Why is this game so addicting?

[Bablos]

I'm wondering what exactly makes this game so addictive.

What aspect of the game appeals to you the most and makes you want to keep playing?

[Veylox]

It's a highly complex game that lends itself to infinite customization / replayability.

The base systems in there are rock solid, numerous, full of depth, with nice interaction between them for the most part, they're easily worth over a hundred hours of gameplay by themselves, and you can expand on whichever one you prefer through hundreds of actual good mods. It's a game that tackles a lot of different things and kinda succeeds in all of them, making a top-notch blend. There are still systems that were a bit left alone but as long as DLCs and mods are being developped, they're just gaps to be filled. Games that rely on randomness can often feel bland after a while because you start to mentally crack the logic behind what they throw at you, but Rimworld is ambitious enough that you don't feel like you've figured it out until you've already spent way too much time playing it.

I also happen to like T-RPG / strategy / survival / management / high difficulty games (with either some type of commitment mode or just high skill ceiling) the most, and Rimworld nicely blends elements of all of them. I'm not into RTS usually, but frankly the existence of a pause button makes it closer to turn-based tactical than actual RTS.

Although I'm mostly done with the whole "story generator" thing it portrays itself as, I have to admit the first few runs actually made for good emergent stories the kind you don't really find anywhere else (except Dwarf Fortress I suppose). I went and played wildermyth recently and I could tell right away I would've enjoyed the story part of it much more if Rimworld didn't set the bar far, far above.

[Steelfleece]

It's the love put into every byte.

Also the flake. But especially the love. Okay, mostly the flake.

[Bablos]

Originally posted by Veylox:

It's a highly complex game that lends itself to infinite customization / replayability.

The base systems in there are rock solid, numerous, full of depth, with nice interaction between them for the most part, they're easily worth over a hundred hours of gameplay by themselves, and you can expand on whichever one you prefer through hundreds of actual good mods....
Although I'm mostly done with the whole "story generator" thing it portrays itself as, I have to admit the first few runs actually made for good emergent stories the kind you don't really find anywhere else (except Dwarf Fortress I suppose). I went and played wildermyth recently and I could tell right away I would've enjoyed the story part of it much more if Rimworld didn't set the bar far, far above.

Wow, this is an extensive and detailed answer. I felt pretty much the same way, but I couldn't put it into words.
A very good point that RimWorld does a good job of combining many gameplay elements from different genres. I love the strategy games Europa Universalis 4 and Civilization 5, but they offer much less variety in options and are not able to create the same interesting stories or situations as in RimWorld.
It's all about successfully combined mechanics that make the player stay in the game for a very long time.

[nosedigger]

It is a very complex game, where if you didn't play similar games, it can get overwhelming at the beginning resulting in failed Colonies, however, I find in learning the first hook.
Basically it's a composition, and you are like a conductor orchestrating everything - it is a struggle but in the end when everything is working, it's very very gratifying.

Storyteller with random events, quests etc. that can be re-rolled adds even more flavor, and keeps me on the hook. Randomizing pawns at the beginning, reloading to get the thing colony needs (there is always one thing missing) can be a drag sometimes, but it's a gambling factor which subliminally increases the need to play (lootboxes).

Also, it gives us freedom to do such depraved stuff in order for Colony survive, or just plain sadistic/war crimes ideas that pop in the head along the way, which is so fun (and concerning). I started drug free colonies where dead bodies were cremated, now it's basically a Go-juice cartel, where people disappear and dead bodies are butchered for leather and meet, while keeping everyone happy with Emmanators and Soothers.

Finally if you get bored or run out of ideas, introducing DLC and/or mods can significantly change the strategy, reverting us back to learning and re-optimizing, so virtually there is never The End.

[Sunny]

why is it so addicting?

humans love stories

we love stories a LOT

we love stories pretty much more than anything else for dopamine

little ones (I saw a squirrel at the mailbox, honey!) to big ones (this little hobbit climbed a mountain)

Rimworld is a story (not just a story, even, but YOUR story, you made it), AND a game

we adventure, we explore, we experiment, we learn, our pawns die, and we do it all over again

(also it allows for a lot of exercise of the imagination, which adults do not have a great many ways to indulge in a lot of the time--it gives you just enough little bits of things that your brain's natural habit to fill in the blanks with stories is engaged and OFF IT GOES)

[Father Doug]

God I hate the word addicting. Where did addictive go

[VitaKaninen]

Is one word so different from the other that it causes you to hate the one, and love the other? They seem pretty similar to me...

Addicting means it cause him to become addicted when playing it?
Addictive means it has the propensity to cause addictions?

Did I get that wrong?

[Veylox]

Originally posted by blos:

Originally posted by Veylox:

It's a highly complex game that lends itself to infinite customization / replayability.

The base systems in there are rock solid, numerous, full of depth, with nice interaction between them for the most part, they're easily worth over a hundred hours of gameplay by themselves, and you can expand on whichever one you prefer through hundreds of actual good mods....
Although I'm mostly done with the whole "story generator" thing it portrays itself as, I have to admit the first few runs actually made for good emergent stories the kind you don't really find anywhere else (except Dwarf Fortress I suppose). I went and played wildermyth recently and I could tell right away I would've enjoyed the story part of it much more if Rimworld didn't set the bar far, far above.

Wow, this is an extensive and detailed answer. I felt pretty much the same way, but I couldn't put it into words.
A very good point that RimWorld does a good job of combining many gameplay elements from different genres. I love the strategy games Europa Universalis 4 and Civilization 5, but they offer much less variety in options and are not able to create the same interesting stories or situations as in RimWorld.
It's all about successfully combined mechanics that make the player stay in the game for a very long time.

I've actually been waiting for a Civilization-like DLC expanding the world map part of the game. I know several mods tried to go in that direction but I do think it could add a lot to the game.

[Païtiti]

Rimworld is a game of old. It fosters the player to actually think about the stories generated, the characters played and the adventures had; during gameplay and after. It sticks with the player and doesn't evaporate after steam is closed as it is the case with so many "modern" games.

[trashoras]

There are several things imo when it comes to rimworld beeing easily very time consuming. The ambient, the music, the micromanagement just carries me away sometimes.

There is not one playthrough like another. I will never forget when my pawn vomitted at their wedding and everyone had a blast attending that party. After that my colony got wasted by some cannibal tribals. Great times.

The fine modding community, the replaybility, the vast ammount of possibilities - there are a lot of things I haven't done after 1k hours, which is amazing.

[Shady]

Originally posted by Steelfleece:

It's the love put into every byte.

Also the flake. But especially the love. Okay, mostly the flake.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ flake junkie, stay away from my stockpile

[StankLocator]

I have a rimworld tattoo so gotta keep playing, honestly it was just the open ended nature of the game. I mostly play rimworld and CDDA now days.