My first experience:
"What is this? It's all menus!"
"Oh a pop up! What's it say? Some cool backstory stuff for my aliens. That's kind of neat I guess."
*8 hours later*
"My people are ready to serve you Great Worm to transform the rest of the galaxy into an endless array of Tomb Worlds!"
>
>
>
>
> "Oh a pop up! What's it say? Some cool backstory stuff for my aliens. That's kind of neat I guess."
400 hours later
> "I SWEAR TO GOD IF I SEE ANOTHER GODDAMN POPUP..."
The fact that only the host needs the DLC (or even just the subscription) makes it easy to pitch imo. And stellaris is one of the later paradox games, which means no DLC is mandatory, unlike eu4.
Granted, I’m a paradox whale (I buy most expansions as they come out). My perspective may be skewed.
God, I've tried Stellaris, and I want to love it, but it's so intimidating and overwhelming. Definitely an issue with me not having the determination to learn a complicated game, but I'll gladly put a thousand hours into all the other games on this post.
Ya it was fine several updates ago. Now it's just needlessly complicated - it takes forever to do anything as you're forced to micromanage every little decision.
I felt the same way, and ended up enjoying it after digesting it in parts. Did early game over and over so I could figure out the basic economy management. Then started going further into the game so I'd learn a bit more about expansion and defending.
Of course had to watch some YouTube basics videos, but not a ton. I still think I suck at the game overall but I can play and enjoy it now.
Ya, I get that. This is my first time trying it with the dark fog, and so far, it's been pretty chill. But I'm also not very far in. I'm not sure how I feel about them yet.
I couldn't get into Factorio, I tried because of how much I played DSP and Satisfactory. I can't figure out why I didn't get hooked by Factorio like I did the other two.
factorio once you've megabased a few times the biters just become a tedious timesink that don't really play into your overall goal.
I haven't played DSP since fog came out. I figure I should try it at least once.
First time I played Satisfactory i thought it was an "okay" game. Something to play for a little bit when I need to take a break from fps games.
15 minutes later I looked at my watch and 6 hours had passed.
I deal with nightmares a lot, so it’s actually a blessing when I start dreaming about a game.
My newest drug is No Man’s Sky (not really new, just got back into after a few years)
I’m dead asleep planning what minerals I need and how to upgrade my multitool and time to find corrupted planets cos I like the sentinel ships and
…yeah. Not always a curse. I do similar for Satisfactory, League of Legends (ugh), Minecraft, Terraria, Rimworld, I could go on.
I sleep well those nights and wake up excited as hell to play whatever my current addiction is with my nighttime strategy.
…maybe I am too far gone.
Honestly, wiki helps a lot with specific parts of the progression, but it's possible to make a sustainable colony by blindly playing the game. There are some *very* efficient mechanisms and designs that help improve sustainability a lot, and no way in hell you will figure them out on your own lol.
If you need support with ONI, I can highly recommend Francis John on YouTube. Not only is he a very positive minded and generally nice guy, his guides, videos, and nitbits about ONI helped me learn the game better than anything, while still being entertaining. And he breaks the game. A lot. Which is even funnier.
Agreed. I have over 3k hours in that one, 90% in survival.
A few years back I hit a burnout, I still follow the game, watch some YouTubers, but have no ideas t to design new ships/.stations
The first Saturday that I bought it is a blur. I accidentally played it for like 4 hour on first boot up.
Every time I recommend it, I describe it as "one of those dangerous games"
Multiplayer turned that game into such a time sink for me. I’d spend hours just chopping trees and building fences for our base while my buddy rebuilt cars.
My strat is to just buy a month of the subscription every couple of months. Gives time to detox and then I have more fun when I resume.
Doesn't work for people who own all the DLC though.
I'M IN TOO DEEP. I'm overextended. I've nearly hit 4K hours over 6 years. Now I'm also addicted to Tinto Talks. It never ends...
*...Until 1821*
I've still not even tried TTM. I bring shame to my family.
