6 Hard to Put Down Games That You’ll Definitely Lose Sleep Over

Video games have always had a way of hooking their players in for the long-haul.

We’ve all been there. You sit down to play a game, time flies by and before you know it, it’s time to go to bed.

Whether it’s through difficult challenges, intriguing stories, or amazing gameplay, video games have the ability to immerse us so deep that time seems to melt away in an instant.

However, there are some games that get players to say, “just one more,” keeping them awake into the late hours of the night.

Here are 6 hard to put down games that you’ll definitely lose sleep over:

Spelunky

No game fits better on this list than the cave diving, treasure hunting adventure known as Spelunky.

This roguelike was originally released as open-source freeware for Microsoft Windows in 2008 until creator Derek Yu recreated the game for consoles in 2012.

Spelunky was praised for its challenging run-based gameplay and difficult situations that it puts the player in.

Spelunky leans heavily into the “one more time” mentality by presenting the player with randomly generated levels, a large array of equipment, and a satisfying gameplay loop that changes each time you play.

Although you lose all of your items and progress when you die, Spelunky isn’t overly punishing. There are various shortcuts that players can unlock during their playthrough that will help ease them towards the goalline.

The game becomes extremely rewarding to its players the longer they play. As their skill increases, they begin to understand how useful or unuseful certain items are and develop a strategy that will help them reach the final boss, King Yama.

Spelunky has a wide variety of levels that change the gameplay as well. Whether it’s the slippery ice or the firey caves of hell,  players will develop their own strategies when they reach certain areas.

Spelunky encourages players to keep pushing forward, even if their progress becomes stagnant. The gameplay is superb and it rarely feels like the randomness is the cause of the player’s struggle.

Slay The Spire

Slay The Spire is a roguelike deck-building game that pits players against a trail of enemies and bosses as they attempt to move forward through the map.

Using a customized selection of cards, the player’s deck becomes their attacks, skills, and defensive maneuvers that they will need to overcome their foes.

With each run you attempt, new items and cards become available, allowing you to create a unique deck each time you play.

Unfortunately, like Spelunky and other roguelikes, when the player dies, they lose all of their acquired items and extra cards they’ve acquired during that run.

Even though that may sound painfully harsh, this mechanic actually helps Slay The Spire shine to be a game that sets it apart from the rest of the deck-building games available.

Slay The Spire is the perfect example of risk vs reward. The choices the player makes can either make or break a run depending on how well they do.

Do you want to try facing that mini-boss at the risk of losing HP for a chance at a few good cards?  Or would you rather take the easy route and save your health for the end boss so you can more easily progress to the next level?

Each decision feels impactful and choosing the wrong route may be the decision that breaks the entire run.

Slay The Spire comes with three character classes to choose from: The Ironclad, The Defect, and The Silent. Each of these characters is unique and has their own special abilities and cards the player can use.

Although you will see some cards appear multiple times throughout the various runs you attempt, what makes each unique is the synergies and interactions between cards and items.

Players will recognize powerful combos between cards and items that make them far more powerful than how they started.

It’s these interactions that make this game so addicting and keeps players coming back for more, despite its difficulty.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley released in 2016 by developer Chucklefish Games to impeccable reviews. It was praised by players and critics alike for its ability to revive a genre that games like Harvest Moon made popular.

The game may appear to just be a farming simulator, but one gameplay session reveals that it is so much more. With a great story, loveable characters, and ever-changing scenery, Stardew Valley will turn you from a city boy into full-on farmhand in no time.

The addicting nature of the game comes from maintaining your farm and growing crops before seasons end. This leaves players in a race to tidy up and upgrade their tools as quickly as they can before the next season hits.

There is also an interesting stamina mechanic that results in the player having to manage their time wisely each day.

Planting crops all day may lead to your player being exhausted before the sun is down, while socializing with the townsfolk or visiting the shops will preserve your stamina for later use.

Managing your energy meter and time is key to being successful in Stardew Valley, but it also emphasizes the “just one more” mentality that will keep you up all night.

