Some games you want to be done with long before the credits roll, while others keep you coming back and can be played endlessly, or at least for a very long time. They might offer mechanical depth that begs to be mastered, endless variety with each run, or an enjoyable loop of consistently fun gameplay.
It’s easy to cheat by just listing a few MMOs and calling it a day, so you won’t find any of those here. Instead, here are my picks for game genres that offer endless replayability and might stay in your system for a long time if they click with you.
Roguelikes, Not Roguelites
Roguelikes may have been around for a while before their boom in the last decade or so, but it’s still one of the purest genres in terms of replayability and randomization. A game where each run puts you back to the start with no real carryover progress is part of the core identity of a rogue-like.
These games are more about getting better at understanding the core mechanics, gameplay, and possible outcomes rather than getting stronger through arbitrary stats. Yes, you might unlock different characters and playstyles as you make progress, but the fact remains that each run is still unique regardless of your chosen starting point.
For instance, in Slay the Spire, you can unlock new characters, but that doesn’t mean they have any objective advantage over the other; instead, you’re encouraged to adapt to the run’s conditions and RNG rather than formulating a plan beforehand. This means that understanding each character’s possible cards and synergies is more important than individually levelling them up.
Any good roguelike will reward you for mastery over its systems rather than punish you for its randomness. It’s why rogue-lites usually have an end because you can become strong enough and do everything, while roguelikes can be played till you’re bored with the systems in place, which usually doesn’t happen as often.
Here are a few excellent roguelikes which offer hundreds of hours of content:
Don’t worry about when these games came out, as they are still being played by thousands.
Fighting Games
Fighting games, especially series that have been going on for a while, offer a tremendous amount of depth and replay value; it’s absurd. Two series that immediately come to mind here are Tekken and Street Fighter. Both of these games are essentially legacy games, meaning that if you have experience with an older entry in the franchise, you have a somewhat baseline understanding of their unique mechanics, moves, and matchups.
For instance, the way you perform a dragon punch in Street Fighter is the same way it has been since the original. It’s the anti-air move for most shoto-type characters, and if you’ve practiced it enough times in say Street Fighter 4, you won’t have a problem doing it in Street Fighter 6. It’s muscle memory for you, retained throughout your journey to become better at the series.
Your skill carries over even if each game introduces some new mechanics. This is why fighting games have so much depth to them, and you can spend years trying to get better at a single game. This level of replayability is unmatched, and while the competitive element is always present, you don’t need a sparring buddy to get better.
Outside of pure execution and mastery over mechanics, fighting games put an equal emphasis on mind games, studying opponents, and coming up with new strategies during matches. This is why you could have the experience of two decades and still get defeated by a player in their teens if they’ve learned to play a specific character much better than you or in a very specific way.
While you’re able to pick up older fighting games to learn and enjoy, I recommend the latest entries simply because most of the playerbase has moved to them. Here are a few worth playing:
I’d recommend trying out Street Fighter 6 if you’re new to fighting games because it has modern controls, an extensive tutorial, character guides within the game, and plenty of online resources.
Colony Sims
Rimworld came out in 2013 and, at the time of writing, has nearly 50,000 players in-game on Steam. Most developers with multiplayer or live service games would dream of retaining that number of players for a few years at most, but somehow, Rimworld remains one of the most popular games on the platform. Like a few other similar titles, Rimworld belongs to a genre called Colony Sims.
These offer endless replayability because each time you start a new colony, things can and will go wrong or right depending on an absurd number of variables. The needs of a few people become the needs of a thriving populace, and your watchful eye cannot be everywhere, leading to all sorts of crazy individual antics within the colony.
You will be surprised by how the world continues to react to different decisions, conditions, and random events, making each colony feel unique. This level of immersion and randomization is the reason Colony Sims have such a remarkable amount of replayability.
If emergent gameplay and constant surprises are your jam, you may’t go wrong with the following:
Grand Strategy
This encompasses a diverse range of subgenres, including titles such as Crusader Kings, Civilization, Stellaris, Hearts of Iron, and more. Each series has multiple entries, but no matter which game you choose, you can expect thousands of hours of content with no sign of repetition or lack of surprises.
These games put you in charge of an empire, dynasty, faction, or nation over a vast span of time. Your starting position, faction strengths and weaknesses, diplomatic relationships, and the hundreds of events that occur throughout your reign all contribute to the replayability and unpredictability of each run.
To an uncultured observer, it might look like you’re just staring at menus for hours, but beneath each tab lies a wealth of decisions to make, economies to manage, and empires to run. What’s more, there are games in this genre for practically every setting. Want something realistic and historical? Crusader Kings is right there. Want to negotiate with aliens light-years away? Stellaris says hi.
I wouldn’t blame you for losing interest in every other game after picking up one of these, but please, ensure to step outside every few days if you can. Here are some of the best modern Grand Strategy games to lose sleep over:
You’re bound to find your next big adventure from the many recommendations above. Just because a game is from one of these genres does not automatically mean it will have the mechanical depth and complexity to offer an endlessly replayable experience, but the titans in each genre are so well established that you cannot go wrong with them.
Ali Hashmi
Ali has been writing about video games for the past six years and is always on the lookout for the next indie game to obsess over and recommend to everyone in sight. When he isn’t spending an unhealthy amount of time in Slay the Spire, he’s probably trying out yet another retro-shooter or playing Dark Souls for the 50th time.
