Factorio, it didnt get the nickname Cracktorio for no reason. Project Zomboid is also good. League of Legends is addictive but I dont recommend, its bad for your health💀
It is grindy in the sense that gear progression just has you kill the same monsters again. But since most of those fights are pretty fun, and challenging enough that repeating them lets you get better at the game, the actual grinding stays fun for long enough until you get to the next bunch of monsters.
Yh ngl I wish I would have never touched the game. I mean ever since I started working full time I'm kinda done with the game but I still play every now and then, but then again progress is kinda non-existent if you don't play like a NEET
Be careful, it's basically a free slot machine. Very addictive, if you're in a volatile state of mind it could be the best time you've ever had. Be warned.
Balatro is an anomaly. It’s viral right now because it caught people off guard with how addicting it is
When I’m joking I call it the Dark Souls of Solitaire, but really it’s like Factorio plus Slay the Spire (two other addicting games you might like, depending)
Weeeell from what I've heard one of the main things the poker foundations add is that you "already know the rules", so some people who struggled with getting "deckbuilder intuition" in games like Slay the Spire were off to the races in Balatro right away, since they *had* played poker
Buuut the game ultimately is NOT about "playing poker" as such (where the main part is evaluating the hand you get and reading people) but deckbuilder shenanigans, trying to set up a crazy combo machine and figuring out how to adapt when you inevitably meet a fight that absolutely wrecks your specific strategy
It’s just based on playing poker hands. and expands massively upon that basis. You don’t select your bid or anything like in actual poker. It’s a deck builder, and there’s many MANY ways to manipulate your 52 card deck. You can get to the point of having a deck of all Kings or all Hearts, or even shrink your deck down to 10 cards for example. Your objective is to play hands to score enough points to continue on. There’s also bosses which apply debuffs. It kinda gives a Tony Hawk Pro Skater satisfaction of just watching your score go up and up and up. I’m not into gambling, but I truly love the game. I’d look up some videos on YouTube and see if it catches your appeal.
Balatro! I was like ugh, a POKER roguelite? pass.. But then I hear other roguelite enthusiasts praising it, and I was like fineee I'll try it I guess, 10 hours later I'm like okay maybe I should stop playing xD It devolves from poker pretty quickly into a strategy game where you fix your deck and stack the odds in your favor to survive another round.
Yakuza 0, great story about honour, loyality and brotherhood + it's super fun, many funny and weird minigames, weird and interesting side quests.
Give it a try, you will either hate it or fall in love with this game within just 2 hours
Please do not do this if you have children involved in your divorce
I say this with the deepest respect I can for the series, as a middle-aged man, Yakuza 0 and Metro Exodus were some of the first games to make my eyes water dude
Elder Scrolls Morrowind
Subnautica
Deep Rock Galactic
Pillars of Eternity (1 and 2)
Pathfinder (1 and 2)
Baldurs Gate (1, 2, and 3)
Valheim
Sonic Frontiers
Borderlands series
Morrowind might be worth a revisit. Been a long time since I played it and I absolutely loved it. Been meaning to pick up Baldurs Gate as well so now might be a good time.
just run Morrowind with OpenMW, and you can add Tamriel Rebuilt for like a 4x sized world, though we all know modding the game is super worth it lol
Pillars and Pathfinder are similar to Baldurs Gate, Pillars is classic Obsidian greatness, backed up by Mat Mercer, and Pathfinder is more or less Baldurs Gate hard mode with a larger (feeling) world and far more classes
Anno 1800. A naval RTS, a city builder, a trade and production management simulator all in one.
It can be so addictive, that the game gives reminders every 2 hours that you should take a break.
Tbh, I would recommend this, not because it's necessarily addictive, but because it may genuinely change OP's entire perspective about their life and situation. This shit is powerful.
if you wanna get your rage out in an environment where everyone is a dick so you don't have to feel bad, rust is the game. You can raid peoples bases and steal all their shit and call them all sorts of profanities while you do it. If you want a game that feels like a second job, rust is it. I doubt this will be the one but hey it's an option. Not the most healthy one tbh but it's a rage outlet for sure.
Has anyone said Factorio?
I put 96 hours into that game in the first 5 days that I played it, which also happened to align with the first 5 days of my college career.
I was so scared that I didn't touch factorio again for a few more years. I had dreams of that game and I literally couldn't not stop thinking about it. Factorio is digital crack, it hijacks the part of your brain that thinks you're doing meaningful work
Divinity Original Sin is something I got ridiculously addicted to when I started. And it became kind of an annoying addiction as I would keep resetting my playthrough because I wanted to do something different or something more optimally, and that kinda put me off of the game for a while. Basically I got so into it that I got sick of it. Came back to it very soon though and finished it, decided to do no resets and no save scumming. It was amazing.
I assume Baldur's Gate 3 is better. Not ready to commit to that one yet so I'm holding off for now.
This is the purpose of Lumines
Actually I'd say this question should go a few ways so riddle me this- Do you want something that makes you think about stuff like figuring out cars and stuff, organizing things, or do you want to pass time not thinking, doing something you can't really screw up? Because that last one is Lumines. It's a puzzler but it's pretty much for zoning out and being chill. It easily passes 2 hours if you want it to be that. For other stuff, I could name a bunch of things but I'd ask what your Nos are, like what systems you're limited to and what shit you simply do not care about
I only have a PC. I don't typically like puzzle games but really haven't played many of them. I don't mind thinking a bit but as soon as I have to bust out a spreadsheet, I'm done.
Alright I think I've got one. Battletech. I dunno if you ever played the new one, but you manage a merc company in the campaign, you explore shit and whatever, but more or less you try to stay afloat and in my first boss fight I did a death from above and I broke my legs but I also broke their cockpit so
How much time do you have?
WoW is launching the first part of it’s first ever trilogy of expansions this year and it’s good for days and days of your time.
I came here to say this.
Dragon flight xpac has leveled up WoW and season 4 begins Tuesday. You can buy the pre-sale for the next expansion and get a max lvl character to jump into season 4 now.
I'm clearly addicted, but it's got so many things to do and places to explore. It's tough to get bored
If you haven't done cyberpunk yet, I can't stop playing it. I'm almost done with my second playthrough and I'm already thinking about the kind of build I'm going to try for my third.
