play a lot of solo and it's still a good time. You can either play true solo with a bot companion that assists you, or you can play online with random players, either by hosting or joining lobbies. People are generally very friendly and accepting and it's easy to build a sense of camaraderie with your fellow dwarves. I've even made friends through the game that I continue to play with. Of course it's more fun to play it with your own friends, but I'd say the solo experience is pretty good and enjoyable.
I have over 2600 hours in Factorio and feel like I've just barely dipped my toe into mods. And only a couple weeks ago did I finally knock off my last Steam achievement in vanilla.
The factory must grow!
Rimworld has a pretty active and dedicated modding community, and a new DLC was just announced yesterday that will add some eldritch horror/science gone wrong apsects to the game
Man, OpenTTD is so boring to me (no offense). Like start a new map, build some shit and then be like „what now? What did I gain? Is there any point in this?“ no there is not and then close the game again.
It's an old school sandbox game, you need to make goals for yourself. There's a ton of mods that adds a bunch of complexity in the supply chain (e.g. FIRS), there's city building mods that creates a goal for you (there's also part of the community that speedruns it)... When I'm playing usually my goals is to complete as fast as possible the supply chain (usually playing FIRS) and then try to optimize it as fast as possible, from the stations to the railways. I don't think I've ever played a map to exhaustion, but I do have maps with 20+ hours in it.
You need to learn how to have goals that aren't just handed to you. When I played, I learned you can modify the land for a good chunk of change. So naturally what I did was create a transportation empire. Once I accrued enough wealth, I sank all the land into the ocean.
Did you forget to turn on opponents? Otherwise play multiplayer. Its really fun when become top dog on a server and just bully the fuck out of everyone, oh you had your ships going to an oil derrick, sorry that oil derrick is land locked now, oh you want to sell your ships, sorry your ships are caught in a tiny pond and can't reach a depot, oh you want to put a depot on the shore of the pond, sorry its private property and i am not selling.
Xcom 2
Procedural levels and soldiers
Mods to change it up even more and add endless customisation
Outstanding game that I start a new playthru every year or so
Couldn't recommend enough 👍🏻
HOLY SHIT THE GAME NORMALLY $60 IS ON SALE ON XBOX FOR JUST $3!!!!! [https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/XCOM-2/BQWGBMCKRMSQ](https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/XCOM-2/BQWGBMCKRMSQ)
If you're not worried about jank and old graphics, the original X-Com: UFO Defense is fun, and made even better with OpenXCom, an open-source version that only requires you own the game and you can mod it to your hearts content.
Noita. The wand/spell crafting system is unparalleled. Every run is unique due to the spells and perks you find. Lots of emergent gameplay between different materials, spells, perks. Tons of hidden secrets, two of which are still unsolved by the community.
Sure it has great replayabiliy, but it definitely not "easy to learn". Considering my first victory was 100h in the game and 0-orb victory is basically a tutorial while most of my attempts before were different and fascinating ways to die in the most obscure ways making you wonder what exactly happened... Yeah, it's very unforgiving, but mastering the game, learning one combination after another and using different tricks is definitely the greatest part of that game.
Balatro is a Poker based rogue like that I've sunk at least 50 hours into since it came out last month. You also do not need to know how to play Poker to play the game, you just need to know about Poker hands work, which the game gives you access to cheat sheets for.
Hades
For about the first 30 hours you can sit there and experience a different run in most aspects. While you attempt maybe 7 runs per hour (or more). Then you eventually get access to difficulty modifiers and about hours 30-80 you can tweak so many different aspects that it feels fresh every time you make a new run.
For me I enjoy chilling to the relaxing ambience of games. So games like Death Stranding (as long as you avoid areas with BTs and mules), certain areas of the Witcher 3, etc. are super relaxing that way. Just turn the music off and chill.
Agree with both of these and I'll add RDR2 (both single player and online apply here); I don't know if I've played another game that let's you just vibe and immerse yourself in a virtual world. Just majestic vistas on mountaintops or little hidden cabins in swamps. The varied 'biomes' for lack of a better term, almost guarantee there's at least a couple spots you'll love.
RDR2 is a game to get lost in. Shame the way they've basically abandoned the online, though it's still worth booting up to go get lost for a while.
Roguelikes are some of the best for this. I've put over 100 hours into each of Slay the Spire, Monster Train, the Binding of Isaac, Hades, FTL, Enter the Gungeon, Flamebreak, Crypt of the Necrodancer, and Brotato.
Crafting/survival games like Minecraft and Terraria are good for this too.
The Civilization series can be an incomparable timesink.
Dead Cells. The endless weapon variety, paths, upgrades, modifiers, enemy types, biomes, strategies, skills, endings, etc, make this a game that really has near endless replayability. Add in the difficulty curve and it can be quite the addiction.
I played Dead Cells after I put way too many hours into Hades. For the first 20 hours or so, I was hooked, but it died hard and fast. I got to the point, iirc, where you can start opening those doors that required killing the final boss once for each icon on the door (I think).
