We all have those games that have sucked us in and refused to let go. Whether it was perfecting your strategies in a role-playing game (RPG) or exploring every nook and cranny of an open world, some games demand a serious time investment.
This article explores some top video game titles by total hours played, based on data sourced primarily from HowLongToBeat and other online sources. We’ll showcase some lengthy and incredible gaming experiences, as well as cite honorable mentions of games with near-limitless replayability!
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What are the top video game titles by total hours of gameplay?
This section dives into some of gaming’s most immersive and time-consuming experiences! Let’s start with the least time-consuming games in our list and work our way up:
Monster Hunter 3 and 4 Ultimate (around 77 hours each)
Developed by Capcom, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (2011) and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (2015) are action RPGs famed for their massive monster hunts and deep crafting systems.
Each hunt can last an hour or more, and the sheer variety of weapons, armor, and monsters to encounter leads to countless hours of engaging gameplay. The addictive gameplay loops and long hunts are what make these games such serious time sinks
Valheim (around 78 hours)
Valheim (2021) is an open-world survival game that tasks players with exploring a vast and mysterious world, defeating formidable bosses, and building impressive structures.
Iron Gate Studio’s procedurally generated world, combined with its challenging combat and deep crafting mechanics, creates a near-endless loop of exploration, building, and battling. The game’s difficulty and the sheer amount of things to do result in a long playtime, especially considering you start with not a thing to call yours.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (around 79 hours)
Released in 2002 by Chris Sawyer, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a classic tycoon game where you design, build, and manage your own theme park.
Creating the ultimate amusement park is a deceptively complex task, requiring careful planning, strategic resource management, and an eye for detail. With nearly unlimited possibilities for park design and expansion, this game will easily keep you busy for many hours.
SnowRunner (around 90 hours)
Developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive, SnowRunner (2020) is a driving simulator that challenges you to conquer treacherous off-road terrains in powerful trucks.
The game’s vast and varied environments, combined with its realistic physics engine and challenging missions, lead to a deeply immersive experience that can easily eat up many hours. There’s always another muddy trail to conquer, another river to ford, another mountain to climb!
Oxygen Not Included (around 91 hours)
Published by Klei Entertainment, Oxygen Not Included (2019) is a base-building simulation game with a unique twist: you’re managing a colony of space explorers on a distant planet, and survival means carefully balancing resources, keeping your colonists happy, and making sure they don’t suffocate!
The game’s complex systems, challenging scenarios, and constant need to adapt create a deeply engaging and time-consuming experience. Despite the chaotic difficulty, achieving your goals can be extremely rewarding!
Persona 5 Royal (around 100 hours)
ATLUS’s Persona 5 Royal (2020) is far from your average RPG. This game combines stylish visuals, memorable characters, and a gripping storyline in a way that really hooks you in. You’ll spend a lot of time exploring the game’s world, building relationships with your friends, and uncovering the mysteries lying beneath the surface.
The game is packed with content, from main story missions to tons of side quests and activities. And the game’s addictive gameplay loop, with its satisfying social simulation and dungeon crawling systems, keeps you coming back for more, making it a serious time commitment.
Satisfactory (over 100 hours)
Coffee Stain Studios’ Satisfactory (2019) is not for the faint of heart. This first-person factory-building game tasks you with setting up and automating production on an alien planet, and there are almost endless possibilities for expanding and optimizing your factories.You’ll spend hours gathering resources, designing efficient production lines, and building increasingly complex and impressive structures.
The sheer amount of things to do and optimize is almost unbelievable; Satisfactory is a game where you can easily spend more than a hundred hours.
If that wasn’t too much already, the recent Space Age update has only added to this near-infinite playtime. Have fun!
Library of Ruina (around 116 hours)
Project Moon’s Library of Ruina (2021) is a unique game with deck-building mechanics and a complex narrative. You’ll spend a long time battling formidable foes using different strategies and exploring the game’s intricate story.
The game’s many characters, each with their own unique motivations and stories, add to the immersive experience. You’ll be drawn into the game’s mysterious world and spend hours exploring its many nuances and intricacies, deciphering its many cryptic messages, and unlocking all its secrets!
Honorable mentions: games with infinite replayability
Sure, the games above require a significant time investment for a single playthrough. But some offer near-limitless replayability, making them serious time sinks for thousands of players.
Their open-ended nature and endless possibilities can result in thousands of hours of playtime. Here are a few notable examples of games with infinite replayability:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda Game Studios’ Skyrim (2011) is another RPG with incredible replayability, featuring a world that never feels empty, a compelling storyline, and a plethora of quests.
However, the game’s modding community adds an endless supply of new content, creating near-limitless replayability. New spells? Easy. New enemies? Dead simple. More clothes? Yeah, you have thousands of options. New dungeons, maps, revamps, …? Yep!
Thanks to that, it’s safe to say Skyrim is one of the most replayed games of all time!
Kerbal Space Program
Squad’s Kerbal Space Program (2015) is a physics-based space flight simulator that lets you design, build, and launch rockets and spacecraft. The game’s open-ended nature allows for a highly personalized experience.
For example, different players will set different goals – some will be content with achieving a simple orbit, but others will be ambitious enough to attempt to build an interplanetary space station.
And, if you want even more challenges, there’s a huge modding community providing new parts, planets, and scenarios to explore. Some particularly challenging mods can add substantially to the game’s already immense playtime!
Genshin Impact
MiHoYo’s Genshin Impact (2020) is a free-to-play action RPG featuring a large, vibrant world and a diverse cast of playable characters.
While its story isn’t top-notch, its engaging gacha system and regular content updates keep players coming back for more, making it a massive time (and money) sink for countless players. The game’s exploration, collectible systems, and gameplay loop are key to Genshin’s impressive playtime.
Minecraft
And, of course, there’s Minecraft (2011) with its sandbox gameplay and massive modding community. In this game, if you can think of it, you can probably build it: cozy homes, complex automatic resource farms, redstone contraptions, and even real-world cities.
Gamers can further sweeten their experience with curated “mod packs” like RLCraft, BetterMC, the Enigmatica Series, and Create: Above & Beyond.
There’s also the infamous GregTech: New Horizons (or GTNH), and its extremely long progression line would put Factorio’s to shame ten times over. It can take knowledgeable players several thousand hours to craft a pair of stargates, and it’s getting longer with every update. Good luck!
Now you know the video games with most hours of gameplay
Video games are amazing, aren’t they? Some games can provide weeks, if not months, of entertainment. From challenging RPGs to sprawling open worlds and addictive simulators, some titles can really suck you in. This list of top video game titles by total hours of gameplay showcases just how immersive and engaging the best games can be!
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