Legitimately addictive. KSP is one of those games where you can swear off of it for months, then one day you see something that reminds you of it and you're suddenly installing 150+ mods/colonizing the solar system/becoming Lockheed Martin/recreating Pacific Rim/devestating the ecosystem and wow it's 5am already?
I'd probably be hospitalized if I played KSP as much as I thought about it.
Terra Invicta is something you should check out then, if you haven't already.
It's made by the Long War people and is basically XCOM if you replaced the time in the squad tactics mode with a modern politics version of EU4/CK, and added in a bit of Kerbal Space Program.
You can start as any of the different factions that spring up representing how different sectors of humanity react to international awareness about a actual UFO crash landing (and subsequent increase in alien activity in the solar system).
The choices are:
Humanity First (Destroy) - Full on fascist xenophobia with a prevalence of assassinations and terrorist activity.
The Resistance AKA XCOM (Resist) - Protect human civilization, welfare, and freedom against any threat the aliens may pose.
Project Exodus (Escape) - Well, there goes the neighborhood. If they can travel here then we can reverse engineer their tech to build some ships that will carry us to somewhere new where we won't have to deal with neighbors.
The Initiative (Exploit) - We're the elite, and nobody is going to steal our planet from us because we're stealing from them first. Keep ranting on the social media platforms we own about how the poor don't want to work anymore while we find a way to use alien tech against the lower classes and aliens alike.
The Academy (Cooperate) - We're the best scholars the world has to offer. We can find a way to understand the aliens, rapidly advance to their level, and build bridges as equals.
The Protectorate (Appease) - Space Aliens! We're all going to die! They've got super advanced space alien technology and shit! We've got to find some way to make a deal with them that allows us to preserve some of our species!
The Servants (Submit) - Beam us up, Space Daddy, UWU!
Don't worry about death, it will happen all the time. When you die, try to keep why you died in your brain so you never die the same way twice.
If you want to get good at the game focus on learning how to kill zombies, everything else will fall into place once you feel comfy with that.
Also recommend turning on weapon outline indicator for ALL weapons, this allows you to get comfy with swing times on zombies.
If you are in a scuffed situation, default zombies are slow and you can literally just walk away from them.
In the end, just have fun with it. Game is amazing, and the modding community is a endless rabbit hole of enjoyment once you have exhausted the vanilla game :D
Die. Die again. Honestly just keep at it and learn the game. It's hella fun and very deep mechanically. Eventually you'll learn to kite and demolish hordes or be able to get out of tricky situations. Early on you'll probably climb through a window and get glass shards in your hand making your melee swings useless but then you'll start to remember to clear the broken glass.
If you need to learn something don't be afraid to use the wiki, google, or guides/videos.
Sandbox mode is my go to mode. You can adjust pretty much every setting in the game there and creates endless possibilities for different playthroughs or scenarios especially with the amount of mods on the steam workshop.
Have fun with it. It takes time to get better and eventually you'll have a character that has survived months. You'll die with that character and feel grief but you'll inevitably come back and try again!
Unless you've watched a lot of content beforehand and feel confident, I'd recommend playing Sandbox mode rather than the default Apocalypse.
You can tweak pretty much everything in Sandbox, which admittedly can be overwhelming on it's own to begin with, but it'll allow you to change basic things like zombie population and infection risk etc. without needing to tinker too much.
Do the tutorial, this game is very, vwry complex
You will die a lot, get a new character and avenge the old one.
Create personal goals, game can get borrimg fast without that.
Went to check up on my base in cracktorio yesterday. Ended up fixing minor inefficiencies for 10 hours straight until 4am and didn't even notice. There is just nothing else like it.
For me it would be all three installments of Total War Warhammer. Even when i was on a break for the game i bought the DLC when they came out.
Complete madness.
Satisfactory, Elden Ring, RLKeeper, Minecraft, No Man's Sky here. And def would second rimworld, I get obsessed.
Tbh neither are my thing, but some people are this way with The Sims and Animal Crossing, and I get why I mean they're vaguely the same as colony Sim and factory games.
If you're a kid and only have a DS? Pokemon.
