A selection of games you’ll definitely want to return to even after completing them several times.
Defining the term “replayability” is not easy. It’s something elusive, combining atmosphere, diversity of gameplay mechanics, content volume, and other elements – each gamer has their own definition. This could include stunning graphics you want to admire repeatedly, a great soundtrack that perfectly complements what’s happening on-screen, or anything else – even a beloved character you visit like an old friend.
Given the above, it’s clear that any list of replayable games will be highly subjective. Nevertheless, we’ve tried to select some of the best titles from popular genres that are perfect for replaying.
Online Games
Okay, this is the most obvious choice. Nearly every multiplayer game offers endless replayability, whether it’s an MMORPG where you can explore the open world, engage in guild wars, and try to conquer the universe with different classes and builds, or online shooters where battles never stop. Recently, developers have mastered the art of keeping players engaged through seasons and leagues, a constant influx of content, including cosmetics, and continuous account or character progression.
Listing the best games in this category would take up several pages. It’s enough to mention the most popular titles in their respective genres. Among MMORPGs, we have World of Warcraft, Black Desert, Neverwinter, The Elder Scrolls Online, Lineage II, Aion, Perfect World, and many more. In the shooter category, you’ll find Fortnite, Apex Legends, CS:GO, Call of Duty Warzone, Warframe, War Thunder, CrossFire, Point Blank, and others. Downloading any of these games guarantees you’ll keep coming back again and again.
RPGs
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim is a staple in every RPG top list, except perhaps in isometric ones. And rightfully so, as the game never stops surprising players with its freedom of choice.
One playthrough isn’t enough here: you’ll want to play as a different race and class, side with a rival faction, explore every point of interest, max out all skills, and finally, start a family and dedicate yourself to it. And when you’re done with that, you’ll discover the world of mods, which will increase the game’s replayability by a thousand percent.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium is a remarkable game that pushes boundaries and breaks genre conventions. It’s a blend of RPG, visual novel, and point-and-click adventure. Your character – an alcoholic detective with severe amnesia after a long binge – can become anyone, from a desperate hero to a complete failure.
Disco Elysium offers numerous ways to achieve your goals, and where there is freedom of choice, there is replayability. After completing the game, restart it and try to take the adventure in a completely different direction – you’ll be amazed at how many facets the game has.
Dark Souls
The Dark Souls series is not for those looking to take a leisurely stroll through a dark fantasy world. Each installment is a serious test of a player’s skills. But sooner or later, Dark Souls will succumb to you.
However, after defeating the final boss, don’t be in a rush to leave the game. You might want to test your abilities in new conditions. There are countless legends about players who set themselves impossible challenges. What if you play through the game with a different class? Or without leveling up? Using only specific weapons? Avoiding fights with regular enemies? There are countless options, and in any case, the Souls games will bring you a ton of emotions!
Dragon Age: Origins
The first entry in the Dragon Age series is rightfully considered the most successful. This game introduced us to the continent of Thedas, the kingdom of Ferelden, the mysterious Darkspawn, and the brave Grey Wardens.
Developed by the legendary BioWare, it is designed for multiple playthroughs, which it encourages right from the start by offering the option to choose your character’s backstory, which will influence the opening act. It only gets better from there: your actions will affect the state of the world, leading to one of several possible endings, and your achievements can be carried over to the next installments in the franchise.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition includes all the releases in the trilogy, along with expansions and previously released content. If you’re not yet familiar with the Mass Effect series, this set will provide the most complete experience.
In this space opera, there are only three endings, with the crucial decision made at the very end. However, what’s important in the context of the game is not the ending but the journey itself. Mass Effect is worth playing at least twice, following either the path of the noble and just Paragon or the devious and selfish Renegade. Along the way, you’ll make numerous decisions that shape the fates of characters, destroy and save entire civilizations, and ultimately create a unique Commander Shepard. Then, you’ll replay the game with completely different choices just to see where the story takes you this time.
