Sometimes, you just want to sink your teeth into a game. Exist in the world, explore every possible nook and secret door, try every choice, and seeeverything.
Sometimes, you also want a game which requires perseverance to really get good at it. Muscle memory needs to be learned, and tactics memorised.
10 Best Free-to-Play Time Sinks
Dive into these free-to-play games that offer endless progression, vast worlds, and thrilling gameplay to keep you entertained for hours on end.
Or you might want a game which you’re able to have on in the background, incrementally progressing each day, watching the numbers go higher and higher along the way.
If any of these sound like you, then you’ve come to the right place. The nine games below all take 1,000 hours or more to complete, so they can keep you occupied for a long, long time—and don’t worry, this article won’t take nearly that long to read!
Games are ranked by approximately how long they take to 100%, and unless otherwise mentioned, 100% completion times are fromHow Long To Beat.
9Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Gotta Catch ‘Em All
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
The latest mainline entries in the all-encompassing multimedia juggernaut that isPokémon, completing the main story of Scarlet/Violet takes just over 32 hours.
However, to truly 100% the game, you need to create a Living Pokédex. To do this, you need to have one of every Pokémon from the franchise caught and stored in your Pokémon Box—and that includes having every version of the evolutions separately.
Now, you’re going to need a lot of time and every mainline Pokémon entry on Switch, alongsidePokémon GoandX and Y, as there are still a few Pokémonwhich have never graced the Switch.
You could also take it one step further and grind all the Pokémon to level 100 with perfect IVs and EVs—now that would take a long, long time.
8Clicker Heroes
Clicks For Days
Clicker Heroes
One of the most popular Idle games, Clicker Heroes involves you defeating enemies to progress in zones, adding new heroes to your roster, and leveling them up to deal even more damage.
As with most Idle games, this one starts off progressing quickly, with new abilities and mechanics being thrown at you with every new round.
Enemies quickly become exponentially more powerful, with health in the quadrillions, requiring you to ‘ascend’ to start the game again and again, with powerful artifacts known as Hero Souls carrying over to allow you to buy new items to increase your own hero’s power.
Thetechnical end point is zone 4725, due to technical constraints (similar to Tetris) causing the enemies to have infinite health. According to How Long To Beat, this will take roughly 1,111 hours —so get clicking!
7Candy Crush Saga
Match-3 Again And Again And Again
Candy Crush Saga
Candy Crush Sagais a match-3-tiles game whereby the player matches up the same coloured candies on a board, potentially causing chain reactions where more and more candies match up.
Alongside this, they have to deal with obstacles and other mechanics, such as chocolate, which needs to be destroyed by matching next to it, or the ability to create special candies if you match 4 or more candies at once.
With over 18,845 levels as of the publication of this article and with new levels being added weekly, to complete all levels, you’ll need to either play for 1,000s of hours or bite the bullet and open up your wallet to the Candy King.
6Hearts Of Iron 4
Need A Heart Of Steel For This One
Hearts of Iron 4
Hearts of Iron IVis a grand strategy game where players take control of a country in the world during WW2, creating alternative histories as they set out to take over other countries and defend their own areas.
While you start with 7 ‘major’ countries to choose from, this can quickly change as ‘minor’ countries grow and take over others, with over 233 countries in total.
The game is incredibly deep, and with 12 expansions and an intense modding scene, the time played can only increase. HLTB suggests putting aside 1,187 hours to 100% this game.
5Path Of Exile
On The Path To Completion
Path of Exile
Path of Exileis an ARPG, similar to games such asDiabloandTorchlight II. In it, you take a character from weak and exiled to God-like, with a massive skill tree similar toFinal Fantasy X’sSphere Grid.
Alongside the base game, there are also 35 expansions as of the time of writing, and all are given out for free to players. That’s a lot of content. Grinding Gear Games is currently developing Path of Exile and its sequel at the same time, updating both with new features.
Overall,The Gamerestimated it would take roughly 824 hours to 100% the game as of last year, while HLTB suggests a leisurely pace of 1,494 hours, and with more updates since then, the time will have only grown and grown.
If you just want to experience the main story, you’re looking at about 29 hours of content.
Fast-Paced Combat And Slow Grinding
Warframeis a third-person looter shooter that has managed to keep a dedicated fan base for over 10 years.
It’s actually this writer’s most played game on Steam with over 300 hours spent running missions, editing my Warframe’s loadouts, and, well, waiting for one of the many updates to download.
While the game is technically open-ended like many free-to-player MMO’s, to unlock all Warframes and complete all missions to a good standard would take over 1,507 hours.
So, while the game is technically free-to-play, you have to be in it for the long-haul. And with consistent updates, this time will only increase.At least the grinding is fun!
3Sea Of Thieves
Might Steal More Of Your Time Than You Think
Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thievesis an action-adventure gamedeveloped by Rare, and puts you in control of a member of the crew on a pirate ship, with the ship changing size depending on how many people are controlling it.
The game allows you to engage in many different activities, including Voyages, whereby you will complete objectives such as finding treasure from maps, participating in combat challenges, or delivering cargo, as well as leisure activities such as fishing, cooking, and hunting.
Being constantly updated, the game could last you 1000s of hours, with theGuiness World Recordfor first person to gain all the achievements being set in 2018—with over 2,000 hours of game time.
2EVE Online
Create Epic Stories And Epic Spreadsheets
EVE Online
EVE Onlineis an MMO that is known for its complex systems and the need to keep spreadsheets of data to help you keep track of all the mechanics. That is to say, EVE isn’t for the faint of heart.
However, if you can get into a welcoming faction, you’ll soon see your days fly by as you work out how to takeover other factions, have massive space battles costing$100,000s of real world dollars, and create ships that are as big as 7 Empire State buildings.
How Long To Beat suggests the game can take upwards of 3,333 hours to complete, but really, you’re looking at as many hours as you want in such an open-ended game.
1World Of Warcraft
An Adventure That’ll Keep You Busy For A Lifetime
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraftis the game most people think of when they describe a game which could last 1000s of hours.
One of the granddaddies of the MMO, WoW currently has 10 expansions and over 4,500 achievements, from completing raids in Mythic Difficulty to having to win 5,000 PVP matches.
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Each Raid Boss in World Of Warcraft presents a challenge, but these are surely some of the hardest ones the players have encountered.
There’s aGuinness World Recordfor the first player to complete all the achievements inWorld of Warcraft: Legion(the 6th expansion), which took nearly 900 days of playtime, or roughly 21,600 hours, with even more content added since.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t play games like Warframe or World of Warcraft–they’re great fun, and usually have fantastic communities formed around them. Just go in knowing you might never hit 100% completion and instead play until you’ve gained everything you want from the game.
10 Video Games You Can Finish In Minutes
Finish these games in minutes either by knowing what you’re doing or uncovering an Easter Egg.