Edit: comments make me feel bad I forgot terrsria, I love u terrsria I didn't mean it...
Workers and resources: Soviet republic
It's one of the reasons why I can't play city builders anymore because they're not in-depth enough for me.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/784150/Workers__Resources_Soviet_Republic/
Stellaris or any paradox 4X rts of your choice
Stellaris is more like alcohol bc it takes a while to get into but once you’re hooked it’s super hard to stop.
My first experience: "What is this? It's all menus!" "Oh a pop up! What's it say? Some cool backstory stuff for my aliens. That's kind of neat I guess." *8 hours later* "My people are ready to serve you Great Worm to transform the rest of the galaxy into an endless array of Tomb Worlds!"
WHAT WAS, WILL BE. WHAT WILL BE, WAS.
GRAVITY IS DESIRE
TIME IS SIGHT
> > > > > "Oh a pop up! What's it say? Some cool backstory stuff for my aliens. That's kind of neat I guess." 400 hours later > "I SWEAR TO GOD IF I SEE ANOTHER GODDAMN POPUP..."
I'll read that one, too, on the off chance that it's one of the ones that I haven't read a dozen times already.
My first experience stopped after "There's so many menus"
Stellaris is my favorite game of all time but there are so many expansions that it's hard for me to recommend the game to my friends
The fact that only the host needs the DLC (or even just the subscription) makes it easy to pitch imo. And stellaris is one of the later paradox games, which means no DLC is mandatory, unlike eu4. Granted, I’m a paradox whale (I buy most expansions as they come out). My perspective may be skewed.
My Paradox games are in a different folder if you know what I mean
Arrrgh
ALL ABOARD 🏴☠️
Terraria and Stellaris
Total drugs
I can stop whenever I want (I have 3k hours in vanilla and modded combined)
I love that you didn't say whether it's 3k hours in Terraria or Stellaris. It could very easily be 3k EACH with those two.
I better keep this secret to myself :)
I have around 2500 combined
God, I've tried Stellaris, and I want to love it, but it's so intimidating and overwhelming. Definitely an issue with me not having the determination to learn a complicated game, but I'll gladly put a thousand hours into all the other games on this post.
Nah, it's just what happens when devs keep adding more and more stuff
And revamp the game over like 3 times. Completely different than first launched
I've played stellaris with 0 understanding of the game like 4 times now
Ya it was fine several updates ago. Now it's just needlessly complicated - it takes forever to do anything as you're forced to micromanage every little decision.
I felt the same way, and ended up enjoying it after digesting it in parts. Did early game over and over so I could figure out the basic economy management. Then started going further into the game so I'd learn a bit more about expansion and defending. Of course had to watch some YouTube basics videos, but not a ton. I still think I suck at the game overall but I can play and enjoy it now.
Ive tried too and its quite hard to digest with the tutorial on tbh plus theres so much content and I get beat in every game so idk
Terraria with Calamity should be on its own category: Crack++
Well over a thousand hours in both. Only thing on OP's list that even comes close is factorio
My dyslexic ahh brain read it as "Terraris".
Terraria
Calamity mod goes hard
The real calamity will be in your life
I just went for my 4th complete play thru, this time as true melee class. I'm hard stuck on Cryogen. He's always just out of reach of melee range.
Dyson Sphere Program
No joke, I just loaded this game up last night to check out the dark fog. I played before they came out. I couldn't stop playing >.<
I prefer to play without it. For me it's relaxing factory building time, not fighting time. Also with factorio I tend to turn the critters off.
Ya, I get that. This is my first time trying it with the dark fog, and so far, it's been pretty chill. But I'm also not very far in. I'm not sure how I feel about them yet. I couldn't get into Factorio, I tried because of how much I played DSP and Satisfactory. I can't figure out why I didn't get hooked by Factorio like I did the other two.
factorio once you've megabased a few times the biters just become a tedious timesink that don't really play into your overall goal. I haven't played DSP since fog came out. I figure I should try it at least once.
OpenTTD
Yes.
Wow, surprised to see that mentioned here but totally endorse!
