Why these are my Top 5: A fun game for the whole family!

Gothic 1 and Gothic 2 top

Grand Theft Auto V (1,449.7h) - bought on release day & still playing. Most of my time was spent in Online (half of it on loading screen :D). It's really great, but only with friends because most of the servers are flooded with cheaters and try-hards right now
PAYDAY 2 (260.9h) - same, played it in the "golden era" but quit couple years ago
Saints Row: The Third (213.2h) - basically my first game on steam, which is why I've played it for sooo long :P
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (173.8h) - I'm not a big fan of RPG games, but Skyrim is probably one of the games everyone should play :P
Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain (157.4h) - story & missions were great, also the stealth was fun to do. Too bad Konami ruined the franchise :(

1. Clicker Heroes | Free or No Price | 1,592.2h *See below
2. Warframe | Free or No Price | 1,370.2h
   • F2P that's actually not P2W, lots of grinding, which DE does very well. Lots of variety/customization. But most important, I think, is the non-toxic, fully cooperative nature of the game. I had a positive experience with other players and the community 99.9999% of the time.
3. AdVenture Capitalist | Free or No Price | 1,234.7h *See below
4. Time Clickers | Free or No Price | 1,163.6h *See below
5. RIFT | Free or No Price | 988.6h
   • Decent F2P MMO - Maybe not the best overall, but certainly not bad. I got in with a very casual guild, which helped me run end game dungeons. I had REAL friends in WoW at launch, but schedules were out of sync, so never had a good experience with end stage content. I found a way to scratch that itch with RIFT.

I'm going to make some special call outs.

1. These are all free
2. Most are idle games, which I feel don't accurately reflect true playtime, since I often leave them running... idle.

That being the case, here are my top non-idle, non-free titles:

1. Cities: Skylines | 676.6h
   • Excellent city builder with lots of micromanagement and a great modding community that expand playability far beyond vanilla.
2. Reassembly | 186.8h
   • My first deeply loved indie on Steam. Very cool ship building and customization where every piece of your ship you place has consequences, rather than just superficial, stat-based customizing (looking at you, SPORE). Different factions mean different play styles are required, plus modding to expand on vanilla options.
3. Sid Meier's Civilization V | 131.6h
   • TBH, I like Civ VI better, but this one's pretty good too. The time here is based on the fact that some matches just take FOREVER, and that's ok.
4. Injustice™ 2 | 101.5h
   • Lots of unlockables. That may not be everyone's cup of tea, and from a more technical perspective, this is a more basic fighting game than other, more competitive options. More casual for me works here.
5. Defense Grid 2 | 83.3h
   • I honestly don't remember sinking so many hours into this one, lol. It's been a while since I played. Generally, the time I think comes the length of matches and lost time if you lose a round just before the end.

Also should note that I estimate my real longest play time as belonging to SWTOR, way before the Steam launch.

ARK: Survival Evolved
4,321 hrs on record (no joke)
ark is a good game so its clear why i would have a lot of hrs, but 4k... my clan ruled a server for a year before server transfers opened and we fought the good fight against chines hacker zergs for about a year after transfers opened. so for a few months straight i turned ark into my job as i would not lay down and let the honorless chines hackers take my year plus of work away. luckily i own a landscaping company and i just gave my co-workers all the work that i didnt have to do myself, i didnt quit my job over it or anything.

Counter-Strike: Source
1,765 hrs on record
i ran a server for a year or so. 16k. no awp/auto.
and i was in a clan that did competitions.
p.s. if counter strike is a sport, then im an athlete, and thats bull shit.

this one is the funniest
Trailer Park Boys: Greasy Money
622 hrs on record
i tryed the game, its really greedy, blatant pay to "win"- no real winning. its disgusting how often it bothers you for money and how slow progression is without paying for what are essentially loot box's.
it was so (to quot) "greasy" i made a macro to play the game for me to farm the achievements that i dont give 2 shits about. i just had to do it. playing the game for an hr i thought "man this game is greasy"..."but so am i".
all i had to do was check in every few hrs and play for 5 min.

