Key Takeaways
- Games with almost endless replayability are amazing to see. Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield offer unique experiences each playthrough.
- Simulation games like Stardew Valley and The Sims 4 provide hours of entertainment with no ending, keeping players engaged.
- RPGs like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Fallout: New Vegas encourage multiple playthroughs with different choices and outcomes.
With the prices for next-gen games being as high as they are, discerning gamers would like to ensure that the titles they do decide to buy offer enough value for their money. One metric that is often used to measure that value is the game’s replayability, whether it is a single-player experience that can be beaten in one sitting or a sprawling 300+ hour open-world RPG that takes weeks to complete.
Related
The 24 Biggest Open Worlds In RPGs Ever, From Smallest To Largest
These are the biggest open-world RPGs ever made, ranked by size.
It is now common for most triple-A games to ship with a new game plus mode, as this is one method developers use to extend the time spent with their games. There is also a push for more engaging endgame content so that players are kept coming back even after the credits have rolled. So, with these things in mind, here are a few games that offer ample motivation to play them more than once.
Updated November 6, 2024 By Ben Jessey: Some games have almost endless replayability, and we put the best ones on this list. In this update, we’ve added several more to the collection.
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Every Mario Party game has plenty of replayability. After all, each game is essentially a series of board games, which are known for being evergreen. So, if games like Monopoly never go out of fashion, then the various maps in Super Mario Party Jamboree won’t either.
Each play session is different, as you never know what dice rolls you’re going to do, what spaces you’re going to land on, or what minigames are going to come up. Your goal is always to acquire as many stars as possible, but your road to accomplishing that is always different.
Left 4 Dead 2
On the surface, Left 4 Dead 2 doesn’t seem like the most replayable game. After all, it’s a linear experience with no character progression. That said, people still play the game long after it was released. This is because the core FPS gameplay never grows tiresome.
Shooting, hitting, and slicing away at large hordes of fast-moving zombies is incredibly satisfying in L4D2 and remains that way for hours upon hours. As such, you can keep playing the same campaigns and battling the same undead creatures without getting bored.
The Walking Dead
TellTale’s The Walking Dead is a narrative adventure game set in a world that is currently going to hell because dead people are coming back as zombie-like creatures known as walkers. Over the game’s four seasons, you play as a few different characters, and the primary goal of all of them is to survive.
While trying to survive, you must pick dialogue options, interact with things, and complete quick-time events. You also make decisions that can impact the story. This is the reason why the game is replayable, as you can keep starting again and making other choices to see how differently things play out.
Nier: Automata
Nier Automata is an incredible action RPG about a war between human-created androids and alien machines. That is only the basic premise of the tale, though. The story is much deeper and more complex than that.
This is why it isn’t a game you should only play through once. In fact, you’re expected to complete at least three playthroughs, as each one is very different from the others and shows you differing perspectives on the narrative. On top of that, there are 26 different endings in total, which naturally encourages constant replays.
The Outer Worlds
4.0/5
The Outer Worlds
- Released
-
October 25, 2019
- Publisher(s)
-
Private Division
- Engine
-
Unreal Engine 4
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
At the beginning of The Outer Worlds, you’re in cryo sleep aboard a ship that didn’t quite make it to the star system known as Halcyon, which humans have colonized. But you’re quickly woken up by a scientist who requests that you go to Halcyon to acquire the resources needed to wake up everyone else.
That’s the basic narrative set-up for this action RPG, but how the story actually plays out is impacted by the litany of decisions you make during the game. As such, you can play through this title multiple times to make different decisions and ultimately have different experiences.
Coral Island
Coral Island is a farm and life simulation game in which you play as a newcomer to a farming community. This community happens to be situated on a tropical island, so the place looks beautiful.
What doesn’t look very pretty is the farm you’re given at the start of the game. ‘Run-down’ is an apt description of the place. As such, you’re tasked with building the farm back up. Yet, as this is a life-sim title, too, you also get to just live your life on this tropical island by talking to folks and romancing them. You can do all this, including farming, for as long as you desire.
