Games I Accidentally Played Way Longer Than I Meant To

I have a habit of sitting down to play a video game for what I think will be 30 minutes.

Three hours later, I’m still playing.

It usually starts with something simple. I want to finish a quest, gather a few materials, or explore a part of the map I haven’t visited yet. Before I know it, I’ve discovered another area, picked up three new quests, and completely forgotten what I originally planned to do.

Here’s something you should know about me: I’m not a completionist.

I don’t need to collect every item, finish every side quest, or unlock every achievement. I’m perfectly happy leaving things unfinished if they don’t interest me.

That hasn’t stopped me from putting over 300 hours into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or more than 150 hours into Baldo. I couldn’t even begin to guess how much time I’ve spent playing My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock.

What keeps me playing isn’t the need to finish everything. It’s curiosity.

I love finding new places, figuring out how things work, gathering resources, and getting distracted by something completely unrelated to what I was supposed to be doing.

Some of my favorite games are considered cozy. Others have combat, complicated crafting systems, or enough management responsibilities to qualify as a second job.

Apparently, that’s my idea of relaxing.

These are the games that made me lose track of time, sometimes for hundreds of hours, without ever feeling like I needed to check everything off a list.

Nintendo Switch Games I’ve Lost Countless Hours Playing

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom— Over 300 Hours

There’s a perfectly good storyline in Breath of the Wild. You’re supposed to save Hyrule, defeat Calamity Ganon, and generally be a hero.

Unfortunately, I get distracted.

I’ll see a mountain in the distance and decide to climb it. Once I’m up there, I’ll spot something interesting on the other side. Maybe it’s a shrine, a village I haven’t visited, or just a strange-looking area that I want to investigate. Suddenly, whatever I was originally doing doesn’t seem quite so important. That’s what makes Breath of the Wild such an incredible game for me. It encourages you to explore without constantly telling you where you need to go.

Of course, Tears of the Kingdom gave me another reason to disappear into Hyrule. I loved being able to revisit familiar places while discovering how much the world had changed. The new abilities added an entirely different level of exploration, especially when it came to building things and figuring out creative ways to solve problems. Between the sky islands, the underground Depths, and everything happening on the surface, there was always somewhere else to investigate. I could easily spend an entire gaming session exploring without making any progress in the main storyline. That’s perfectly fine with me.

I’ve spent hours wandering around Hyrule, finding shrines, exploring ruins, and discovering places I didn’t even know existed.

The world is enormous, but it rarely feels empty. There’s almost always something worth investigating.

I didn’t need to collect every Korok seed or complete every possible challenge to enjoy it. I just loved being in that world.

What kept me playing: The freedom to explore and the constant feeling that something interesting might be waiting over the next hill.

Majestic dragon soaring through foggy sky with glowing eyes and wings. — Just another relaxing afternoon in Hyrule, trying not to get electrocuted by a three-headed dragon.

2. Baldo: The Guardian Owls — More Than 150 Hours

I wish more people talked about Baldo.

The artwork alone was enough to catch my attention. It has this beautiful, hand-drawn quality that reminds me of an animated fantasy movie.

The villages are charming, the landscapes are colorful, and the whole world feels like somewhere I want to wander around.

Of course, looking pretty isn’t enough to keep me entertained for 150 hours.

Baldo is filled with puzzles, dungeons, exploration, and plenty of challenges. Some areas are genuinely difficult, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone looking for a completely stress-free cozy game.

For me, the appeal was discovering new places and figuring out how to move forward.

I loved the sense of adventure, especially when I stumbled across something unexpected.

It’s one of those games where the world itself becomes as interesting as the story you’re supposed to follow.

What kept me playing: The artwork, the puzzles, and the feeling that there was always another place worth exploring.

Young boy resting on the ground with a cat in a lush forest setting.

3. My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock — There’s Always Another Project

If you give me a game where I can collect materials, build machines, and improve a workshop, there’s a very good chance I’m going to spend far too much time playing it.

My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock are perfect examples.

You start with a workshop and gradually build a business by completing commissions for the townspeople. Those projects require materials, equipment, crafting, and plenty of running around.

The problem is that nothing ever seems to involve just one step.

Maybe I need a particular material to finish a machine. To get that material, I need to visit another area. While I’m there, I discover something useful for a different project.

By the time I get back to my workshop, I’ve completely forgotten why I left in the first place.

There’s also a whole town to get to know, with relationships, events, and storylines that develop as you play.

I especially enjoy watching my workshop grow from something small into a place filled with equipment I’ve built myself.

It’s satisfying in a way that’s difficult to explain unless you’ve played one of these games.

What kept me playing: Building things, collecting materials, and constantly finding another project I wanted to tackle.

In-game scene of Lisa's Shop with character and tools, vibrant environment.

4. Graveyard Keeper & GK2 — Complicated Chores, Apparently

Graveyard Keeper probably sounds like a strange choice for a relaxing game.

You’re running a medieval graveyard, maintaining a church, gathering resources, crafting supplies, and dealing with some pretty questionable characters.

The game has a wonderfully dark sense of humor, but what really kept me interested was how everything connects.

You start out needing one item. Making that item requires another material, which means unlocking a new technology, which requires something else entirely.

Before long, you’re working on five different things just to complete the original task.

For some people, that probably sounds exhausting.