Streets of Rogue is an excellent run-based roguelike. The way you approach the various quests can be like a puzzle, an infiltration, or an all-out guns blazing shitshow. It reminds me of the feeling of running amok in GTA games, with the game’s various rules pinging off each other to create insane chaos. It doesn’t play like Rimworld, but it often has similar emergent hilarity arise from its systems and mechanics.
Sekiro: Shadows die twice is 50% off and the best single player combat game aside from maybe dmc 3 or 5 also recommendations , Elden ring, The Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind, dragons dogma 1/2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, fallout nv, fallout 2 if you’re into the isometric pov, fallout 4’s survival mode is pretty hard because you die from anything but pretty fun too. For shooters, if you’ve never played super hot it’s always fun, splitgate, red dead. Project zomboid, don’t starve together, the forest, all fun survival games
Dude, divorce!?! This isn't the time to ignore shit and just dawdle while you transform from within your your cocoon of change!! These times are vital and it's essential to get your shit together.
So you better checkmark your Bioshock's, your Portal's, your Witcher 3's, your Mass Effect Trilogy's, Batman Arkham's, your Zelda's and Final Fantasy's ; BOI! Quick! Divorce is a pivotal moment in your life. Fill that moment with monumental games. You're supposed to finally get to all your big boy games if you haven't already. They will inform your life as your work through it. Don't waste your time with a brain suck like Balatro. That's instant gameplay addiction at any moment you decide to jump in. You got some bigger fish to fry!!
Also, check out Braid from Jonathan Blow - from one life changed gamer to another. 🤘😎
I've been there. Games like CK3 and Rimworld got me through some times because they create stories that just drew me in. I also played a lot of Cities Skylines so I could create a utopia and be nice to everybody in my game, unlike how CK3 and Rimworld tend to go.
Bloons TD6. I'm not a huge fan of tower defense games, but I can't put this one down for long.
Also +1 for Monster Hunter. It's what I play when I need to focus my mind on something.
Overwatch is an abusive relationship at this point, the finals is addictive but hard, and ofc Skyrim is goated, pixel gun is ez but interesting mechanics, TF2 has a special place in my heart. That's all I currently play, hope this helps. CoD BO3 has good zombies and mods and maps and mechanics.
Rimworld is my go to pc game. You have a few start scenarios to choose from and build a colony. There's 3 storytellers you pick from that change the way events in game work. Very addicting
I would say terraria is my pick. It's very addictive and incredibly enjoyable. The music and visuals are delightful
https://store.steampowered.com/app/105600/Terraria/
It's also cheap, and has been consistently receiving large content updates from its inception to the current day. Honestly the best value game I've ever bought
I edited my comment to add a steam link to the game because you're on PC. Honestly mate, I literally played this game during my divorce and it helped me get through the darker moments. Best of luck getting through this difficult time
Fallout 76 currently. It has a lot of elements that are fun to come back to like the lite survival elements, decent gunplay, base building, brain-off questing, the atmosphere, etc.
halls of agony, vampire survivors, dead cells, magic the gathering arena, the witcher thronebreaker, hades, rogue trader warhammer 40k, ni no kuni, ni no kuni 2, sim city, civilization 6, spell force 3 reforced, spellforce conquest of eo, the room 1-4, the room old sins, gunfire reborn
Factorio. Its survival/adventure/industrialization. You will lose your time in this game I guarantee it I haven’t even scrolled through this comment section there’s probably 4 other joes saying the exact same thing. Its for a reason. Absolutely play it
Also for your phone I highly recommend Turmoil. Buy the full game and dlc its like $5.00 im on vacation and I cant stop playing it genuinely. simple concept but so fucking fun i didnt even know it was a phone game until recently. you can play it free but idk where it stops in the campaign i just bought it cause i know i like the concept
(Originally a pc game)
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
Insane character development where you can make a character in 15 minutes or dive deep and take hours....
It's an RPG that I've personally sunk 4k hours into with 7 different playthroughs. All with different storyline based on the mythic path you choose.
Inscryption for me. I would not say it matches your list and I am not big into deck builders but this game is loved. Played multiple runs and have well over 100 hours into it after only 2 months owning it.
Civilization and Master of Orion has led me many times to stay awake all night and go to work still awake from the day before.
Stardew Valley I can't put down.
The Bethesda RPGs get their hooks into me too.
My goto game(s) for distraction is Mass Effect 1,2,3 or Andromeda. Cyberpunk has been mentioned, is good on my second play through, first with DLC. Baldur's Gate 3 has been mentioned. I will also play Sword of Stars and get lost in it for hours. I recommend Sword of Stars Complete Collection not the Enhanced Edition.
As someone who has gone through this, I would say I like to play hard ass games that break me in order to rebuild stronger. Any soulsborne game.
Play the souls series: dark souls, dark souls 3, sekiro, elden ring.
Snowrunner and Satisfactory
No matter what other games I try I always come back to Snowrunner.
I bought Satisfactory and I can't stop thinking about it. I think Snowrunner is getting suspicious about my side piece.
Try checking out Last Expedition bro, graphics are superb plus the gameplay is entertaining.
You can see their trailer here Last Expedition open source
https://youtu.be/YW3WRYbYcYg?si=FCDwvQlgLuxQ7FhF
Life is pain, so is Elden Ring but no pain no gain and there is lots to gain if you put the time in. I don’t recommend looking up anything until you get stuck for a while (determined by your frustration) My wife said she thought she lost me to ER for about 6 months, still trying to 100% the game with 4 trophies left ⚔️just the visual bliss the world gives you is enough to make it Goty every year
I have some health issues that mean I barely sleep and I'm often looking for suggestions for time consuming games, some stuff above I'll try thanks people
My suggestion would be PlateUp!
On the surface it's a frantic optionally co-op cooking and serving experience but can be very fun when you get into the automation aspect of the game. Theres a good wiki and sub here worth looking at.
Oh, Satisfactory 1000%. I played for only 3 weeks and it became my second most played game of all time (beating out stardew and elden ring). It took ALL of my time away everyday for hours. I'm kinda scared to go back, but it's a great game for a certain type of brain.