Rocket League
Rocket’s League’s premise doesn’t make it sound like a heavily replayable game. After all, at its heart, it’s a simple title about playing football with rocket-powered cars. Yet, people have put many hours into this game.
This is because the base concept is really satisfying, plus over time, the developers have added plenty of additional things to vary the experience up. For instance, there are extra game modes, skins, and other elements. All of this has turned a simple game into one that you can sink many hours into.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Platform(s)
-
Switch
- Released
-
March 20, 2020
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- Engine
-
Havok
- ESRB
-
E for Everyone: Comic Mischief
Simulation games always have plenty of replayability because they never really end. This is the case with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There is no real ending, as you can keep playing as long as you want. And the incentive to keep playing is the peaceful and satisfying gameplay.
It mainly revolves around building up your house and the island you live on. Along with constructing things, you can talk to neighbors, participate in events, and generally enjoy your life in a colorful world surrounded by adorable anthropomorphic beings.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a deep turn-based RPG set in a Dungeon And Dragons world. It’s also based on the tabletop game. As such, the title gives you plenty of freedom in terms of how you approach situations and what choices you make.
4:40
Related
25 Games You Should Play If You Like Baldur’s Gate 3
If you like what you see from Baldur’s Gate 3 so far, these great games might be just what you’re looking for.
Therefore, every playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 feels a bit different. That alone makes the game worth playing multiple times. The pure joy of the combat and characters will also keep you coming back for more.
Starfield
- Released
-
September 6, 2023
- Engine
-
proprietary engine
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
Like most Bethesda RPGs, Starfield has a large open world filled with many locations to visit, characters to meet, and quests to complete. This means a single playthrough of Starfield can take a long time, as you may never run out of things to do.
Even if you don’t want to do all the side content, you can simply start a new playthrough. After all, there are many choices to make throughout the game. So, a new run can be quite different if you make different decisions.
Stardew Valley
Farm simulation games are some of the best when it comes to replayability. This is because they don’t typically have an ending. So, you can keep playing for as long as you want. Of course, this is only worthwhile when the game is entertaining enough to keep your attention for long periods, which is the case for Stardew Valley.
This farming sim is easy to sink many hours into. One reason for this is that the farming mechanics are very satisfying. Plus, there is so much more to do in the game, from socializing with townsfolk to mining.
EA Sports FC 25
EA Sports FC 25 is a game that you can play for as long as you want. This is because, as with most sports titles, there is no end to the game. Plus, you can play it for a long time without ever getting bored.
Like football (aka soccer) in the real world, each match plays out differently, even if the basic premise is the same. And the desire to continue winning or make up for a loss keeps your interest, whether you’re working through a career mode or playing the famous Ultimate Team mode.
The Sims 4
While a game about simulating life sounds dull, The Sims series has always had the ability to capture people’s attention and keep it. This remains the case with The Sims 4. You can play this game for hours upon hours without ever growing tired of it.
It helps that there is no endpoint. Yes, your created character can die, but you can always make another or continue with the next generation of your family. If you ever do start to grow uninterested in the game, there is an abundance of wonderful expansion packs that can increase excitement once again.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
The main story of Dragon Age Inquisition revolves around closing the breach in the sky and stopping the evil Corypheus. However, the long adventure is shaped by your decisions. Even choosing your character’s species impacts things.
So, after playing through it once, you can switch up your race and class as well as make different decisions to have a significantly dissimilar experience. Alternatively, you can make one run feel like forever if you attempt to do all the side content, as there is a ridiculous amount of it.
Fallout: New Vegas
At the beginning of Fallout: New Vegas, you are almost killed by a sharply dressed man who has the voice of Matthew Perry. Then, the adventure turns into a revenge mission where you hunt him down. Yet, it’s not long before you’re brought into a conflict surrounding who controls the post-apocalyptic Mojave Wasteland and the New Vegas city within it.
