Which game have you played the most non-stop?

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
I'm talking non-stop without sleep, nap, going out for a break, whatever. How many hours?

When I was in college, I played some of the Gold Box D&D games for about 16-18 hours non-stop. If I knew I didn't have to work the next day, I'd start about 8pm (after my classes) and would stop around 12-1pm the next day.

Wish I could do that now, but this 43-year old body won't let me. :(
 

slugg

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
4,723
80
91
Games that have kept me up, non-stop, in the past (no particular order):

- World of Warcraft
- Team Fortress Classic
- Diablo 2 + LOD expansion
- Tribes: Ascend

... that's it. I don't get hooked too easily. :p
 

Revolution 11

Senior member
Jun 2, 2011
952
79
91
I have never had the luxury of uninterrupted gaming time so my entry is lame. I spent nine hours straight beating the first Harry Potter game from start to finish. Not a bad game for a 11-year old.
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
UT99, played for about 48 hours straight once, stimulants might have been involved.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Probably Deus Ex. Like the first half of the game all in one sitting.

In almost every Final Fantasy I have been known to have at least a couple sessions of long grinding to level up. In FF1 it was the field east of Elfland every time I played a game, and then the boss in the Ice Cave for easy XP, and then the field outside Onrac after getting the class change, to be ready for the later Fiends and Chaos himself.

In FF2 (4) the only time I had to really grind was on the moon, to be ready for the Giant back on earth and then again to be ready for the tough moon boss battles to get the good weapons and Ribbons.

FF6 I grind the Mantodeas outside Narshe for easy XP, and the mage tower for easy SP for espers.

FF7 those stupid larve things on the south island. With Clouds triple growth sword and Cids Triple growth spear I could get Knights of the Round and Mime much faster (for the master materias), also for levels so as to beat Ruby and Emerald.

FFX-2 I got so tired of grinding for skill points for the jobs, so eventually I cheated and gave myself AP eggs and that doubler thing for extra AP and EXP.

I've probably spent more time grinding in Final Fantasy than any other activity in my life. Which is fucking sad. Had I been using that time to study anatomy and biology I could have been a fucking doctor in 7 years.
 

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,198
204
106
Diablo 2 and Lord of Destruction...

Nothing compares to the sheer amount of time I dedicated/wasted/invested (there's no "good" terms anymore, I think they all apply to some extent) with that game. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if I compressed all the time I spent/wasted on it then it would probably end up being months (if not a year and plus) worth of non-stop sessions. I remember first buying D2 (vanilla) I believe during the summer of 2001 (not sure anymore) and "stopped" playing it (my first real "attempt" at quitting it) somewhere in 2005. I actually sold my copy (with LoD) at a local store at the time. Then the same year, maybe three or four months after I sold it I ended up buying it again (and brand new copy) and plunged into the addiction wagon (or call it obsession, maybe more of that than actual "passion") until - once more - I decided it was "finally time" to stop playing it, which was sometime in 2008.

My "journey" with D2 lasted approximately seven years of my life, and again no other games has come remotely close to that. Not only of the amount of time spent playing it to start with, but also to the "dedication" I had when playing it. Not only have I played it a crap load (of time), but when I did during the most "intensive" years (say between 2002 and 2005) I used to almost exclusively do that. It did negatively impact my social life. I managed to still go at work at the time... but I was so "obsessed" by it that I couldn't stop thinking about my next Baal runs and my newly-created characters (and their builds, etc) while at work. I came back home, barely took care of my real life priorities and jumped on my computer to be at it until the sun showed itself again the next morning. Being tired at work for lack of sleep due to a video game? Oh hell yes I know what that feels like believe me and it didn't last for only a week.

As for the highest number of hours put into it... in one sitting? That would be probably from late on a Friday after coming back from work, playing a good 14+ hours (keep in mind I usually had 8 to 10 hours of work on my shoulders on Fridays at the time when I came back home) non-stop (I.E. literally not standing up from my chair for that long not even to go take a drink) until finally I would have had to go to the bathroom, maybe take a drink, maybe blink my eyes a bit... then back at it until the early hours of the Sunday. I honestly don't even want to try to calculate how many hours I could spend on that thing I just have shudders when I think about it.

Yup... D2... heh, not exactly "proud" of having played "a game" [insert any name] for seven years or so. In retrospect I can only shake my head in shame when I think about it. But it's easy to say this now, because at the time I enjoyed every seconds of it. Put me back in that same context again and I wouldn't do any self-introspection to reason me out of it... I'd still be at it the same way. It is only now after I'm done with it that I realize. Damn you Blizzard North. I'm happy, actually, that D3 ended up being overall disappointing. I couldn't play it for more than maybe three months until I pretty much stopped playing it, good thing... yup... good thing.
 
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akahoovy

Golden Member
May 1, 2011
1,336
1
0
I think the longest I ever sat and played one game for a session was maybe 24 hours or a little longer. That was Chrono Trigger :) Good memories.

On another note, I was very sad to find that my SNES had been smashed sometime before I moved. I hadn't noticed because I haven't taken it out in a while. I should get a replacement and really get around to replacing the batteries in my cartridges.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I don't know the breakdowns but longest single sessions would go to:

Zelda
Final Fantasy 2
Final Fantasy 3
Secret of Mana
Chrono Cross
Doom II
Quake
Starcraft
Eve Online
League of Legends
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
14
81
www.markbetz.net
I'm tempted to say that the champion is still Railroad Tycoon I. I played that literally for 8-12 hours at a stretch sometimes.
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,501
6,045
126
Civilization 2 - 32 hours. When the only light I could see was the light from the monitor and it was afternoon with the sun shining brightly into the room, I figured it was time to stop. :D
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
Unreal Tournament (UT99).

I have no idea how many hours straight I played it, but in the early 2000s I'm sure I must have spent an entire day playing it at some point (taking breaks for food, etc.). It had me addicted like a crackhead on payday. It still rocks even to this day when you can find populated servers.
 

TallBill

Lifer
Apr 29, 2001
46,017
62
91
Star War Galaxies... would do like 18+ hours a day. Made some money selling crystals. That game was insanely complex.
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,144
1,322
126
Diablo 2 & LOD expansion
WoW up to TBC expansion
Counterstrike 1.1-1.5

Those days are long gone for me now though. Don't have the time or resilience to game for those extended stretches.
 

Broheim

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2011
4,587
2
81
planetside 2, 5 hours without a smoke break.

I don't smoke indoors and I usually pause my gaming every hour (maybe two) to go out for a smoke.
 

TallBill

Lifer
Apr 29, 2001
46,017
62
91
Diablo 2 & LOD expansion
WoW up to TBC expansion
Counterstrike 1.1-1.5

Those days are long gone for me now though. Don't have the time or resilience to game for those extended stretches.

I could do it again if something like galaxies came out. Easily. I played the crap out of d2 and Cs as well, from beta 3 till 1.6
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Unreal Tournament (UT99).

I have no idea how many hours straight I played it, but in the early 2000s I'm sure I must have spent an entire day playing it at some point (taking breaks for food, etc.). It had me addicted like a crackhead on payday. It still rocks even to this day when you can find populated servers.

Oh yeah me too, first time I got online access in the barracks I played it like mad.
 

xfilos

Junior Member
Mar 1, 2013
22
0
0
CS 1.6 and CS source on steam 6 hours daily night till before 1 year. College days :D
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
19,431
12,980
136
I once played StarCraft 1 for over 6 hours, a single multi-player vs. Insane AI map. Does anyone else get a severe case of stiff neck after a few hours of straight gaming?