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My son and I had a blast with this one. We took turns doing runs through all biomes and found tons of blueprints and secrets. So fun!
The binding of Isaac
Tetris maybe (too close to candy crush)
If you into emulators the SNES has a lot of good arcade ports, those are high score based
Borderlands 2 has a lot of replay potential without getting boring. It never plays the same way twice. The weapon drops are very different each time through. Don’t forget the DLC. The rest of the games in the series are fun too, but BL2 seems to be where it peaked for me.
Doom. No the originals. Doom, Doom 2, and Doom Final. I always go back every few years.
Planescape: Torment is extremely replayable. I've been playing it every few years since I got a copy in I think like the early 2000s. It may be that this has something to do with having gotten to play it a little bit in the 90s but not having gotten to play the whole thing. There was a lot of anticipation there.
But I don't think it's just that. It's incredibly responsive to choice, and it's one of the first games I can recall with things like faction reputations and alignments. There's a lot there to dig through, and even once you have, it's always cool to wander around Sigil. It feels very alive.
The other one I end up replaying over and over is Shadowrun for SNES. That's not so much infinitely repayable though as just a really great game that I'm happy to run through.
This list is GREAT ... but if you'd be willing to venture back to the late 90s or early 00s I'll offer you three more names:
- Fallout 2
- Fallout
- Mafia
All three are open world.
Dyson Sphere Program is dangerously replayable to me. Hundreds and hundreds of hours sunk into it
Have to throw CK3 out as my personal favorite grand strategy game (though EU4 and the like are other options). There's nigh infinite content in weaving the story of your family and realm, and mods add a whole new layer to it.
Civilization.
This. I’m still playing Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.
Fallout: New Vegas, Caves of Qud, Project Zomboid, Minecraft, Terraria, Morrowind, Skyrim, Dwarf Fortress, Kenshi, Rimworld, Elden Ring, and so much more.
The detail in Kenshi is pretty amazing. I don't normally get sucked into single player games, but the design really does give the impression of nearly unlimited freedom, every different starting scenario feels genuinely unique. The slave start particularly was a ton of fun.
It's pretty amazing that it was designed by basically one guy. He was really efficient in how he chose what game elements to invest his limited development time into and clearly had a really strong vision. I hope he can get a few more devs onboard to develop a second one, I feel like even two or three other people would make so much more possible.
Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead
Zombie survival roguelike. It's free, open source, and a mature project.
For me, Noita. I don't recommend it unconditionally, but for me that game will forever be the only permanent game in my library. I expect it's possible that I could finish Elden Ring. I know I will never finish Noita.
How about a randomizer? Pick a game you like and see if there's a randomizer for it:
The binding of Isaac.
I've been playing it on and of since the flash game released 13 years ago.
Europa Universalis 4. And EU5 is on the horizon.
Definitely not like the games you've mentioned though.
For the most enduring single player experiences, you really should give some grand strategy games a try, like older Total War entries, Crusader Kings, Civilization, Swords of the Stars, etc. Stuff like Factorio or Cities Skylines can also become addictive, but none of these games is action oriented.
Also, Age of Empires 2. I haven't played 4 yet, but I think it speaks volumes that, at least on steam, AoE2 has more players at any given time than 3+4 combined.
Ziggurat might be an interesting pick, as it's a roguelike FPS with magic weapons, though it might feel super neutered compared to Ultrakill. Risk of Rain 2 is 3rd person and roguelike, so every run you start from scratch and enemies will keep spawning at certain intervals, but it's a fine shooter
Fallout 4 might have a rather clunky shooting, but if you get into it, you can spend many, many hours blasting a variety of enemies, finding all sorts of places and weapons. Skyrim is a close second, while better played in 1st person, it's medieval sword and sorcery.
I've been recently playing the "so called" sequel to ftl, ftl multiverse. I have gotten the standard and old secret endings, but there are hints of a third even harder to find ending.
If you're into boomer shooters, you can't go past the original doom for infinite playability. Literally 30 years worth of user created content and mods.
Stellaris, Rimworld, the Sims, and a lot of stragedy games.
For me Rollercoaster Tycoon 1&2. But you could probably throw most Sim Games into here like SimCity 2k 3k or 4.
Many ppl suggest rougelike/lite and sandbox games I want to also add games with a good mod community and have a lot of side quest like Skyrim, they fit the replayability criteria because when it starts to feel the same can you add mods that change things up. I have done thousands of hours in Skyrim and never finished the main quest 😂 I think Balders gate 3 will also live for a long time. Many rpgs seem to get a lot of mods and games like Balders gate change a lot depending on what you do and how you play.
But you seem to want some kind of fps so warframe would be better, you can play alone or with friends. Just like ultrakill do you jump around killing, you can use, swords, guns and magic depending on your build (there are many). Doom would also fits your style of playing I think.
Otherwise management games is a time sinker. But most do not have fighting elements where you yourselves fight. Cult of the lamb tries to be all of it, it has action/fighting and management you can even decorate if you are into that. Pretty good for those who want it all. The devs still updates it too.
You can get hundreds of hours out of Binding of Isaac, easy
War for the Overworld (I have many thousands of hours in this)
Settlers 2 Gold
(Both the above have a lot of user generated maps, which has given them most of their longevity.)
Factorio
Deus Ex
I put multiple thousand hours into Mount blade warband, Crusader Kings 2, Europa universalis 4, and more.
Dungeon keeper.
Any of impression games latter worldbuilders (pharaoh, zeus, emperor)
Stardew Valley
It gets stale after some time though, unlike rimworld in which each playthrough is a unique story
Honestly, Skyrim. With so many great mods available these days, you can literally turn it into a whole different game. And with modpacks on Nexus, Wabbajack or similar sites, it's easier than ever. I'm just getting back into it myself after 3 years, but I'm still a big fan of getting into the nitty gritty of it and configuring everything myself.
Diablo 1/2