The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Skyrim is the kind of game that you start up at the beginning of the evening with the intention of just playing for 30 minutes and before you know it, 6 hours have past and you promise yourself that the next level will definitely be the last. The game has the amazing gift of eating away all your time without you noticing it, which is in my opinion the mark of a great game.
But let me explain to the uninitiated what the game exactly is. In Skyrim you explore a massive open fantasy world full of dungeons, wizards, bandits and dragons. At the start of the game the player makes his or her own avatar and after a brief tutorial (in which you have to escape from being sentenced to death) you are free to explore and do whatever you want. Will you help a village get rid of a terrorizing werewolf? Or will you try to get into the mages guild? Or maybe become a thief and steal your way to richdom? It is all possible and it’s up to the player whatever he or she wants to do.
This is what makes Skyrim so addictive, there is always something new to do, a new place to explore or another quest to embark upon. You are free to make your own story and if you don’t feel like doing something, you have 10 other things to do. For example, I started out as the worst thief ever, by accidentally wandering in the wrong room during a burglary, which turned out to be the room of the guards. After being sent to prison I tried to escape three times, however I got caught every time. When I finally got out of prison, a dragon attacked the city and during the fight I accidently shot a guard in the back. So after the dragon died I had to go prison again.
None of these events were part of a story or designed by the programmers. They just happened because of my actions and that is what makes the game so exciting. Every player has his own random stories and every time you play, you experience new things. It is the perfect example of a “virtual world” that is tons of fun to explore.