Related
This whole tale can play out in plenty of different ways, largely determined by which of the factions you help. That alone encourages multiple playthroughs. On top of that, there are a bunch of smaller choices in the game, and it can be cool to see how each of those decisions affects things.
Resident Evil 2
One of the main criticisms levied against the remake of Resident Evil 3 was its relatively short length. The game could be beaten in about six hours, and that’s after accounting for sitting through cutscenes and generally milling around in the game.
The 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, on the other hand, felt like a fully fleshed-out game. There were expanded sections not featured in the 1998 original, as well as unlockable bonus modes, like one where you get to play as a giant block of tofu. Add that to the fact that players could play as either Leon or Claire (albeit with overlapping puzzles and gameplay sections), and the potential playtime can be doubled.
Skyrim is a game you can play forever. In a single playthrough, there are countless quests to do and places to see. So much so that plenty of people never finish the main story. Even if you do manage to make it to the credits, you probably still have a litany of side content to complete.
Alternatively, you could begin a new story run. After all, the second time could be a completely different experience, as the abundance of decisions you make throughout the game heavily impacts how things play out.
Dishonored 2
- Released
-
November 11, 2016
- Engine
-
Void
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes
At the beginning of Dishonored 2, you have to choose between playing as Corvo Attano or Emily Kaldwin. While the story is largely the same regardless of who you pick, they each have different powers, so it might be worth playing through again as the character you didn’t select the first time. Plus, the game has a chaos system where your style of play directly impacts the world around you. Therefore, you may want to try a high-and-low chaos run.
Need another reason to do an extra playthrough? Well, there are plenty of ways to complete every level. Thus, you’ll want to replay the missions multiple times to see different ways they can be done. To sum up, there are plenty of reasons to keep playing Dishonored 2.
WWE 2K24
By default, you can play a wrestling game for any length of time. Yet, there have been a few bad ones over the years that you wouldn’t want to play for long periods. That is not the case with WWE 2K24 since this is one of the best WWE games ever. It boasts enjoyable wrestling gameplay and wonderful visuals.
Equally important is the fact that it contains several big modes. The two MyRise story modes and the WrestleMania showcase are pretty long. As for the Universe, MyGM, and MyFaction modes, you can keep playing them for as long as you desire.
Minecraft
Minecraft is a game with pretty much unlimited possibilities. The sole goal is simply to survive in a blocky world. It does technically have an ending when you defeat the Ender Dragon.
Yet, you’re never forced to stop creating. And if you’re talented enough, you can make some of the most unbelievable worlds. But if building things isn’t for you, you can go exploring in dark caves or do some farming, or fight a few monsters. It really is up to you what you do and how long you do it.
Hades
In Hades, you play as the son of the titular character. Therefore, your home is a literal hell, and you don’t want to stay there. In fact, the entire game revolves around your escape attempts. You have to do a bunch of them to reach the true ending.
But even after that, it’s easy to return to Hades to replay it. After all, the game is really enjoyable to play. More than that, though, your escape attempts are randomized, meaning every playthrough will be somewhat different.
Cyberpunk 2077
While it launched in a questionable state, Cyberpunk 2077 has had many patches since and is now a great RPG. The game follows a mercenary named V, who attempts to make a living in the futuristic Night City. However, one job ends with them getting an anarchist rockstar stuck in their head.
V is very customizable, as you’re free to select their gender and lifepath. Both decisions alter many conversations you have within the story, and the choice of lifepath dictates the entire prologue. Also, other choices you make impact what ending you receive. So, it’s worth playing through multiple times to see every possible start and conclusion to the story.
Hitman: World Of Assassination
The Hitman games have always been known for their open-ended gameplay, wherein you are allowed to tackle objectives in more than one way. You can decide to go full stealth until you discover the opening you need to get to your target or play things a bit more loose and reckless, knowing you can go gun blazing as soon as things go south.