Telling yourself, “I’ll just play one more day,” can quickly go from one day to ten as the game pulls you in with its satisfying loop of achieving goals and meeting deadlines for certain events.

In Stardew Valley, there is always something for you to do.  Whether it’s upgrading your equipment, cleaning up the farm or finding gifts for the townspeople, the game showers the player with achievable goals that are satisfying to complete.

Stardew Valley is a fantastic game that can suck away hours of your time without ever feeling like it.

Battle Royale Games

The constant chase for a first-place victory keeps players up for hours when it comes to Fortnite, Apex Legends, and PUBG, the three main titles of the Battle Royale genre.

Due to the random elements of these games such as where players drop in on the map and what guns they acquire, make these style of games a different experience each time players fire them up.

What keeps players up at night is the constant battle to come out on top. The chase for that chicken dinner becomes a goal that is always in sight, but hard to grasp.

The ability for players to immediately re-queue into another game after death makes it very easy to keep pressing play way past their bedtime. The battle to become number one becomes intoxicating and allures players to keep trying until they succeed.

This is particularly true for the younger generation, who have been struggling to maintain focus in schools due to the game’s massive popularity.

The other factor with the Battle Royale genre that keeps people coming back is simply how fun and engaging they are.

Yes, the chase for victory is always present, but the feeling of improvement and constant map updates keep the games fresh and appealing for players new and old.

For anyone with a strict bedtime and a propensity for enjoying shooters, Battle Royale games can become a problem habit quickly.

Civilization

Nothing says “one more turn” quite like the Civilization series.

This empire-building digital board game puts players in the seat of the world’s historical figures such as Teddy Roosevelt and Cleopatra as they attempt to expand their colonies and increase their command through politics and war.

Civilization is a turn-based strategy game, where the player will make all of their available actions with the units they have until they are forced to go on to the next turn.

Civilization sets itself apart from other strategy games by allowing players to win in a multitude of ways. There are diplomatic victories, science victories, and of course, the ability to win by all-out domination in war.

The ability for the player to click the “End Turn” button to see what troubles or rewards await them on the other side is what makes Civilization such an addicting franchise.

The game has a way of always surprising you by drip-feeding new things constantly. This starts a domino effect where players always want to see what awaits them behind that next turn, leading to a longer than intended gameplay session.

There is rarely a hard stopping point for Civilization players to end the game on. Instead, the game encourages you to keep playing until you have pressed the End Turn button for the final time.

Despite its addictive qualities, Civilization is a fantastic franchise that aims to teach people about history in a fun and engaging way by presenting the player with scenarios that our forefathers faced eons ago.

Just keep in mind what time it is when you are pressing End Turn, or you might find yourself awake until the wee hours of the morning.

Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy is the challenging platformer developed by Team Meat that hit consoles back in 2010. The game puts the player in the role of Meat Boy as he attempts to save Bandage Girl from Dr. Fetus.

The game is relentlessly punishing and requires players to have quick twitch skills and the ability to think on the fly as they wall bounce and jump their way to the end of each level.

The aspect of Super Meat Boy that makes it so addicting is its instantaneous revival upon death. Rather than forcing players to sit through an exaggerated game over screen, Super Meat Boy puts the player right back at the start with a single press of the button.

If it were not for this instant retry mechanic, the game would have been disregarded by a majority of players for being far too punishing.

Instead, Super Meat Boy becomes far more accessible than other games in the same genre and gives players a sense of satisfaction when they overcome levels they once thought were impossible.

Besides being tough, the game does a great job of packing each level with unlockables and hidden challenges for even the most skilled players to be challenged by.

This game will surely keep players awake at night as they attempt to jump over the multiple spinning blades, death spikes and perform impossible leaps of faith as they attempt to save Bandage Girl from evildoers.

For those of you who aren’t afraid of potentially pulling an all-nighter, you can check out the sequel, Super Meat Boy Forever, when it launches later this year.

That’s the end of our list for games that are hard to put down; for more articles like this, head to Twinfinite.net!