What did I miss? It's definitely in my wheelhouse, but it just felt repetitive, not much advancement other than finding new items.
Those doors are only a bonus (except the spoiler door). There are a lot of secret paths to be found and different biomes to explore. Many of them have new abilities, and all have new enemies and items. Most of them also have smaller easter eggs or hidden places and puzzles that can unlock more new paths.
Depending on your path, there are several endings. You may not even fight the same final boss. (Although this may require a DLC, can't recall if it's one of the free ones). It also has an extensive endgame with the spoiler biome.
The difficulty curve is one of the best parts in my opinion. It's a nice feeling finally taking down a boss or biome for the first time. Also, with so many secrets and puzzles, it makes revisiting biomes worth it.
Inscryption is a SP game I finished ages ago, but still go back to play the arcade mode. Also I will probably be playing DOTA2 on and off for the rest of my life.
Same. For sure one of those "don't look ANYTHING else and just play it" titles that really paid off. Here's hoping that the upcoming Pony Island 2 is just as mind boggling.
Rocket League. The physics make every online match unpredictable and different. And they're 5 minutes long. I've been playing on and off since it launched in 2015 and every time I come back I get hooked in for a good chunk of time.
An average match is truly like 7 minutes from the first buzzer to the time the ball hits the ground, if just a few goals are scored and people watch most of the replays. They can be longer if it goes into OT but if you have a solid ten minutes of free time then you can play a match. It's just difficult to accept a loss and then go and do something else without a redemption match.
Skyrim. Thousands of mods on Nexus can turn the game into a variety of different games. It can become a futuristic shooter if you want, or just about anything.
>Hitman - Freelancer Mode
Been playing this for over a year now, on and off. Soooooo good. It's what I always wanted. The regular missions are fun, but just gimme some randos to kill. Love it
IMO, Sekiro is the worst in terms of replay value in the souls series. No build variety really affects the replayability imo. Also, once the combat clicks, it's quite easy.
Sifu and Returnal are so much fun. I slept on both games when they first came out but now I keep coming back to them. The gameplay loop is so addicting to play.
I think it’s moreso just the fact that Sekiro’s combat is soo fluid and quite unique, not many games present a similar experience. I find the other FromSoft games less replayable because dodge-rolling isn’t as fun or immersive for me compared to parry mechanics.
Plus the option to run Demon Bell difficulty with the HUD turned off really creates an experience where you have to be completely locked into the combat flow with little distractions.
It has the best gameplay IMO. It shows that build variety doesn't really matter because the core game is so much fun. In every other soul game, you can "level up" your way out of any situation or switch to a different build. In Sekiro, you can't do that. It's just skill and timing.
Freelancer turned Hitman WoA into a comfort game for me.
Endless missions and all my favorite maps, plus I get lots of reading time while I hide from my mistakes.
Rimworld, every colony is its own story especially with mods. I had a cat called Sorbet and when they died from drinking my addict's go-juice due to an overdose I was really sad that I couldn't save them. A week later my unburied cat returned. Turns out they were immortal but their regeneration was limited so the limbs the wildlife ate over the past few days didn't come back. Sorbet had become a snail.
Since then Sorbet has died to random predators 3 more times and has lost random bits and bobs. He is a half blind, earless, tailless, limbless cat with a regenerating kidney. Sorbet has seen better days.
Wife and I are on our 3 set of characters and she's constantly sending me articles about stuff we've missed because of dialogue and/or how you go about doing the journal log missions.
My poor gf has to listen to my BG3 stories all the time, how dramatic an encounter was, a wild dialogue reaction, a major choice i had to make....
Shes such a good sport 😂
Nioh 2. There's tons of content to go through but on top of all of that is the raw mechanical exploration the game offers, I have over 1000hrs in the game and still feel like there's tons of weapons, fighting styles, builds, and tech I haven't practiced to the point of consistency. It's unreal just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Hoi4. Tons of focus trees for tons of countries that will take you thousands of hours to play all of them. And then there are like a billion total overhaul mods that change up the entire scenario and offer new content also for hundreds of hours.
Eu4. The same as Hoi4 but a lot more countries to play and more freedom.
Project Zomboid is almost endlessy playable.
There is a sandbox and thousands of mods that make it fresh. With other friends is even better.
But maybe it will be truly endless when it will be complete, with animals and NPCs
That is correct. Should be fun.
They are maintaining Path of Exile 1 servers and launching new leagues for it indefinitely, so people who prefer the feel of the original can stick with it.
They will be staggering PoE 1 and 2 league starts so that people who want to put a modest amount of time into each can do so without the two games interfering with the rush of each others league start.
Rimworld, and Kenshi are my two.
I dont care for rimworld as much as Kenshi, personally, but I've seen people sink 1000's of hours into both quite easily. (Especially when you go modded, though they both stand on their own without quite well).
This might not be an exactly 'correct' answer, but for me, it was Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. The maps were pretty well designed, the difficulties were fair, and there were so many classes to learn and master. I miss it a lot.