This same openness still holds true in the World of Assassination Trilogy. The package consists of the three most recent Hitman games, with a total of more than 20 maps with missions for you to play through. That’s a lot of replay value for anyone who fancies messing around in the different stages and uncovering many of their various possibilities.
Any big Football Manager fan will agree that it’s easy to lose hours upon hours while playing one of these games. One person even played a save on Football Manager 2018 for 416 in-game years. While that is certainly a bit more than the average length saves, it does show how long you can keep playing a Football Manager title.
Football Manager 2024 is no different in its replayability. As the game has no official ending, you can play it forever. And this is something you’ll want to do if you find the right team for you.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Released
-
November 11, 2014
- Engine
-
Saber3D Engine for the single player portion of Halo: CE Anniversary and Halo 2 Anniversary; Unreal Engine 4 for UI and player customization; Halo Engine
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Violence, Blood and Gore, Language
While Halo Infinite might be getting most of the attention right now, the series really wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for the foundation laid by the earlier titles. This is why a compilation like The Master Chief Collection is a must-own for any fans that want to relive some of that earlier glory.
Related
Halo: Every Game Ranked By Which Has The Best Multiplayer
We take a look at every Halo game and rank them based on how good the multiplayer options are.
Even though it was originally released in a somewhat rough state back in 2014, the collection has been improved through continual updates and improvements, making it the ultimate way to replay the six games that make up the overall package.
Genshin Impact
Free-to-play video games have gotten a bad rap in recent years, mostly due to their aggressive use of microtransactions. This is why the larger gaming world was taken by surprise when Genshin Impact launched back in 2020 with a well-balanced freemium model that didn’t feel like it was pay-to-win, like most of its contemporaries.
Of course, the fact that the underlying game itself was dense and filled with hours’ worth of content for players to get through also helped, placing them in an anime-inspired world that rivals even some bigger open-world games in size and scope. And it has continued to receive updates and even more content, which only goes further to raise its replay value.
Final Fantasy 14
Very rarely does a game become so popular that its developer is forced to halt its sale, but that was precisely what happened with Square Enix and Final Fantasy 14 over the holidays of 2021. The developer was forced to stop selling digital copies of the game because the servers were overwhelmed by the sheer number of players attempting to play it.
Most of that was fueled by the recent release of its Endwalker expansion, which was eagerly anticipated by long-time fans and new players alike after being delayed several times due to the pandemic. The fact that the game is still going so strong after launching all the way back in 2013 only shows the depth and amount of content it has to sustain players.
Tetris
A great puzzle game has the ability to keep players coming back for more, and Tetris definitely stands at the current pinnacle of the genre. This is all down to its intuitive gameplay that is easy to get into, yet challenging enough to remain engaging.
The game has seen several iterations over the years, all of which retain the same tile-matching mechanic that defined the vanilla title. And with more than 35 million copies sold on the Nintendo Game Boy alone, there is no wondering why it remains one of the best-selling video games of all time.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Platform(s)
-
Switch
- Released
-
April 28, 2017
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo EAD
, Nintendo EPD - Engine
-
Unreal Engine 4
- ESRB
-
E
There is a reason why Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the highest-selling video game on the Nintendo Switch. Simply put, the game offers hours upon hours of fun go-kart racing for players of all ages and skill levels.
Related
Sometimes you can’t beat getting together to play some local multiplayer games, and here are the best picks.
And that’s just a reference to the eight different cups and 32 total race tracks available to play and master. By the time you factor in the different multiplayer modes and unlockables, those hours could easily run into days, weeks, and months, making the game a must-have for every Switch owner out there.
Fortnite
The battle royale genre continues to enjoy much popularity several years after it was introduced, and nowhere is this more evident than with the continued success of Fortnite.
