Games That Let You Play As A God

Highlights

• Dive into a world of power fantasies with games like Smite, where players literally control gods among humans.
• From the iconic
  Age Of Mythology
  to newer releases like
  Hades
  , video games offer an escape into god-like powers.
• Whether you’re battling as a god in Asura’s Wrath or creating civilizations in
  Civilization
  , gaming offers a taste of divine power.

Many video games are designed to provide people with a power fantasy of some sort. Escapism and gaming go hand in hand as many people look to be immersed in a world that distracts them from the realities of everyday life.

Some specific games take this concept to its highest peak and let people play as a god among humans. Whether it’s a multiplayer game like Smite or a simulation experience like Black & White, there are dozens of games where the power of a god is within one’s grasp.

Updated March 24, 2024, by Jason Wojnar: There’s a famous book and movie called It’s Hard to be a God, but many of the games on this list seem to make it look pretty awesome. At worst the god goes through some emotional turmoil, but they are still an all-powerful being at the end of the day. That is what it is like to be in the video game medium, though. To help people find more power trips, we decided to update this list with a few more games where you play as a god.

1 Kid Icarus

A Character Based On Icarus

Nintendo worlds can sometimes be influenced by Mythology – The Legend of Zelda in particular – but rarely do players directly control a god. Kid Icarus is the closes players get since Pit is technically an angel, but he’s clearly based on the minor god Icarus from Greek Mythology.

There’s a reason the game is called Kid Icarus, after all. The original NES game is a typical side-scrolling platformer people expect from the console. After one sequel on the Game Boy, the series went into hiatus before coming back with Kid Icarus: Uprising years later.

2 Asura’s Wrath

A Demon God Taking Revenge On Other Gods

Asura’s Wrath is about a god who journeys to take revenge against other gods. While this sounds a lot like God of War, it differentiates itself with an anime art style and structure that borrows from the aforementioned medium.

Where God of War is always serious, Asura’s Wrath is so over-the-top and stylish one cannot help but enjoy every minute of it. Developer Cyberconnect2 has developed several adaptations of Naruto and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, so Asura’s Wrath’s anime connections are appropriate.

3 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Thor And Other Gods

The characters in both Marvel and DC range from normal people with wits to turn into superheroes or literal gods. One of the most notable Marvel characters is Thor.

He has his own game, but players can also control him in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance series, along with many other iconic Marvel superheroes. There is some balancing done to make all the characters feel equally useful, but there’s no denying that players control the god of thunder.

There are many other Marvel games where you play as gods.
Marvel’s Avengers
,
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
, and the
Thor
video game based on the first movie, just to name a few.

4 Age Of Mythology

A General Who Eventually Becomes A God

If the name didn’t already make it clear, Age of Mythology is a spin-off of the Age of Empires franchise. Instead of taking place in history, the game takes place in a world where gods and their created civilizations populate the earth.

Players control who is just a normal general, but by the end of the game the character is turned into a god. It’s appropriate for an RTS to be on this list since they combine feeling like a god and controlling everything with the limitations set by resources, people, and time.

5 Darksiders

Playing As the Horseman Of The Apocalypse

The neat thing about the Darksiders trilogy is that each game offers a different protagonist. In the original game, players take on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Each follow-up game puts a different member of this group in the lead role, with Death being the lead in the second game and Fury in the third title.

They are all hack-and-slash action-adventure games that each include many role-playing game elements. The first and second games are well-regarded in terms of their critical reception, with the third having the most mixed feedback.

6 Okami

An Action-Adventure Game Where You Play As A God

Okami might not be the first game that people think of when they consider games where one plays as a god, but the playable character Amaterasu is indeed a deity. The game is an action-adventure title that provides a beautiful world of watercolors and combat that’s fluid and majestic.

It’s been stated by both the developers of the game and fans that the game design of Okami feels very much inspired by The Legend of Zelda. A key part of the game has players using a tool called the Celestial Brush where Amaterasu (Okami) will paint on a canvas and in turn that painting will have an effect on the world around the player. It’s used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies in combat.

7 Civilization 6

Develop A Civilization As If One Is Playing As A God

The Civilization series as a whole is among the more iconic PC examples of an experience that lets people truly see how it would look to see human cultures and society evolve over the course of time. Players get to play an active role as they decide where critical resources are placed and how things evolve.

The game sets it up as though the player is taking on the role of a critical historical figure, but considering the player chooses who takes on the role of leader, it feels as though they exist on a plane above that of the chosen ruler. With that in mind, it feels fair to class Civilization 6 and series’ other entries as god games, and they’re some of the best in the genre

8 Hades

Fight Through The Underworld As A God

Hades burst onto the scene in 2020 as an artistically beautifully and mechanically engaging dungeon-crawling roguelike. Players took on the role of Zagreus, the son of Hades, the God of the Underworld. By traversing the world of the undead, Zagreus must escape, but not before taking on the mythological beasts and deities standing in his way.

