Top 20 Best Grinding Games

Grinding games, also known as “grinders,” are a type of video game that require players to repeatedly perform certain actions or tasks to progress and improve their characters or equipment. While some may find this repetitive gameplay tedious, others find it rewarding and satisfying as they gradually see their hard work pay off.

In this article, we will explore the 20 best grinding games that offer challenging and immersive gameplay and opportunities for players to customize and develop their characters over time. Whether you are looking for a casual or hardcore gaming experience, these games will provide hours of entertainment and satisfaction.

20 Best Grinding Games

1. Borderland

Borderlands is a video game franchise that combines action, role-playing, and first-person shooting set in a space Western science fiction world. Gearbox Software created and produced the franchise and published by 2K Games for various platforms.

The franchise includes four main games, Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Borderlands 3, each with multiple downloadable content packs. Tales from the Borderlands is a spin-off episodic graphic adventure game by Telltale Games.

Borderlands is well-known for its loot-driven multiplayer co-op gameplay and humor, earning critical acclaim and commercial success. As of November 2022, more than 77 million copies of Borderlands games had been shipped, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises ever.

2. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. It’s a spin-off of the Borderlands series and takes place in a fantasy world based on a tabletop role-playing game. The game was released in March 2022 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The game is a first-person shooter with action role-playing elements, where players can play solo or with up to three others in online or local split-screen multiplayer. In addition, there’s an overworld that players can use to travel to different locations and encounter random enemies and quests.

3. Elite Dangerous

In Elite Dangerous, you play as a young pilot in the year 3300, where humanity has already ventured into space and explored the universe for centuries. You can join one of three factions and take control of a starship to explore the open world of the Milky Way. With over 400 billion star systems and realistic simulation mechanics, the game provides an immersive experience as you navigate different gravitational forces and day/night cycles.

Elite Dangerous is a game set in the Milky Way galaxy with a vast game world. You can fly different ships, including small fighters and large cargo ships, to explore a variety of star systems and planets. The game provides a realistic space flight simulator experience, and learning to fly a spaceship can be fun. In addition, the sound design in the game is impressive and adds to the immersive experience.

4. Genshin Impact

In Genshin Impact, you play a character who travels through different worlds with their twin before getting separated in the land of Teyvat. You must explore this unknown fantasy open world to find your twin.

You’ll mainly play in a party of 4 interchangeable characters, each with unique skills to use in combat against various enemies and bosses. Completing challenges increases your Adventure Rank. Genshin Impact is free to play, so many players can easily access it.

The graphics have a beautiful and distinctive aesthetic. Though the combat system is straightforward, it can still be fun. Cross-platform play allows you to play with friends.

5. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is a popular RPG game with a lot of content and replayability. With numerous side quests and missions, you can spend over 150 hours exploring the lands and helping people. The game also features challenging dungeons to tackle.

The leveling and skill system is great, allowing you to level up almost any skill and create various builds. Making potions and weapons is easy, making it simple for new players to start playing. The open world in Skyrim is considered one of the best for its time and still holds up today. The game has been released on almost every console.

6. Ark Survival Evolved

Ark Survival Evolved is a game where you wake up on an island with nothing and must survive among dinosaurs. You gather resources to build weapons and a base and follow a linear level progression system to unlock new items. Crafting requires grinding for materials.

But if you get bored, you can tame dinosaurs and ride them around, making grinding more efficient. The game has a large, open world with different environments and biomes, each with unique flora and fauna. You can even tame a T-Rex, but you have to feed whatever creature you tame, or it will die, adding to the immersion and realism of the game.

7. No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is a sandbox game that takes you on a space adventure with your spaceship. You can explore and build a base on various planets in a procedurally generated universe. You must upgrade your exo-suits and gather resources to combat new challenges and build structures.

There’s a lot of grinding involved in obtaining better equipment and ships. However, No Man’s Sky provides an almost infinite universe to explore with multiplayer mode allowing you to interact with other players online. Additionally, the game offers deep crafting and survival mechanics with various items and equipment to gather and craft to survive on hostile planets.

