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6 Addictive Games That’ll Ruin Your Life

6 Addictive Games That’ll Ruin Your Life

I have an addictive personality, so I have to be very careful about the games that I play. When a game comes along and sinks its hooks in deep, I have a really hard time concentrating on anything else, and I love that. I love the games that nail a constant, gratifying sense of progression and keep you awake at night. I’ve come across a few games in my life that I spent an irresponsible amount of time playing, and there are still others that I have intentionally avoided because I know what they’d do to me. Here are six games so addictive, they could totally wreck your life (but it might just be worth it).

Minecraft

Minecraft

Minecraft may just go down in history as the most popular and most addictive game of all time. I served tables and tended bar at a prestigious restaurant in Tennessee for almost 6 years, and it was amazing in that time how many tablets and phones I saw at my tables with kids playing Minecraft; it’s probably a godsend for parents who can’t leave their children at home but don’t want to deal with screaming and fidgeting in public places. Whether you’re adventuring or just freely creating, Minecraft offers a unique outlet for your creativity. Anything you can imagine, you can build if you’re patient enough. Want to recreate Final Fantasy VII ‘s Midgar? You can do that. Want to build a functioning Gameboy and play games on it? You can do that, too. Because the possibilities are endless, so is the amount of time you could potentially sink into this game.

Game Dev Story

Game Dev Story

I’ve been spreading the gospel of Kairosoft’s Game Dev Story for years, and I think it’s the perfect smartphone game. I really do mean that – if I were to offer one game to a skeptic who thought that smartphone games could never take over your life the way a good console game can, Game Dev Story would be that game. This is a sim game with light RPG elements that has you managing a small game company. You begin in a tiny office with just a few employees, but as you work your way through gaming history, crafting games of various genres for increasingly powerful consoles and handhelds, your team grows in size and prestige. It’s adorable, it’s hilarious, and it’s paced in such a way that makes it impossible to put down. I guarantee if you start this game, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it until you finish. It’s less than $3, so you have no excuse; go buy this game and say goodbye to a day or two of productivity.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

You know you’ve got it bad when things like eating and going to the bathroom take a nosedive to the bottom of your priorities list. After all, you’ve got guildmates that are counting on you for heals in a raid in couple of hours, and you’re just a few Alterac Valley matches away from getting the marks you need for that sweet new PvP lance. Lance in hand and raid behind you, there are now several more things to do. You farmed some rare mats that will earn a hefty some at the auction house, you need another group to run the same raid for a helmet that you need to complete your Paladin’s healing set, and you have two alts waiting on the back-burner just begging to be leveled up. I had to quit World of Warcraft for good, because in many ways it’s the perfect MMORPG. There’s always more to do, there’s always someone to do it with, and it’s always a lot of fun. Stay away if you have a life and family that you care about.

Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Siege

You constantly hear two things from Rainbow Six Siege players: “It’s one of the buggiest games I’ve ever played,” and “It’s the best first-person shooter I’ve ever played.” Both are totally true, and once you start discovering how fun and how useful every single operator is – on the attacking team and on the defending team – you’ll find yourself counting down the hours at work or waiting for your spouse to fall asleep so you can sneak in a few more hours of playtime. The hook is in the game’s intensity. Because matches start off slowly and methodically, and because the gameplay is so smart, unforgiving, and gritty, matches commonly come down to the final seconds of the final round. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I often find my hands are shaking at the end of match from adrenaline and nerves, and the only thing you want to do at the point is start up another match, and then another, ad infinitum.

Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush Saga

There’s a reason they call this “Candy Crack Saga .” I get Facebook notifications from my grandmother at least a couple times of week; she sends them out to everyone trying to get more plays in Candy Crush Saga , and it’s the main reason I’ve decided that I’ll never play this game. No one is safe. My dad is also addicted, and several of my friends, after years, are still logging in to play this game and get past levels that they’ve been stuck on. This thing has spread like a virus, and Candy Crush Saga has been downloaded over 14 million times from the Google Play store alone. It’s no wonder Activision Blizzard was willing to pay almost $6 billion to acquire King Digital Entertainment. Take a look at the top 3 reviews on Apple’s app store and what do you see? “Highly addictive.” “Cannot stop playing.” “So many levels.” Such addictive. Wow.

Diablo II

Diablo II

Blizzard knows how to ruin lives, eh? I can easily say that the two games that I was most addicted to growing up were World of Warcraft and Diablo II . Diablo II takes you in layers. At first you’re intrigued by this dark and foreboding world, full as it is with interesting characters and made meaningful by an incredible, cinematic narrative. The story and the incredible soundtrack push you to finish the game on normal difficulty, but then the real game starts. Layer two – wherein you find yourself starting to care very much about your gear so you can make it through all acts on nightmare and hell difficulties. Layer three – wherein you become obsessed with rushing new characters and leveling them up as quickly as possible so you can start doing boss runs on hell difficulty for incredibly rare loot, allowing you to build the perfect blizzard sorceress or bow-wielding amazon. Layer four – wherein ambitions change and now the most important thing is to become a loot mogul; master of the art of trading, with multiple mules carrying all of the rarest gear, sets, items, and runes. If someone needs something you’ve got it – for a price.

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