Between RPG, FPS, and MMO, you can’t spend any amount of time in the gaming world without bumping headfirst into an acronym. For those accustomed to them they’re convenient, but if you’re one of the uninitiated they have the potential to make things more confusing and less accessible than you dared believe. 

Here, we’re going to touch on a genre that’s already confusing enough without acronymic obfuscation – the MMO, or Massively Multiplayer Online game. 

Even if you aren’t familiar with the phrase MMO or MMORPG, we’re willing to put a bag of gold on the notion that you’ve heard of at least one of the games that fall into either of these categories. World of Warcraft, Runescape, at least one of them will have appeared in a banner ad in your browser at some point.

MMOs are essentially expansive virtual worlds where you can live another life as an avatar of your choosing. They take time commitment which isn’t ideal for everyone but given the sheer number of games in the genre and the amount of money they’re known for bringing in, we think it’s safe to say a second in-game life is an appealing proposition for a large proportion of the world. 

Of course, a fun second life isn’t the same for everyone. Perhaps you want to play an elven mage in a high fantasy world; if all that Game of Thrones stuff isn’t for you perhaps your own space ship to explore galaxies far away would suit. 

Once you’ve found your world do you want to have complete freedom over what you do next, or would you like a detailed story to engage with? Is playing alongside your friends to defeat monsters and villains the idea of a good time, or would you rather be a lone wolf that’s set to take down every other player in the game world?

No matter which of these scenarios appeals to you most, there’s probably an MMO game out there that will suit you. To make it easier to find the second life that you wish was your first, we’ve put together this list of the best massively multiplayer online games out there that you can jump into right now.