I find it strangely entertaining.

There’s a real sense of satisfaction when you finally figure out how a complicated system works. It might take a while to get there, but that’s part of the fun.

What kept me playing: The crafting systems, unusual humor, and satisfaction of figuring things out.

A pixel art forest scene with a character exploring a graveyard and ancient ruins.

5. Shadows Over Loathing — Sometimes Weird Is Better

Shadows Over Loathing proves that a game doesn’t need elaborate graphics to be entertaining.

It’s a black-and-white adventure filled with stick-figure characters, strange mysteries, unusual locations, and some truly ridiculous situations.

The writing is a big part of its appeal.

You never quite know what you’re going to encounter next, which makes exploring and talking to characters surprisingly entertaining.

I enjoy games that have a sense of humor, especially when they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Shadows Over Loathing manages to be funny while still giving you plenty to investigate, solve, and discover.

What kept me playing: The humor, the unexpected situations, and wanting to see what strange thing would happen next.

Black and white illustration of a Western town with a feed and tack shop and oil rigs in the背景.

6. Wylde Flowers — More Than Just Farming

At first glance, Wylde Flowers looks like a fairly traditional cozy farming game.

You grow crops, take care of animals, gather resources, and get to know the people living in a small island community.

Then there’s the whole witchcraft situation.

You play as Tara, who moves to Fairhaven to help her grandmother. As the story develops, you discover the town has quite a few secrets.

What I enjoy about Wylde Flowers is that there’s an actual story unfolding alongside the farming and crafting.

The characters have personalities, relationships develop, and new events give you reasons to keep playing.

It’s easy to tell yourself you’re only going to finish one more in-game day.

Of course, the next day might bring something interesting, so you keep going.

What kept me playing: The combination of everyday routines, magic, and a story that continues to develop.

7. Dave the Diver — Fishing, Sushi, and About a Million Other Things

Dave the Diver is a perfect example of a game that starts with a fairly simple idea and keeps adding to it.

During the day, you’re diving into the ocean to catch fish and gather ingredients. At night, you’re helping run a sushi restaurant.

That alone would probably be enough to keep me interested, but the game doesn’t stop there.

There’s equipment to upgrade, new areas to explore, underwater mysteries to investigate, and a steady stream of additional activities.

Just when I think I’ve figured out the routine, the game introduces something new.

I particularly like the combination of exploration and restaurant management. The two activities are different enough that switching between them keeps things interesting.

What kept me playing: Exploring the ocean, upgrading equipment, and discovering what the game would introduce next.

Colorful underwater scene with coral reefs, fish, and divers.

8. Two Point Hospital and Two Point Museum — I Apparently Enjoy Working on My Days Off

I spend my workdays solving problems, so naturally, one of the things I enjoy doing in my free time is solving more problems.

Only these involve imaginary hospitals and museums.

Two Point Hospital lets you build and manage hospitals filled with ridiculous illnesses, strange treatment machines, and employees who don’t always make the best decisions.

Two Point Museum takes that same style of humor and applies it to running a museum, collecting exhibits, arranging displays, and sending teams on expeditions.

I like being able to build something, see how it functions, and make improvements.

Maybe the layout could be more efficient. Maybe I need another employee. Maybe a particular area needs to be redesigned.

It’s easy to spend an entire evening making small changes that probably weren’t absolutely necessary.

These games are particularly good at making me think I have time for one more improvement.

What kept me playing: Building, organizing, upgrading, and seeing how much better I could make everything work.

Creative workspace with colorful decor and modern furniture at Redcypress Designs.

9. Space Chef — My Latest Gaming Distraction

Space Chef is one of my more recent discoveries, and it’s already responsible for a few later-than-planned evenings.

The idea is wonderfully strange.

You’re a chef traveling between planets, collecting ingredients, cooking meals, and building up your restaurant.

Of course, the ingredients aren’t always sitting conveniently in a pantry.

You have to explore alien worlds, gather resources, fight creatures, and complete quests along the way.

One quest involved making a special drink for a tribe of aliens. They gave me a recipe, but I had to track down the ingredients myself.

That’s exactly the sort of task that keeps me interested.

I love having something to work toward while still being able to wander around and discover things along the way.

Space Chef combines several things I already enjoy in games: exploration, collecting resources, crafting, cooking, and a healthy dose of weirdness.

What kept me playing: Hunting down ingredients, exploring planets, and figuring out what I needed to make next.

Colorful gaming scene with characters and vibrant environment.

I’ve written more about my experience in Space Chef Is the Weird Little Switch Game I Can’t Stop Playing.

Why These Games Keep Me Playing

Looking at this list, I can see a pretty clear pattern.

I enjoy games that give me the freedom to get distracted.

Sometimes I want to explore a huge world without worrying about the main storyline. Other times, I’m perfectly happy gathering materials for a machine I’m building or rearranging an imaginary hospital.

I don’t need to complete everything to feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth.

In fact, some of my favorite gaming memories have absolutely nothing to do with finishing a game.

They’re the unexpected discoveries, the little projects that turned into much bigger projects, and the moments when I stumbled across something I wasn’t looking for.

That’s probably why I tend to gravitate toward games that allow me to explore at my own pace.

I like having things to accomplish, but I don’t necessarily want a checklist telling me how to spend every minute.