The list of RPGs with replayability could go on forever. But we also want to highlight other genres, so here are a few more games worth your attention: Undertale, Baldur’s Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Diablo II, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, Deus Ex, Fallout 2, Alpha Protocol.
Roguelike
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
An iconic roguelike action game about a boy who survives by battling terrifying monsters in the hellish depths beneath his parents’ house. The game’s replayability is achieved through the hundreds of items and abilities that, when combined, offer billions of combinations and builds. Additionally, The Binding of Isaac has a unique visual style, complemented by an outstanding soundtrack that adds to the dark atmosphere.
Hades
A highly acclaimed roguelike action game from the creators of Bastion and Transistor, Hades follows the adventures of Zagreus, the prince of the Underworld, as he attempts to escape his prison-like home. Hades features meticulously crafted gameplay that makes combat enjoyable, with defeat serving only as an opportunity to return to battle stronger than before.
Risk of Rain 2
Risk of Rain 2 is a cooperative action game with roguelike elements where players fight monsters, collect loot, battle again, and collect even more… and so on, endlessly. With an abundance of enemies and items, its replayability is off the charts.
Darkest Dungeon
In the hardcore roguelike RPG Darkest Dungeon, much depends on randomness. Managing a group of adventurers, you explore dungeons where you may encounter monsters, fall into traps, discover powerful artifacts, while your characters lose their sanity, develop addictions and mental disorders, betray their teammates, or cowardly flee the battlefield. Darkest Dungeon can provide both positive and extremely negative experiences, but you’ll definitely want to return to it.
Don’t Starve
Don’t Starve offers a fairly linear storyline, where you’ll survive in the midst of a dangerous, mysterious world. However, the developers give you the freedom to play the way you want, and as you progress, you’ll unlock new characters. Additionally, the game world is randomly generated, so every adventure will be unique.
Roguelikes, in essence, are synonymous with replayability: the genre is driven by cycles, where each new run feels different from the last. Other roguelike games include Neon Abyss, Curse of the Dead Gods, Iratus: Lord of the Dead, Stoneshard, Spelunky 2, and Battle Brothers.
Shooter Games
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
In the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, there aren’t many endings to return for. No, here it’s about the atmosphere, the full adventure of mysteries, and the unique spirit of post-Soviet horror, where you can sit around a campfire with stalkers, drink vodka with sausage, and then crawl into some basement and nearly die from a bloodsucker’s claws. And don’t forget the hundreds of mods that greatly enhance replayability.
Grand Theft Auto V
Limiting this article to only GTA V would be wrong: every game in the Grand Theft Auto series deserves at least a few playthroughs. But if we have to choose one, let it be the latest installment: it combines a vast, activity-filled world, beautiful graphics, an engaging storyline, and a rich online mode where you can spend years.
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 offers a fairly linear storyline with a set collection of locations, characters, and billions of weapon options. It’s the weapons that will make you return to the game: the random generation system creates guns with unique characteristics and bonus abilities, and you’ll definitely want to try out at least some of them.
Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative shooter where a group of survivors moves through corridor-like locations, fighting zombies and mutants. It may sound simple, but even years after its release, the game maintains a consistently high online player count. This is due to the use of an AI Director, which creates unpredictable conditions for players in each run. Plus, you can take on the role of a monster in the PvP mode – another reason to keep coming back.
Prey
Prey belongs to the immersive sim genre, games that encourage a creative approach to gameplay. This shooter can be explored in many ways, including methods that even the developers didn’t expect. Additionally, it has a captivating storyline that is better revealed through second and third playthroughs.
Among single-player shooters, there aren’t many with high replayability. Here are some more good options: Destiny 2, Void Bastards, BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE, Just Cause 3.
Strategy Games
Crusader Kings III
Any strategy game from Paradox Interactive has endless replayability, and Crusader Kings III is no exception. With so many rulers, countries, and game mechanics, you won’t master everything even after a hundred playthroughs. The best way to spend several years of your life.
