15 Games Where Being Evil Is More Fun

15. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

A saintly Dragonborn is perfectly viable, but the game becomes way more entertaining once you start treating morality like optional DLC. Assassination contracts, theft, intimidation, shady Daedric bargains, and full-on vampire roleplay give you a sandbox built for selfish decisions, and the rewards are usually better than the guilt. One of the reasons Skyrim makes evil fun is that it rarely locks you into one flavor of villainy: you can be a silent killer with the Dark Brotherhood, a greedy thief, or a power-hungry mage collecting artifacts nobody sensible should touch. Even outside major questlines, breaking into homes, robbing merchants, and abusing stealth systems creates that “I should not be doing this” thrill the game handles brilliantly. The world is huge, but being terrible in it somehow makes it feel even bigger. | © Bethesda Game Studios

14. Mass Effect Trilogy (2007–2012)

Playing Commander Shepard as a Renegade turns the trilogy into a much nastier, punchier space opera, and that’s exactly why it can be so entertaining. Instead of always negotiating, you get to intimidate, shut people down, and use those brutal interrupts that cut straight through long conversations with pure “problem solved” energy. The fun isn’t just being mean for the sake of it; in Mass Effect, the aggressive route often makes scenes hit harder because characters react more sharply and the stakes feel more personal. You also unlock different dialogue outcomes, tougher persona moments, and a version of Shepard that feels like a war commander running out of patience. It’s chaos with style, and the games absolutely know how to make that version of Shepard memorable. | © BioWare

13. inFAMOUS I & II (2009–2011)

The morality system here isn’t subtle, and that’s exactly the charm: choosing the dark path makes Cole feel like a walking electrical disaster in the best possible way. Civilians fear you, the city reacts differently, and the powers tied to evil karma lean harder into raw damage, crowd control, and spectacle, so every street fight starts feeling like a supervillain highlight reel. What really sells it in inFAMOUS I & II is how the games connect your nastier decisions to gameplay momentum instead of just cutscene flavor; the whole fantasy becomes more reckless, louder, and more explosive. The “good” route has its own appeal, but the evil side often delivers the flashier combat moments and the more unhinged energy the series is famous for. If you want to feel powerful before you feel responsible, this is the route. | © Sucker Punch Productions

12. Dishonored I & II (2012–2016)

For a game constantly praised for stealth, it’s hilarious how much fun it is to ignore restraint and become a supernatural menace. The high-chaos route lets you lean into the toybox: stop time, possess targets, throw enemies around, chain brutal takedowns, and summon rat swarms that turn a clean infiltration into a horror scene in seconds. In Dishonored, being evil isn’t just “kill more people”; it changes the atmosphere, patrol pressure, and overall mood of Dunwall, which makes each mission feel like your violence is staining the city in real time. That consequence system is what makes the dark playthrough so compelling, because the game rewards your cruelty with incredible mechanical freedom while also making the world visibly worse. It’s messy, stylish, and one of the best “I’ll just do one evil run” traps in gaming. | © Arkane Studios

11. Detroit: Become Human (2018)

This one is less about power fantasy and more about how dramatically the story branches when you stop trying to save everyone. Choosing harsher paths can push major confrontations faster, create uglier alliances, and unlock some of the game’s most intense scenes, especially when you play your characters as manipulative, ruthless, or willing to sacrifice others for a bigger goal. The reason Detroit: Become Human makes “evil” runs so fascinating is that the game’s structure actually supports disaster; characters can die, relationships can collapse, and the narrative keeps moving, which makes bad choices feel dangerously valid instead of fake. A violent revolution, a cold machine-first mindset, or selfish survival decisions all produce very different flavors of tension. It’s not always the happiest route, but it’s often the most combustible one. | © Quantic Dream

10. Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)

Night City doesn’t really care whether you’re noble, and that’s exactly why a selfish run can feel so good. When you lean into a colder version of V, the fantasy sharpens: you stop trying to “save everyone” and start playing like a merc who takes the paycheck, cuts the deal, and moves on. Cyberpunk 2077 gives that approach plenty of toys too, from perk-heavy builds to hacking, stealth, and loud combat, so being ruthless can feel less like a moral choice and more like a style choice with teeth. The best part is how naturally it fits the setting’s obsession with power, status, and survival. In a city built on ambition, being a little cruel often feels like the most believable way to climb. | © CD Projekt Red

9. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (2021)

What makes the evil route here so addictive is that it isn’t just “mean dialogue” pasted over a heroic campaign. Owlcat built Mythic Paths that actually change how your Commander feels to play, and the evil options are some of the wildest: Demon rage power fantasies, Lich necromancy, and even the infamous Swarm path if you want to go fully monstrous. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous also ties those choices into the Crusade layer, so your cruelty can reshape both combat and leadership instead of living only in cutscenes. That means the payoff is mechanical, narrative, and roleplay-driven at the same time. If you want an RPG where evil isn’t a side flavor but a full build identity, this one absolutely delivers. | © Owlcat Games

