EVE Online

Plagiarism is common among MMOs, but if one game could stand to have a few more ideas stolen, it’s EVEOnline. This space-faring sandbox from CCP Games is both a fascinating and depressing social experiment. EVEOnline encourages players to make their own objectives and tell their own stories. Naturally, those players decided to make those stories a chronicle of war so violent that it makes Game of Thrones feel like a Sunday school story.

Anchored by a player-driven economy, the galaxy of EVE is a diverse ecosystem of industrialists, merchants, criminals, and soldiers all coexisting together. But venture out beyond the safety of high-security space, and you’ll find EVE’s beating heart. Here, massive player alliances numbering in the tens of thousands maneuver with all the weight of actual nations. When these alliances clash, the shockwaves are felt throughout the entire galaxy.

What makes EVE fascinating is the way those moments calcify into a history that could fill the pages of a textbook. Though hopelessly intimidating, a new player can rise through the ranks, earn respect and fame, and one day sit on the throne of their own empire—a form of roleplaying so extreme it can be hard to see where the fiction ends and reality begins.

Best weapon: Conflict in EVE isn’t relegated to only blowing shit up in space skirmishes. Vast propaganda efforts attempt to demoralize enemy players, besmirch leaders, and sow fear. After all, a player can’t fight if he’s too discouraged to even log in.