Civilization VI
You can spend a lot of time in the Civilization series. At first, you’ll want to conquer the world in every available way – from military to cultural dominance. Then, you’ll try out all the civilizations and their leaders. After that, you’ll set new goals for yourself – for example, not to recruit Great People, not to leave your continent, or even to survive a zombie apocalypse… yes, Civilization VI includes such scenarios. In short, you won’t get bored.
Europa Universalis IV
Europa Universalis IV covers a relatively short period of world history, but that’s enough to fill the game with events and political intrigue. Each campaign is radically different from the previous ones.
Plague Inc: Evolved
Plague Inc: Evolved is a game about infecting the world with deadly diseases. There are many diseases here, from familiar human viruses and fungi to fantastical scenarios like a zombie pandemic. If you wish, you can even create a new disease and attempt to wipe out humanity with it.
Cities: Skylines
An endless game about city-building: you’ll have plenty of tools for planning and constructing districts, detailed models of various areas of activity, from economic to social, and unique features like terraforming and natural disasters.
Want more replayable strategy games? Here they are: StarCraft II, Frostpunk, Two Point Hospital, Stellaris, Hearts of Iron IV.
Sandbox Games
Minecraft
The iconic Minecraft needs no introduction. It’s simply a giant sandbox with endless replayability.
Terraria
Terraria is a pixelated side-scrolling sandbox. The game offers crafting, building, combat, and many other mechanics, with cooperative play significantly expanding what players can do.
RimWorld
RimWorld is a strategy game about survival on an unexplored planet, where a space liner has crashed. Thanks to procedural generation, the game constantly presents unique conditions and characters, with an atmosphere combining adventure and desperate survival in extreme circumstances.
The Sims 4
The popular life simulator lets you have fun in a virtual world with complete freedom of action. Each The Sims game has exceptional replayability, and you can do anything you want—build a career, attend parties, run a business, raise a family, and more.
Factorio
A game about building automated factories that can fill almost the entire planet! You’ll need to mine resources, research technology, and set up production—all with numerous scenarios and almost endless gameplay.
Other contenders in the sandbox genre: Stardew Valley, Garry’s Mod, Valheim, Rust, Scrap Mechanic, No Man’s Sky.
Adventure and Action Games
Hitman: Blood Money
The Hitman series is a masterpiece of the stealth-action genre, offering an impressive variety of mission completion options. Each target can be eliminated in multiple ways, and direct elimination is the most basic of them. Therefore, the replayability here is as vast as your imagination allows.
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
The brilliant game designer Hideo Kojima created a sandbox stealth game full of possibilities, with hundreds of ways to complete missions. For each mission, there are numerous options for achieving objectives, and you can come up with your own challenges to make the gameplay even more diverse.
Detroit: Become Human
Even story-driven adventures can be replayable. The plot of Detroit: Become Human features so many branching paths that any RPG would envy. You can play through the game several times, and each new story will differ from the others—thanks to your decisions alone.
UNTIL DAWN
Until Dawn is a youth horror slasher where you directly control the storyline: the characters’ survival or death at the hands of monsters depends on your actions, and you can either save all the characters or lead them to the worst possible outcome. Then, you can replay and change the fates of the teens who went to a remote cabin for the night.
THE STANLEY PARABLE
A first-person adventure with numerous branching paths and a brilliant “fourth-wall” break. The Stanley Parable contains many completely different endings, and you’ll definitely want to experience each one. The game lasts only a few hours but will stay in your memory for years.
Among other adventure games worth noting: The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Council, Dishonored 2, Batman — The Telltale Series, Vampyr.
As much as we’d like to, we can’t cover all the games with the best replayability in this selection. However, we welcome your comments—let us know which titles we missed, and they will definitely be added to the list in the next article update!