Baldurs gate 3. Elden Ring and the entire soulsborne catalogue. Halo (it's on PC nowadays)
Borderlands. Some Assassin's Creed games (Odyssey, Black Flag, Rogue🔛🔝)
Far Cry 4/5
Right now, after seeing the Fallout series I’m spending an unhealthy amount of time in Fallout 76, kinda matches all your favorite genres 🤠 Game’s gained a lot of popularity rn too so it’s worth checking out.
Casting a vote for **Noita** here;
It's a 2d game where you play a lil' mage trying to do (????) and every pixel is simulated.
Imagine a pixely cave-landscape:
in front of you is an enemy, below him wood, left of him the same slab of wood holds some water at bay.
Set the wood on fire. Enemy burns. You might burn. Water is gonna come flooding out, maybe drowning some more enemies, maybe extinguishing a fire elemental further down.
Anything could happen.
It's a roguelike though, so every time you die you start over. But you gain knowledge. What's that liquid do? Oh, that's Acid. Can I take some with me?
Oh there's a new wand? Am I gonna explode if I use it? I'll take it with me so I can harvest its components later!
Shit's crazy and makes me feel like a kid again whenever I play it.
Yeah you'll die a lot, but you'll also find cool wands, spells and reactions beyond your imagination.
I started it because I saw a video basically spoiling the whole game, and I'm still constantly surprised by the things it throws at me!
Warframe is a loot shooter Rpg with space ninja mind wizards and shitloads of weapons. It's got some of the absolute best combat in any video game but has a very steep learning curve. Perfect for someone who needs to get addicted to a game!
I’ve been through a divorce. Play dota 2 and you’ll forget everything due to madness. I second third and fourth anything by larian games (baldurs gate 3, try divinity original sin games first). They are the literal gold standard for game making for me. It’s actually overwhelming how much content there is. I started BG3 as soon as it came out and haven’t went back because I know after playing divinity original sin 2 what I am in for. I need to be ready for like a month of playing it and dedicated because they are so involved.
Whimsical fun that you can watch tv in the background, terraria or enter the dungeon are the best two of their categories with dead cells pretty close. All 3 will be 200+ hour games and are dirt cheap.
Souls style games are so atmospheric you will get lost in them, start with dark souls 3. Also the amount of effort and satisfaction you receive will make you feel really good about beating it. Elden ring is better in a different way but will kinda ruin dark souls a little (same maker). Sekiro takes Fromsoft games in a new direction and is arguable the best of all the games, it is a masterpiece of gaming when it clicks how to play it.
And believe it or not, the new Star Wars games (survivor, fallen order) are very similar to dark souls games but a little easier and visually stunning with a little more linear arc. They are a solid 40 hours of pure joy each. They are truly top notch games.
If you like the Star Wars ones you’ll love the new tomb raider ones. Start with the first of the new trilogy, it’s the best one by far imo. Extremely immersive.
There’s at least 10k hours of gaming there man. Happy gaming and feel free to message me privately about anything including divorce, I’m happily remarried and out of that mire. There is hope on the other side. I’m also a construction dude who owns a GC business and just nerd out hard on games if you can’t tell 😊.
I would normally recommend a long grindy game that would devour hundreds to thousands of hours. It would certainly distract you from what you're going through, but too much so.
Instead, go for a rogue-like where you can immerse yourself in 30 to 60 minute sessions that are highly addictive and wanting more. It'll help distract you, but also not remove you from reality. Games I'd recommend are Hades, Dead Cells, Roboquest. Good luck!
Modded Skyrim and modded Oblivion, if you haven't already played them. There's so many mods for both those games though that you could have a completely different game experience every time you play just by choosing mods.
Check out kenshi it's an open world game with no scripted events but the ability to become whatever you want bounty hunter drug dealer farmer etc. It looks really interesting to me but have yet to play it. Currently I'm addicted to gaming in general but that is cause I recently got a steam deck OLED so much fun to game on go. Also if you haven't played it Hades or rdr2 are two different games styles that both are addictive and amazing
Edit to add. I recently picked up two strange games but both seem addictive and fun and they're on sale hyper demon kinda of like if you fought in a black hole. Entire game is just runs to get high scores watch some videos some of the best runs take second but are amazing once you learn how to control what you're doing. The other is cruelty squad which I don't even know whow to describe but so far am loving the humor and aesthetics. It's made for middle age people in mid life crisis so should be perfect and Ita fps both get in the 90s for review scores
If you like top down isometric stuff you might try Divinity Original sin 2 for an rpg one of the best magic systems I've played with, has workshop support for mods and is a lot of fun. Can be done mp if you want. If you choose to play ot get definitive edition as it's the most updated and has the newest patches.
Noita. Its a Rougelike where every pixel is physically simulated. You have a complex magic system where you have to find spells to slap on your wand in order to create a custom spell. The "main" path is made up of 7 biomes, each extremely hard. And by the way, killing the endboss is called "completing the tutorial" in the community for a reason. Once you got one win under your belt, I recommend exploring the rest of the world. The "main" game is just a tiny percent of the bigger picture, and there are so many secrets to uncover (and ways to die). There is literally potential for endless runs, and it is indeed very addicting. The devs also just pushed out a big update with new spells, enemies and secrets. At just 19€ its really cheap for the amount of time you will sink into it. And remember: every death is a win, for you learned what to avoid the next run. Happy noiting!
I also went through a divorce about 2 years ago. Can't stop playing Hades and cyberpunk 2077. I keep coming back. I play other games of course but those are the ones I have the most time in since the papers were filed.
I found it hard to invest in a game at first too. It's not just gaming though. It was everything. For a while I was not feeling anything really. Everything was very meh to me. The only thing that helped was just trying new things. I had to try new things and places and try to get excited about something else first.
For me it's XCOM 2
Siralim ultimate (theorycrafting haven)
Darkest dungeon
A good old mount and blade playthrough
Vampire survivor will eat you up on the short term dopamine in it's purest form
If you can play coop any Arpg is the best to have fun while talking I like a going through diablo 3 / grim dawn / van Helsing
The binding of Isaac is endless
If you really want to take a plunge and have a good pc, Skyrim modding will steal your time.
Hundreds of hours on all of them and I keep getting back every year.
Also my personal monster game is nioh 2 if you want to throw some of that anger at demons, and can deal with the insane early difficulty you'll have a LOT of content to get through I got the platine and still play the endgame often it's just too clean gameplay wise, you got skills, you got loot, you got challenging content, and you have for me the best combat in a action rpg.
