deleted by creator

Anything that has set turns or levels with natural points to pause. The short time commitment make it easier to “one more turn” my way into playing for hours.

XCOM 2 is phenomenal for this.

Vampire Survivor.

It’s very much like a Dragon Ball super fusion. For the next 20-30 minutes… I am fused with the game.

factorio has stolen months from me

For me, it’s Fallout, Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Hearthstone and Stardew Valley.

But pretty much anything like those will do it if I’m enjoying myself.

Rhythm games. Diablo clones. ATS, ETS, and BeamNG.drive.

Factory games. Resource management… I get all caught up rebalancing inputs and outputs… This building needs an expansion to fit the new gears project… Over here we need more room for screws… Plates??? Why are all the plates gone!!! 🤬

4X games, specifically any of the Civilization games I’ve played (everything but SMAC & Civ: Beyond Earth).

MMORPG, specifically Elder Scrolls Online.

Basebuilders, 4Xs, Incrementals, and Survival Crafters

Once I burn out I try to stay away as long as possible for the sake of getting other things done and having a sane sleep schedule.

Compare with RPGs, farm sims, platformers, action adventure games, and roguelikes, which I can pick up and put down much more easily without disrupting other aspects of my life.

Yeah, anything competitive is too stressful for me to be able to just play for hours on end. I’m playing Deadlock at the moment and I’m typically taking a break after every one or two games just to control my mood.

Football Manager was the worst for me I’d say. Consumed months at a time. Civilization can eat a day easily if you’re not careful. Really, anything I can control the pace of that I get interested in and that doesn’t have a story. I enjoy narrative games, but they require a different type of focus and concentration that takes a lot more energy. I can’t play those for days on end, even hours on end. I can get obsessed by them, and I can play tons of hours over the course of a week, but I don’t hyperfocus on them the same way.

Anything management or strategy however, where you’re working for incremental progress and “just one more turn”? That’s dangerous. Last little obsession I had was Esports Godfather, a MOBA themed deckbuilder/autobattler/management game that has probably been my surprise hit of the year and which was gloriously addicting.

Furthermore, I don’t often feel like I’m ‘enjoying’ it. I’m just consumed by it.

Recognise this feeling very well, from a lot of things when I hyperfocus on it. It’s almost a sensation like nausea, that palpable feeling of not being in control, for me at least. Especially bad when I briefly snap into self-awareness - but not enough to break out of the hyperfocus.

Any Paradox game. Oxygen Not Included. Factorio. Civilization. Rimworld. Dwarf Fortress. The list goes on.

For me I think it’s about having non-stop and parallel mini problems/puzzles/goals. By the time one task is finished. There’s two more to take its place.