The 2013 Games We Played the Most

Many happy hours spent.

2013 was chock-full of fantastic games, and we've been recognizing plenty of them with our Game of the Year accolades. It's one thing to reconize a game for excellence in storytelling, design, or pure heart-pumping action. But it's something entirely different when a game is so addictive that we just... can't... stop playing.
Below are IGN Editors' picks for the games they played the most in 2013. They might not be award winners or be picks we're especially proud of, but they're the games we kept coming back to, day after day.

Angry Birds Star Wars 2 - Scott Lowe

It's difficult to admit, but Angry Birds: Star Wars 2 is hands-down my most-played game of 2013. And the "why" is even more shameful. I'd grown tired of the Angry Birds formula, but the simple addition of a Star Wars characters and iconography reignited my interest, and Angry Birds: Star Wars 2 has become my go-to time-passer during my daily commute and while traveling. In terms of total playtime, it is without compare — even in face of my other obsessions like Call of Duty, Need for Speed, or Battlefield.

Monster Hunter 3 - Jose Otero

Monster Hunter 3 claimed 118 hours of my life in 2013. That’s 85 hours more than every other game Iplayed this year. But perhaps I should provide some context behind this insane number: I spent two months of 2013 unemployed. So after 1UP.com shut down and I returned from a one week trip to Japan, I turned slaying deadly monsters for hours into my new hobby. Monster Hunter can feel intimidating and even tedious at first, but this series knows how to reward players for their devotion. Before long, me and a friend turned monster parts into cool gear and toppled colossal creatures in some of the most intense boss fights I've ever played.

XCOM: Enemy Within - Dan Stapleton

I've been playing the ever-living crap out of XCOM: Enemy Within since it came out in November. Even more than last year's Enemy Unknown, the new possibilities opened up by genetic and cybernetic augmentations and a ton of new maps make the first few months of a campaign fun to replay. But the real addictive quality is in the Skill Roulette modifier, which randomizes the powers troops get as they level up. Suddenly every XCOM solider becomes a scratch-off lotto ticket, and keeping them alive means revealing potentially crazy power combinations. (And those that don't get good combos get their limbs amputated and turned into mech soldiers!)

Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Sam Claiborn

Defiance - Jared Petty

As a Guide writer, I spend a lot of time playing games. Sweet gig. Most of the time this is a beyond-pleasant way to make a living, but when the game is a real stinker, those hours start to feel like lost years taken off my life. In 2013 I headed up the IGN Wiki on Defiance, SyFy Network's experimental MMO/TV series crossover. In addition to the expansive online game, I was also expected to be familiar with the show, which meant I ended up watching each episode two or three times. I'm not sure which was worse, the game or the show, but they both rated somewhere between painful and execrable. I don't have a hard number, but I must have spent at least 80 hours playing and watching Defiance, not counting dozens of hours of writing, wiki editing, and screenshot capture. I try to avoid complaining about having the best job in the world, but Defiance came close to making me hate owning a television.

Grand Theft Auto V - Jared Petty

In addition to Defiance, I also spent a ridiculous amount of time as Wiki lead for GTA V. I was a brand-new Editor at IGN, and GTA was only my second assignment. I was humbled and excited, but even more so I was scared to death. GTA is one of the most ambitious games ever, and the idea of trying to put a Wiki together covering all of that information left me trembling. Fortunately, the IGN Community really rallied around the game, helping complete a project that would otherwise have overwhelmed me. Perusing my PC Desktop folders, I've got something like ten thousand screenshots from the game. I've easily spent a hundred hours or more in the GTA V universe, probably much more counting the GTA Online stuff. I have the best job in the world.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - Sean Finnegan

When it comes to video games, first person shooters are my jam. And of all the incredible and innovative FPS games that have come out recently, the one I always find myself coming back to is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PC). Though not quite on the level of its legendary predecessor Counter-Strike 1.6, I've found CS:GO to be remarkably faithful to the pure no-nonsense gameplay ideology set forth by the original. There are no load outs, armor abilities, perks, or airstrikes. The gameplay is entirely centered on aim, movement, positioning, and teamwork -- the core tenets of competitive FPS. And while that makes the game really difficult, it also makes it extremely rewarding. In my opinion, there's not enough of that style of gameplay going around in FPS games these days. Other games seem to balance for the lowest common denominator, but CS:GO is balanced for the professional level of play and that's why I keep on playing.
Hours played: 750+

