Summary
Sometimes, there’s nothing to quench your thirst quite like destroying an entire city in a giant, fiery explosion, right? Gaming is all about exploring surreal ideas and playing them out, and we’d be lying if we said we’ve never let ourselves play a little loose with some of these titles.
The games in this list are some of the best, if causing some chaos is what your little heart desires, offering exciting ways to do just that. Ranging across decades, consoles, genres, and more, you’ll take control of everyone from mercenaries to aliens to satisfy your desire for mayhem.
Updated on May 14, 2025:We’ve added plenty of additional information to this list since it was first published almost a year ago! You’ll now find more links and info than before to help you choose which game suits your mischief needs.
8Wreckfest
If your gaming bread and butteris extreme racingwith the intent to crash and destroy your opponents, then Wreckfest is the game for you. With gameplay described on Steam as, “brutal full-contact racing with impressive physics,” get ready to crash and burn – literally.
Brought to you by the same developers who made the FlatOut games and published by THQ Nordic, the possibilities for customization are endless – and your optics matter in the first parts of the race, but you should expect your car to come back much,muchworse for wear.
7The Infamous Series
We love a game that allows you room to play with moral ambiguity, and the Infamous series offers almost nothing but. With powers beyond your imagination, you step into the shoes of the games’ assorted protagonists with the goal of either fighting crimes throughout these fictionalized American cities orcommittingthem.
The first game sees your protagonist, Cole, obtain his powers during an explosion and spend the events of this primary installment learning to use them and harnessing his power in preparationfor one heck of a fight. Will the remains of Empire City crumble around you? It’s up to your decisions!
6Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
If you’re into an action-heavy game with some hefty political commentary, look no further than Mercenaries 2. Your protagonist is so dedicated to his work that he just goes by The Mercenary, and he eventually ends up in a fictional iteration of Venezuela, hell-bent on killing its president.
Featuring plenty of explosions and action along the way as he works toward his goal alongside another former mercenary and a Venezuelan billionaire, Mercenaries 2 sees your protagonist kicking ass and taking names as he fights his way towards mission complete.
5Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters
If you prefer less human involvement in your games and you’re more focused on monsters causing chaos, look no further than Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters. Not only are you put into the scaly skin of Godzilla himself, but there are plenty of other kaiju monsters to play as, too.
One of the older entries on our list, the game still holds up more than two decades later as one of our favorite beat-em-ups. Your kaiju all have unique moves and possible combinations to try out, so fight your way through the wreckage of the city and prove why you’re the best.
It’s a bit of an aged title, but it more than stands the test of time!
4Earth Defense Force Series
There are Ravagers out there – a highly intelligent alien race bent on destroying Earth and eliminating humanity – and its up to you and the other members of the Earth Defense Force to keep the planet from crumbling. The Ravagers have all kinds of tricks to try to infect humanity and render us extinct, so you’d better act fast to save the day!
Naturally, the process of saving the world from powerful extraterrestrials is going to be a messy job, and the destruction you get to cause in the name of heroism is pretty impressive.
The series is still cranking out new games, too, with Earth Defense Force 6 launching as recently as 2022.
3Just Cause 4
The only thing worse than having to go face-to-face with the group of mercenaries, the Black Hand, that served the dictators of Just Cause titles past is finding out that your father used to work right alongside them.
As you pursue the truth in Just Cause 4, you’ll have access to plenty of returning features from the previous game – namely, the sweet new ways you may travel, like the wingsuit or a grappling hook. With weather conditions as diverse as they are in Solis, and optional side mission battles dotted all over, you’re in for some pretty extreme gameplay.
2Destroy All Humans!
There’s so much to love about this ultra-wacky sci-fi game that sees you take up arms as Crypto, an alien on a mission to harvest human DNA – a key ingredient in the cloning process used by his species, the Furons. As such, Crypto needs to run around six locations across a fictional United States, wreaking havoc and, well,destroying all humans.
Set in the 1950s, you’ll have access to plenty of different extraterrestrial tech with which to destroy the cities and harvest human DNA, but just beware that all your wreckage draws attention, and with attention comes a graduating scale of authorities hell-bent on stopping you from completing your mission.
1Grand Theft Auto 5
We realistically could have pickedanyGTA title, probably, and it would reasonably stand out as number one on our list, but GTA 5 holds a special place in our hearts specifically for the vast number of ways to cause this chaos, be it on your own between story missions, or online with (orto) friends.
The truest chaos comes in the online mode, where you’re set free in Los Santos with a dozen other real-life players, and let’s be real here,everyoneplays GTA for the anarchy.
The first time I ever played GTA 5 online, the other person who’d freshly spawned into the world with my characterimmediatelypunched me in the faceand carjacked mein my first 15 seconds in-game.
The possibilities for blowing stuff up feel endless. Drive on the sidewalk, then blow up the cop cars that respond to your vehicular homicide with rocket launchers. Parachute into the military base to steal the fastest plane in the game, just to flex on your buddies. The world of Los Santos is truly your riotous oyster.