Crossout
615 hrs on record
playing this was me missing twisted metal and trying to fill the void it left in my heart.
plus i got in a good clan and we always finished weekly competitions in the top 10

crusaders of the lost idols-- well its an idle which runs al the time in the background , atleast for me

fallout 4-- modding plays a big role in it

dc universe online-- played it years ago with many friends

fallout new vegas-- its quite awesome storytelling + mods expand the fun

Species: Artificial Life, Real Evolution -- just alot of fun watching them evolve

Ok, my top 4 are Destiny (500h), Civ 5 (457h), Borderlands 2 (371h) and 1 (220h) are mostly this way because of coop. We do regular coop sessions and there are simply not enough endless or repayable coop games so we come back to these. And Destiny also lends itself nicely to audio-books, so third of its time goes to them.
But at lest my fifth game reflect my actual tastes - Hollow Knight (194h). Love that game dearly, had a few runs, including the no-dying steel mode. But I'm not that great at games, so it was a looot of failing at boss fights in those hours. And probably will do it all over again before Silksong release ^_^

View attached image.

im not a grammar nazi but because of the title i clicked thinking the subject would be different.
Why are these my Top 5----sounds like a question
Why these are my Top 5---- sounds like a reason.

• The elder scrolls online (863h). I just love the elder scrolls lore. Nearly completed every quests in the game. One of the best rpg if you ask me. I'm very font of the scaling the game does, you dont really overpower zones that easy.

• TF2 (440h) Used to play it in the old days, now I only play around halloween and christmas. Still, its a fun game if the server isnt overrun with bots.

• Primal carnage extiction (328h) See that t-rex? I'm going to punch it.

• Steam VR (296h) I think all VR games are added in here? Got a VR set aboout 2 years ago. I do love playing in VR but it takes some time to set it up. (dont have the space for it in my own room) Usually play some hours on the weekends. VR gaming has some issues but I love it most of all games. Fighting huge spiders on a screen is quite different from fighting a spider when you actually have to look up.

• Skyrim (282h) 473 if you combine clasic, legendary and the vr versions. Mods, just mods. So many mods. Completed the games multiple times by now and every new run is a new experience.

1. Company of Heroes 2 (591h) got it free on humble, played it most time pve or pvp with friends, bought the master collection for 8€ and had fun experimenting with troups, mods and tactics
2. Terraria (450h) the first time i played terraria was on a old laptop, i was happy that it could play anything at that time and damn, i played it 200h cracked and bought it afterwards. i actually play it with tmodloader atm with a bunch of friends.
3. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (380h), Borderlands 2 (240h), Borderlands (236h) is my first bundle i ever bought on humble bundle and damn, it was worth for me. yeah i cheated a bit with my top 5 but i dont want 3,4 and 5 to only be borderlands games. my favourite of these is still borderlands GOTY, it may doesnt have big dialogues but i love that you could get hybrid variants of some weapons and love to play mordecai and lilith, borderlands pre sequel has imo the best movement and some nice features like the weapon grinder ... i was never a fan of shift keys. borderlands 2 is annoying if youre doing your 3rd playthrough because you cant do anything without slag
4. grid 2 (219h) i'm a really big fan of the grid series, bought it in a bundle in humble bundle. i love the arcady handling and it got a small but active playerbase. game is not buyable anymore and you can add missing dlc in your files, even for online racing. the only downside is, that it has a small track selection.
5. Wreckfest (131h) bought it with the 5€ coupon with pummel party (imo dissapointing), ultimate chicken horse (one of my favourite games) and defunct (nice plattformer, espacially for 1€). damn i love derby racing, had fun with it in grid 2 with street legal cars and love it more with "mad max" build cars. the only thing i miss are the stunt minigames from flatout, those would be perfect for this game. it is even my most expensive game i ever bought for 35€.

1. Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms (11,351h) - almost 2 years ago, I downloaded this damnable app attracted by familiar setting and easy achievments. When I realised that "idle" aspects work faster when game is actively running, I started leaving it on in the background almost every time my computer was on. Rest is history. I do not recommend playing any idle games, as I'm literally playing it only to finish it, but it's still being updated with new stuff, and my suffering continues (and I'm too stubborn to stop it midway - lest accrued suffering would lose its meaning)
2. Fallout: New Vegas (176h) - and I just played a base game. I literally played it for the story, for killing everyone, and for simply walking around while exploring (not all at the same time). Don't know how it reached 176 hours,because I still haven't played its dlcs, or touched significant mods.
3. Counter Strike: Global Offensive (151h) - I finally got around to trying it out about a year after it went F2P. Smooth gameplay was very engaging. Game being playable in short bursts probably helped too.
4. Homefront (130h) - gunplay of Call of Duty with bigger maps. What's not to like? Achievment hunting took some time, but I didn't want to leave the remnants of playerbase by themselves, so I stuck around for some more hours, until one day, unknowingly I played this game for the last time.
5. Deathgarden: Bloodharvest (120h) - got it for free when it was possible. Played it just to get the achievments, but gameplay was quite engaging as a survivor. FPS hunter wasn't so good though. Similarly to Homefront, I stayed to help people get the 6th person in the match. Increasing waiting times became too much though, so I left.

1. Path of Exile (569.2h) - Man, this game. Stream for 3.13 is in 10 minutes too. It's superb. The depth of it's gameplay keeps me interested and coming back for new leagues. I initally started playing it to fill the void left by Diablo, but this game has surpassed it in every way for me.

2. PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS (380.7h) I totally got caught up in the battle royal phase, and the matches were short enough I could play a few with friends and it was a good way for us to hang out together.

3. Warframe (369.7h) - I can't tell you anything about the lore or what's going on storywise in this game, but this is another game with absolutely superb gameplay. If I wasn't so hooked on POE, I'd probably play this more, but it's certainly a time sink.

4. Terraria (342.6h) Awe, Terraria <3 Now Terraria 2 when?

5. Mount & Blade: Warband (314.5h) Graphics are absolutely garbage, even for the release year (2010), but I don't think I've had more fun in any other single player game. The mods are abundant, so there's ton of content to keep you going. I love sandbox games :D

Counter-Strike: Source (3165h) - I'm a competitive person and I got really good at this game and became addicted for a long time. I played on and off for around 13 years, but haven't played much in the last couple years because I have been enjoying my massive backlog of single player games.

DiRT Rally (180h) - I love playing "simcade" racing games with a wheel and pedals, especially rally ones. I spent 128h completing career mode and the rest is multiplayer. I also really enjoyed the original Grid and Dirt 3. I am currently playing Dirt 4 and own and am looking forward to Dirt Rally 2.0.

Fallout 4 (152h) - Really good game. All time is for a single playthrough.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (98h) - Again, really good game. All time is a single playthrough.

Z1 Battle Royale (90h) - Originally known as H1Z1 and later King of the Kill. Not that great of a game, but not horrible. I did play this game a bit on my own, but most of the time is because I was working as a play tester.

The next 2 games are Dirt 4 and Dirt 3. I am currently playing Dirt 4 and it will probably soon overtake the 5th and 4th spot on this list.

Team Fortress 2 (5,691 hours) - One of the first games registered on steam back in 2008 as part of the Orange Box and probably never played properly. This is all idle time. There was this one site that gave you coins for idling you could then use to buy stuff. It wasn't worth it and it needs to die.

Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms (165.5 hours) - Just some idle game that kept running while my computer was on during nighttime.

Yakuza 0 (159.8 hours) - The first Yakuza I played and I never thought I would play it for so long. I don't even like the series that much. But I got so far with the achievements I just couldn't leave it unfinished. Did the same with Yakuza Kiwami and now I'm scared to click on the Yakuza Kiwami 2 icon on my desktop.

Assassin's Creed Origins (95.4 hours) - I love this series, don't care if it's the same old thing in a different period. I'm expecting Odyssey, still unplayed, to bump this game down the list, since it's way bigger.