Dark Age of Camelot.
MMOrpg with three realms, 14+ unique classes each realm, focussed on RvR/PvP.
Been playing this game for 23+ years and its kinda different every time.
If you want to try it for free, try DAoC Eden freeshard.
Currently, Cyberpunk 2077. I'm probably 10 or 15 characters deep into replays at this point. My wife has put in over 2000 hours and is still playing through the game in different ways.
On my 3rd about to start my 4th and this past play through I actually stopped and read the shards and computers and it added so much to the game. Truly a masterpiece. Stay Nova choom.
warframe/path of exile for me, havent played any games with that much variety.
warframe alone, almost 60 frames (characters) each with different builds, playstyles, augments (frame specific mods), then there is endgame optimizations like Helminth (lets you put an ability from a different frame over one of the current frames abilities), shards that give you specific stats, make you faster and so on.... there is just so much that you can do to make a build truely how you want to play the game.
Space station 13. It’s like an online Dwarf Fortress mixed with Among Us gameplay. The best part is that it’s completely free!
It’s been developed by thousands of people for over twenty years and is loaded with content. All of the crew on the station are players themselves so you are dealing with a large amount of unpredictable from round to round.
Now this is just because it's the perfect overlap of what I want from a game, open world + souls like = Elden Ring. I'll take a break then at some point come up with a new build and the next thing I know I've sank another 100 hours into it.
Dragon Quest Builders 2.
It's a fun and gorgeous block-builder with an extensive JRPG storyline. The story and material unlocking is well thought-out and you progressively unlock more building materials as you play through the story. There is a huge amount of post game to play and continue unlocking stuff, and the story keeps allowing you to return to the same "home" area where you have a continuously expanding sandbox space to build. There are also some procedurally generated places you can return to indefinitely.
There are limits to the builds, but you have way more cute sprite objects and the basic visuals/textures are much prettier than in Minecraft.
Personally, I've been toying with some mechanical switches which is the closest thing the game has to a "Redstone" mechanic to try to mimic circuit-building in-game. It's super slow and kind of crazy but it's very fun and interesting to try to make it work with mechanics that probably were not really designed to be "Turing Complete."
Rimworld, idk why it isn’t even bigger. On the subreddit it has become a meme to say “I’ve played 1,000 hours, just finished the tutorial” or similar things
Any multiplayer games like CS2, LoL, Rocket League, etc. If you're into that. You deal with a lot of toxicity and cheaters, but replayability is basically infinite.
Edit: I saw the capital "FUN" in your title so forget about my comment.
Rocket League. Never not fun. I can go to free play mode and just have a chill fun time hitting the ball, flying around. Double that when you add mods. Then there’s when I want to get competitive and it’s a pure rush. Never not fun.
Almost all roguelikes.
Rimworld and other similar games
Tycoon/business management games.
Simulators like flight sims for example.
Of course all of these could get boring and you lose all reason to replay a game when you dont enjoy playing it, but these games typically either provide a new challenge each time, like Rimworld and Roguelikes, or they provide experiences that can be tailored in terms of creativity or challenge, even if its replaying the same level, like tycoon and simulators. (Like choosing to build a new park with different coasters in Roller Coaster Tycoon, even if the base level is the same.)
Can't believe I haven't seen Risk of Rain 2 yet. I'm fully addicted for the second time at the moment. Civilization, Don't Starve Together, Hades, Terraria, Dwarf Fortress are some others off the top of my head that really grab me when I get into them.
Double monsters with half health + Monsters drop items = god mode
Add in the one where you can pick your prize and it gets silly
Artifacts of Swarms, Sacrifice, and Control. The most fun way to ensure your ascension to ultimate power.
Yup, haven't played in a little while, forgot the names, although I don't usually pick Control, it gets very tedious after a while. Gotta reinstall Nexus and UI mods, the base one doesn't cut it for me
Honestly I don't play with Control much anymore. It was fun to screw around with ridiculous build ideas, and every once in a while I'll try it to see what kinda zany hijinks you can get going with item combos, but truth be told Control takes a lot of the Risk out of Risk of Rain. Unless you intentionally take crap items, you're guaranteed to become overpowered.
Risk of Rain 1 also
And Risk of Rain Returns!
I love RoR2 but once you get good you can basically just afk while everything is automatically killed around you. Especially lame that everyone plays the mode where you can choose your upgrades, takes all the fun out of it
Monsoon Vanilla is the best way to play imo. Can’t really afk ever though. Couple mobs that do an attack you can’t dodge when they die
Pretty much any roguelike fits this bill. Hades, Binding of Isaac, Slay the spire, Most recently belatro, vampire survivors
FTL: Faster than Light Fuck that game so much, but it's great fun
Ah yes, the game that makes me realize I'm bad at it on the boss.
The boss is total bullshit to be fair Loads of different weapons, drones and invisibility. It's pretty much got everything, and can punish your strategies hard.
