Top 10 Most Addictive Video Games of All Time

Its inception and legacy are profound, yet its mechanics are so, so simple. Its fundamental design has never truly changed in spite of countless re-imaginings, yet it remains as popular as ever. Tetris is a titan all these years later; a game that is both zen yet anxiety ridden as you attempt to continuously create horizontal lines of blocks. Thanks to the likes of Tetris 99 and Tetris Effect keeping things fresh, we have no doubt that Alexey Pajitnov’s masterpiece will continue to lure in new generations!

Given that the creator has hands-on experience in the gambling industry, is it any wonder he was able to craft an indie darling that essentially took over the gaming sphere overnight? Vampire Survivors is as simple a roguelike as you can get – last as long as you can and take down as many enemies as possible. And yet, thanks to the seemingly endless amount of unlockables, variety of power-ups that can be fused and upgraded for build variety, along with the thrill of ripping through an obscene amount of monsters on the screen at once, it achieves a level of beautiful complexity that has us going back again and again.

Remember when this made headlines? Yes, Pokemon Go went above and beyond what previous games had accomplished, purely by the fact that it was a mobile game that put players in the role of Pokemon Trainers…wherein they had to venture into the world and physically go hunting for their very own pocket monsters. When you have die-hard fans wandering into sealed off areas, into traffic and even roaming in hordes for the chance of snagging a rare Pokemon, it’s fair to say that your product is a little too immersive.

Love it or hate it, the impact (and stranglehold) Fortnite has over the modern gaming scene cannot be understated. Starting off as just another battle royale, the explosion of popularity has allowed it to spread its wings with a cosmopolitan collection of skins, cameos and features. While it’s mostly associated as THE game played by a young demographic, the additions of Fortnite Creative, Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing and Fortnite Festival has ensured that older audiences have clamored back to the fold time and time again. Yeah, Fortnite isn’t going anywhere in a hurry.

In terms of FPS multiplayers with an unrelenting fanbase, there are few that can top the likes of CS, especially if we’re talking about the monumental success of its fourth mainline entry Global Offensive. While somewhat notorious for its toxic reputation, a thriving e-sports scene and continual updates has ensured Valve's continued domination within the genre, especially now with the gargantuan update that was Counter-Strike 2. Whether you’re on the hunt for glory or just wanting to mess around with your friends as the best counter-terrorism squad you can be, the “one more game” mentality hits particularly hard here.

Just how much content can one RPG give us? If you’re BG3, apparently an endless quantity. The depth, creativity and replayability of this fantasy-fest cannot be understated. Want to play your dream Dungeons and Dragons campaign solo or with a group of friends? Want to play as purely Lawful or Chaotic, or the most morally gray character you can imagine? Do you have the rizz levels and luck to earn the affection of your chosen romance? And that’s not even getting into the countless builds, backstories and customisation options available to you. All that alone would easily warrant hundreds of hours of game time, but that wasn’t enough for Larian, who have since added mod compatibility. Now there really is no end to the content…

It’s not easy to let go of power once you’ve got a taste for it, so you can see why so many have continued to return to playing the Sims and its various sequels and spin-offs over the years. After all, what’s more powerful than playing God in the lives of a family you’ve created from scratch? Plan out their lives, develop their standards of living, build generations upon generations while earning enough green to customize your dream home. Or you can be a complete psycho and burn everything to the ground. With absolute freedom to fool around with whatever parts of this sandbox as you see fit, is it any wonder EA keeps bringing out those crazily priced DLCs?

From humble beginnings of exploring a procedurally generated world, trying to survive creepers, and crafting your dream locale with materials you had scavenged, all the way to a juggernaut with more player-custom experiences that we can fathom, Minecraft held a monopoly of the medium for well over a decade, and even now still inspires the imagination of its players. The cubic constructs that fans were able to craft, the worlds, sights and situations they thought of – it remains somewhat spellbinding. And while the fire may have gone out for some, we guarantee it wouldn’t take much to bring others back into a fresh spark for many.

You can’t discuss landmark games without bringing up WoW. For all its later failings courtesy of Blizzard’s mishandling, back in its prime, you didn’t visit Azeroth for just a couple of hours. Once you entered its world, you were committed. Gamers could lose themselves to days on end exploring its expansive world, pushing to get their character to its highest level, and that’s all before behemoth expansions such as Wrath of the Lich King came along and enticed fans to spend even more days under its rich canopy. This was the definition of hardcore gaming back in the early 2000s.

There’s no doubt that GTA 6 is going to be big, maybe beyond whatever anyone can expect. But even by those impossible standards we doubt they can replicate what GTA5 and especially what GTA Online has accomplished over the last decade. By this point GTA 5 isn’t just a fun experience with a popular online counterpart, it’s a way of life! There’s already plenty to do across its solo campaign, but thanks to GTA Online acting as a streamlined MMO where players can run rampant in various heists, contact missions and all other kinds of custom content, players have been indulging in Los Santos nonstop for over ten years now without fail. Calling it Grand Theft Addiction wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

Which game keeps calling you back? Let us know in the comments.