It can be fun to annoy or outright obliterate people in video games, especially when it’s the divine purpose of the character. A human with this purpose may simply be a villain, leaving players less empathetic to the cause. Playing outside the human race, however, this purpose is almost justified.
Whether it’s because the character is an underdog in a human world, or whether humans are simply primitive meat bags at the character’s mercy, it’s easier (and perhaps more fun) to doll out justice from outside the human ranks. Plus, it’s fun to play as a great snapping shark or an annoying hedge-hiding goose, decimating the balance of human existence in wholly different but equally enjoyable ways.
7 Maneater
Ever wondered what it would be like to be the shark from Jaws, spreading terror instead of being a recipient of it? Well, imagine no more. Maneater allows players to embody the ruthless, cold-blooded king of the ocean in all its glory. As a shark, they must sustain themselves and grow stronger by eating other aquatic animals and more importantly, people. The big bad people who hunt sharks and have ill-advised beach parties too near Sharko’s domain.
It’s a tongue-in-cheek game that pokes fun at the abominable shark trope and allows players to indulge in some unique and unbelievably violent role reversal. The graphics are surprisingly good, and quest line targets, amusing character bosses, and evolution upgrades to customize the shark (including tiger skin and bioelectric teeth) keep the game from feeling one note.
6 Destroy All Humans!
In few games can players wreak such heavenly destruction as in Destroy All Humans!. Hurling cows, cars, people, and more with a psychokinetic ability, watching them fly ragdoll into the sky or across the ground, before collecting their brainstems, is sinfully enjoyable for hours on end. Not to mention terrorizing the hopelessly outgunned inhabitants of 1950s suburbia, obliterating their civilian structures with the flying saucer’s death ray.
It’s a game that needs no convoluted plot lines or poignant character development, it does what it says on the tin: allows players to destroy humans, among countless other things. Destroy All Humans! is funny and easy to jump into, for those looking for a lighter pastime of terrorizing the human race. The popular first release in 2005 led to subsequent titles across different platforms, then was itself remade in 2020 with a modern overhaul. Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed was also remade in 2022, making these titles not only playable by modern standards but just as fun as ever.
5 Untitled Goose Game
Seemingly unthreatening, pedestrian animals seem to be the most fun non-human entities to become when sabotaging the lives of humans. Upsetting the flow of daily human routines is somehow just as fun, perhaps even more fun than outright obliterating them. Causing untold frustrations using these should-be-trained pets or livestock has some kind of absurd and satisfying sense of justice.
Untitled Goose Game sees players aggravating human citizens who are left wondering continuously "What is wrong with this goose?" The game tasks are essentially a plethora of creative ways to terrorize these village folk, from stealing their keys, crops, or other items, to outright annoying children for no real reason. At any time, but especially after triumphantly completing such tasks, the player may rejoice in simply honking their goose heads off and assertively flapping their wings. It’s immensely fun beyond all reason.
4 Dead By Daylight
In Dead By Daylight players can either take the role of human survivors, or their pursuers – the killers. Not the band. As a killer, the player’s job is to track down, bludgeon, and essentially kill (or offer up to an evil all-consuming dark entity) the human survivors before they can escape. They work together in this 4 VS 1 setup to repair generators that power the exit. The killer works alone to stop them, aggressively.
There is a large roster of killers to choose from, some iconic and well-known, such as Freddy Krueger or the girl from The Ring, and some original to the game. All are terrifying to run from or, alternatively, exhilarating to play as. Though some of these killers are technically human, many of them are not, and all of them exhibit rather inhuman hospitality as they round up their unfortunate human guests.
3 Catlateral Damage
One has to respect the audacity and sly arrogance of a cat. They will amuse themselves knowingly at the expense of their masters, with no regard for the hand that feeds them. They will do so in a sadistic fashion, casually knocking loving owners’ possessions from their mantles to decorate the floor in shards instead.
Catlateral Damage gives players the opportunity to be just this selfish and monstrous. As a cat, players jump from counter to counter, shelf to shelf, mercilessly swiping things from these surfaces to the ground with lawless paws. That's the whole agenda for this game's feline. The cat may progress to new settings and mess up each in turn. It may not have endless hours’ worth of engagement, but it is amusing, gratifying, and inexpensive - especially on offer on Steam.
2 Goat Simulator
Goat Simulator and the inexplicably titled Goat Simulator 3, which is the second installment, are like the Tony Hawk games mixed with pure, buggy madness. And it’s a lot more madness than Tony Hawk. And that’s not just because players play as a goat. These games are about having fun as a kind of demented, invincible goat, racking up points for anything from simply bleating to licking airborne hand gliders. There will also be a lot of headbutting civilians, ruining their parties, dining rooms, or entire neighborhoods.
The games are intentionally nonsensical and largely aimless, aside from achievements like knocking down Goathenge and disrupting other human activities or buildings. And that's the fun of them. What a relief to do away with extensive quests and intricate narratives to instead fly around as a goat with a jetpack, licking things with reckless abandon and ruining the world.
1 Carrion
In reverse horror Carrion, players get to live out their fantasies of being a bulging mass of red monstrosity as it rips through endless droves of scientists and guards, who, even when armed, are no match for the gory sludge monster. That is every player’s fantasy, right? As the Carrion creature slingshots and slithers around the human complex, severing, eviscerating, and eating its foes like a nightmare octopus, it will become even more fearsome in its size and abilities.
This side-scrolling platformer doesn’t have immediately impressive graphics, but the gameplay and game mechanics are incredibly satisfying and varied. The never-ending wave of terror and gore the player brings with them as they make their merry way doesn’t get old. Beholding the sheer bloody destruction they leave in their wake is sinfully enjoyable each and every time, and new puzzles and mechanics keep it fresh throughout.