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Some specific games take this concept to its highest peak and let people play as a god among humans. Whether it’s a multiplayer game like Smite or a simulation experience like Black & White, there are dozens of games where the power of a god is within one’s grasp.
Updated November 2, 2022, by Jerrad Wyche: With the release of God of War: Ragnarok and Thor: Love & Thunder in 2022, audiences are clamoring for more experiences in which they can take on the role of a god. Video games serve as a power fantasy and with so many games released every year in the modern era, there are bound to be new and old games in which people can take on the role of a god and feel what unrelenting power feels like. The very best god games find a way to set themselves apart, either through their impressive visuals or their innovative gameplay mechanics.
12 Darksiders
The neat thing about the Darksiders trilogy is that each game offers a different protagonist. In the original game, players take on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Each follow-up game puts a different member of this group in the lead role, with Death being the lead in the second game and Fury in the third title.
They are all hack-and-slash action-adventure games that each include many role-playing game elements. The first and second games are well-regarded in terms of their critical reception, with the third having the most mixed feedback.
11 Okami
Okami might not be the first game that people think of when they think of games in which one plays as a god, but the playable character Amaterasu is indeed a deity. The game is an action-adventure title that provides a beautiful world of watercolors and combat that’s fluid and majestic.
It’s been stated by both the developers of the game and fans that the game design of Okami feels very much inspired byThe Legend of Zelda. A key part of the game has players using a tool called the Celestial Brush where Amaterasu (Okami) will paint on a canvas and in turn that painting will have an effect on the world around the player. It’s used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies in combat.
10 Civilization
Civilization IV and the Civilization series as a whole are among the more iconic PC examples of an experience that lets people truly see how it would look to see human cultures and society evolve over the course of time. Players get to play an active role as they decide where critical resources are placed and how things evolve.
The game sets it up as though the player is taking on the role of a critical historical figure, but considering the player chooses who takes on the role of leader, it feels as though they exist on a plane above that of the chosen ruler. With that in mind, it feels fair to class them as god games, and they’re some of the best that the genre
9 Hades
Hades burst onto the scene in 2020 as an artistically beautifully and mechanically engaging dungeon-crawling roguelike. Players took on the role of Zagreus, the son of Hades, the God of the Underworld. By traversing the world of the undead Zagreus must escape, but not before taking on the mythological beasts and deities standing in his way.
With roguelikes being a rather niche genre of games,Hades was a high-quality experience that infused a strong and immersive narrative, leading to many people diving into the roguelike genre for the first time.
8 The Sims
Everyone in their life at some point has played or knows someone who has played The Sims. It’s a game where people create simulated lives, those being entirely fantasy-based or sometimes users living vicariously through the game in an attempt to envision a possible future.
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Between creating Sims and designing houses and landscapes, it’s hard to deny that those playingThe Sims aren’t acting like a god. From the perspective of a Sim, the world is constantly changing around them and they simply have to hope that the supreme being manipulating everything doesn’t delete them from existence either intentionally or not.
7 Minecraft Creative
As one of the most successful and played games of all time, Minecraft’s versatility is what makes it so special to millions of gamers around the world. Sure, one could take on the challenges of the crafting survival mode of the game, but creatives also have a space where they act as gods and manipulate the world around them.
Minecraft’s Creative mode lets players edit the landscape around them, giving them access to any block or item in the game. This has spawned amazing creations and recreations, as well as specific game modes simply due to users being given a blank canvas and plenty of tools to sculpt the things they want to see.
6 Smite
Smite is a multiplayer online battle arena, also known as a MOBA, and though it shares similarities with League of Legends, it has a third-person action-focused gameplay design that sets it apart. Two teams face off against one another in various game modes that each start with players selecting a god to play as from various mythological pantheons from around the world.
The game is free-to-play and has seen sustained success thanks to its social feel and replayability. Smite is regularly updated with brand new gods to play as, as well as a suite of character skins to customize the experience.
5 Spore
The idea of a game where someone could create a species and watch it evolve into a myriad of different creatures was the core selling point of the 2008 video game called Spore. It is labeled as a life simulation real-time strategy God game, which is more than a mouthful. Players begin by creating a microscopic organism, that over time evolves into a biologically complex creature.
Though Spore provides a neat concept worth experiencing at least once, as a complete gaming experience it was one of the first major letdowns in the industry when comparing what it was promised to be and what the experience was like when the game finally launched.
4 From Dust
Back in the Xbox 360 arcade era of Xbox Live there, a was a smaller indie-like title released by Ubisoft called From Dust that had players taking on the role of God. Overlooking a large set of land, players were tasked with moving sand around in a physics-based engine in order to help tribal folk survive the harsh environments created by natural disasters.
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In some ways, the game functioned like a puzzle game as players would have to find creative solutions in an attempt to help their people survive the torrential downpour of water, soil, or lava. From Dust was known for its story mode, but also included a difficult challenge mode for those in search of more fun to be had.
3 Godus
Godus was branded as the regenesis of the “God game” and was designed by Peter Molyneux, the man behind other iconic God video games such as Populous and Black & White. Developed by 22Cans, the game was released in 2013 to mixed reviews.
At the beginning of the game, the player is tasked with saving humans from drowning and leading them to a land of opportunity. Through actions, the player’s job is to help these humans develop, evolve, and succeed. Players can redesign the land at any time, shaping the world in their vision.
2 God of War
Whether one is looking at the hack-and-slash gameplay from the original God of War games or the newer soft reboot in 2018 simply titled God of War, Sony Santa Monica has given gamers one of the most iconic gaming series in which players take on the role of a god. The fact that Kratos just so happens to also be a god-killer serves as a nice bonus.
The thing that sets the 2018 game apart from previous entries in the series is that it made the story of Kratos a true narrative journey that explores the character and makes him more than a mindless catalyst of violence. Its sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, builds upon the high praise and critical reception of its predecessor and delivers a follow-up worthy of the hype.
1 Black & White
When thinking of a game where one plays God, most people will jump to the Black & White series. Launching first in 2001, the PC-only simulation God game allows players to interact with the environment as they oversee the existence of humans living on a set of islands. It has a morality system in place that changes based on the actions of the player.
This means that acting as either an altruistic or malevolent force isn’t the wrong approach as Black & White wants players to take on whatever role they’d like. In the game, the interface and look of the god’s hand, the music, as well as the appearance of the land will change based on what alignment the player guides themselves in.
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