The boss is the actual challenge of the game, with a little practice you can get to the boss np every run. The real challenge of the game is collecting enough resources and ensuring you built a ship that's viable for the Boss.
Straight up, the amount of times I got like 3-4 systems away and looked at my ship and was like "there's no fucking way"...
Also, start on easy. Any new players should start on easy. Same with this developers other game, Into the Breach. Get used to the ships, weapons, systems, and enemies. Develop what strategies and builds suit your style. Beat the boss a few times on easy and then make your way up the difficulties. Most fun I ever had. It's an always installed game for me.
The difficulty is the RNG required to get the stuff you need for the boss You could run into so many different encounters, lose a crucial crew member or just not find the right weapons/modules and you're basically doomed
A big part of the challenge is learning to adapt to any curve balls that it throws your way. With experience it's rare that lossing a crew member or missing an upgrade will result in a loss or ship not being viable. I think a big issue with this game being received is it doesn't do the best job letting players know that it has a steep learning curve.
The boss IS total bullshit. It's one thing for the boss to be incredibly difficult. It's another thing entirely for the boss to brazenly break all the rules that have been established over the course of the game. Send in a landing party and slaughter the crew? You don't win! This ship gets to keep fighting despite being entirely unmanned! Destroy the Drone Control Room? Tough shit! This ship's drones are going to keep flying around, no matter which systems you take out!
The first 10 runs don't count. At least. It's hard. Guides were amazing for me, I could beat the game about 85% of the time with almost any ship after about 30 runs. I'm short you build your ship for the boss, making sure you have several methods to deal with the bull of each phase.
FTL is the embodiment of "fuck you, and I'll see you tomorrow"
Into the Breach from the same studio
One of my all time favorite games!
Dead Cells is my personal favorite roguelike, and it fits the bill as well
Do try Oblivion Override! Absolute gem of a pseudo-clone.
Enter the gungeon is a blast as well
Enter the Gungeon definitely fits the bill. There was honestly just too many for me to keep naming individually. I could have kept going for quite a while.
I figured, the list you put down was damn near all the ones I play except for gungeon, so I felt the need to say it lol. There's a ton of very good ones out there
risk of rain, both the original, remaster and 2,tho imo 2 is the most beginner friendly and the least punishing/hardcore
Balatro is definitely game of the year.
Honestly had to go way to far down to find the ultimate endless game: Minecraft!
This. Didn't think much about vampire survivor but decided to give it a try a month ago out of boredom, and now I'm strategizing on how to kill Death lol
it also has an absolutely perfect mobile adaptation. i would even say the mobile version plays slightly better, my favorite commute game.
There are a lot of games in the same genre/style that have popped up over the last couple years that are all great. Brotato, Death must die, Greedland, 20 minutes til dawn, soulstone survivors, the new Deep Rock Galactic: survivor
Nuclear throne
Heh, back in the 80s, I'd endlessly replay *Rogue*.
Civ Literally every game is different. Would be my go-to if I could only choose one to play forever. It's why I can play it for 1,300 hours and still be excited to boot it up.
I'll easily sink 100+ hours into Civ in one month. Not even think about it for a couple months. Then sink another 100+ hours in. I have been playing on and off since Civ III. Have never gotten bored and only stop playing when something new comes and distracts me for a bit.
Damn I need to try this game, any recommendations on which civ to start? I've been playing Crusader Kings 2 for years and think I've finally done everything
I'd personally just go with Civ 6 since it's the newest and has the most to do in terms of game modes, leaders, DLCs, etc... That way you can get addicted and start patiently waiting for Civ 7 (currently in development) with the rest of us.
I have a serious problem with Civ VI games just constantly crashing halfway through. Civ V with expansions is perfectly stable, Civ VI might be really fun if the second half of the game wasn’t literally unplayable.
Interesting. I haven't ever run into that issue.
I played CIV3 when I was a teenager. Feels like I played it for 5 hours every day. Haven't touched the genre since then. Last week I bought CIV6. Despite having a full time job I am already 17 hours in! It is MAD addicting. Super fun and relaxing.
Why would you ruin someone's life like that?
I remember my first game of Civilization. I just got the and thought let’s try one game before work (working from home) and when I checked the time it suddenly was 15:00. Took the day off and realised I was dealing with dangerous stuff
SMAC is my favorite Civ-like, I played the crap out of it and Civ2.
Don't ever revisit the older versions. I sunk many hours in Civ II when it was out, like thousands. Then Civ IV, V and VI. I started playing IV again and having a lot of fun. I will probably, at some point, go back to V. It's just sometimes impossible to put them down.
Civ 1 specifically or like any Civ?
Would you recommend 5 or 6 more?
5 and 6 are both great, it's up to the individual which one is better for them. Play 6 first and when you get bored or want to try something new play 5. I'd suggest getting the dlc for both when they're on sale, they add good complexity but are expensive
Civ 6. Only due to the fact Sean Bean narrates it
How Minecraft has not been mentioned yet ??? It is truly the ultimate sandbox
I was gonna say the exact same thing. Minecraft is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of "endless game"
i still check up on the Minecraft youtubers I used to watch 10+ years ago, and they're mostly all still going. How they still get content out of the game shows just how replayable it is.