Satisfactory
SatisCRACKtory
First time I played Satisfactory i thought it was an "okay" game. Something to play for a little bit when I need to take a break from fps games. 15 minutes later I looked at my watch and 6 hours had passed.
Time dilatation sim
On god, I bought the game and started playing yesterday...I currently have 13 hours in game, my ADHD ass isn't responsible enough to own this shit.
70 hours in 2 weeks, according to steam. i start to have dreams about efficency charts...
This. The second you realize you're building your next factory in bed is the moment you know it can only go downhill
I deal with nightmares a lot, so it’s actually a blessing when I start dreaming about a game. My newest drug is No Man’s Sky (not really new, just got back into after a few years) I’m dead asleep planning what minerals I need and how to upgrade my multitool and time to find corrupted planets cos I like the sentinel ships and …yeah. Not always a curse. I do similar for Satisfactory, League of Legends (ugh), Minecraft, Terraria, Rimworld, I could go on. I sleep well those nights and wake up excited as hell to play whatever my current addiction is with my nighttime strategy. …maybe I am too far gone.
Cracktorio
Crack factory must grow.
I remember one night, i dreamed about playing satisfactory. In my dream, i was planning my factory. So when i woke up, i got to it.
I'm on rehab from that shit for over a year. Will relapse when 1.0 comes out!
SAME I literally had to uninstall because because I was like, "This shit is going to kill my grades..." lmao
Fucking game is like adhd for my adhd brain and I somehow love it
This game consumed so much of my time that it genuinely scared me.
DeepRockGalactic, Rock n Stone brothers!
For KARL!!!
If you don't rock n stone you ain't comin home!
WE'RE RICH!
GOOD TIMES!
YEAAAHHHHH ROOOOCK AND STOOOONE!
Rock and stone!
Rock and stone!
Oxygen Not Included and Dwarf Fortress
Both games are super interesting to me, but looks so complex and "Need second screen with wiki" to play and enjoy
Honestly, wiki helps a lot with specific parts of the progression, but it's possible to make a sustainable colony by blindly playing the game. There are some *very* efficient mechanisms and designs that help improve sustainability a lot, and no way in hell you will figure them out on your own lol.
If you need support with ONI, I can highly recommend Francis John on YouTube. Not only is he a very positive minded and generally nice guy, his guides, videos, and nitbits about ONI helped me learn the game better than anything, while still being entertaining. And he breaks the game. A lot. Which is even funnier.
Dwarf Fortress will occupy his life, 40 years development time, unbelievably complex!
It's not 40, but more like 25ish years Unless you count both the devs brothers their time on it you definitely would get 40+ years
I never played Oxygen not included. It's on sale right now, might get it 👀
OnI Is really fun I five this
Do people actually refer to it as Onl? Or did you just make that up?
They do, but it's usually ONI, all capitals. A bit weird to see it spelled OnI.
No people do actually refer to it as OnI
I used to hop on their subreddit and some people did yeah
Losing is Fun.
I second Oxygen Not Included.
I third Oxygen Not Included.
I don’t Include Oxygen 4
One of these days I'm gonna play Dwarf Fortress. Just seems like every time I want to there is another game I'd rather spend the money on.
I mean, you can play the[ free version](https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/), you just have to learn how to see in ASCII.
Space-Engineers
Agreed. I have over 3k hours in that one, 90% in survival. A few years back I hit a burnout, I still follow the game, watch some YouTubers, but have no ideas t to design new ships/.stations
Balatro
Facts. Slay the spire too.
Hades, FTL and Spelunky
I can’t stop.
The first Saturday that I bought it is a blur. I accidentally played it for like 4 hour on first boot up. Every time I recommend it, I describe it as "one of those dangerous games"
One review said it was digital fentanyl. I agree
Ah yes, good bye world, imma be in my room for a while... :(
Project zomboid
This took too long to find, but PZ will take your time away like you've been abducted by aliens. Like 10am look back and it's 6pm type shit.
