What's a good time-consuming game?

[Starbreaker]

Yahoo! Gin... freakin' addictive, man.

 

[TheArsenal]

Another vote for Civ IV. if your system is hardy enough, you can set it up on huge maps and max civilizations and have a game last 40 to 50 hours if you'd like.

 

[NCC1701]

If you're into RTS games, Starcraft and its expansion, Brood War, still available everywhere after 10 years. Oh, and of course the other granddaddy of RTS games, Command & Conquer X, which contains the first 6 C&C games, all for the price of one

 

[zephramc]

Knights of the Old Republic and Civ IV are great games. I'd also suggest, if you have the horsepower, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

 

[IDIC]

Well, you cannot pause an MMOG so that isnt something you would want. Not to mention there are monthly fees.

Knights of the Old Republic series is a good game that takes a long time and since it is a bit older a new notebook computer shouldnt have too much problems running it. I would also recommend the Baldur's Gate series especially Baldur's Gate 2. It is a bit old but it is one of those games that takes a long time to finish. Planescape Torment is another.

 

[nx1701g]

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
Resident Evil 4

 

[Hermiod]

It's a DS version of Civ: Revolution.

Grrrr, it's not out until August here. DS games aren't region locked, are they. Hmmm...

Nope, they're not...

/dies
/reincarnates
/orders

 

[Cain]

Civilization IV if you like turn based strategy
Sins Of A Solar Empire - Great slow-paced RTS, system reqs are reasonable
Company of Heroes and Expansion if you have a decent system. It's a great RTS, too.

Spore is coming out in a few months.

 

[rType]

Chess.

 

[Lowdarzz]

If your laptop is on the higher end of the spectrum then I would suggest The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Probably one of the best freerange RPG's ever invented. You can play that game for a hundred hours and not do the main quest. Go with the game of the year edition, you get both expansions with that.

If you want to go the MMORPG route then I would have to recommend World of Warcraft.

For a space-combat/RPG I would recommend Freelancer. No joystick needed, you use the mouse. In addition to the story missions you earn money by running cargo or accepting search and destroy missions.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

I'd recommend Homeworld. Great storyline, missions last a good while (especially if you want to mine/collect every resource on the map), good controls, lots of micro-management to keep you busy, and very pretty for a game made in 1999. This game inspired the back half of my user name. Only drawback is that it may be difficult to find.

I would also recommend Eve Online, as long as you play it safe during work and don't go pvping. There's no pause button but you can dock to stations while you're busy doing actual job work, or even quit out entirely instantly.

 

[MyCylon]

Sim City 4: I recently sat down to play a little (at about 10pm). Next thing I knew, my girlfriend told me it was 4am . It really gobbles up time. And there's really no end to it since you can just keep on refining your city or adding new ones.
I think it's also a good choice for your situation since you can easily pause it and put it away for a moment if you need to.

 

[Showdown]

... also allow me to pause in when I need to check people in every so often?

I wouldn't recommend World of Warcraft or any other MMOPRG because you can't pause the game.

BTW I finally got my flying dragon mount in WoW...

 

[MetalPants]

minesweeper

 

[BigFoot]

Knights of the Old Republic and Civ IV are great games. I'd also suggest, if you have the horsepower, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Agreed.

 

[Hermiod]

^Also agreed.

Oblivion set a new benchmark for me. I love the fact that it's a hugely involving RPG but anybody can play it. The ability to make the game as difficult or as hard as you want it to be should have been shamelessly ripped off by every game since.

 

[Canadave]

Sim City 4: I recently sat down to play a little (at about 10pm). Next thing I knew, my girlfriend told me it was 4am . It really gobbles up time. And there's really no end to it since you can just keep on refining your city or adding new ones.
I think it's also a good choice for your situation since you can easily pause it and put it away for a moment if you need to.

Seconded.

Also Europa Universalis, either II or III. If you don't mind a truly deep and grand-scale strategy game, they can really suck you in for hours on end. They're not everyone's cup of tea, though, I'll grant.

 

[Lindley]

I'd recommend Homeworld. Great storyline, missions last a good while (especially if you want to mine/collect every resource on the map)

Don't know about the original, but Homeworld 2 auto-collected all resources before ending a mission (assuming you weren't doing an emergency jump-out).

 

[cultcross]

Saw your title and thought 'Civilisation IV' - seems a lot of others did too! I recently bought it, in a 'Complete' package which includes the Warlords and Beyond the Sword expansions as well. You could play that game for hours (i have ), and it's a lot of fun.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Saw your title and thought 'Civilisation IV' - seems a lot of others did too! I recently bought it, in a 'Complete' package which includes the Warlords and Beyond the Sword expansions as well. You could play that game for hours (i have ), and it's a lot of fun.

Do the expansions add much to it? I can play it for hours on end, but I've wondered if it's really worth paying for the add-ons.