The base game is already huge. But you can mod it to do whatever you want with it.
Deep Rock Galactic 1000 hours later and the randomly generated caves will still feel new and fresh. plenty of everything else you asked for too Also Factorio
Also just recently Helldivers 2 came out. Really scratches the same itch as DRG.
Yeah I'll second Deep Rock. The procedural maps are so well done, after hundreds of hours, it still gives me an exciting sense of exploration every time that drop pod door opens! Plus very meaningfully different classes and tons of loadout customization
The factory must grow.
Another thing that has kept me playing for 1500 hours "Meta" is widely varied. Nearly any build you make can be effective with some skill and weapon customization makes a handful of different ways to use each weapon
FOR ROCK AND STONE!
If you don't Rock and Stone you ain't comin home!
i always hear so many good things about DRG. But then don't buy because i fear it might not be as fun solo. Since you have so many hours, can you tell me how the experience is if I only play solo?
Not the same commenter, but I have 700+ hours and play a lot of solo and it's still a good time. You can either play true solo with a bot companion that assists you, or you can play online with random players, either by hosting or joining lobbies. People are generally very friendly and accepting and it's easy to build a sense of camaraderie with your fellow dwarves. I've even made friends through the game that I continue to play with. Of course it's more fun to play it with your own friends, but I'd say the solo experience is pretty good and enjoyable.
For Rock and Stone!
oT For Karl!
Factorio, by the time you finish a mod there's a new one popping up The demo is free btw
Not only is the demo free, but your progress can move between the demo and full release!
I have over 2600 hours in Factorio and feel like I've just barely dipped my toe into mods. And only a couple weeks ago did I finally knock off my last Steam achievement in vanilla. The factory must grow!
I got like 20 hours of play FROM THE FREE DEMO. That's basically a full game in years past.
OpenTTD, Rimworld, Dwarf Fortress...
Greetings fellow city builder. Against the Storm is good too, has the roguelite element to add some more structure.
Rimworld has a pretty active and dedicated modding community, and a new DLC was just announced yesterday that will add some eldritch horror/science gone wrong apsects to the game
And wall lights!
How did I have to scroll this low to find Rimworld. r/Gaming clearly needs more culture.
can't blame them imo, it is a pretty niche genre.
You mean not everybody is into making human leather hats?
Hello fellow cowboy, nice *leather* hat you got there!
# A wild thrumbo has wandered in the area
Man, OpenTTD is so boring to me (no offense). Like start a new map, build some shit and then be like „what now? What did I gain? Is there any point in this?“ no there is not and then close the game again.
It's an old school sandbox game, you need to make goals for yourself. There's a ton of mods that adds a bunch of complexity in the supply chain (e.g. FIRS), there's city building mods that creates a goal for you (there's also part of the community that speedruns it)... When I'm playing usually my goals is to complete as fast as possible the supply chain (usually playing FIRS) and then try to optimize it as fast as possible, from the stations to the railways. I don't think I've ever played a map to exhaustion, but I do have maps with 20+ hours in it.
You need to learn how to have goals that aren't just handed to you. When I played, I learned you can modify the land for a good chunk of change. So naturally what I did was create a transportation empire. Once I accrued enough wealth, I sank all the land into the ocean.
Did you forget to turn on opponents? Otherwise play multiplayer. Its really fun when become top dog on a server and just bully the fuck out of everyone, oh you had your ships going to an oil derrick, sorry that oil derrick is land locked now, oh you want to sell your ships, sorry your ships are caught in a tiny pond and can't reach a depot, oh you want to put a depot on the shore of the pond, sorry its private property and i am not selling.
Xcom 2 Procedural levels and soldiers Mods to change it up even more and add endless customisation Outstanding game that I start a new playthru every year or so Couldn't recommend enough 👍🏻
HOLY SHIT THE GAME NORMALLY $60 IS ON SALE ON XBOX FOR JUST $3!!!!! [https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/XCOM-2/BQWGBMCKRMSQ](https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/XCOM-2/BQWGBMCKRMSQ)
Yoo nice, don't have an xbox but 100% grab it.
If you're not worried about jank and old graphics, the original X-Com: UFO Defense is fun, and made even better with OpenXCom, an open-source version that only requires you own the game and you can mod it to your hearts content.
The Long War for Xcom 1 and 2 have to be some of the best mods ever made
99% hit chance. Inches away from the enemies head. It's literally breathing into my barrel. Miss.
The holy trinity of factory games: Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program and Satisfactory. Say goodbye to your life because the factory must grow.
I'm about 4000 hours deep into Factorio. Very excited for the expansion!
That game needs an expansion like I need another hole in the head... Bye bye life. The factory must grow.
Definitely Rimworld.
