Our Most Played Games (And Why)

When most games, even some of our favorites, will occupy us for at most 40 or 50 hours, some manage to sink their hooks in for much (sometimes *much*) longer. Why is that? What is it about the designs of these games, the cadence, the core loops, that make us keep coming back again and again? What can game designers learn from the games have this kind of replayability, and how might we go about applying these lessons to our own games? Show Notes 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:10 - Joel #10: The Surge 2

00:09:50 - Tim #10: Truck Simulator

00:20:30 - Joel #9: Cyberpunk 2077

00:25:48 - Tim #9: X-COM 2

00:33:00 - Joel #8: Halo Infinite

00:37:27 - Tim #7: Baldur’s Gate 3 00:49:50 - Joel #6: Assassin’s Creed Origins / Odyssey / Valhalla 01:00:05 - Tim #6 / Joel #7: Call Of Duty / Warzone

01:05:44 - Joel #5: Fallout 4

01:18:28 - Tim #5: Microsoft Flight Simulator

01:23:00 - Joel #4: Jedi Survivor (with Sifu tangent)

01:35:00 - Tim #4: Civilization 5

01:42:07 - Tim #3: Valhelm 01:47.22 - Joel #2 / Tim #8: Red Dead Redemption 2 01:55:00 - Tim #2: Kerbal Space Program 02:01:06 - Tim + Joel #1: Hunt: Showdown 02:08:52 - Analysis and closing thoughts