In reality, whether a game is addictive depends largely on the player’s gaming experience.
Looking back to the early days when the NES first came out, people hadn’t been exposed to video games before, so they were instantly captivated by it. Everyone who tried it became hooked. Whether they were office workers or students, they practically forgot to eat and sleep; if not for outside intervention, they could have played nonstop for days on end.
That’s just how addictive gaming can be.
Nowadays, we often see groups of kids sitting together, glued to their phones, engrossed in some mobile game.
It really comes down to a lack of gaming experience. But once they get used to playing mobile games, it’s likely they’ll struggle to get into Nintendo Switch or PS5 games. Many mobile games foster dependency and can actually ruin a player’s appreciation for games.
Back in the day, how many young gamers would sneakily turn on the TV to play games after their parents had fallen asleep? Some would even keep their hands in their desks during class, daydreaming about playing games. How many young men and women spent their days holed up at home playing games, not even wanting to go to school?
If you had a game console at home, you were definitely a winner in life, with friends within miles. Later on, with arcade games, the Game Boy, Super Famicom, Game Boy Advance, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo DS... it was the same story. Innovative hardware and gameplay always caught players’ attention, but their appeal was limited to their respective eras.
As players’ gaming experiences have grown, even AAA blockbusters today may not necessarily capture our interest. So, in your opinion, is it still possible for games as addictive as those from the early days to emerge?
In recent years, there have been too many pay-to-win games—the kind that offer instant gratification without requiring any effort—which have ruined the mindset of many players. As a result, whenever they encounter a game that actually requires time and dedication, they find it tedious, and some don’t even want to sit through the tutorial anymore.
In recent years, *Delta* has probably been one of the hottest games out there! While it’s certainly thrilling to play, a few hours of it leaves you completely exhausted. For anyone who’s lost their gaming mindset and enthusiasm, any game they pick up will feel like a chore!
So, if you’re in the right frame of mind, which games would you find addictive—ones you could play all day without getting tired?
*Civilization*: A cup of tea, a pack of cigarettes, and a full day of *Civilization*
*Slay the Spire*: The gold standard of its genre! The first installment is widely regarded as a masterpiece and is incredibly fun; however, while the second installment is currently hot off the press, its reception has been mixed.
*Stardew Valley* is an absolute must-play pixel art game! Anyone who played *Harvest Moon* back in the day should be able to pick this up easily! A single game lets you complete a whole life’s journey: chopping wood, fishing, mining, smithing, building, fighting monsters, brewing, harvesting, getting married, having kids... It’s a farming dream for everyone!
*Mount & Blade 2*: Back then, I practically stayed up all night forging weapons just for a few dinars.
*Monster Hunter*: Many of CAPCOM’s games have a steep learning curve, but once you get into them, they’re addictive—and *Monster Hunter* is exactly that kind of game.
*Breath of the Wild* takes open-world gaming to the extreme—you don’t necessarily have to save the princess. Make use of every scene in this world, toy with every monster at your whim, and collect every rare treasure across the land of Hyrule. Even a single stone or a giant tree can be turned into something special—that’s the true joy of gaming.
The first 200 hours of *Ghost Valley Eight Deserts* will show you what true exhilaration feels like.
*Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI* Power-Up Edition—there were so many games back in the day that were worth revisiting for a lifetime! That’s something today’s AAA titles simply can’t offer.
*Dead Cells* is an undeniable milestone in the history of action games. Even after beating it multiple times, you might not have fully grasped its essence.
Roguelike games have become mainstream today, and *Dead Cells* is the most iconic example. Other notable titles in the genre include *The Binding of Isaac*, *Monster Train 2*, *The Binding of Meow*, *Dungeon Run*, *Rain World 2*, *Vampire Survivors*, and *Noita*.
The games we encounter in each era are different, and the emotions we invest in them are different as well.
We, too, once chased after the trendiest games and experienced the defining titles of each era.
But one day, we will inevitably pause to savor those classic games of the past and reminisce about the youth that has faded away.
