Alright I know,”Oh it’s summer we are supposed to be outside having fun!”, yeah well I’m lazy. Don’t get me wrong, I love going outside and and all that crap, but some times its just too damn hot. On those gloriously hot and humid days, I like to cuddle up in my air conditioned house and enjoy a nice video game. The games for this list have to be huge time waisters. They can be long, be very re-playable, and ultimately just enjoyable. Remember this is just opinion and if you don’t agree, tell me in the comment section bellow. Now with all that out of the way, lets get to it.

10) Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

This game isn’t necessarily amazing. Some of the game mechanics are off and the cut scenes are complete shit, however, I just love this game. I know this game has made some lists before, but this game is especially good for summer time. Sonic Adventure 2 just waists so much time, not with the storyline really, but with the Chao Gardens. A Chao is a tiny cute creature, that can observe the powers of animals… that part is kinda creepy, but they are just too much fun. You can go through the levels collecting animals and power crystals to give your Chao better stats. Improving your Chao is addictive, the main part of your time will be devoted to just taking care of these little guys… and the story is kinda cool I guess, if ya like Hedgehogs in space…whatever.

9) Journey

An epic adventure shrouded in mystery, a tale told without any words, and one of the most visually pleasing games ever. Journey is one of the greatest Indie games I’ve ever experienced. Its really worth a look, if you haven’t played it, click here for a little gander. I would put this higher on the list, but sadly you can beat the game in one sitting. However, this game is extremely re-playable. It just holds so many secrets, I still haven’t found all of that it has to offer! If you are looking for a way to kill an afternoon, Journey will deliver.

8) Gauntlet: Dark Legacy

Gauntlet is a great game to play with friends, its a classic hack and smash kinda game. You pick your favorite D and D’ish class, and fight your way through hundreds of enemies and bosses, in many different environments. This game is a little lacking in the graphics department, but if your like me and love fantasy style games and hack and slash, then you’ll love this game. Gauntlet has so many hours of game play, its great for pulling an all nighter and destroying entire legions with friends and defeating the final boss… like a boss. (Good joke Zach) Moving on!

7) Luigi’s Manson

Ever wonder what a Ghost Busters video game would be like? Well so did everyone else, it sucked, the end. Luigi’s Manson does Ghost Busters better than Ghost Busters them selves. This was Luigi’s first game where he was the protagonist and it was awesome. While I was initially annoyed that the game cube launch with a Luigi game, rather than a Mario game, I was reluctant to find an amazing game. I could go for days talking about this game, but no body wants to listen to that, so just go out and play it, the game speaks for it self.

6) Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door

It was really hard to decide between this and the original Paper Mario, but Thousand Year Door is just a little bit better. What a strange concept, a Super Mario RPG style game, that is made to look like a pop up book, its great. Thousand Year Door delivers on story, game play, and atmospheric feel. Every section of the game has an amazing amount of detail put into it, you know, that special touch that only Nintendo can deliver. Paper Mario will provide you with days of entertainment, not only with a gorgeous story, but with hours re-playability to find all of its secrets.

5) Civilization 5: Gods and Kings

So quick aside, I haven’t gotten a chance to play the new Civ expansion, but I really can’t wait to play it! Any way, Civilization is an RTS game and is possibly the master of that style. You play as one of the greatest leaders in all of history and try to make a civilization,”that will stand the test of time!” Victories include: cultural, scientific, domination, and diplomatic. Any type of victory that you go for will provide you with hours of sheer RTS bliss.

4) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Yoshi’s Island is another game where Nintendo mixed it up again, making one of the greatest games on the SNES. This was one of the first games that I ever beat on my own, even though I had it for the game boy advanced, it was still a great experience. Maybe even better, because I could take it any where. Yoshi’s Island is one of those classic games that everyone knows about and for good reason; the background and levels are beautiful, the music is riveting(Click here for a listen), and its just a blast to play. This game is one that every gamer should have played, if not all the way through, but at least to experience one of the greatest games of all time. (Don’t forget you can tongue up!)

3) Animal Crossing

Literally living a second life: owning a house and possessions, making friends, and filling an entire museum with your art and archeological findings! (Ok maybe you don’t do that in real life, but don’t you wish you could?) This game is addictive, you can play this every day and do something new every day. One can fish, dig, plant trees, cut down trees, and make money to buy all sort of different possessions. Instead of interacting with real people out in the heat, why don’t you just stay inside and… hang out with talking animals… on second thought it might be time to go out for a while.

2) Skyrim

Yeah, yeah, yeah, who didn’t expect this to be on the list? Its here for a good reason. The world is so massive and beautiful, sometimes you just ignore all quests and trek through the great unknown. I picked up this game the other day, after not playing for a long time, I played so long that I forgot to eat that day… ya know until like the 16th hour when my I got stomach pains. Any way, this game can eat away days of your time, just like every other Bethesda game! The feel of adventure is so powerful, that not many games can beat it. However, there is at least one that can.

1) The Legend of Zelda

What how can a pixel game beat such a great looking game like Skyrim? Well I’ll tell you; this game is probably just as expansive, at least it can be. One thing about this game is that you can’t really tell where you’re going, you just kinda have to explore and go off of some hints to find where your way. The sense of adventure is made not through saying that you are this special hero, who is the only one that can save the world, no it is made simply through the experience you have. The music is amazing, the dungeons are actually hard, and there are just so many different ways to experience it. Once you finally make it to the end, once you have sunk countless hours of searching the plains, kicking ass through dungeons, and finding all the hidden upgrades, you feel this real sense of accomplishment. You make your way to Gannon, fight him with all your might and save the princess and the kingdom. That’s a certain type of feel that only the Legend of Zelda can give. Even Skyrim has to bow down to the King of all adventures.