11 Best Games With 'One More Day' Gameplay Loops

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It's a tale as old as time. You set out to play a game for a set period of time, because you need to get to bed at a reasonable time.

But, as is often the case, the game in question is extraordinarily addictive , engrossing, or action-packed. Then, before you know it, the sun rises and you immediately regret your decisions.

Just about any game with an addictive gameplay loop can be the cause for this phenomenon, but one of the biggest offenders are the games that boast a 'one more day' loop.

You know the ones. The games that offer bite-sized in-game days that might only take fifteen minutes of real-time. In theory, it's to give you healthy windows to check out and check off a little bit with every gaming session. But rarely does it ever work out that way.

These games sucker you in with their accessible and satisfying daily tasks, to the point that in-game months go by, seasons change and you ask yourself how you let it happen.

Dredge

Here, Fishy, Fishy

We've seen plenty of games utilize a fishing mini-game to get cozy fans onside and offer a simple, satisfying, and addictive collectathon for players to obsess over. However, credit where it's due, none do it quite like Dredge.

You see, this isn't a low-stakes game where you fish at your leisure, nor is it a game where you can enjoy tropical climates and sail calm waters with the wind in your hair and adventure in your heart.

You still have the resource management and mercantile aspects of these games serving as the spine and the progression.

But, you also have to contend with a Lovecraftian horror undercurrent that makes nighttime perilous and time management essential.

But, once you get used to what goes bump in the night, you'll find yourself landing into port, selling off your fish, upgrading your boat, and sailing out again on repeat.

Moonlighter

A Little Side Hustle

Roguelikes are already pretty addictive games. As you know, with every run, you'll end up more powerful and better equipped to achieve your end goal.

Which is a satisfying feeling you'll want to chase. However, a lot of Roguelikes are pretty one-note, which can curb this addictive 'one more day' vibe.

Moonlighter sidesteps this issue by making the experience a two-pronged one, where players will have to balance a life as a relic hunter with the responsibility of being a merchant in the small town of Ryonka.

You need to set ideal prices to get the best deal, and you need to prioritize the most lucrative treasure through tight resource management.

But equally, you need to be an adept hack and slasher to survive each dungeon. Slaying monsters and making bank go hand in hand, and every day is an opportunity to get richer. Which, as you might imagine, is hard to walk away from.

Cuisineer

Only The Freshest Ingredients

Speaking of cozy and addictive Roguelikes where you run a store, how about another? Only, this time, you're heading out into the wild to slay monsters, get ingredients, and then cook them up in your up-and-coming restaurant.

Cuisineer starts slowly as you simply try to get a few recipes nailed down and acquire some decent weapons and powers to slay stronger beasts with tasty drops.

However, before long, you'll be running around like a headless chicken trying to run front of house and identify the ideal seating arrangement to seat the maximum number of customers.

But, progression is all on your own terms, and you could just spend a day making your eatery look pretty. But, no matter what you do, know that once you start cooking and crusading, it's hard to stop.

Dave The Diver

Best Sushi Outside Of Japan

Starting to see a trend? If you're a fan of games that combine cuisine and combat, you're well-stocked for options here.

Dave The Diver is very much a sister game of Cuisineer, as you'll play as Dave The Diver by day, diving to harpoon fish, exploring the blue hole, and appeasing the zany NPCs you come across along the way.

Then, by night, you'll be the host with the most as you run your local sushi restaurant and try to ensure that everyone has a five-star dining experience.

All this, along with a steady stream of varied and delightfully strange mini-games, makes it nearly impossible not to drop off the back of the boat and start another deep-sea dive.

Spiritfarer

Heavy Themes, Cozy Vibes

We move away from restaurant management, but we are keeping things nautical as we move onto a game that aptly describes itself as ' a cozy resource management game about dying.'

Playing as Stella, the newly appointed Spiritfarer, you'll need to explore the wider world made up of tiny, idyllic islands and pick up spirits that need you to take care of them, give them plenty of hugs, and transport them to the afterlife.

