Brandon Sanderson’s Most-Played Video Game Of All-Time Isn’t What We Expected

Published Sep 8, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. It will come as no surprise to Brandon Sanderson fans that he's a lover of all things video game-related, and he's been quite vocal about it over the years. Sanderson has multiple discussions up on his YouTube page dedicated entirely to video game talk, going over his favorite world-building games, his picks for best narratives in games, etc. His favorite games span everything from Halo to BioShock to Elden Ring to Breath of the Wild, and beyond. Sanderson has a unique relationship with games outside just playing them as well, as he's been trying to get a proper adaptation of his beloved Mistborn series up and running for over a decade now. One attempt made it quite far back in the day, with Mistborn: Birthright eventually being cancelled after years of delays. Sanderson said as recently as 2025 that he's still shopping ideas around AAA studios for a Mistborn game, but so far nothing has transpired. That said, given Sanderson's rich history with video games and experience playing various genres and popular titles, you might be surprised at his all-time most-played game, revealed by the man himself in a 2025 blog post on his official site. Sanderson's Most-Played Game Is Hard To Put Down Brandon Sanderson confessed in a March 2025 blog post that his most-played and favorite game of all time is none other than Sid Meier's Civilization 6, one of the most addictive and impossible-to-put-down 4X games ever created. If you've played the game before, this will not be a huge shocker, but it is a bit surprising that Sanderson has the kind of time to play Civ 6 considering his prolific writing. Sanderson says it's the "sheer weight of gameplay time" that makes this his top-rated video game, and extends that to the entire Civilization franchise to boot. He's apparently been playing Civ games ever since he was a freshman in college, spending late nights on his friend's computer just One-More-Turning until the sun came up. Sanderson admits the franchise has its problems, and I'd be interested to hear his thoughts on Civ 7 after it's divisive launch. That said, he claims that while Civ 4 is often recognized as the best in the series, Civ 5 and Civ 6 have made it impossible for him to go back to the older titles. Sanderson deems Civilization "the grand patriarch of the 4X game genre," and if you are still in doubt that he's a dedicated gamer after that admission, I'm not sure what other proof you need. Civilization 7 Is Slowly Improving While it's unlikely Civ 7 will ever surpass the popularity of its modern predecessors (i.e., Civ 5 and Civ 6), the game is slowly taking shape as a truly unique entry in the Civilization franchise. Sanderson would likely take issue with many of the changes made to the Civilization format in Civ 7, but these have been remedied to some extent as Faraxis rolled out several updates, including a Single-Civ option, Continuity across Ages, etc. Further, it looks like we're finally getting modern eras in Civ 7, almost two years after the game's launch. Recently, Firaxis announced the Arc of Tomorrow and Earthrise expansions that will arrive in 2027 and introduce the Atomic Age and add space-race features, two highly requested additions since the game's launch. That said, Civ 7 has a lot of ground to cover to make up for its extremely underwhelming launch that left many longtime fans of the franchise feeling alienated by some of the gameplay changes. While we aren't sure if Brandon Sanderson has tried Civ 7 yet, seeing as he is a longtime fan of the franchise, it's hard to believe he hasn't fired it up at least once to see what's on offer. It might just be a matter of time before we get his thoughts on Civ 7 and where it ranks among the other entries in the Sid Meier's Civilization franchise. Sid Meier's Civilization 6 Systems Released October 21, 2016 ESRB E10+ for Everyone 10+: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Firaxis Games Publisher(s) 2K Games Engine Unity