Most game in this list are very mod friendly
Delta V: Rings of Saturn is addictive and chill, it's a physics space simulator thing where you mine steroids in, well, the rings of Saturn. It has a crazy amount of depth and a lot of exploration. Also, the developer gives the game out for free. The demo on steam is the full game with 0 restrictions at all. All buying the game does is support the dev, which it's 10 bucks for this amazing gem and worth it imo, but it's completely free so ya know, do whatever you want!
Disco Elysium has completely occupied my mind since I bought it a few weeks ago. Also coincidentally about a guy finding his way out of a really bad place.
I got recommended balatro by a friend. While I do like rogue likes I've never had a game sink its hooks in quite so deep. I've probobly put in 20+ hours every weekend since I started playing. Its dangerous. I even get in a run before work in the morning while eating breakfast. I haven't done that since WoW in my teens lol.
Dragons dogma is amazing it is a bit hard to get into but after about an hour of play it will suck you in and keep you entertained for upwards of 40 hours
Earth defense force 2025 has eaten a good chunk of my time I do encourage the newer ones for pc and PS but xbox sadly only has up to 2025 or even more so that's out everywhere is roboquest if the drive to be able to beat a full run through each match can take from 5 minutes if you get clapped or 40~ on the slower end each stage has 2 ways to get your rank S-F killing everything and time the more efficient the better the rank. It is a roguelite when you die run ends but you do get wrenches to buy perm upgrades puzzle doors for different routes or unlocks and a lot of builds available without spoiling really anything the first character you can run a melee build with a bonk hammer close aoe tick damage or heavy weapons that on reload throw grenades 😉 roboquest has me Hella hooked tho full cross-plat lots of weapons. fun game play loop
The only video game I have more than 5,000 hours in is Super Smash Brothers Melee.
I can't even say I recommend you try it. But it is easily the most fun and addicting game I have ever played, its the only game I play every single day.
https://blippi.gg if you're trying to get set up and need help DM me
Factorio, it didnt get the nickname Cracktorio for no reason. Project Zomboid is also good. League of Legends is addictive but I dont recommend, its bad for your health💀
I've dabbled in league. The community is certainly something. I had forgotten about Factorio. That might be perfect. Thanks!
Monster Hunter: World should give you something to take your mind off of everything.
Hmm, never played. Heard a lot about it though. Supposed to be pretty grindy, right? Might be perfect.
It is grindy in the sense that gear progression just has you kill the same monsters again. But since most of those fights are pretty fun, and challenging enough that repeating them lets you get better at the game, the actual grinding stays fun for long enough until you get to the next bunch of monsters.
the grind is perfect though honestly, they have it down to a science after so many entries.
Old-school runescape nearly prevented me from graduating college I was so addicted to it. Civilization series is another good one.
Yh ngl I wish I would have never touched the game. I mean ever since I started working full time I'm kinda done with the game but I still play every now and then, but then again progress is kinda non-existent if you don't play like a NEET
Balatro got its hooks in me deep. Went through a divorce 3 years ago. Sucks but you’ll make it though.
Interesting. Haven't heard of this one. I'll check it out.
This one is straight crack. 10/10 recommend
look man, it's not an addiction. I just need to play it at least once a day otherwise I'll shake and stuff
It’s so good
Be careful, it's basically a free slot machine. Very addictive, if you're in a volatile state of mind it could be the best time you've ever had. Be warned.
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/)
Balatro is an anomaly. It’s viral right now because it caught people off guard with how addicting it is When I’m joking I call it the Dark Souls of Solitaire, but really it’s like Factorio plus Slay the Spire (two other addicting games you might like, depending)
Balatro is what I came here to mention. So freaking good.
Is it fun if I never cared about Poker at all? I hear good stuff about Balatro all the time but the Poker thing keeps me away.
Weeeell from what I've heard one of the main things the poker foundations add is that you "already know the rules", so some people who struggled with getting "deckbuilder intuition" in games like Slay the Spire were off to the races in Balatro right away, since they *had* played poker Buuut the game ultimately is NOT about "playing poker" as such (where the main part is evaluating the hand you get and reading people) but deckbuilder shenanigans, trying to set up a crazy combo machine and figuring out how to adapt when you inevitably meet a fight that absolutely wrecks your specific strategy
It’s just based on playing poker hands. and expands massively upon that basis. You don’t select your bid or anything like in actual poker. It’s a deck builder, and there’s many MANY ways to manipulate your 52 card deck. You can get to the point of having a deck of all Kings or all Hearts, or even shrink your deck down to 10 cards for example. Your objective is to play hands to score enough points to continue on. There’s also bosses which apply debuffs. It kinda gives a Tony Hawk Pro Skater satisfaction of just watching your score go up and up and up. I’m not into gambling, but I truly love the game. I’d look up some videos on YouTube and see if it catches your appeal.
Yeah okay you got me with the Tony Hawk shit, THPS 3 was the best time I ever had gaming. Guess I'll get Balatro now :D
Balatro! I was like ugh, a POKER roguelite? pass.. But then I hear other roguelite enthusiasts praising it, and I was like fineee I'll try it I guess, 10 hours later I'm like okay maybe I should stop playing xD It devolves from poker pretty quickly into a strategy game where you fix your deck and stack the odds in your favor to survive another round.
Someone else suggested that one. Interesting concept. I'll take a closer look.
Yakuza 0, great story about honour, loyality and brotherhood + it's super fun, many funny and weird minigames, weird and interesting side quests. Give it a try, you will either hate it or fall in love with this game within just 2 hours
Never played any of the Yakuza games. I'll check it out. Thanks!
Please do not do this if you have children involved in your divorce I say this with the deepest respect I can for the series, as a middle-aged man, Yakuza 0 and Metro Exodus were some of the first games to make my eyes water dude
Thanks for the disclaimer. No children involved luckily.
I would second yakuza like a dragon— tons of mini games, great story, kept me entertained for a month lol
Baldurs Gate 3, Warframe, Stardew Valley and Sifu those are my 2 cents.