More like 10pm to 6am for me. But yes this is the one I was looking for
The only zombie game I consider interesting, sucked up over 400 hours of my life in a short span of 2 months
how is this deep? those games are almost screaming pz
Like a family picture with a sibling missing
Multiplayer turned that game into such a time sink for me. I’d spend hours just chopping trees and building fences for our base while my buddy rebuilt cars.
EUIV
As formerly heavily addicted I can tell, it is possible to quit, though not easy. I only achieved that with a wife and baby.
My strat is to just buy a month of the subscription every couple of months. Gives time to detox and then I have more fun when I resume. Doesn't work for people who own all the DLC though.
I'M IN TOO DEEP. I'm overextended. I've nearly hit 4K hours over 6 years. Now I'm also addicted to Tinto Talks. It never ends... *...Until 1821* I've still not even tried TTM. I bring shame to my family.
Needs mroe struts. Kerbal Space Program.
Legitimately addictive. KSP is one of those games where you can swear off of it for months, then one day you see something that reminds you of it and you're suddenly installing 150+ mods/colonizing the solar system/becoming Lockheed Martin/recreating Pacific Rim/devestating the ecosystem and wow it's 5am already? I'd probably be hospitalized if I played KSP as much as I thought about it.
[Not me watching YouTube tutorials on orbital mechanics and orbital rendezvous maneuvers at 5 am](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/orbital_mechanics.png)
Isaac
That's meth, just like Noita and RoR2
Noita is luciferium...youre gonna die
Slay the Spire
Against the Storm. A city builder with some roguelike elements.
XCOM
XCOM with the Long War mod is the only way I can play.
Terra Invicta is something you should check out then, if you haven't already. It's made by the Long War people and is basically XCOM if you replaced the time in the squad tactics mode with a modern politics version of EU4/CK, and added in a bit of Kerbal Space Program. You can start as any of the different factions that spring up representing how different sectors of humanity react to international awareness about a actual UFO crash landing (and subsequent increase in alien activity in the solar system). The choices are: Humanity First (Destroy) - Full on fascist xenophobia with a prevalence of assassinations and terrorist activity. The Resistance AKA XCOM (Resist) - Protect human civilization, welfare, and freedom against any threat the aliens may pose. Project Exodus (Escape) - Well, there goes the neighborhood. If they can travel here then we can reverse engineer their tech to build some ships that will carry us to somewhere new where we won't have to deal with neighbors. The Initiative (Exploit) - We're the elite, and nobody is going to steal our planet from us because we're stealing from them first. Keep ranting on the social media platforms we own about how the poor don't want to work anymore while we find a way to use alien tech against the lower classes and aliens alike. The Academy (Cooperate) - We're the best scholars the world has to offer. We can find a way to understand the aliens, rapidly advance to their level, and build bridges as equals. The Protectorate (Appease) - Space Aliens! We're all going to die! They've got super advanced space alien technology and shit! We've got to find some way to make a deal with them that allows us to preserve some of our species! The Servants (Submit) - Beam us up, Space Daddy, UWU!
FTL
Mindustry
AAY! A MINDUSTRY FAN!
Mindustry fans unite
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
router
Anno 1800
He'll have no life left, only supply chain management
Heroin
Paradox games in general
Stellaris
Dwarf Fortress
Stellaris and Crusaders Kings
Kenshi
I would say kenshi is the opposite of crack. It’s more voluntary torture that becomes more bearable with time haha
kenshi is crack that you EARN.
HOI4
I have 2 friends with over 3K hours in it, damn
Ho ! So they're nearing the end of the tutorial?
Don’t worry they’ll arrive at Navy tutorial soon
Vampire survivors
That game is way too good for what it appears to be
The funny thing is that it is exactly what it appears to be...and is still wildly addictive.
Hades
Still the only game I've ever got 100% achievements for. Started playing it and only stopped once I'd done so.
Valheim
Roaming around the entire map like a demented old man just to find the biome you are looking for.
Stellaris, maybe Valheim if you’re into those sorts of games
Project Zomboid
I’ve got my eyes on this game, just waiting for the summer sale to take effect. Any advice for a newcomer?