Middle-earth™: Shadow of War (86.6 hours) - A copy of Assassin's Creed. The playtime would be lower if my cousin and I hadn't messed around with the Nemesis system.

Take out the idling games and the next on the list are Mad Max (71.9 hours, completed not so long ago due to servers shutdown) and Yakuza Kiwami (69.3 hours, reasons mentioned above).

Crusaders of the Lost Idols
14,760 hrs on record - Waste of time, but not too bad... Idle game? Yes... Just had habit to leave it running for a bit...
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
1,228 hrs on record - No idea why I spend this much on it, still good FPS.. Still it wasn't too horrible to play.
Time Clickers
866 hrs on record - Yeah, more idle games. Kinda fun until certain point...
Clicker Heroes
599 hrs on record - Also waste of time... This one I really wonder, kinda hard to say if it was worst of bunch.
PAYDAY 2
449 hrs on record - Pretty fun, but the DLC, all the DLC. And where is Payday 3? There was kinda progression leveling and lot of content in the end...
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
178 hrs on record - Good game. Reasonable playthroughs.

Evolve Stage 2 - 1,731.1h
I loved this game in stage 1. It still is the best multiplayergame I ever played. To bad a lot of fakenews about this game, some players that couldn't understand that losing is an option and 2k trying to get as much money as fast as possible killed the game.

Don't Starve Together - 908.0h
It's just awesome that this game still get new content over and over again. Played it mostly alone.

Borderlands 2 - 409.4h
It's Borderlands... It's a lot of looting and a funny story.

Dead by Daylight - 402.7h
It's a strange thing with this game. Sometimes I just hate it and think it's trash but then again you can have a lot of fun for 1-2 hours.

Don't Starve - 171.8h
Before there was don't starve together there was don't starve. It was (and still is) way harder but also fun.

Arma 3
2,690 hrs on record
Arma 3 is a fun game and one main reason behind why this is my most played game is a lot of those hours was me messing around in the editor and creating missions/campaigns and the rest was the singleplayer campaign, and various MP gamemodes. I want to think most (like maybe half or more) of my hours is me in the editor making missions.

CSGO
522 hrs on record
I've been a fan of Counter Strike since the very first one and at first I wasn't too big on CSGO but then lately I've been playing it a bit with my friends and stuff.

ARK: Survival Evolved
498 hrs on record
Like others when it first came out I was religiously playing this game, but then after awhile I've gotten busy IRL (was on a nice unofficial server with better rates, and I think they would wipe every 3-4 months) and so I just didn't have the time anymore to play this game and plus the game was getting way too huge (thought MW was bad) in size and so I decided to just uninstall it and I haven't played it since like a year ago.

Crusader Kings II
470 hrs on record
I really enjoyed this game and that is why I was excited when the new sequel was coming out and ever since CK3 have released, I've been playing that over the predecessor

Garry's Mod
258 hrs on record (last played 2015)
This is kind of a shocker if I am being honest... I think most of these hours must have been when Gmod first released when I was really avid on it for the different mods and MP gamemodes, but after looking when I last played (don't have it installed anymore) it says I last played it in may 29th 2015.

My sixth game is XCOM2 which is only 2 hrs short from topping Gmod at 257 hrs, and I have recently been playing XCOM2 a bit again..

Pillars of Eternity 125 hours
As an adventure and puzzle games player I finally wanted to know what all the craze about CRPGs is about and I ended up sinking in hour after hour into this. Only stopped because it turned into a "staring at loading screen" simulator at some point.Played a few hours after getting a new laptop with an SSD, but didn't catch momentum. Maybe I'll finish it one day...

Hexcells Infinite 97 hours
What can I say, it's the best puzzle game ever made, I'm still playing it, as it recently got updated with so many quality of life improvements including user generated levels are now integrated, dark mode and a lot more. Currently on my ... dunno, third, fourth playthrough?

Paint it Back 95 hours
It's the second best puzzle game ever created. It's funny, clever, and it has workshop integration. I think I'll replay this soon, too. Though the time recorded is from a single playthrough and playing workshop levels.