DOTA 2 - Mitch Dyer

I discovered Dota late in 2013, more out of obligation than interest. It's a huge thing I should know about. It's also a Valve game, which I think a lot of people forget about. I'm closing in on 100 hours of play time after having played it for a little over a month. Dota is absolutely consuming me.
I want to learn all 100 Heroes, whether I play as them or against them. I obsess over item builds, new strategies with my regular team, and have started recruiting and training friends. After 65 public games, I definitely got more than my free-to-play money's worth. I've started buying item sets, XP modifiers, and new courier characters to mix up my matches -- not that Dota ever feels stale for me; I just love that I can change things up. I've spent a ton of time (and a certain amount of money I'm a little ashamed to talk about) on this thing in such a short amount of time. I never saw Dota coming. I can't wait to pour hundreds of additional hours into this brilliant strategy game.

DOTA 2 - Brian Albert

When it comes to the sheer number of hours played, nothing in 2013 matches Dota 2 for me. I startedplaying in March, and I’ve already amassed over 600 hours playing matches and watching professional tournaments using the game’s awesome spectator mode. Dota 2 only has one map and one game type, but the wealth of characters, items, and team strategies makes each match unique and challenging. It has quickly become my desert island game.

Borderlands 2 - Andrew Goldfarb

Just like last year, I put the most time into Borderlands 2 in 2013. Even though the game is over a year old at this point and there are no trophies left to get, I managed to add an additional 90+ hours in 2013 thanks to the near-endless amount of DLC Gearbox has continued to release. A new level cap helped, but I’ve especially poured time into the Digistruct Peak challenge and trying to hit the Overpower levels. Borderlands is just so damn fun to play with friends, and it’s really incredible how Gearbox has continued to support it. With new consoles out, I suspect I’ll finally move onto something new in 2014, but Borderlands 2 is still some of the most fun I’ve had this entire generation.

Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign - Chuck Osborn

As a commuter by public transit commuter, I spend a lot of time gaming on my iPhone. Puzzle games are easiest for me; I can play short games while listening to a podcast in the background. Dungeon Raid has been my mainstay for the last couple of years (and I still recommend it highly), but it finally got toppled this fall by Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign. It’s the holy trinity of portable gaming goodness – a mixture of match puzzling action, RPG progression, and super heroes. My only complaint is that it requires an internet connection, so new matches won’t start when my train goes underground.

State of Decay - Jon Ryan

As a wiki editor, I'm at somewhat of a disadvantage as I spend a minimum of 30-40 hours with almost every title that comes across my desk. However, if we were to take the "playing video games as a job" thing out of the equation, State of Decay is easily my biggest off-duty time sink. The open-world / full-blown Zombocalypse was originally only going to tide me over until Dead Rising 3, but won me over almost immediately. The intricate supply gathering / hoarding system is constantly forcing me to rethink my tactics, and the permadeath of all the characters constantly has me restarting the campaign to try again with a new group of survivors. The Breakdown DLC is still waiting for me, and I can't wait to shirk all my responsibilities to friends and family as I lock myself away and play SoD over the upcoming holidays.

Toro's Friend Network - Marc Nix

Addiction will end you. It will suck time out of your life. It will destroy friendships. It will drive you to do bad things. It will bleed your wallet dry. My addiction in 2013 was this social networking game for PlayStation Vita – a game that I spent hours on as I racked up PSN “Friends”, made fellow players into indentured warriors to battle for me in a dungeon, and paid up real money for silly costumes and bonus dungeons. There’s nothing inherently great about Toro’s Friend Network (in fact, with recent modifications to the PlayStation Network policy, several features of the game now run buggy,) but the game is cute and clever in its own little way, and it’s an easy way to add some friendly, active people to your PSN roster. I had been waiting years for a Toro Inoue game/app to come to America, and once this hit the PlayStation Store, I let it take over my life.