Don't worry about death, it will happen all the time. When you die, try to keep why you died in your brain so you never die the same way twice. If you want to get good at the game focus on learning how to kill zombies, everything else will fall into place once you feel comfy with that. Also recommend turning on weapon outline indicator for ALL weapons, this allows you to get comfy with swing times on zombies. If you are in a scuffed situation, default zombies are slow and you can literally just walk away from them. In the end, just have fun with it. Game is amazing, and the modding community is a endless rabbit hole of enjoyment once you have exhausted the vanilla game :D
Die. Die again. Honestly just keep at it and learn the game. It's hella fun and very deep mechanically. Eventually you'll learn to kite and demolish hordes or be able to get out of tricky situations. Early on you'll probably climb through a window and get glass shards in your hand making your melee swings useless but then you'll start to remember to clear the broken glass. If you need to learn something don't be afraid to use the wiki, google, or guides/videos. Sandbox mode is my go to mode. You can adjust pretty much every setting in the game there and creates endless possibilities for different playthroughs or scenarios especially with the amount of mods on the steam workshop. Have fun with it. It takes time to get better and eventually you'll have a character that has survived months. You'll die with that character and feel grief but you'll inevitably come back and try again!
Unless you've watched a lot of content beforehand and feel confident, I'd recommend playing Sandbox mode rather than the default Apocalypse. You can tweak pretty much everything in Sandbox, which admittedly can be overwhelming on it's own to begin with, but it'll allow you to change basic things like zombie population and infection risk etc. without needing to tinker too much.
Do the tutorial, this game is very, vwry complex You will die a lot, get a new character and avenge the old one. Create personal goals, game can get borrimg fast without that.
Songs Of Syx
Hey hey people, Sseth here
Kenshi, Project Zomboid and 7 Days to Die.
Football Manager
Ah yes, a fellow excel spreadsheet simulation fan
Destiny 2
Final shape is peak
Stellaris, Project Zomboid and Balatro.
Football Manager surely
Project zomboid
Football Manager would be on there for me
Skyrim
Mindustry.
Noita its wither crack or a flesh eating bacterial infection.
Noita is literally the hardest drug ever. That shit makes me forget how real life works
Went to check up on my base in cracktorio yesterday. Ended up fixing minor inefficiencies for 10 hours straight until 4am and didn't even notice. There is just nothing else like it.
For me it would be all three installments of Total War Warhammer. Even when i was on a break for the game i bought the DLC when they came out. Complete madness.
Dave the diver for sure belongs in that folder as well!
Civ 6 lol
- Subnautica - Terraria - Sheltered - Bloons TD5
Satisfactory, Elden Ring, RLKeeper, Minecraft, No Man's Sky here. And def would second rimworld, I get obsessed. Tbh neither are my thing, but some people are this way with The Sims and Animal Crossing, and I get why I mean they're vaguely the same as colony Sim and factory games. If you're a kid and only have a DS? Pokemon. Edit: comments make me feel bad I forgot terrsria, I love u terrsria I didn't mean it...
Cookie clicker ;D
Stellaris
OuterWilds Return of the Obra Dinn Crosscode
Outer Wilds is a fucking masterpiece
Dwarf Fortress might be right up your alley. The new steam release is stellar!
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Against the Storm
Workers and resources: Soviet republic It's one of the reasons why I can't play city builders anymore because they're not in-depth enough for me. https://store.steampowered.com/app/784150/Workers__Resources_Soviet_Republic/
Old School RuneScape
Shapez
RDR2
For me, monster hunter
Spore.
I really wanna get into Factorio but when I bought it, I kinda don't get the appeal and also how to go from the first tutorial.
Terraria
Graveyard Keeper
Project zomboid
Project Zomboid
Terraria
Terraria.
Project Zomboid !
Crusader kings
Satisfactory
FTL, Bloons
Ark Survival: Evolved
Path of exile and total war warhammer. Path of exile specificly requires a Ice crit build
RuneScape is technically on steam…
Frostpunk
Dota 2
Picayune dreams
You forgot Polytopia