8. Fallout: New Vegas (2010)

The Mojave is one of those settings where “doing the right thing” quickly turns into a philosophical argument, and that makes villain runs far more interesting than simple cartoon evil. Because faction reputation and dialogue choices matter so much, playing manipulative, opportunistic, or outright brutal opens up a ton of ways to steer quests, exploit people, and burn bridges on purpose just to see what breaks. A big reason it works is that the world keeps reacting instead of collapsing into a fake yes/no morality screen. You can play kingmaker, traitor, mercenary, or smiling liar depending on who benefits you most in the moment, and the game supports that messy roleplay beautifully. That flexibility is why being bad stays fun for so long in Fallout: New Vegas. | © Obsidian Entertainment

7. The Outer Worlds 2 (2025)

Corporate satire hits harder when you stop pretending to be the clean-handed hero, and Arcadia seems built for exactly that kind of troublemaking. With multiple factions fighting over the colony and a highly reactive story setup, the fun in playing “evil” comes from picking sides for profit, lying when it’s convenient, and treating ideology like a sales pitch instead of a belief system. The Outer Worlds 2 also keeps the Perks and Flaws approach, which makes morally dubious runs feel even better because your character can be both powerful and weird in ways that fit the setting’s black-comedy tone. Add the series’ mix of combat, stealth, and dialogue-driven problem solving, and you get a roleplaying space where selfish decisions can be the most entertaining ones on the table. | © Obsidian Entertainment

6. Undertale (2015)

This one is the weirdest pick on the list, because being evil isn’t “fun” in a power-trip sense so much as it is fascinating, uncomfortable, and impossible to forget. The game is built around choice – kill, spare, befriend, flee – and it changes its tone, encounters, and outcomes based on what you do, so a violent run becomes a completely different emotional experience instead of just a bloodier version of the same story. In Undertale, the benefit of going dark is seeing how far the game is willing to follow you, including route-specific tension and some of its most memorable late-game payoffs. It’s less “look at my loot” and more “I can’t believe the game let me become the problem,” which is exactly why people still talk about those runs years later. | © tobyfox

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5. Dragon Age: Origins (2009)

Being a saint in Ferelden is honorable, sure, but the game gets a lot spicier when your Warden starts treating every crisis like leverage. You can intimidate, exploit faction politics, make ruthless sacrifices, and steer major quests toward outcomes that feel effective first and moral never. What makes Dragon Age: Origins such a great “evil is fun” RPG is that the nasty choices usually come with real narrative weight, not just a red-text reputation tick. Even party approval becomes part of the strategy, because manipulating companions or keeping volatile allies around can produce some of the most memorable tension in the campaign. It’s grim fantasy, and a colder Warden often fits that tone perfectly. | © BioWare

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4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (I & II) (2003–2004)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (I & II) absolutely understand the appeal of going full Dark Side, and they reward it with some of the most satisfying power fantasies in classic RPGs. Force Lightning, Force Choke, mind tricks, and cruel dialogue choices make conversations and combat feel different in a way that goes beyond simple “good vs. bad” roleplay. In the first game, being ruthless lets you dominate encounters and bend situations to your advantage; in the second, the fun gets even nastier because influence systems and character dynamics let you shape people, not just outcomes. There’s a reason Dark Side runs are the ones so many players remember first: they’re dramatic, efficient, and wildly entertaining. | © BioWare / Obsidian Entertainment

3. Divinity: Original Sin 2 (2017)

This is one of those RPGs where “evil” often looks like being shamelessly opportunistic, and that makes it incredibly fun to roleplay. Stealing everything that isn’t nailed down, exploiting NPC routines, lying through dialogue checks, and using the game’s systems to out-cheat your enemies can feel like the intended experience on some runs. The real payoff comes from how reactive the world is: your selfish choices change quest paths, party dynamics, and who survives long enough to matter. Combat also feeds the fantasy, because brutal crowd control and environment abuse make every fight feel like a clever act of villainy rather than a fair duel. By the time you’re deep into Divinity: Original Sin 2, being morally flexible can feel less like a detour and more like the smartest way to play. | © Larian Studios

2. Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023)

A heroic run is fantastic, but the game becomes a completely different beast when you stop trying to keep everyone happy. In Baldur’s Gate 3, evil or selfish choices unlock some of the most reactive scenes in the entire campaign, whether you’re intimidating your way through problems, embracing darker powers, or pushing storylines toward uglier outcomes just to see how far the game will go. The fun is in the freedom: you can be a manipulator, a tyrant, a pragmatist, or a chaos gremlin who picks the worst option because the writing actually supports it. Combat helps too, since powerful builds and ruthless tactics make cruel decisions feel mechanically rewarding, not just narratively edgy. It’s one of the rare modern RPGs where a villain run feels fully authored instead of half-finished. | © Larian Studios

1. Fable (2004)

The original game never pretends morality is subtle, and that’s exactly why being evil in it is such a good time. You can steal, bully villagers, crank up your menace, and make choices that visibly reshape your hero into a horned, feared show-off, which turns every town visit into part RPG, part dark comedy performance. Instead of hiding the fantasy, the game leans into it with reactions, visual changes, and systems that make wicked behavior feel theatrical and immediate. That exaggerated tone is the secret sauce: your bad decisions are not only powerful, they’re funny, flashy, and easy to roleplay. If you want an old-school example of a game that lets villainy become the main attraction, Fable still does it better than a lot of newer RPGs. | © Lionhead Studios