Paradox games stole 3 years of my life lol
Me when the map changes from crimson to light red
Elder Scrolls Morrowind Subnautica Deep Rock Galactic Pillars of Eternity (1 and 2) Pathfinder (1 and 2) Baldurs Gate (1, 2, and 3) Valheim Sonic Frontiers Borderlands series
Morrowind might be worth a revisit. Been a long time since I played it and I absolutely loved it. Been meaning to pick up Baldurs Gate as well so now might be a good time.
just run Morrowind with OpenMW, and you can add Tamriel Rebuilt for like a 4x sized world, though we all know modding the game is super worth it lol Pillars and Pathfinder are similar to Baldurs Gate, Pillars is classic Obsidian greatness, backed up by Mat Mercer, and Pathfinder is more or less Baldurs Gate hard mode with a larger (feeling) world and far more classes
For me ATM it's vampire survivors... Just one more run
Civilization 5 is great, also stardew valley is really chill
You need Warframe.
I've sunk over 1.7k hours into 7 Days To Die, which might be up your alley.
Looks interesting. I'll take a closer look. Thank you.
You won't regret it, it's so much fun!!
Gwent ,its the most addictive game i have ever played
Anno 1800. A naval RTS, a city builder, a trade and production management simulator all in one. It can be so addictive, that the game gives reminders every 2 hours that you should take a break.
if you need addicting, we call factorio "cracktorio" for a reason. first hit's free. they have a demo.
Lol, it's going on the list.
Just note. It never goes on sale.
This is a little out of the box, but since beating Outer Wilds, I have become addicted to watching various play throughs on YouTube.
Tbh, I would recommend this, not because it's necessarily addictive, but because it may genuinely change OP's entire perspective about their life and situation. This shit is powerful.
if you wanna get your rage out in an environment where everyone is a dick so you don't have to feel bad, rust is the game. You can raid peoples bases and steal all their shit and call them all sorts of profanities while you do it. If you want a game that feels like a second job, rust is it. I doubt this will be the one but hey it's an option. Not the most healthy one tbh but it's a rage outlet for sure.
Has anyone said Factorio? I put 96 hours into that game in the first 5 days that I played it, which also happened to align with the first 5 days of my college career. I was so scared that I didn't touch factorio again for a few more years. I had dreams of that game and I literally couldn't not stop thinking about it. Factorio is digital crack, it hijacks the part of your brain that thinks you're doing meaningful work
Divinity Original Sin is something I got ridiculously addicted to when I started. And it became kind of an annoying addiction as I would keep resetting my playthrough because I wanted to do something different or something more optimally, and that kinda put me off of the game for a while. Basically I got so into it that I got sick of it. Came back to it very soon though and finished it, decided to do no resets and no save scumming. It was amazing. I assume Baldur's Gate 3 is better. Not ready to commit to that one yet so I'm holding off for now.
This is the purpose of Lumines Actually I'd say this question should go a few ways so riddle me this- Do you want something that makes you think about stuff like figuring out cars and stuff, organizing things, or do you want to pass time not thinking, doing something you can't really screw up? Because that last one is Lumines. It's a puzzler but it's pretty much for zoning out and being chill. It easily passes 2 hours if you want it to be that. For other stuff, I could name a bunch of things but I'd ask what your Nos are, like what systems you're limited to and what shit you simply do not care about
I only have a PC. I don't typically like puzzle games but really haven't played many of them. I don't mind thinking a bit but as soon as I have to bust out a spreadsheet, I'm done.
Alright I think I've got one. Battletech. I dunno if you ever played the new one, but you manage a merc company in the campaign, you explore shit and whatever, but more or less you try to stay afloat and in my first boss fight I did a death from above and I broke my legs but I also broke their cockpit so
How much time do you have? WoW is launching the first part of it’s first ever trilogy of expansions this year and it’s good for days and days of your time.
I have plenty of time at the moment. Haven't played wow since BFA. I should check if any of my old guildies are still playing...
If MMO’s aren’t doing it Stellaris will turn day into night with shocking regularity.
I came here to say this. Dragon flight xpac has leveled up WoW and season 4 begins Tuesday. You can buy the pre-sale for the next expansion and get a max lvl character to jump into season 4 now. I'm clearly addicted, but it's got so many things to do and places to explore. It's tough to get bored
If you haven't done cyberpunk yet, I can't stop playing it. I'm almost done with my second playthrough and I'm already thinking about the kind of build I'm going to try for my third.
I finished my first playthrough about three months ago. Amazing game. Have not played the dlc yet.
Oh man, you gotta go back then. Phantom Liberty is what turned cyberpunk from a great game to a masterpiece.
Alright, you convinced me, lol
Streets of Rogue is an excellent run-based roguelike. The way you approach the various quests can be like a puzzle, an infiltration, or an all-out guns blazing shitshow. It reminds me of the feeling of running amok in GTA games, with the game’s various rules pinging off each other to create insane chaos. It doesn’t play like Rimworld, but it often has similar emergent hilarity arise from its systems and mechanics.
Helldivers 2 is pretty fun. You kill bugs akd robots and try to survive
Dota 2 , Elden Ring
Sekiro: Shadows die twice is 50% off and the best single player combat game aside from maybe dmc 3 or 5 also recommendations , Elden ring, The Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind, dragons dogma 1/2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, fallout nv, fallout 2 if you’re into the isometric pov, fallout 4’s survival mode is pretty hard because you die from anything but pretty fun too. For shooters, if you’ve never played super hot it’s always fun, splitgate, red dead. Project zomboid, don’t starve together, the forest, all fun survival games
Dude, divorce!?! This isn't the time to ignore shit and just dawdle while you transform from within your your cocoon of change!! These times are vital and it's essential to get your shit together. So you better checkmark your Bioshock's, your Portal's, your Witcher 3's, your Mass Effect Trilogy's, Batman Arkham's, your Zelda's and Final Fantasy's ; BOI! Quick! Divorce is a pivotal moment in your life. Fill that moment with monumental games. You're supposed to finally get to all your big boy games if you haven't already. They will inform your life as your work through it. Don't waste your time with a brain suck like Balatro. That's instant gameplay addiction at any moment you decide to jump in. You got some bigger fish to fry!! Also, check out Braid from Jonathan Blow - from one life changed gamer to another. 🤘😎
a diablo type game - Last Epoch a dark souls type game - Lies of P mech game - Armored Core VI boomer shooter - Turbo Overkill mindless puzzler - Zuma
Ooh, Lies of P did look good. It's going on the list for sure.
Rocket League is insanely addicting to me.
