Every gamer has a guilty pleasures list, whether or not you want to admit it. These are games that you love that the rest of the world hates. Maybe they’re games that you have a lot of fun playing, but are embarrassed to admit it to your friends. A few weeks ago we ran a list of our guilty pleasure games and asked that you list your own in the comments section. We received an overwhelming response from readers, who listed personal faves and embarrassing picks. The confession was usually followed with some sort of self-deprecating “help me,” “shoot me,” and our favorite, “I know, I suck.” If you read some of these you’ll understand the sentiment. As promised, here is the list of reader picks with a few standout quotes from the comments section.
RuneScape
Hands down, RuneScape was the most commonly cited guilty pleasure game by our readers. This MMORPG is by no means perfect, but it's free to play so who cares? With more than 10 million subscribers exploring Gielinor during its peak, RuneScape obviously did something right to suck so many people in.
Cant forget about RuneScape. At first it was addicting leveling your skills and meeting people in the massive F2P world, but when they killed the wildy (R.I.P.) many people such as myself stopped playing...sweet memories. -smittyg74
Facebook Games
An official memo was sent to members of the Game Informer staff that stated the following: JUSTICE: Any Game Informer staffer caught playing Farmville will be fired on the spot (by official memo I mean Reiner told us we need to stop playing Farmville, and any other farm-related games for that matter). The Farmville craze began with the creation of Joe's farm and slowly crept its way into the lives of Nick, Jeff C., and Jeff M. Listening to them discuss cow trades and argue over which crop will yield the most profit is widly entertaining, but unfortunately I think the craze is starting to subside (check out Nick's farm). Seems our readers also have spent a considerable amount of time with Facebook games as well. Game of choice? Mafia Wars, but that didn't keep you all from trying the social networking site's other offerings.
I played Mafia Wars on Facebook a lot, glad that's over with. -Curtis
Oh yeah. I know where you're going with Facebook games. I, however, hate Farmville...but I love Mafia Wars. Help...me. -Drew
I play Bejeweled, Texas Hold'em, and (used to play) Farmville. What a sad world we live in. :) -Longtran
Facebook games?! NOOOOOOOO! -Braedan Gregg
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
The open world third-person shooter follows a mercenary on a quest for revenge who blows up a lot of stuff in the process. Work the local revolutionaries, oil companies, pirates and key figures against each other to put your vengeance plan in motion. Complete missions to earn the scratch needed to purchase RPGs, tanks, choppers and all other things that go BOOM. It's no surprise our readers frequently mentioned Mercs 2 as a guilty pleasure. We can all find a little joy in explosives.
Saints Row 2
Saints Row 2 takes the GTA formula and gives it a goofy spin for an entertaining b-movie experience (samurai sword duels, anyone?). Take your custom-created character and wreak havoc on the fictional Stilwater region in this open world title, then add true online co-op to the mix for some fun with your partner in crime.
Army of Two: The 40th Day
Salem and Rios are back to complete a routine mission in Shanghai, and well there's not much more of a story there, just make sure you and your partner escape in one piece. Even though the game does suffer from a few control-related issues, that didn't stop our readers from adding Army of Two to their list of guilty pleasures.
I love Army of Two, no matter what anybody says. It may have the sh****est story of all time, but hey, it's a hell of a lot of co-op motherf***in' fun. -Joshbfaust
Two Worlds
Our readers hate Two Worlds so much that they love it. You're a bounty hunter on a quest to stop an evil god's resurrection. In order to complete this quest, you'll have to be able to look past serious glitches, and endure awful dialogue and voice acting. The lack of polish can easily turn people away from this RPG altogether, but surprisingly drew in a solid number of readers.
My guilty pleasure game is Two Worlds. I hated it. Because you had to complete things in a certain order, even though it was supposedly open world, I couldn't finish the final quest. But, even so, I still had so much fun playing it. If I had the time I'd try again to beat it. The hours of sitting around with my sister talking about how BAD the game is while we played it was fun, too. -EvilleApplePie
Pokémon Games
After perusing reader comments it's safe to say our readers love Pokémon, but no worries, so do we. Game Freak has consistently put out quality titles and we cannot wait to hear what's next for the franchise. The series of creature collecting titles became a hot topic in the comments section as readers shared their fond Pokémemories.
I loved it as a kid, and will continue to love it as it "evolves" (get it? evolves?) into a new generation. -Exotic
Hell, I still bust out Pokémon on the ole Game Boy for kicks....Charmander FTW! -Justin Palmerton
What's the shame in Pokémon games? I love those games and once my whole class was raving about all the levels and where to find the legendary Pokémon. -C.K.
No shame in playing anything that brings back glorious memories. -ClutchDemagogue
The Pokémon games. I know lots of us like them, but I would never talk about playing Pokémon in the hallway at school. -Sam
Pokémon Coliseum. I cannot explain myself besides the fact that playing a 3D Pokémon game is strange and fun at the same time. -Strenux
Oh, I guess Pokémon counts, but I don't feel shame from that. It's still a fun, unique formula, even if it's getting played out to death...Plus it was my childhood. Red/Blue is a sacred cow. -Poisontongue
It's hard to admit, but Pokémon still entertains me and makes me giggle with excitement. So I'm 18 years old, all those little guys and their crazy powers make me happy. -Christian Rodriguez
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
Sonic Team's darling platformer stars a boy in a legendary rooster suit that gives him the ability to control and hatch eggs used to solve puzzles and mow down enemies. Hatcher's gameplay mechanics are solid, and even though actions can get repetitive, readers still found the title to be adorable and fun (even though they were embarrassed to admit it).
Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Series
Take control of scantily-clad women and engage in addicting volleyball matches and gift giving to build relationships with other ladies on the island. Readers cited volleyball as the most appealing element of the game. Right. Some of our readers also mentioned Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad as a guilty pleasure. Our readers really like bikinis.
Other Mentions:
Link's Crossbow Training, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Jurassic: The Hunted, Overlord, Earth Defense Force 2017, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Far Cry 2, Matt Hazard series, Puzzle Pirates, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Rise of the Argonauts, Aliens vs. Predator, Kung Fu Chaos, Ninja Gaiden II, Superman 64, Buck Bumble, The Powerpuff Girls: Bad Mojo Jojo, Mr. ***, Diddy Kong Racing, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Battle for Bikini Bottom, The Simpsons Hit & Run, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Noby Noby Boy, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Prototype, Samurai Western, Manhunt, Too Human, Chromehounds, Digimon World 2, Killer 7, No More Heroes, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, Elite Beat Agents, WET, Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust, Enchanted Arms, MUDs, Boogerman, Terminator Salvation, Dino Stalker, Rogue Warrior, Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Potion Commotion, Graffiti Kingdom, Skate It, Section 8, Mario Party (All), BMX XXX, Killing Floor, The Outfit, Naruto: the Broken Bond, Batman Begins, Superman Returns.
Any other guilty pleasure games you want to throw on the list? Agree or disagree with your fellow community members? Head over to the comments section below to put in your two cents.