Some games are over after a weekend. For those, I have a separate article: Best Short Games You Can Beat in a Weekend. This one is about the opposite: games where you don’t spend a few evenings, but weeks or months. Games that don’t stop when the credits roll, because there aren’t really any credits.
There’s one distinction that matters to me and gets lost in a lot of lists. A long game isn’t the same as a game without an end. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Red Dead Redemption 2 take forever, but at some point you’re still done. The games here work differently. In them, something is never finished: the factory, the colony, the world the three of you are building, or the character who gets stronger with every season. Some live on mods, some on updates that have been coming out for years, some on seasons that pull you back every few months.
Solo: games you never finish building
Factorio
Factorio is a factory-building game where you turn ore, conveyor belts and machines into a production line that keeps on growing. The key thing: the factory is never finished. Every problem you solve creates the next bottleneck, and that exact loop keeps pulling you back in. On top of that, there’s a large official mod collection and the paid expansion Space Age, which sends you off to other planets. The developers have announced that version 2.1 will be the last big update. It’ll still be looked after afterwards, with bug fixes and mod support.
Who it’s probably not for: if optimizing and logistics after work feel like more work to you, you won’t be happy here, and there’s practically no story. Getting started is also pretty complex. One-time purchase, on PC, Switch and Switch 2. Around 100 hours, though with a factory that’s never finished, that’s more of a minimum.
RimWorld
RimWorld is a colony sim that’s really a story generator. You run a small colony, and the game keeps throwing events at you. No colony plays out like the last one, which is why spending over 1,000 hours in this game isn’t unusual. There are six expansions, the newest being Odyssey from July 2025, and on PC a huge selection of mods.
The downside: the graphics are simple, the interface feels unpolished, and you spend a lot of time in menus. If you can’t stand watching your colonists suffer, this isn’t for you. And if you want all the expansions, together they cost several times as much as the base game. My tip: play on PC, because that’s the only place with mods. There’s no fixed ending.
Crusader Kings III
In Crusader Kings III, you don’t play a country, you play a family. You lead a dynasty across centuries, heir after heir. The game combines role-playing with grand strategy and is surprisingly accessible, even if you’ve never touched a strategy game this big before. The developers keep releasing new expansions, and if you want all of them, you can also get them through a subscription.
The catch: the start is off-putting, and after many hours some routines begin to repeat. If you want real-time combat or don’t have the patience for tables and menus, stay away. On PC, PS5 and Xbox. Around 100 hours, but every new dynasty writes a different family story.
With friends: worlds you never finish building together
The most reliable way to a game that lasts for months is friends. A shared server where you meet up every week often lasts longer than any campaign. For one-off co-op evenings, take a look at Best Co-Op Games to Play With Friends in 2026.
Minecraft
Minecraft hardly needs an introduction, but it belongs right here anyway. There’s no set playtime, you set the goals yourselves: a castle, a city, a railway across the entire world. On top of that come your own servers, mods and new content that Mojang adds for free several times a year.
If you need a clear goal or a story, though, you’ll be left hanging, because the game explains very little and just lets you do your thing. You buy it once, and a subscription for your own Realms servers and the Marketplace are optional. It runs on pretty much everything, including your phone. How long you stay is up to you.
Terraria
Terraria almost always shows up next to Minecraft when it comes to games without an end, just in 2D. You dig, build and fight your way through loads of bosses and items, ideally with friends. In January 2026, one more big update arrived with Bigger and Boulder: over 650 new items, crossover content with Dead Cells and Palworld, and crafting straight from nearby chests. The developers have said more than once that the last big update had come out. I wouldn’t bet on it.
If pixel graphics don’t do anything for you and you expect a tutorial, you’ll have to experiment and look things up a lot. In return, it’s cheap, runs on every platform, including mobile, and there’s a big modding scene on PC. It has no fixed ending.
Valheim
Valheim is a Viking survival game for up to ten players. Together you build a base and work your way forward biome by biome. After about five and a half years in Early Access, it’s been finished since September 9, 2026, with the last biome, Deep North, and crossplay between platforms. I’d call it one of the most well-rounded survival games.
My tip: this is a game for a group. Solo it’s pretty tough, and if you’re short on time, the long journeys won’t make you happy. Some later areas drag noticeably, and if survival busywork like stamina, food and repairs annoys you, skip it. One-time purchase, on PC, PS5, Xbox and Switch 2. Plan for weeks rather than a few evenings.
Satisfactory
Satisfactory is factory building like Factorio, just in 3D and first person. In co-op, you run conveyor belts and build factory halls across a sprawling, handcrafted map, and the appeal is watching a few machines turn into an entire industrial zone. Development has continued since the full release in September 2024. Update 1.2 brings weather and new options like randomly distributed resources, among other things, and the first expansion, Core Values, has been announced, with underground biomes and a new story.
It’s not for you if you’re looking for combat or story. Neither plays much of a role, the start is slow, and the map is always the same. If you don’t enjoy planning, you’ll get bored. One-time purchase, on PC, PS5 and Xbox. Around 100 hours.
Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve Together is a tough survival co-op game the developers have kept building on for about ten years. Additions include skill trees for the characters, events and entire story arcs, and more content updates were announced for 2026.
My tip: only with the right group. How much fun it is depends heavily on who you play with, and solo it’s a slog. If you hate failing, look elsewhere, because failing is part of it. Cheap to buy, skins are in the shop. How long you stay is up to your group.
Tip: Not sure yet whether you’d rather build alone, survive with friends or play online one season after another? Take the quiz and get a recommendation in about three minutes.
Online and ongoing: games with seasons and expansions
These games keep running even when you’re not playing. That’s the appeal and the catch at the same time: you often keep paying, and if you sit out for a few months, you’ll have to catch up first.
World of Warcraft
I know World of Warcraft from the inside. For many years I was main tank in raids and Mythic+ dungeons, I’ve been healing a lot for years, and Arms Warrior is probably the class I’ve played the most in my WoW life. In the second season of Midnight, I started as a tank and ended up on Holy Priest after a few weeks, because I really enjoyed it.
The game has been running for over 20 years and has no end. Every expansion brings new zones, dungeons and raids, and the current expansion, Midnight, adds housing for the first time. If you’re coming for the story, you’ll probably be disappointed, but the endgame more than makes up for it. With some classes, it takes weeks or months before you’re using everything they can do, and I mean that in a good way.
For newcomers, I have a clear stance: play the class you enjoy. Which one counts as the strongest right now doesn’t matter at the level most of us play at. And WoW is the most fun with people you know.
It’s not for you if you don’t want a subscription, or if you only play solo and can’t get into group content. You pay a monthly subscription that includes all older expansions and Classic, and for the current content you buy Midnight on top. PC and Mac only. There’s no end.
Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy XIV is the MMO for everyone who’s in it for the story. It stretches across several expansions and peaks with Shadowbringers, a high point the current expansion, Dawntrail, can’t quite match. Handy: with a single character you can play every class, so you never have to start over.
Getting in costs nothing. Since April 2026, the free trial also includes Shadowbringers, with no time limit and up to level 80. After that, you buy the game and pay a subscription, on Switch 2 even a separate one. The next expansion, Evercold, comes out in January 2027 and raises the level cap to 110.
If you want to reach the endgame fast, though, you’ll lose patience here, because hundreds of hours of text and cutscenes lie ahead of you. On PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox and Switch 2. You’re never done, because the story continues with every expansion.
Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 is an action RPG for people who love tinkering with builds. Character building is extremely deep, the boss fights are great, and roughly every four months a new league starts: a fresh start with a new mechanic, where you begin with a brand-new character.
About the business model: with the full release on December 11, 2026, the game becomes free to play for good, and the Duelist class and the final acts arrive along with it. Until then, Early Access runs through a supporter pack. The developers make their money through a shop for cosmetics and extra stash tabs. That’s also why it shows up in my article Free Games Actually Worth Playing in 2026.
Casual players who don’t want to read guides will drown here. The difficulty is high, and you need patience. On PC, PS5 and Xbox. There’s no end.
Diablo IV
Diablo IV is the more accessible alternative to Path of Exile 2. Seasons with new mechanics pull you back every few months, and the Lord of Hatred expansion brought new classes and the Horadric Cube. The campaign has an end, the seasons don’t, and Season 16 is already confirmed.
I started Season 15 on Hardcore, as a Warlock and with my own rules: solo, no trading and no accepting group invites. My first Warlock died because I was standing in a ground effect I hadn’t seen. That’s Hardcore for you: a little adrenaline rush. Content-wise, there’s a ton in this season, including lots of old enemies from Diablo 2, only the start was a complete mess. What annoyed me was having to uncover the map again on a new character, even though I’ve uncovered it countless times. And still, with Diablo one thing always holds true: you’re only ever one item away from being overpowered again. That’s exactly what keeps you hooked.
If the battle pass and shop bother you, an always-online connection annoys you, or you’re looking for gear with as much depth as in Path of Exile 2, you won’t be happy here. You buy the game once, and the battle pass and cosmetics shop are optional. On PC, PlayStation and Xbox, and since September 2026 also on Switch 2 with both expansions.
The borderline case: long, but with an ending
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 shows up in almost every list of long games, but honestly it only half belongs here. One playthrough takes around 100 hours, and then it’s over. The developers are done with it, and the last big update came in April 2025.
Why it’s here anyway: origin, companions and choices change so much that many people play it two or three times, and there’s been official mod support since 2024. With three playthroughs, you quickly end up at a few hundred hours.
Who it’s probably not for: anyone who doesn’t like turn-based combat. The sheer scope can also overwhelm newcomers. One-time purchase with no shop, on PC, PS5 and Xbox. If the story appeals to you more than the endlessness, check out Best Story Games That Feel Like a Great Movie.
And if you want to narrow it down first
If you already know which direction you want to go, the best-of lists will help you: survival games for long evenings with friends, strategy games and simulation games for projects you’ll sit on alone for months, and RPGs if you’d rather level up a character. For something calmer like Stardew Valley, head over to Best Cozy Games to Relax After Work in 2026. And if you don’t want to commit at all, take the quiz.