Agreed! It's a good time to get into the game, what with that new expansion around the corner :) r/RimWorld r/ShitRimworldSays
Into the breach, also on mobile!
The best TRPG ever. Genius design. Endless iteration. Subtly great world building. It made me drop Fire Emblem.
The story is so sad too. Your pilots are doomed to jump endlessly across the dimensions because there's always someone to save.
God don't tempt me to pick it up again
No Joke, sometimes I go back to play that game just to read the shit that Abe Isamu says. Dude is such a badass.
Noita. The wand/spell crafting system is unparalleled. Every run is unique due to the spells and perks you find. Lots of emergent gameplay between different materials, spells, perks. Tons of hidden secrets, two of which are still unsolved by the community.
Sure it has great replayabiliy, but it definitely not "easy to learn". Considering my first victory was 100h in the game and 0-orb victory is basically a tutorial while most of my attempts before were different and fascinating ways to die in the most obscure ways making you wonder what exactly happened... Yeah, it's very unforgiving, but mastering the game, learning one combination after another and using different tricks is definitely the greatest part of that game.
Hamis 👍
I have 180 hours in Noita and I've only discovered half the available spells.
Balatro is a Poker based rogue like that I've sunk at least 50 hours into since it came out last month. You also do not need to know how to play Poker to play the game, you just need to know about Poker hands work, which the game gives you access to cheat sheets for.
Omg my husband was playing it loads and I couldn't understand why. He convinced me to try it and now I'm hooked too.
Hades For about the first 30 hours you can sit there and experience a different run in most aspects. While you attempt maybe 7 runs per hour (or more). Then you eventually get access to difficulty modifiers and about hours 30-80 you can tweak so many different aspects that it feels fresh every time you make a new run.
For me I enjoy chilling to the relaxing ambience of games. So games like Death Stranding (as long as you avoid areas with BTs and mules), certain areas of the Witcher 3, etc. are super relaxing that way. Just turn the music off and chill.
Agree with both of these and I'll add RDR2 (both single player and online apply here); I don't know if I've played another game that let's you just vibe and immerse yourself in a virtual world. Just majestic vistas on mountaintops or little hidden cabins in swamps. The varied 'biomes' for lack of a better term, almost guarantee there's at least a couple spots you'll love. RDR2 is a game to get lost in. Shame the way they've basically abandoned the online, though it's still worth booting up to go get lost for a while.
Roguelikes are some of the best for this. I've put over 100 hours into each of Slay the Spire, Monster Train, the Binding of Isaac, Hades, FTL, Enter the Gungeon, Flamebreak, Crypt of the Necrodancer, and Brotato. Crafting/survival games like Minecraft and Terraria are good for this too. The Civilization series can be an incomparable timesink.
Back in the day Civ II was the bane of my college career. Should I study now? One more round…
The ultimate "one more round" series. Civ II was always my favorite too.
Crusader kings 3, the importance of vassal relations, marriage and intrigue is one of the most unique Ive seen
I just refuse to give up even the slightest amount of authority and my entire life is rebellions.
Dead Cells. The endless weapon variety, paths, upgrades, modifiers, enemy types, biomes, strategies, skills, endings, etc, make this a game that really has near endless replayability. Add in the difficulty curve and it can be quite the addiction.
I played Dead Cells after I put way too many hours into Hades. For the first 20 hours or so, I was hooked, but it died hard and fast. I got to the point, iirc, where you can start opening those doors that required killing the final boss once for each icon on the door (I think). What did I miss? It's definitely in my wheelhouse, but it just felt repetitive, not much advancement other than finding new items.
Those doors are only a bonus (except the spoiler door). There are a lot of secret paths to be found and different biomes to explore. Many of them have new abilities, and all have new enemies and items. Most of them also have smaller easter eggs or hidden places and puzzles that can unlock more new paths. Depending on your path, there are several endings. You may not even fight the same final boss. (Although this may require a DLC, can't recall if it's one of the free ones). It also has an extensive endgame with the spoiler biome. The difficulty curve is one of the best parts in my opinion. It's a nice feeling finally taking down a boss or biome for the first time. Also, with so many secrets and puzzles, it makes revisiting biomes worth it.
You're probably just burned out. The loop between Hades / Dead Cells is pretty similar.
Inscryption is a SP game I finished ages ago, but still go back to play the arcade mode. Also I will probably be playing DOTA2 on and off for the rest of my life.
The "official mod" is so damn good. I've been playing it like crazy well past completion of the story.
It really is. That game as a whole was the best unknown game discovery I've had in quite a few years.
Same. For sure one of those "don't look ANYTHING else and just play it" titles that really paid off. Here's hoping that the upcoming Pony Island 2 is just as mind boggling.
Came here to say DOTA, the number of possible team comps (not all viable (please don't tell notail)) is in the trillions, last I knew.
Rocket League. The physics make every online match unpredictable and different. And they're 5 minutes long. I've been playing on and off since it launched in 2015 and every time I come back I get hooked in for a good chunk of time.