Tametsi 75 hours
I honestly don't remembersinking so many hours into Tametsi. It's a bit like Hexcells with more variety, and it's fucking hard. My brain almost melted. I have not finished it.

GreedFall 45 hours
Surprised to see this here. It was an okay game while I played it, but I got really bored midgame and dropped it.

I know, these are rookie numbers. Eh.

Let's see...

1. TERA (874.3h) - The second and last MMO I dedicated myself to. Half of those play hours are actually me idling in the main town of the game reading the chat/alt-tabbed/afk. Thinking back I regret most of the time I wasted there, but trying to be objective the combat system was really fun and some of the dungeon were really well built. It's been years since I last played. Anyway those kind of games tend to be more about the people you meet there, rather than the actual gameplay. I've met my girlfriend there 7 years ago, we've been together since 6 years and we've now been living together for almost 1 year. I'm really happy with her, so I can't really regret playing TERA that much 😉
2. Monster Hunter: World (196.1h) - It's the 1st monster hunter game I played. I love the monsters' design, The gameplay is fun too. It's a bit too much time consuming for my tastes now; the last 100 play hours are hours wasted farming for decorations and streamstones I needed for the build/weapon I wanted to use. I didn't manage to get any so I stopped playing and that is also the main reason why I didn't bother buying Iceborne.
3. Hollow Knight (168.1h) - My favourite game in recent years. Loved the gameplay, the whole design (levels, characters, etc.), everything. It's maybe the 1st game in which I decided to put some serious effort in order to get all of its achievements. Took me nearly 60 hours just to practice and beat the last pantheon, which I still think I managed to beat just out of luck.
4. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (156.8h) + Pillars of Eternity (149.0h) - I guess I'm cheating by putting them together. They're basically the same game though. I was a huge fan of the Baldur's Gate/Plainscape Torment/Icewind Dale games when I was young. These two games are actually a really good revamp of those old titles. The whole nostalgia feeling hit me hard and I ended up dedicating myself maybe more than necessary (managed a triple crown run in the 1st one). I liked the 1st one more, but anyway I found the world and the lore really interesting; I can't wait to see how Awoved will turn out (it's set in the same world)
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (123.7h) - I played it because it was popular at the time. To be honest though, I don't know how the hours counter is so high. I consider it a solid RPG, but I remember not liking it that much at the time. I think I passed more hours modding it rather than playing it.

1. GameMaker: Studio - 172.7h
2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 145.0h
3. Team Fortress 2 - 97.6h
4. Borderlands 2 - 72.0h
5. DARK SOULS™ III - 70.7h

The reason these five are up? Took me a while to realize I can use GMS off steam. Didn't play CP2077 over 62hrs yet, it's in progress. Played GW for years off of steam so it's not counted. Played Arcanum 37 times before I even had steam. What else? Oh yeah, I tend to avoid MMO's and "live services" beyond the "we finished the story, remove from the computer". It's always a surprise for me when someone played any game longer than 100h on steam, but hey, if you have time and will...

I will break the system by making TOP 6 not 5 because RPG IS LOVE RPG IS LIFE!

1. Pathfinder: Kingmaker - 534.1h - but it will be more as I have to 100% it so I need to play and finish it 2 more times. Great RPG with a big flaw for me and that is kingdom management. Some people like it I don't :P

2. This War of Mine - 319.9h - had to 100% this with all DLCs :) This game shows why war is hell for civilians and how even peaceful people can murder others in war just to get a can of food.

3. Tyranny - 260.5h - had to 100% this with all DLCs :) A great RPG game that lets you be evil in many different ways and dagrees of being evil and many factions to try out each gameplay.

4. Stardew Valley - 193.7h - loved it and maybe in future I will 100% it as that require to finish the game again.

5. Prey - 160.5h - Great game and maybe in future I will try to 100% it as it requires another playthrough and also doing the moon DLC.

6. Torment: Tides of Numenera - 152.7h - a great RPG that I had to 100% as that let me play with 3 different classes and see all the endings. The world is strange and alien to other RPG games but is great.