8. Valorant

Valorant is a popular online FPS game that combines elements from CS: GO and Overwatch with unique stylized graphics. It has become popular among players, with many streaming it on Twitch for hours. The gameplay is fun and addictive, and frequent updates and patches are released to address player feedback and balance issues.

The game has a well-balanced ranked system that matches players of similar skill levels, ensuring fair and competitive matches. In addition, Valorant has impressive graphics and sound design, which helps to immerse players in the matches. The game also has a strong presence in the eSports scene, with professional-level tournaments and events with huge prize pools.

9. Tom Clancy’s: The Division

The Division is an online action RPG with a post-apocalyptic theme. You’ll fight off threats and protect what’s left of humanity in a world ravaged by a pandemic. The game features exciting gun battles and great graphics to keep you engaged.

With the Blueprint system, you’ll level up your character and gain better gear through looting and crafting. In addition, the Division offers a range of activities, including missions and challenges, to keep the gameplay fresh.

The game world is vast and detailed, with many things to do, and the co-op mode is fun and easy to join. In addition, the Dark Zone is a separate area for PvP combat against other players, adding an extra level of excitement. If you like shooters and an apocalyptic setting, you should give The Division a try.

10. Runescape

Runescape is a fantasy MMORPG with many challenges, quests, and encounters. You can customize your character and set your goals in the game, as there is no exact story. RuneScape has a huge player base of over 200 million registered accounts, providing many opportunities to interact and play with other gamers.

You can customize your gameplay by choosing from various skills such as combat, crafting, farming, or fishing. Jagex, the developers of RuneScape, are always adding new content and updates to keep the game fresh and exciting for long-time players. You can play RuneScape for free or subscribe to access more content and features.

11. Outriders

Outriders is a newer looter shooter game with a gritty approach similar to Destiny 2. You’ll shoot enemies to loot and level up, and the difficulty scales up as you progress.

You start by choosing from four classes, each with its playstyle. Story and side missions offer rewards like gear and mods, and you can upgrade your class skills to create specific builds. The game has great gameplay, but some players have noticed that enemies scale up too much, making the game extremely difficult.

You can choose from various classes in Outriders, each with unique abilities and appearances to customize with tattoos, outfits, and hairstyles. The game also offers co-op multiplayer mode for players to team up with friends or strangers online, which is enjoyable. Additionally, the gunplay in Outriders is excellent and satisfying for some players.

12. Monster Hunter World

Monster Hunter World is an action RPG game that revolves around hunting monsters. By defeating these monsters, you can earn loot and weapons that help you progress. Unfortunately, there is no traditional leveling system, so the game’s grind comes from gathering loot and taking down increasingly difficult monsters.

The game is part of a larger Monster Hunter series, with the latest entry being Monster Hunter Rise, which features new enemies and items to grind for. The slinger is a new and innovative weapon in Monster Hunter World that lets you perform various actions efficiently. The game features various challenging monsters that provide a great sense of accomplishment when defeated. A robust weapon upgrade system gives players a strong sense of progression. Additionally, the engaging narrative adds to the overall experience of the game.

13. Diablo 3

The Diablo games are known for their gritty gameplay, and both Diablo 3 and Diablo Immortal follow suit. In Diablo 3, players can explore dungeons and collect loot while battling hordes of demons. In addition, the game offers seven classes and an engaging story, making the grind feel purposeful.

Diablo Immortal has its grinding aspects, with dark clans, legendary item farming, and a unique Paragon levels system. However, the game has many pay-to-win possibilities that can make grinding meaningless for players who don’t want to spend money. If you want the best Diablo game with grinding and don’t want to spend money, Diablo 3 is a better choice.

14. Path of Exile

Path of Exile is an action RPG game with a complex skill system that requires grinding to progress. It has up to 1300 unique passive skills and gems you can attach to your weapon, making the grinding experience always fresh. You can choose your class, each with unique abilities and playstyles that can be improved by leveling up.

When you feel bored, you can unlock a second class later in the game. The grinding experience is meaningful as you can use in-game currencies and vendors to buy or sell upgrades, skins, and items. Path of Exile is free and offers high replay value with diverse character classes, a rich skill tree, and various endgame content. The game’s captivating music keeps you engaged, while the stunning art enhances the overall experience.