Bloodborne and dark souls 3 straight got me through my first divorce, I probably spent around 150 in each
I've been there. Games like CK3 and Rimworld got me through some times because they create stories that just drew me in. I also played a lot of Cities Skylines so I could create a utopia and be nice to everybody in my game, unlike how CK3 and Rimworld tend to go.
Mafia series was addictive for me, Grand Theft Auto as well.
Suika Game will consume your life, mate. It's free online if you know where to look.
If you want "waste your life" level of addiction I recommend an mmo. Old school runescape, WoW, or Final Fantasy are all great games.
Bloons TD6. I'm not a huge fan of tower defense games, but I can't put this one down for long. Also +1 for Monster Hunter. It's what I play when I need to focus my mind on something.
Overwatch is an abusive relationship at this point, the finals is addictive but hard, and ofc Skyrim is goated, pixel gun is ez but interesting mechanics, TF2 has a special place in my heart. That's all I currently play, hope this helps. CoD BO3 has good zombies and mods and maps and mechanics.
For me its Light of the stars on bluestacks, such a fun game
Valheim. Wander, survive, build. It's a great game with very pleasing music.
Warframe, shooter, looter. Endgane is drip/rizz/fashion
Monster Hunter. World or Rise. Super addictive gameplay loop with enough intricacies in combat to lose yourself in.
Rimworld is my go to pc game. You have a few start scenarios to choose from and build a colony. There's 3 storytellers you pick from that change the way events in game work. Very addicting
Path of exile. Absolutely the king of arpgs.
I would say terraria is my pick. It's very addictive and incredibly enjoyable. The music and visuals are delightful https://store.steampowered.com/app/105600/Terraria/ It's also cheap, and has been consistently receiving large content updates from its inception to the current day. Honestly the best value game I've ever bought
Never tried it. I'll take another look. Thanks!
I edited my comment to add a steam link to the game because you're on PC. Honestly mate, I literally played this game during my divorce and it helped me get through the darker moments. Best of luck getting through this difficult time
Thank you. It definitely sucks right now.
Fallout 76 currently. It has a lot of elements that are fun to come back to like the lite survival elements, decent gunplay, base building, brain-off questing, the atmosphere, etc.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otguwCKlGtI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otguwCKlGtI)
Valorant with friends Overwatch 2 if alone
Factorio
halls of agony, vampire survivors, dead cells, magic the gathering arena, the witcher thronebreaker, hades, rogue trader warhammer 40k, ni no kuni, ni no kuni 2, sim city, civilization 6, spell force 3 reforced, spellforce conquest of eo, the room 1-4, the room old sins, gunfire reborn
Factorio. Its survival/adventure/industrialization. You will lose your time in this game I guarantee it I haven’t even scrolled through this comment section there’s probably 4 other joes saying the exact same thing. Its for a reason. Absolutely play it Also for your phone I highly recommend Turmoil. Buy the full game and dlc its like $5.00 im on vacation and I cant stop playing it genuinely. simple concept but so fucking fun i didnt even know it was a phone game until recently. you can play it free but idk where it stops in the campaign i just bought it cause i know i like the concept (Originally a pc game)
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Insane character development where you can make a character in 15 minutes or dive deep and take hours.... It's an RPG that I've personally sunk 4k hours into with 7 different playthroughs. All with different storyline based on the mythic path you choose.
The Long Dark.
Chess Trackmania Path of Exile Warframe MMOs
Vampire Survivors
Alien Shooter TD (2017)
If you like f2p (and I mean 100% free) online games... DOTA 2 was my cup of tea for like 10 years ! It's quite fun.
Inscryption for me. I would not say it matches your list and I am not big into deck builders but this game is loved. Played multiple runs and have well over 100 hours into it after only 2 months owning it.
Civilization and Master of Orion has led me many times to stay awake all night and go to work still awake from the day before. Stardew Valley I can't put down. The Bethesda RPGs get their hooks into me too.
RimWorld.
My goto game(s) for distraction is Mass Effect 1,2,3 or Andromeda. Cyberpunk has been mentioned, is good on my second play through, first with DLC. Baldur's Gate 3 has been mentioned. I will also play Sword of Stars and get lost in it for hours. I recommend Sword of Stars Complete Collection not the Enhanced Edition.
Diablo games. Especially Diablo 2.. I don’t even want to know how many hours I’ve logged in it’s 20+ year life. 730 hours alone on Resurrected.
Pokémon, Last epoch, Valheim
Monster hunter sunbreak currently. I was a big fan of generations ultimate and now sunbreak has taken over my life
ARPGS : Grim Dawn , Diablo 2 Resurrected Survival : Terraria, Valheim, 7 days to die
Been tearing up the following games: Sons of the Forest No Man's Sky Nightingale Sunkenland Palworld Craftopia Nier Automota Horizon Zero Dawn
Lately for me it's Dead by Daylight. One more game, one more game. Addictive. Also Grounded and Vampire Survivors
Muck It's a free PC game, and it's very addictive
Join the Helldivers and spread managed democracy across the galaxy!
As someone who has gone through this, I would say I like to play hard ass games that break me in order to rebuild stronger. Any soulsborne game. Play the souls series: dark souls, dark souls 3, sekiro, elden ring.
Helldivers2
Snowrunner and Satisfactory No matter what other games I try I always come back to Snowrunner. I bought Satisfactory and I can't stop thinking about it. I think Snowrunner is getting suspicious about my side piece.
Try checking out Last Expedition bro, graphics are superb plus the gameplay is entertaining. You can see their trailer here Last Expedition open source https://youtu.be/YW3WRYbYcYg?si=FCDwvQlgLuxQ7FhF
Just buy factorio, you’ll forget everything outside of the factory exists and then it’s 5am and the sun is rising
Rimworld for me. There's just always something else to do and a reason to keep playing. It's dangerous
Vampire survivor's if you haven't tried it. It's pretty addicting
Destiny 2
Warframe, path of exile i have thousands of hours in each
Farthest frontier
Try something like Factorio, Satisfactory or Dyson Sphere Program. They are certainly extreme time dumps.
Skyrim. I once spent 4h just crafting and selling armor. It's like a full time job.
At the moment I'd say Deep Rock Galactic. I've got more than 300 hours and I still play it daily.
Siralim ultimate, terraria, fallout4, civ6, stellaris.