Sorry for 6 not 5 but RPG IS LOVE RPG IS LIFE!

1. Oxygen Not Included (326.4h) - Was at about 280 hours until the latest DLC came out. Art style is amazing, game play is amazing (and can be as complex as you want it to be) - if you like colony-type simulation games, there's nothing better.
2. Civilization V (117.7h) - A classic. I never really got into Civ 6 for some reason.
3. Tropico 4 (106.9h) - I seem to like similar types of games :) This one has some pretty good humor to go with it.
4. The Witcher 3 (89.2h) - I got the GOTY edition when it was $20 a couple of years ago to see what all the fuss was about. I admit that for a long RPG (I usually mostly avoid those), it was very good.
5. Don't Starve (78.0h) - Klei is obviously one of my favorite developers. Very fun, and at times, difficult survival game. Haven't played this in awhile, need to pick it up again as I have some DLC I haven't gotten to yet.

I don't think mine is correct tho... I am assuming because I was using skse or some similar launcher that skyrim was logged incorrectly. i am sure i have more hours in that than in ark.. and i never did finish the main storyline lol.

1. ARK: Survival Evolved (1,428.2h): I played this a LOT and maybe only an hour or so on official servers. Had fun finding good mods and playing with all the server customizations... I run Linux as my main os, so I get off on that kinda thing I guess. Kinda Grindy but you could customize that to whatever you want if you are hosting instead of playing on official servers.

2. Gears 5 (416.7h): Used to play the first three games back when i had an xbox and was excited when the series came to steam. Got suckered in by cheevos. Not sure I would recommend it though... in some ways, it was even grindier than ARK and I think a larger part of why I lost interest is that a) a large portion of th medals/cheevos/etc require playing PVP and I don't really like PVP; more of a PVE kind of guy and b) in PVE, while there were a lot of decent guys, there were also a lot of guys with really shit attitudes that just turned me off to playing (has cross play with xbox so shouldn't have been surprised i guess).

3. Borderlands GOTY (259.3h): mostly co-op play with my bro. had a lot of fun with it. felt like the dlc was kinda slow and boring tho (mostly they needed more fast travel bc there were long stretches that you had to go back and forth for numerous fetch quests and it was just blah)

4. Borderlands 2 (203.1h): Same as number 3 but I think we decided to skip the DLC based on the first game? Or maybe we just stopped playing and never finished it? Don't really remember...

5. Dungeon Defenders (163.2h): kinda surprised this made my top 5 tbh... guess i got sucked in more than i thought. As far as tower defense/shooters go, I preferred Sanctum 2 by a wide margin and there are a few other games that I would have guessed I played more than this like Saints Row 3 or 4, Skyrim, Risen 1, even Witcher 2...

1. Guild Wars (284.6h) -- because it is a MMO, and these can take control of your life... But I enjoyed those hours, it was a lot of fun, as you well know. :D
2. The Witcher 3 (263.1h) -- because it is the GOTY edition, and these were 260 hours very well spent; just listening to the soundtrack gets me excited, fantastic game.
3. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (240.7h) -- because Bethesda RPGs also suck your life, and I like to walk around sometimes instead of fast traveling.
4. The Elder Scrolls: Legends (180.9h) -- because I am a sucker for card games. I actually stopped playing this a looong time ago, but, hey, Steam isn't logging my Hearthstone time.
5. Secret World: Legends (173.2h) -- see #1. :D :D :D

Cheers!

1- Sunless Sea (202.8h) - This was my time after 100% it. Great rogue-lite, lovecraftian, lore-heavy, unforgiving game
2- Stardew Valley (92.1h) - More or less, this is one playthrough. Main storyline and a little more.
3 - Hollow Knight (78.4h) - One of the best Metroidvanias ever created.
4 - Dead Cells (63.6h) - Up to two boss cells, great game. The DLCs are very good, but I'm not really a fan of the constant rework of the gameplay.
5 - Desktop Dungeons (58hs, but probably double or triple that due to offline gaming) - Amazing coffee break game with infinite replayability.