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The ultimate top 15 singleplayer steam games by median playtime

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It's time to complement our list of ultimate multiplayer games by creating a singleplayer list as well.

Just like our multiplayer list, we will use data from millions of reviews collected from steam to create a list of great games.

Too strict in previous post

After publishing our ultimate multiplayer list, some people provided me with good feedback and suggested to lower the rating limit of 90% to 85%.

Applying a strict 90% threshold in my previous list, caused some really good games such as Destiny 2 and R6 to be excluded from the list. For this list we keep the required 90% review score. However we did include From the Depths which is rated at 89% but has a recent review rating of a whopping 96%.

Older games

Another point of critique after the multiplayer list, was the addition of some older classics. We think this was a valid point to make for the multiplayer list and we will definitely see if we can make another multiplayer list with more recent games.

However for singleplayer games, all-time classics should not be omitted if they didn't age too badly. That's why we did not exclude any game based on age alone.

Why in this list

As in the multiplayer list, we had to make some tough decisions to decide if a game should be singleplayer or multiplayer.

In these cases we asked ourselves the question: "Would this game have a high rating and long game-length without the multiplayer component?" If the answer is yes, we included the game in the list below.

Selection criteria

We used the following filters to discover the games:

1 - Steam rating > 90 %

We are only interested in high rated games and only included games with a rating above 90%. Some minor deviations were made based on recent reviews.

2 - Only games

On steam it is also possible to review videos, demo's, hardware, etc. These are not in scope for our list today.

3 - At least 1000 steam reviews

If you are interested in lesser known games, check out our previous list covering exactly this. In this list we will look at better known games.

4 - Only singleplayer games

This post is part of a two post series: - Ultimate top 15 multiplayer games - Ultimate top 15 singleplayer games

Just as always, you can click on any image to find more detailed playtime-breakdowns.

1. Hearts of Iron IV

Image of Hearts of Iron IV
  • Genre: Strategy, Simulation
  • Developer: Paradox Development Studio
  • Release date: 6 Jun, 2016
  • Rating: 90%
  • Steam reviews: 71,858
  • Median playtime: 329 hours
  • Average playtime: 490 hours

2. NGU IDLE

Image of NGU IDLE
  • Genre: Indie, Adventure, Simulation
  • Developer: 4G
  • Release date: 1 Oct, 2019
  • Rating: 97%
  • Steam reviews: 1,974
  • Median playtime: 269 hours
  • Average playtime: 512 hours

3. Total War: WARHAMMER II

Image of Total War: WARHAMMER II
  • Genre: Action, Strategy
  • Developer: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Linux), Feral Interactive (Mac)
  • Release date: 28 Sep, 2017
  • Rating: 91%
  • Steam reviews: 48,034
  • Median playtime: 250 hours
  • Average playtime: 410 hours

4. Crusader Kings II

Image of Crusader Kings II
  • Genre: Strategy, RPG, Simulation
  • Developer: Paradox Development Studio
  • Release date: 14 Feb, 2012
  • Rating: 90%
  • Steam reviews: 49,861
  • Median playtime: 248 hours
  • Average playtime: 486 hours

5. RimWorld

Image of RimWorld
  • Genre: Strategy, Indie, Simulation
  • Developer: Ludeon Studios
  • Release date: 17 Oct, 2018
  • Rating: 98%
  • Steam reviews: 58,324
  • Median playtime: 198 hours
  • Average playtime: 359 hours

6. From the Depths

Image of From the Depths
  • Genre: Action, Strategy, RPG
  • Developer: Brilliant Skies Ltd.
  • Release date: 7 Aug, 2014
  • Rating: 89%
  • Steam reviews: 5,591
  • Median playtime: 187 hours
  • Average playtime: 399 hours

7. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Image of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
  • Genre: Action
  • Developer: Nicalis, Inc.
  • Release date: 4 Nov, 2014
  • Rating: 98%
  • Steam reviews: 94,803
  • Median playtime: 178 hours
  • Average playtime: 278 hours

8. Mount & Blade: Warband

Image of Mount & Blade: Warband
  • Genre: Action, RPG
  • Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment
  • Release date: 31 Mar, 2010
  • Rating: 97%
  • Steam reviews: 97,891
  • Median playtime: 171 hours
  • Average playtime: 374 hours

9. Sid Meier's Civilization V

Image of Sid Meier's Civilization V
  • Genre: Strategy
  • Developer: Aspyr (Linux), Aspyr (Mac), Firaxis Games
  • Release date: 23 Sep, 2010
  • Rating: 96%
  • Steam reviews: 150,775
  • Median playtime: 166 hours
  • Average playtime: 364 hours

While Civ 5 made the list instead of Civ 6 due to its higher review score (96% vs 75%) and higher playtime (166h vs 97h). We would recommend you to have a look at Civ 6 as the recent review score is 92% and the lower playtimes are only because the game is 6 years younger (2016 vs 2010). Civ 6 might be more future proof and could provide similar game lengths.

10. Factorio

Image of Factorio
  • Genre: Strategy, Casual, Indie
  • Developer: Wube Software LTD.
  • Release date: 25 Feb, 2016
  • Rating: 99%
  • Steam reviews: 66,967
  • Median playtime: 163 hours
  • Average playtime: 341 hours

11. Terraria

Image of Terraria
  • Genre: Action, RPG, Indie
  • Developer: Re-Logic
  • Release date: 16 May, 2011
  • Rating: 98%
  • Steam reviews: 259,023
  • Median playtime: 147 hours
  • Average playtime: 264 hours

12. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Image of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • Genre: RPG
  • Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
  • Release date: 10 Nov, 2011
  • Rating: 94%
  • Steam reviews: 271,797
  • Median playtime: 143 hours
  • Average playtime: 257 hours

13. Kerbal Space Program

Image of Kerbal Space Program
  • Genre: Indie, Simulation
  • Developer: Squad
  • Release date: 27 Apr, 2015
  • Rating: 92%
  • Steam reviews: 65,801
  • Median playtime: 137 hours
  • Average playtime: 282 hours

14. Panzer Corps

Image of Panzer Corps
  • Genre: Strategy
  • Developer: Flashback Games, The Lordz Games Studio
  • Release date: 12 Mar, 2014
  • Rating: 92%
  • Steam reviews: 1,423
  • Median playtime: 123 hours
  • Average playtime: 389 hours

15. Farming Simulator 19

Image of Farming Simulator 19
  • Genre: Simulation
  • Developer: Giants Software
  • Release date: 19 Nov, 2018
  • Rating: 87%
  • Steam reviews: 17,111
  • Median playtime: 118 hours
  • Average playtime: 242 hours

Initially this spot was taken by Farming Simulator 17 with its 120 hours and 92% review rating. However Farming Simulator 19 is far more popular these days, has a recent review rating of 95% and is more future proof. This made us give the spot to Farming Simulator 19.

Honorary mention: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Image of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Genre: RPG
  • Developer: CD PROJEKT RED
  • Release date: 18 May, 2015
  • Rating: 98%
  • Steam reviews: 300,473
  • Median playtime: 115 hours
  • Average playtime: 148 hours

No we are not including this because it's so hot right now. It really belongs on here. It's a great game with a lot of playtime that got bumped out of the list due to its recent attention. Of the 300k Witcher 3 reviews, 58k are from the last three months. That is almost 20% and is a lot for a 4 year old game. These new players, that haven't had as much time to play the game, caused the playtime to decrease just enough to drop out of the top 15.