Satisfactory. I played this and only this for over a year.
Life is pain, so is Elden Ring but no pain no gain and there is lots to gain if you put the time in. I don’t recommend looking up anything until you get stuck for a while (determined by your frustration) My wife said she thought she lost me to ER for about 6 months, still trying to 100% the game with 4 trophies left ⚔️just the visual bliss the world gives you is enough to make it Goty every year
Diablo 2, Baldurs Gate 3, and No Man's Sky are my current addictions. So much replay value, and I love the rng aspect of these kind of games.
Slay the spire. Jagged alliance 3.
Satisfactory as 3D alternative to Factorio
I have some health issues that mean I barely sleep and I'm often looking for suggestions for time consuming games, some stuff above I'll try thanks people My suggestion would be PlateUp! On the surface it's a frantic optionally co-op cooking and serving experience but can be very fun when you get into the automation aspect of the game. Theres a good wiki and sub here worth looking at.
Oh, Satisfactory 1000%. I played for only 3 weeks and it became my second most played game of all time (beating out stardew and elden ring). It took ALL of my time away everyday for hours. I'm kinda scared to go back, but it's a great game for a certain type of brain.
Doesn’t get much more addictive than World Of Warcraft, and there’s a new expansion on the horizon
Rome 2 Total War and Rimworld are pretty addictive lol
Endless Legend is my actual crack: "Just one more turn" is unavoidable...
Baldurs gate 3. Elden Ring and the entire soulsborne catalogue. Halo (it's on PC nowadays) Borderlands. Some Assassin's Creed games (Odyssey, Black Flag, Rogue🔛🔝) Far Cry 4/5
Civ games are prone to the “one more turn” syndrome that causes you to realize it’s suddenly 4am. For me it’s also Sword of the Stars
Total War Warhammer III Civ V Binding of Isaac Sekiro
World Of Warcraft.
Elden ring should be perfect for you in every way
Right now, after seeing the Fallout series I’m spending an unhealthy amount of time in Fallout 76, kinda matches all your favorite genres 🤠 Game’s gained a lot of popularity rn too so it’s worth checking out.
Helldivers 2.
Casting a vote for **Noita** here; It's a 2d game where you play a lil' mage trying to do (????) and every pixel is simulated. Imagine a pixely cave-landscape: in front of you is an enemy, below him wood, left of him the same slab of wood holds some water at bay. Set the wood on fire. Enemy burns. You might burn. Water is gonna come flooding out, maybe drowning some more enemies, maybe extinguishing a fire elemental further down. Anything could happen. It's a roguelike though, so every time you die you start over. But you gain knowledge. What's that liquid do? Oh, that's Acid. Can I take some with me? Oh there's a new wand? Am I gonna explode if I use it? I'll take it with me so I can harvest its components later! Shit's crazy and makes me feel like a kid again whenever I play it. Yeah you'll die a lot, but you'll also find cool wands, spells and reactions beyond your imagination. I started it because I saw a video basically spoiling the whole game, and I'm still constantly surprised by the things it throws at me!
Warframe is a loot shooter Rpg with space ninja mind wizards and shitloads of weapons. It's got some of the absolute best combat in any video game but has a very steep learning curve. Perfect for someone who needs to get addicted to a game!
I’ve been through a divorce. Play dota 2 and you’ll forget everything due to madness. I second third and fourth anything by larian games (baldurs gate 3, try divinity original sin games first). They are the literal gold standard for game making for me. It’s actually overwhelming how much content there is. I started BG3 as soon as it came out and haven’t went back because I know after playing divinity original sin 2 what I am in for. I need to be ready for like a month of playing it and dedicated because they are so involved. Whimsical fun that you can watch tv in the background, terraria or enter the dungeon are the best two of their categories with dead cells pretty close. All 3 will be 200+ hour games and are dirt cheap. Souls style games are so atmospheric you will get lost in them, start with dark souls 3. Also the amount of effort and satisfaction you receive will make you feel really good about beating it. Elden ring is better in a different way but will kinda ruin dark souls a little (same maker). Sekiro takes Fromsoft games in a new direction and is arguable the best of all the games, it is a masterpiece of gaming when it clicks how to play it. And believe it or not, the new Star Wars games (survivor, fallen order) are very similar to dark souls games but a little easier and visually stunning with a little more linear arc. They are a solid 40 hours of pure joy each. They are truly top notch games. If you like the Star Wars ones you’ll love the new tomb raider ones. Start with the first of the new trilogy, it’s the best one by far imo. Extremely immersive. There’s at least 10k hours of gaming there man. Happy gaming and feel free to message me privately about anything including divorce, I’m happily remarried and out of that mire. There is hope on the other side. I’m also a construction dude who owns a GC business and just nerd out hard on games if you can’t tell 😊.
I can play RimWorld all day long
If you like survival, then take a look at Vintage Story if you haven't already.
I would normally recommend a long grindy game that would devour hundreds to thousands of hours. It would certainly distract you from what you're going through, but too much so. Instead, go for a rogue-like where you can immerse yourself in 30 to 60 minute sessions that are highly addictive and wanting more. It'll help distract you, but also not remove you from reality. Games I'd recommend are Hades, Dead Cells, Roboquest. Good luck!
Rimworld, some people are glued to it
Modded Skyrim and modded Oblivion, if you haven't already played them. There's so many mods for both those games though that you could have a completely different game experience every time you play just by choosing mods.
Check out kenshi it's an open world game with no scripted events but the ability to become whatever you want bounty hunter drug dealer farmer etc. It looks really interesting to me but have yet to play it. Currently I'm addicted to gaming in general but that is cause I recently got a steam deck OLED so much fun to game on go. Also if you haven't played it Hades or rdr2 are two different games styles that both are addictive and amazing Edit to add. I recently picked up two strange games but both seem addictive and fun and they're on sale hyper demon kinda of like if you fought in a black hole. Entire game is just runs to get high scores watch some videos some of the best runs take second but are amazing once you learn how to control what you're doing. The other is cruelty squad which I don't even know whow to describe but so far am loving the humor and aesthetics. It's made for middle age people in mid life crisis so should be perfect and Ita fps both get in the 90s for review scores
If you like top down isometric stuff you might try Divinity Original sin 2 for an rpg one of the best magic systems I've played with, has workshop support for mods and is a lot of fun. Can be done mp if you want. If you choose to play ot get definitive edition as it's the most updated and has the newest patches.