Not many games can boast the kind of impact the game has had and continues to have on pop culture. Its simple pick-up-and-play gameplay is certainly behind that popularity, as well as its widespread availability on just about any device powerful enough to run it.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Platform(s)
-
Switch
- Released
-
December 7, 2018
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- Engine
-
Proprietary Engine
- ESRB
-
E for Everyone: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, Suggestive Themes
When Super Smash Bros. Ultimate first graced the Nintendo Switch in 2018, nobody really anticipated just how relevant the title would remain three years after release.
Related
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Every DLC Character, Ranked
With every DLC character available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it’s time to look back and determine the best.
The game is not only a mainstay at the biggest fighting competitions around the globe, it has also proven popular with casual gamers who simply enjoy playing as some of their favorite gaming mascots. And with a total of 86 fighters for players to choose from, the game is truly worthy of that “ultimate” qualifier at the end of its title.
Detroit: Become Human
- Released
-
May 25, 2018
- Engine
-
Proprietary Engine
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
Quantic Dream has made a name for itself with its focus on story-driven games like Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain. Its games are known for their player choices and branching paths, which help make any given playthrough feel unique.
But when those branching paths are as many or divergent as the ones in Detroit: Become Human, it almost demands to be played several times. The game is based on a 2,000-page script and boasts dozens of different endings — the only hope of getting to see even a fraction of them is via multiple playthroughs.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
The Mass Effect series might have fallen from its recognition of quality with Mass Effect: Andromeda, but the original trilogy remains highly revered even today. So it didn’t seem all that surprising when the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was announced and subsequently launched to even more praise.
The collection contains remastered versions of the first three Mass Effect games, with the first one receiving the biggest overhaul, bringing it closer to parity with the subsequent two. The three games together chart a sprawling adventure across the furthest reaches of space, where the choices you make determine who lives or dies. And the fact that those choices carry over from game to game makes them great for playing at a stretch and multiple times.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 was already a huge game to begin with, clocking in at anywhere between 25 to 50 hours, depending on your play style. But add in its two expansion packs, Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine, and what you get is one of the chunkiest open-world RPGs available.
Related
13 Open-World Games With The Best Storylines
Exploring a huge, sprawling world full of creatures and people never gets old. But these 12 games also offer incredible stories, too.
But one of the biggest draws of the game is its stellar narrative and the fact that some of it can be shaped by player choice. This immediately encourages multiple playthroughs, which might explain why it still proves so popular even all these years after its original release. A next-gen version is on the way, so expect even replays when that happens.
Grand Theft Auto 5
The GTA games are frequently lauded for their open-ended gameplay and various sandboxes. GTA 3 was one of the very first 3D open-world games, helping to define the template that pretty much every other open-world game would use going forward. And that winning formula is still on display in GTA 5, with several main and side missions scattered all over its massive map at any given time.
But most of the fun in GTA 5 happens outside of those missions. We’ve all been caught spending countless hours just mindlessly running a rampage through the city, or performing one of its designated side activities, which is something that we find ourselves doing over and over again. All that is to say that the game has unrivaled levels of replay value. And when you add in GTA Online, and all the fun and chaos it adds to the overall package, that replayability increases exponentially.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
- Released
-
March 3, 2017
- Developer(s)
-
Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- Engine
-
Havok
- ESRB
-
E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes
Is it even possible to have any kind of discussion about games with great replay value without including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? After all, not many games encourage as much freedom or experimentation from a fundamental design standpoint. The very fact that you could attempt to take on Calamity Ganon in the opening hours of the game (and fail miserably) shows just how open this particular open-world game truly is. And it is that freedom that lends it most of its replayability.
The game’s inventive puzzles can be tackled in any number of ways, using any combination of runes and items at your disposal. This often results in a number of solutions to those puzzles, which range from straightforward to completely hilarious. Even today, speedrunners and completionists are still discovering new ways and methods to break the game, which is why it stands tall as the current pinnacle of open-world game design, and a game that many fans simply can’t get enough of.
4:14
Next
The sandbox genre covers dozens of different games. Here’s our list of the best titles you can enjoy on console and PC.