10 Video Games That Will Consume Your Life

3. Animal Crossing Series

the witcher 3
Nintendo

Deceptively cute on the surface and fiendishly addictive underneath, the Animal Crossing series has been chewing on our free time for almost twenty years now.

A simple, yet simultaneously deep, life-simulator in which you control a human villager and go about your daily business in a small town inhabited with all manner of adorable anthropomorphic animals. Whilst that alone makes the game sound like a relaxing and charming experience, Animal Crossing has a few tricks up its sleeve to keep you hooked on its charming gameplay.

The most ingenious of which is that the world of Animal Crossing operates on real time which is tracked by your console's internal clock. Meaning that certain in-game functions like shops and other public areas are only open at specific times of the day.

It certainly adds to the immersion, but it ultimately leads to Animal Crossing dictating exactly when and how you play it. This wouldn't be so bad, but it's never just a quick excursion to the shops or jaunt around the town, these games always sucks you back in with your ever growing to-do list and desire to make your simple existance that little bit nicer.

Contributor
Contributor

UK based screenwriter, actor and one-half of the always-irreverent Kino Inferno podcast. Purveyor of cult cinema, survival horror games and low-rent slasher films.