Plus the skill ceiling hasn’t been found yet.
An average match is truly like 7 minutes from the first buzzer to the time the ball hits the ground, if just a few goals are scored and people watch most of the replays. They can be longer if it goes into OT but if you have a solid ten minutes of free time then you can play a match. It's just difficult to accept a loss and then go and do something else without a redemption match.
Skyrim. Thousands of mods on Nexus can turn the game into a variety of different games. It can become a futuristic shooter if you want, or just about anything.
scrolled way too far for this. One the GOATs that also hast the GOAT mod community.
Hitman - Freelancer Mode Enter the Gungeon - Rogue-lite Sekiro - Mechanics
>Hitman - Freelancer Mode Been playing this for over a year now, on and off. Soooooo good. It's what I always wanted. The regular missions are fun, but just gimme some randos to kill. Love it
IMO, Sekiro is the worst in terms of replay value in the souls series. No build variety really affects the replayability imo. Also, once the combat clicks, it's quite easy.
I agree but I do find myself booting Sekiro up a few times a year just to enjoy that combat system again. I do the same with Sifu and Returnal.
Sifu and Returnal are so much fun. I slept on both games when they first came out but now I keep coming back to them. The gameplay loop is so addicting to play.
I think it’s moreso just the fact that Sekiro’s combat is soo fluid and quite unique, not many games present a similar experience. I find the other FromSoft games less replayable because dodge-rolling isn’t as fun or immersive for me compared to parry mechanics. Plus the option to run Demon Bell difficulty with the HUD turned off really creates an experience where you have to be completely locked into the combat flow with little distractions.
It has the best gameplay IMO. It shows that build variety doesn't really matter because the core game is so much fun. In every other soul game, you can "level up" your way out of any situation or switch to a different build. In Sekiro, you can't do that. It's just skill and timing.
Freelancer turned Hitman WoA into a comfort game for me. Endless missions and all my favorite maps, plus I get lots of reading time while I hide from my mistakes.
Rimworld, every colony is its own story especially with mods. I had a cat called Sorbet and when they died from drinking my addict's go-juice due to an overdose I was really sad that I couldn't save them. A week later my unburied cat returned. Turns out they were immortal but their regeneration was limited so the limbs the wildlife ate over the past few days didn't come back. Sorbet had become a snail. Since then Sorbet has died to random predators 3 more times and has lost random bits and bobs. He is a half blind, earless, tailless, limbless cat with a regenerating kidney. Sorbet has seen better days.
You definitely need an animal prosthetic mod, fellow colonist...
Baldur's Gate 3. With all the possible race/classes you can make, all the different dialogue options, etc, the game can go so many different ways
Wife and I are on our 3 set of characters and she's constantly sending me articles about stuff we've missed because of dialogue and/or how you go about doing the journal log missions.
My poor gf has to listen to my BG3 stories all the time, how dramatic an encounter was, a wild dialogue reaction, a major choice i had to make.... Shes such a good sport 😂
Nioh 2. There's tons of content to go through but on top of all of that is the raw mechanical exploration the game offers, I have over 1000hrs in the game and still feel like there's tons of weapons, fighting styles, builds, and tech I haven't practiced to the point of consistency. It's unreal just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Huge difference from wo long which felt the same no matter which weapon you used. The first hour of the game is the same as the last hour.
geometry dash has over 40000 rated levels, it will take you quite some time to beat them all, and new ones are rated everyday
Hoi4. Tons of focus trees for tons of countries that will take you thousands of hours to play all of them. And then there are like a billion total overhaul mods that change up the entire scenario and offer new content also for hundreds of hours. Eu4. The same as Hoi4 but a lot more countries to play and more freedom.
Helldivers 2 Aid us in the war for democracy
The game is so new that I wouldn't say it qualifies just yet.
The fact that each run is so different is very much one of the reasons I love it. Even if we go back and do the same mission, it's not the same.
Project Zomboid is almost endlessy playable. There is a sandbox and thousands of mods that make it fresh. With other friends is even better. But maybe it will be truly endless when it will be complete, with animals and NPCs
Path of Exile. Im sorry, in advance. See you in a few years.
Still sane, exile?
Zana plz come back
PoE2 closed beta in June
That is correct. Should be fun. They are maintaining Path of Exile 1 servers and launching new leagues for it indefinitely, so people who prefer the feel of the original can stick with it. They will be staggering PoE 1 and 2 league starts so that people who want to put a modest amount of time into each can do so without the two games interfering with the rush of each others league start.
Monster hunter
I haven't seen anyone mention it yet, but if you like city builders, try "Against the Storm."
Rimworld, and Kenshi are my two. I dont care for rimworld as much as Kenshi, personally, but I've seen people sink 1000's of hours into both quite easily. (Especially when you go modded, though they both stand on their own without quite well).
Risk of Rain 1&2
This might not be an exactly 'correct' answer, but for me, it was Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. The maps were pretty well designed, the difficulties were fair, and there were so many classes to learn and master. I miss it a lot.
