Everyone likes to be an a-hole every now and then. There’s a sense of satisfaction and being an absolute d*ck and this idea crosses over into video games. We often lean towards the dark side when booting up our consoles/PC, simply because we can do or say things that we couldn’t in the real world.

We purposefully have left off any RPGs like Mass Effect or Fallout from this list, as those stories are tailored by individual playthroughs. Light up the fire, and turn on some classical music; these are the best games where it’s good to be bad.

Grand Theft Auto (any game):

The Grand Theft Auto series was always guaranteed to be on this list. Each game has you playing as a nobody who wants to make it into the big leagues of gang-life; whether this be on the shores of Vice City, the bustling streets of Liberty City, or the poverty-stricken ghettos of San Andreas. One thing that stands out about all of these characters is their need to be the top-dog. Niko Bellic seems to accept each mission with the line, “if the money’s right.” While we love the GTA series’ protagonists they are clearly evil, money-grabbing douche bags.

Beautiful Katamari:

The King of All Cosmos, his Queen, and the Prince are all out enjoying a spot of tennis when they accidentally rip a hole in space and destroy all of the planets, bar Earth. In order to rectify things The King orders the Prince to go to Earth and roll up parts of the world in order to rebuild the universe. Things start off quite innocently with paper clips and pencils being rolled into a ball, but eventually it grows into gargantuan size, devouring people, skyscrapers, cities and even countries. All of this just because the King was too boisterous while playing Tennis.

Dungeon Keeper 1+2:

There’s something devilishly satisfying about playing Bullfrog’s 90′s strategy game. Training your minions up and creating creatures like bile demons and vampires is a nice change from bald space marines. Even the base you build is inherently evil with torture chambers, prisons and a temple where your minions will exalt your name. All of this work is done in preparation for the Lord of the Land, a pure god fearing man, who will promptly turn up with his men, only for you to slaughter him and finish the level. Mwahahahahaha!

Plague Inc.:

This little iOS game is one of the best ideas we’ve seen for a cheap app. Instead of being the good guy and trying to stop an outbreak, Plague Inc. tasks you with spreading death by infecting the global population. Do you invest in mutagens that will make your infection more deadly, or do you work to make a stealthy disease that will infest nations and slowly mutate into a flesh-eating virus? This is strategy in its most macabre form and we love it.

Hitman (all of them):

The silent assassin has always been an intriguing character. Born into a life of violence, murder and baldness he gets to travel the world dispatching targets as he sees fit. Some of the best parts of the Hitman games make you feel like a stone-cold killer; poisoning a bureaucrats tea, dropping a chandeleir on the pianist’s head or sniping a triad boss should always warrant a slo-mo walk from our character, putting a wry smile on our face.

Evil Genius:

When you run your business from a hollowed out Volcano lair, you know that you are a supervillian and probably mentally unstable. This RTS was inspired heavily by old school James Bond movies with specially trained henchmen that may as well be called or Oddjob. Plans of world dominion have evil painted all over them.

Not seen a game on here that you think deserves a place in our list? Then let us know in the comments box below and look out for next week’s article where we’ll discuss games where you don’t know you are the baddie.

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