While World of Warcraft is an excellent game that has provided hours of undiluted entertainment for most of us, the fact remains that there is not much in the way of single player in the game. When it comes to WoW inevitably you will be forced to step out of your solitude and brave a group. While you won’t find the best single player experience in WoW you can find it in tons of other games. Check out my list below for my own personal favorite single player games that I’ve either played or dream of playing in the near future. Perhaps you will find your single player muse among them. Enjoy!

Single Player Pick #1 - Starcraft

The ultimate science fiction real-time strategy game, set in the future and created by Blizzard Entertainment, Starcraft focuses on the struggle for dominance among the three dominant races inside this futuristic world; the Protoss, the Terran, and the Zerg. Players looking for some single player action inside the Starcraft universe will be pleased to find that they choose between two options; campaign mode and single player matches.

In campaign mode players will find themselves literally immersed in the story line completing progressively more difficult missions while in single player matches the player will face off against one or more A.I. opponents on one of many maps to determine who is superior player. No matter if you choose to work your way through the campaign or test your skills in single player matches, single player in Starcraft can be just as epic as multiplayer and is sure to bring you back for more.

Single Player Pick #2 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Everybody is talking about Skyrim, it literally has become a phenomenon onto itself. A role-playing game created by Bethesda Game Studios, it is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls series and is to say the least, a roaring success. Revolving around the player’s quest to destroy Alduin, who is out to destroy the world, Skyrim is the ultimate single player experience.

Like the rest of the Elder Scroll series before it, nonlinear game play rules supreme in this game. What this means for the player is that there are almost limitless possibilities. No matter if you want to do quests, develop your character, or simply explore the world. In Skyrim you have the potential to fully explore every possibly the game has to offer and no matter your choice it is almost guaranteed that you will have fun doing it. Don’t want to take my word on the awesomeness of Skyrim? Check out the critics reviews and you will come to see that Skyrim is a game that every player who loves this genre should try.

Single Player Pick #3 - Diablo

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m somewhat of a Blizzard junkie, so it is no surprise that Diablo has made my list. Diablo is a fantasy-themed action role playing game set in the world of Sanctuary. Inside this world players face off against the denizens of Hell who are determined to spread destruction wherever they go. While Diablo traditionally has offered us an awesome multiplayer world, players will find that playing single player in this game leaves nothing out, except the other players.

In Diablo I, II, and the upcoming Diablo III, players make use of Battle.net to join and create games where they can choose to adventure through the world by themselves (best accomplished by a game with a password) or with other players. Those that choose to adventure by themselves will find that the world and the mobs in it conform to this choice and if Diablo III stays true to the Diablos of the past, players will most likely never need a group to complete the game. Don’t have an internet connection? No problem! Diablo traditionally has provided a complete single player option that allows players to adventure through the game without ever connecting to the internet. With it’s addictive game play, dark storyline, and replay ability Diablo is a single player’s paradise.

Single Player Pick #4 - Age of Empires

Managing to spawn seven additional titles and three spin offs, if Age of Empires is worth playing goes without saying. Created by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, Age of Empires is a historical real-time strategy game. So if you’re a history loving gamer like me, these games are sure to give you a double dose of pleasure, like Doublemint Gum, without the creepy twins. Focusing on historical events in Europe, Africa and Asia from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, Age of Empires allows the single player to literally battle their way through history.

Players checking out Age of Empires will find two single player options available to them; random maps and campaign. In the campaign players will be able to activily participate in some very well known historical events alongside those that changed the course of history. In random maps players choose to battle against one or more computers. No matter which Age of Empires you choose your single player experience is sure to be a good one.

Single Player Pick #5 - From Dust

Who hasn’t dreamed at least once of having god-like powers and being worshipped by your loyal subjects? While you probably won’t ever get that experience in real life, you can experience in the single player action provided by From Dust. Developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, From Dust is reminiscent of the successful Populous as players in game take on the role of a god-like being who’s goal is to protect and enrich the nomadic tribe who worships you. The world presented in From Dust is like a living thing making it a joy to play.