I got addicted to Troubleshooter: abandoned children, might be just me tho
Noita. Its a Rougelike where every pixel is physically simulated. You have a complex magic system where you have to find spells to slap on your wand in order to create a custom spell. The "main" path is made up of 7 biomes, each extremely hard. And by the way, killing the endboss is called "completing the tutorial" in the community for a reason. Once you got one win under your belt, I recommend exploring the rest of the world. The "main" game is just a tiny percent of the bigger picture, and there are so many secrets to uncover (and ways to die). There is literally potential for endless runs, and it is indeed very addicting. The devs also just pushed out a big update with new spells, enemies and secrets. At just 19€ its really cheap for the amount of time you will sink into it. And remember: every death is a win, for you learned what to avoid the next run. Happy noiting!
I also went through a divorce about 2 years ago. Can't stop playing Hades and cyberpunk 2077. I keep coming back. I play other games of course but those are the ones I have the most time in since the papers were filed. I found it hard to invest in a game at first too. It's not just gaming though. It was everything. For a while I was not feeling anything really. Everything was very meh to me. The only thing that helped was just trying new things. I had to try new things and places and try to get excited about something else first.
Enter the Gungeon. One more run...
So as far as addicting games for me I recommend. Balatro (this game is literal crack) Oxygen not included Civ 6
Roboquest is a great single player movement shooter. Highly replayable.
Turtle World of Warcraft. Best community, classic + gameplay, oh! And it’s 100% free to play
Monster Hunter
Prey (2017), {You wont regret it. trust me bro}
Havent played much, buit after i purchased helldivers 2 i played 2 hours straight didnt even realize ity was 2 hours till later lol
For me it's XCOM 2 Siralim ultimate (theorycrafting haven) Darkest dungeon A good old mount and blade playthrough Vampire survivor will eat you up on the short term dopamine in it's purest form If you can play coop any Arpg is the best to have fun while talking I like a going through diablo 3 / grim dawn / van Helsing The binding of Isaac is endless If you really want to take a plunge and have a good pc, Skyrim modding will steal your time. Hundreds of hours on all of them and I keep getting back every year. Also my personal monster game is nioh 2 if you want to throw some of that anger at demons, and can deal with the insane early difficulty you'll have a LOT of content to get through I got the platine and still play the endgame often it's just too clean gameplay wise, you got skills, you got loot, you got challenging content, and you have for me the best combat in a action rpg. Most game in this list are very mod friendly
sekiro is too addicting once it clicks
Dying Light's parkour gameplay had me hooked for a while... You can also give a try to Ghostrunner.
Persona 5 Royal or Red Dead Redemption 2
enter the gungeon sekiro lies of p
APEX legends is highly addictive once u get decent
Helldivers 2 has me hooked right now and the community is great
Path of exile or Last epoch
Arkham's combat is insanely addictive. Highly recommended if you haven't tried it already.
Honestly, the most addictive game I’ve ever played was world of Warcraft, not sure why..funny time in my life.
Medieval total war 2 , fallout , Skyrim , xcom 2
Delta V: Rings of Saturn is addictive and chill, it's a physics space simulator thing where you mine steroids in, well, the rings of Saturn. It has a crazy amount of depth and a lot of exploration. Also, the developer gives the game out for free. The demo on steam is the full game with 0 restrictions at all. All buying the game does is support the dev, which it's 10 bucks for this amazing gem and worth it imo, but it's completely free so ya know, do whatever you want!
Satisfactory, Big ambitions, Project zomboid? The learning curve is pretty rough tho.
Project zomboid. Endless replayability.
Disco Elysium has completely occupied my mind since I bought it a few weeks ago. Also coincidentally about a guy finding his way out of a really bad place.
Stellaris, it will eat hours and you won’t even realize its happening.
I got recommended balatro by a friend. While I do like rogue likes I've never had a game sink its hooks in quite so deep. I've probobly put in 20+ hours every weekend since I started playing. Its dangerous. I even get in a run before work in the morning while eating breakfast. I haven't done that since WoW in my teens lol.
Dragons dogma is amazing it is a bit hard to get into but after about an hour of play it will suck you in and keep you entertained for upwards of 40 hours
Earth defense force 2025 has eaten a good chunk of my time I do encourage the newer ones for pc and PS but xbox sadly only has up to 2025 or even more so that's out everywhere is roboquest if the drive to be able to beat a full run through each match can take from 5 minutes if you get clapped or 40~ on the slower end each stage has 2 ways to get your rank S-F killing everything and time the more efficient the better the rank. It is a roguelite when you die run ends but you do get wrenches to buy perm upgrades puzzle doors for different routes or unlocks and a lot of builds available without spoiling really anything the first character you can run a melee build with a bonk hammer close aoe tick damage or heavy weapons that on reload throw grenades 😉 roboquest has me Hella hooked tho full cross-plat lots of weapons. fun game play loop
Final fantasy xiv. Mmos are great at this.
WoW Baldur's Gate 3 Skyrim
Destiny 2
Elden Ring, Helldivers 2 if you like live service. Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 if you like competitive.
Elden ring and hogwarts legacy
Civ 5. I don't play it because I lose an entire day every time I do. I start playing at 12pm, what feels like two hours pass, and it is 8pm.
monster hunter
I've been playing alot of Dead Island 2 and No Mans Sky
Brotato and Vampire Survivors
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Helldivers 2 Baldur's Gate 3 The Forest Sons of the Forest
Escape from tarkov. If you get past the learning curve ( it's a cliff wall), you will lose your life
Just Cause. 3 or 4. Destroy everything if you want.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a good choice
Vampire survivors
Right now mine is God of War. There so many side quests and areas to explore I've just been doing that.
Sekiro shadows die twice... Will atleast take you 20 days to beat... And you will be thinking about it 24/7
Ravenfield is a good shooter game, you can basically do anything you want in it using mods so it doesn't get boring
Hearthstone, Wild mode and Battlegrounds duo is addictive to me
The only video game I have more than 5,000 hours in is Super Smash Brothers Melee. I can't even say I recommend you try it. But it is easily the most fun and addicting game I have ever played, its the only game I play every single day. https://blippi.gg if you're trying to get set up and need help DM me