Games are so easily addictive, though, and that’s part of what makes them so great. The world they are set in, the characters you can play, the things you can do — it’s enough to make you want to forget you have a day job. After all, why mess around with a lazy boss and office projects when you’ve got demons to kill and side missions to complete?
If you’ve found this page, chances are that you are addicted to at least one of the games on this list. Whether you play on a PC, an XBOX, a Playstation, on Facebook or on your phone, with friends or on your own, our list is sure to have a game on the list that you currently play.
Grand Theft Auto V
Take Grand Theft Auto, for example. This high-octane franchise takes over your life — and your morals. From ditching the cops on the highway to setting up heists to just walking around and causing general mayhem in the streets, Grand Theft Auto is set up to test your capacity for violence and criminal activity.
The online version of the game is also rigged to get you to do more dangerous missions for more money. The more money you have, the better guns, ammo, boats, planes, cars, and homes you can buy. And that’s worth eight hours of your life, right?
Plants vs Zombies
Ah, the blessed Plants vs. Zombies game — the scourge of 11 million people on Facebook and so addictive that it may take an intervention for you to stop playing. This is a tower defense game, meaning that you must use all your resources to protect your tower — your garden.
The more you play, the harder your enemies become, the more you have to defend, and so on. With the leveling aspects of this game unlocking new horrors and new tools for you to cultivate your garden while beating away the ungrateful undead, you’ll be glued to the game for hours.
Angry Birds
Angry Birds is the type of game that makes you angry while you play it, but you are so stubborn that you won’t be able to let it go. After all, you can’t let a game revolving around throwing birds to complete puzzles ruin your day, can you?
With the amount of levels — and seasonal versions — available in Angry Birds, it seems like a never-ending quest to finish the Angry Birds game. From new types of birds with new powers to seemingly impossible tasks, the game offers no rest from your quest of supremacy over the Angry Bird franchise.
Dota 2
It’s claimed that Dota 2 is a difficult game to be addicted too, and that is somewhat true. After all, it is easy to learn but difficult to master — on average, it takes about 2 months to get decent at this multiplayer online battle arena game, where strategy and teamwork is key.
However, if it’s not addictive, why are there support groups and forums online? Why are people saying it’s ruining their life? You don’t just walk away from Dota 2, it’s said — you let it release you. And some, well some players need professional help to remove their obsession.
Tetris
Tetris is another game that boasts not only support forums for addicts, but actual rehab programs for those in need of serious help. With the different colors, and the endless amount of shapes that need to be fitted in, players find themselves obsessing over getting everything organized within the game. Some lose sleep over leaving the game unfinished.
You’ve played it — you know how it works. You start off by saying you’ll only play for a little while, trying to fit every shape so there are no empty spaces, and then you look up and half the day is gone.
Candy Crush Saga
A more modern version of a puzzle adventure, Candy Crush Saga is a popular Facebook game that boasts 75 million users on the social media site. If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably gotten at least one invitation to play the game from a friend who insists you try it.
Far from being a solo game, Candy Crush saga records your scores on each level, comparing your scores to your friends’ scores. It’s addicting because you have to compete with your friends for the highest score, all the while continuing to try to finish the more levels for perks and rewards.
Minecraft
Minecraft certainly deserves to be on this list — this sandbox game is highly addictive, especially among the youngest generations, causing widespread confusion by parents. This is because you don’t play Minecraft — you are an architect of Minecraft. And no two worlds created in Minecraft are the same.
The game is a world based on the environment you create. You dig for blocks within the game, and then you can build anything you want. Imagine building a big castle, your own city, a forest or a jungle, just from the blocks you’ve collected in the game. A very tempting experience, right?
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft — also known as WoW — is a multiplayer online game, where players can role-play as a variety of characters in a world that only grows each year with expansion packs from the developers.
Because the world continues to evolve, it is easy to become obsessed with it.
Pokemon
This role-playing game from Japan isn’t just a game — it’s a cultural phenomenon. From Pokemon cards to bedding, those cute characters from Pokemon have taken over people’s lives, leaving them begging for more.
With everyone from kids to adults addicted, there is no end in sight to this franchise.
Sims
The Sims was one of the first games to introduce a reality version of life into a video game, where its players can build a truly virtual life.
The game is so addictive that some couples in Asia have claimed it’s the reason they sought a divorce from their partners.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Brothers has been around for thirty years, and is a sequel of the original Mario Bros game, although it’s fame rivals all of the other Mario Bros games combined.
This classic arcade game is a two-player adventure to rescue a damsel in distress from a disastrous villain.
Super Smash Bros
The glee a player gets from booting their opponent off the stage in Super Smash Bros is unparalleled in most games. You would get a kick out of it too, if you sat down to play this game.
For this reason alone, this games is considered addictive by its players.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
As one of the most well-rounded and expansive games ever to be released on any console, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is highly addictive for all its battle gameplay.
It’s ability to allow you to explore the country, and for its love of allowing players to build their own lives within the game.
Civilization
Civilization is a turn-based strategy game, perfect for those intellectual types you think would never spend time playing a game.
The game focuses on building up on civilization, from primitive times up until modern day, allowing historians, archaeologists, and others to infuse addictive gameplay with a sense of study.
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a franchise that calls together people of all shapes and sizes to come play in their sandbox action games, where the player is treated to a first-person shooter experience.
Each game focuses on a certain war-time situation, perfect for the fighter in your family.