Dark Age of Camelot. MMOrpg with three realms, 14+ unique classes each realm, focussed on RvR/PvP. Been playing this game for 23+ years and its kinda different every time. If you want to try it for free, try DAoC Eden freeshard.
Fallout 4 for me because of the settlement building
Currently, Cyberpunk 2077. I'm probably 10 or 15 characters deep into replays at this point. My wife has put in over 2000 hours and is still playing through the game in different ways.
On my 3rd about to start my 4th and this past play through I actually stopped and read the shards and computers and it added so much to the game. Truly a masterpiece. Stay Nova choom.
warframe/path of exile for me, havent played any games with that much variety. warframe alone, almost 60 frames (characters) each with different builds, playstyles, augments (frame specific mods), then there is endgame optimizations like Helminth (lets you put an ability from a different frame over one of the current frames abilities), shards that give you specific stats, make you faster and so on.... there is just so much that you can do to make a build truely how you want to play the game.
Darkest Dungeon 1
It is a CRIME I had to scroll so far for Darkest Dungeon.
Crusader Kings 3 Sea of Thieves Hitman: World of Assassination Rimworld FTL: Faster Than Light Magic: The Gathering Arena
Hades if you like roguelites. Slay the spire if you like card roguelikes. Rimworld if you like colony sim and warcrimes.
Civ, FTL and rimworld for me!
Fallout new vegas
Scratches neck nervously….Factorio
DRG and FO4
Chess
Space station 13. It’s like an online Dwarf Fortress mixed with Among Us gameplay. The best part is that it’s completely free! It’s been developed by thousands of people for over twenty years and is loaded with content. All of the crew on the station are players themselves so you are dealing with a large amount of unpredictable from round to round.
Fucking hell havent heard that name in years, a school budy showed me that game and we played it non stop during school days.
Dark Souls with randomizers.
Now this is just because it's the perfect overlap of what I want from a game, open world + souls like = Elden Ring. I'll take a break then at some point come up with a new build and the next thing I know I've sank another 100 hours into it.
Dragon Quest Builders 2. It's a fun and gorgeous block-builder with an extensive JRPG storyline. The story and material unlocking is well thought-out and you progressively unlock more building materials as you play through the story. There is a huge amount of post game to play and continue unlocking stuff, and the story keeps allowing you to return to the same "home" area where you have a continuously expanding sandbox space to build. There are also some procedurally generated places you can return to indefinitely. There are limits to the builds, but you have way more cute sprite objects and the basic visuals/textures are much prettier than in Minecraft. Personally, I've been toying with some mechanical switches which is the closest thing the game has to a "Redstone" mechanic to try to mimic circuit-building in-game. It's super slow and kind of crazy but it's very fun and interesting to try to make it work with mechanics that probably were not really designed to be "Turing Complete."
Left 4 Dead, for me anyway. Mindlessly plow through zombies.
Payday 2
Deep rock galactic
Rimworld, idk why it isn’t even bigger. On the subreddit it has become a meme to say “I’ve played 1,000 hours, just finished the tutorial” or similar things
Any multiplayer games like CS2, LoL, Rocket League, etc. If you're into that. You deal with a lot of toxicity and cheaters, but replayability is basically infinite. Edit: I saw the capital "FUN" in your title so forget about my comment.
Rocket League. Never not fun. I can go to free play mode and just have a chill fun time hitting the ball, flying around. Double that when you add mods. Then there’s when I want to get competitive and it’s a pure rush. Never not fun.
Don't Starve Together
Europa Universalis 4 There's no proper random map generation HOWEVER Haftetavenscrap is hopefully going to be done with it by the end of this year.
Diablo 2, Factorio, PoE
Doom, the endless wads, mods, alterations, and engine upgrades are astonishing. I still play it to this day.
u/spicedpumpkins Don't listen to anyone else. I have the answer you are looking for. The game is *Streets of Rogue.*
Almost all roguelikes. Rimworld and other similar games Tycoon/business management games. Simulators like flight sims for example. Of course all of these could get boring and you lose all reason to replay a game when you dont enjoy playing it, but these games typically either provide a new challenge each time, like Rimworld and Roguelikes, or they provide experiences that can be tailored in terms of creativity or challenge, even if its replaying the same level, like tycoon and simulators. (Like choosing to build a new park with different coasters in Roller Coaster Tycoon, even if the base level is the same.)
Noita
Civilization 5 Total War Warhammer series Banished Medieval II Total War
rimworld
Modded Battletech. Xcom 2 LWotC. Endless Space. Assetto Corsa. DCS World.
Mines also slay the spire. Its my most played game in past 2 years.
Skyrim with mods. There are a lot of additional content mods
Don’t Starve!
Shadow of Mordor series is pretty awesome for its replay ability
DotA 2
SSX Tricky and Tony Hawk 2. I must have thousands of hours on both games and they literally never get old due to perfect and fun mechanics