15. Apex Legends

Apex Legends is a popular battle royale game with a unique “legends” system and combat mechanics that set it apart from other games. Players fight on a map with up to 60 other players using high-tech weapons and explosives in solos, duos, or trio modes.

Before each battle, players choose from various legends with their abilities and playstyles, which can be used to track down enemies, teleport, and set traps. The game features weekly missions to progress in the battle pass, which changes periodically. Apex Legends has great gunplay and a variety of weapons. The ping system in Apex Legends is excellent. Being free-to-play, Apex Legends is accessible to everyone. Therefore, it’sing as a team and thinking strategically in Apex Legends is important.

16. Destiny 2

Destiny 2 is a popular game that combines different genres like RPG, FPS, and MMORPG. It’s known for its gritty elements and has become a trendsetter in shooting games. The game has a lot of content, offering both PvP and PvE modes, with players mostly enjoying PvE.

For those who love to grind shooters, Destiny 2 is an online playground with many missions and raids to test and improve your skills. Players spend hours acquiring loot to improve their characters, and the developers keep adding new content to keep the game fresh, like the recent Season of the Haunted update.

There are many loadouts in the game, and players can acquire them by grinding through weekly events like Trials of Osiris. If you enjoy shooting games and grinding, then Destiny 2 is a must-play.

17. Elden Ring

Elden Ring is a challenging fantasy action RPG where you play as a Tarnished on a quest to repair the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord of the Lands Between. The game features a vast open world full of mysteries, loot, and many enemies.

While the game is still quite difficult, it’s more accessible to newer players than other games. In addition, there are many ways to reduce the game’s difficulty, such as collecting Golden Seeds to increase your health and finding the best weapons to deal more damage.

The game can sometimes feel difficult, especially when fighting difficult bosses like Rennala or Radahn, but every death is a lesson, and you’ll learn something new each time. When you finally defeat a boss, the feeling of accomplishment is incredibly satisfying.

18. Warframe

Warframe is an amazing action RPG game created by an indie studio that has become incredibly successful. You play as an ancient race of warriors who can control “Warframes,” powerful biochemical armor, to fight against alien races that threaten them.

The gameplay involves exploring different areas of ships, killing enemies, and earning credits to buy epic gear to become even stronger. There’s a vast array of weapons and secondary weapons to grind for, and you can spend hundreds of hours unlocking different items.

The developers constantly release updates, so there’s always something new to look forward to. If you’re looking for a great grinding game on Switch or other platforms, Warframe is an excellent choice.

19. Minecraft

In this open-world survival game, you can build whatever you want, from houses to cities. While there is a progression path to defeat bosses like the Ender Dragon or the Wither, it’s up to you to come up with your objectives.

To build anything, you must gather materials like cobblestone by mining or exploring different biomes. However, grinding in Minecraft is peaceful, and the game’s music adds to the relaxing experience. Plus, you can see the reward for your hard work when you finally build something.

So, if you want to explore your creativity or play with friends in a peaceful sandbox game, Minecraft is a great choice.

20. World of Warcraft

With the release of numerous expansions, WoW was the most popular MMO in the world. However, there has recently been a mass departure from WoW due to the lawsuit against Blizzard and Activision for sexual harassment and gender discrimination. In addition, popular streamers quitting WoW led to a boycott of the game and players moving to compete in games like Final Fantasy 14 and Elder Scrolls Online.

But if we put aside these ongoing issues, WoW rewards your grinding by constantly unlocking new parts of the world for you to explore. As the biggest MMO by server population, it’s fun to show off your cool loot and levels on well-populated servers. WoW is also great for making friends and finding a guild of like-minded individuals.

Conclusion

Grinding can be a great activity that allows players to unwind from daily stress by doing repetitive in-game tasks that ultimately yield rewards. However, game developers must find the right balance between main quests and grinding to ensure a game’s long-term success. If the reward for grinding is insufficient, players may lose interest, but the game may feel shallow if there is too little strategy.

The best games make grinding seamless, while others may use shortcuts to prolong gameplay, but gamers can easily see through them. Unfortunately, achieving this balance is challenging for game developers.