With roguelikes being a rather niche genre of games, Hades was a high-quality experience that infused a strong and immersive narrative, leading to many people diving into the roguelike genre for the first time.

9 The Sims

Control People In The World

Everyone in their life at some point has played or knows someone who has played The Sims. It’s a game where people create simulated lives, those being entirely fantasy-based or sometimes users living vicariously through the game in an attempt to envision a possible future.

Between creating Sims and designing houses and landscapes, it’s hard to deny that those playing The Sims aren’t acting like a god. From the perspective of a Sim, the world is constantly changing around them and they simply have to hope that the supreme being manipulating everything doesn’t delete them from existence either intentionally or not.

10 Minecraft Creative

Create Your Own Minecraft Worlds

As one of the most successful and played games of all time, Minecraft‘s versatility is what makes it so special to millions of gamers around the world. Sure, one could take on the challenges of the crafting survival mode of the game, but creatives also have a space where they act as gods and manipulate the world around them.

Minecraft‘s Creative mode lets players edit the landscape around them, giving them access to any block or item in the game. This has spawned amazing creations and recreations, as well as specific game modes simply due to users being given a blank canvas and plenty of tools to sculpt the things they want to see.

11 Smite

A MOBA Where Players Control Gods

Smite is a multiplayer online battle arena, also known as a MOBA, and though it shares similarities with League of Legends, it has a third-person action-focused gameplay design that sets it apart. Two teams face off against one another in various game modes that each start with players selecting a god to play as from various mythological pantheons from around the world.

The game is free-to-play and has seen sustained success thanks to its social feel and replayability. Smite is regularly updated with brand new gods to play as, as well as a suite of character skins to customize the experience.

12 Spore

Develop Life From The Smallest Living Parts

The idea of a game where someone could create a species and watch it evolve into a myriad of different creatures was the core selling point of Spore. It was labeled as a ‘life simulation real-time strategy God game,’ which is more than a mouthful. Players begin by creating a microscopic organism that, over time, evolves into a biologically complex creature.

Though Spore struggled to live up to the lofty expectations of fans, it provides a neat concept worth experiencing at least once.

13 From Dust

Help People Survive As A God

Back in the Xbox 360 arcade era of Xbox Live there, a was a smaller indie-like title released by Ubisoft called From Dust that had players taking on the role of God. Overlooking a large set of land, players were tasked with moving sand around in a physics-based engine in order to help tribal folk survive the harsh environments created by natural disasters.

In some ways, the game functioned like a puzzle game as players would have to find creative solutions in an attempt to help their people survive the torrential downpour of water, soil, or lava. From Dust was known for its story mode, but also included a difficult challenge mode for those in search of more fun to be had.

14 Godus

An Indie God Game

• Release: September 13, 2013
• Developer: 22cans
• Platforms: PC, Mobile

Godus was branded as the regenesis of the “God game” and was designed by Peter Molyneux, the man behind other iconic God video games such as Populous and Black & White. Developed by 22Cans, the game was released in 2013 to mixed reviews.

At the beginning of the game, the player is tasked with saving humans from drowning and leading them to a land of opportunity. Through actions, the player’s job is to help these humans develop, evolve, and succeed. Players can redesign the land at any time, shaping the world in their vision.

15 God of War

Kratos Is A God Fighting Other Gods

Whether one is looking at the hack-and-slash gameplay from the original God of War games or the newer soft reboot in 2018 simply titled God of War, Sony Santa Monica has given gamers one of the most iconic gaming series in which players take on the role of a god. The fact that Kratos just so happens to also be a god-killer serves as a nice bonus.

The thing that sets the 2018 game apart from previous entries in the series is that it made the story of Kratos a true narrative journey that explores the character and makes him more than a mindless catalyst of violence. Its sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, builds upon the high praise and critical reception of its predecessor and delivers a follow-up worthy of the hype.

16 Black & White

One Of The Most Influential God Games

• Release: March 27, 2001
• Developer: Lionhead Studios
• Platforms: PC

When thinking of a game where one plays God, most people will jump to the Black & White series. Launching first in 2001, the PC-only simulation God game allows players to interact with the environment as they oversee the existence of humans living on a set of islands. It has a morality system in place that changes based on the actions of the player.

This means that acting as either an altruistic or malevolent force isn’t the wrong approach as Black & White wants players to take on whatever role they’d like. In the game, the interface and look of the god’s hand, the music, as well as the appearance of the land will change based on what alignment the player guides themselves in.

Unfortunately, Black & White is extremely hard to play today as it’s not available on any online marketplace. Only those with a physical copy can play it officially.