There are of course some benefits to being a god, such as the ability to manipulate things inside the world such as lava, water, and earth. From Dust offers players two distinctive single player options in the form of a story mode and challenge mode both of which provide an exciting play experience. To make this game even more appealing to the single player, once a map has been cleared you may return to that map to manipulate it even further giving From Dust definite staying power.

Single Player Pick #6 - Call of Duty

If you are a fan of the first person shooter and enjoy epic explosions and gunfire during your single player experience then look no further than Call of Duty. The third and newest installment in the Modern Warfare series, MW3 is everything a shooter should be and it really shines in the single player campaign mode. Here players get right into the action shooting down enemies and detonating explosions along the way and the best part is that it all feels eerily real at times. 

Need more proof that this game is the real deal when it comes to fun? MW3 grossed over 400 million on launch, making it the largest entertainment launch of all time. All games in the call of duty franchise provide a plot that is truly bigger than life that takes place in epic settings such as Germany, Iraq, Russia, and Cuba. For those of you looking for a little more blood shed in your life, CoD is the single player game for you.

Single Player Pick #7 - The Sims

I know there will be at least a few people who are upset by the additon of The Sims on this list, but consider this; The Sims franchise is literally the best selling franchise in the history of gaming. You just can’t argue with those statistics. So despite the outrage it may inspire, The Sims has made my top 10 list. 

A strategic life-simulation game published by Electronic Arts in the Sims you control the lives of one or more virtual persons. These Sims do everything…literally. They grow up, get married, have affairs, and get jobs where they can earn promotions. There aren’t many goals to achieve in The Sims, except to express your own personal creativity. With The Sims Maxis has offered us one of the most fulfilling sandboxes ever seen and easily appeals to even the most reluctant gamer.

Single Player Pick #8 -Tetris

Who doesn’t love Tetris? Tetris is almost as old school as it gets when it comes to puzzle video games. Created by Alexey Pajitnov Tetris was the first software to be exported from the USSR to the U.S. and has been a roaring success since. Available for almost every platform imaginable if you haven’t heard of Tetris you truly have been living under a rock.

The point of the game you ask? Fit the crazy colored and shaped blocks together and try your hardest not to let them hit the top. While this sounds like a simple task it is much harder than it seems, and addictive to boot. Thanks to it’s addictive nature I can credit Tetris to be one of the original games that managed to keep me up past my bed time. Almost 30 years later, Tetris still feels as new as it did then.

Single Player Pick #9 - Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto, or as it is more commonly called GTA, is one of those single player games that makes parents hide their children behind them and causes your grandma’s heart to skip a beat when mentioned. Developed mostly by the folks at Rockstar North, in this game players are taken into the heart of major cities where they have a chance to take on the role of a rough and tough criminal. Players can advance up the ranks completing various missions to do so along the way.

Filled with car jacking, street racing, hookers, drugs, and more violence than you can shake a stick at, GTA is good old fashioned dirty fun. As if that list of goodness wasn’t enough to sweeten the deal players will find that GTA grants a large amount of freedom to the player allowing them to make various choices as to how they want to progress as they continue through the game leaving room for a new experience every time you play the game.

Single Player Pick #10 - Mortal Kombat

Fight! You know a game is a success when they base a series of movies on it. Seriously though, Mortal Kombat is everything a fighting game should be; chock full of blood and violence which is why this is the only game (at least when it comes to the newest version) not available for PC that you will find on my list. Taking place in a fictional universe players in the single player story mode must help win Mortal Kombat in order to save Earthrealm. To do this they must defeat a series of opponents that gain difficulty as the game goes on.

While blood and violence are enough to sell me on any game Mortal Kombat has more in its compelling story line and diverse and often crazy characters that you must ally with or fight against along the way. Not ready to revert back to the past? No problem! In 2011 a brand new Mortal Kombat was released that not only captures the spirit of the original but also manages to feel refreshingly new at the same time. With its fatalities and other specialty moves and other secrets to discover Mortal Kombat is a thrill ride of awesomeness that no one should miss out on.

What are your favorite single player games? Share them with us in the comment section below!