The heavy subject matter certainly has a chance of leaving you too devastated to continue. But, when you aren't a blubbering mess, you'll be farming crops, cooking meals, exploring, and building a gorgeous ship to serve as home for your newfound friends.

In short, there's always something you could be doing at any given moment, and if you take the job of Spiritfarer seriously, you'll feel obligated to make sure everyone has a perfect transition through the Everdoor.

The Alters

A Jan With A Plan

As our full review looms, this is based solely on my preview impressions , but I can assure you that the final product will still deliver that 'one more day' feeling.

If you asked me if any of 11 Bit Studios' other survival games gave me that 'one more day' feeling, I would shake my head violently on account of the This War of Mine flashbacks. But, despite being yet another survival game of that ilk, The Alters bucks that trend.

Thanks to the game offering a balance of silly, surreal, and somber elements, the narrative it weaves is much more palatable compared to its contemporaries.

Plus, the game offers a manageable blend of resource management, economy, and action/exploration that allows you to feel like you're making steady, satisfying progress with each new day.

Sure, all your Alters could revolt and ruin everything for you, and if you doddle, you'll get cooked by the sun. But that's all the more reason to remain in a flow state and keep working on the mission. It's what Ally Corp would want.

Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time

Steals Your Free Time, Too

I'll admit, this one is included purely on a technicality, as the day/night cycle in this game can largely be ignored. However, the fact that it has one allows me to slip it in here without anyone jabbing me with pitchforks.

Fantasy Life is a game that bombards the player with options. Thanks to the wealth of jobs you can take on, the accessible story missions, the open-world Ginormosia map to explore, and the island management aspect in the present-day timeline, you always have something to do.

But, what makes the game so hard to put down is that all these actions are so simple to action, and in such close proximity that you're only a stone's throw away from another small win, a celebratory sound effect, and a healthy dose of validation.

You'll fish a little, do a few quests for the locals, make a few outfits, and then before you know it, real-world hours will have passed. It's a dangerously addictive game, you have been warned.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

A Text-Based Treat

You wouldn't think that a dice-based, text-based CRPG would be a game that you could engage with for hours on end.

But, just as you can lock into a good book purely on account of the sublime writing and the need to see how things play out, Citizen Sleeper's masterful sequel sinks its hooks in the exact same way.

However, everything is broken up into days where you have a finite amount of energy in the form of dice rolls to play. Strategy and planning are needed, but ultimately, you're at the mercy of fate, as the dice will decide how your story takes shape.

It's low effort, but every roll is high impact, allowing the riveting narrative and choice-based aspects to take center stage. But equally, you always feel like someone or something is breathing down your neck.

Every day, you get a little more competent, you learn a little more about the little pockets of the Starward Vector, and you get one step closer to your fate. Whether that be freedom or fatality.

Football Manager 2024

The Beautiful Game

Anyone who is a football fan will know how the anticipation of match day can occupy their every waking thought. Which, in a nutshell, is why Football Manager is a game that epitomizes this 'one more day' setup.

Every day leading up to a game is a chance to train, plan, tinker, and adapt on the fly to the pitfalls that come with managing a rowdy bunch of lads or ladies.

Every little action feels like a piece of the puzzle, and on match day, you get to see if the pieces you have placed slot neatly, or form an ugly picture that sees you get beaten five-nil by an unfancied underdog.

But, of course, no matter how well you plan, or how great the odds are, there's always a chance the result could go either way. Which is what makes that, just one more match mentality just so hard to kick.

Persona 5 Royal

Stay In School

I debated this one, because depending on how you spend your days in Persona 5, they can run pretty long. Especially if you go into a palace hellbent on clearing the thing in one calendar day.

That said, even if the days spent on Palaces and in Mementos do run long, I would wager that few would be all that hesitant to jump straight into the next day.

This is because your time is your own, and there's a healthy balance of Turn-Based action and life-sim intrigue. One day might be spent eating gut-buster burgers to raise your stats, whereas another might be spent trying to romance your teacher.

The world is your oyster, and yet, you feel like time is of the essence, which is all the more reason to keep pushing onward as the deadline that will signal the end of the world looms.