There are lots of cool anime about playing video games, but some of them are so cool that they need to be a reality. Video games and anime share quite a bit in common, so it’s no surprise to find that you’ll often see many successful releases combine the two. There exists an entire subgenre that is just following characters playing a game, and that’s the entire experience. Sometimes it goes to a whole new level with the characters getting trapped, but more often than not it’s just them playing it on a daily basis.

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The anime on this list has a mix of both, but are unique because they offer fun new kinds of games that look pretty cool. Some of the games featured in the anime are much cooler than the others, and some are so cool that they really should come to life for real someday. Read on for a list of fun anime about playing video games ranked by how cool their games look in action.

7). Full Dive: This Ultimate Next-Gen Full Dive RPG Is Even Shittier than Real Life!

Light Tuchihi and Youta’s Full Dive light novel series turned anime offers one of the worst video game experiences, but that’s something that would likely appeal to a hardcore fanbase of players. Set in a virtual world game with some very realistic standards, Hiro soon discovers that every little move he makes only gets things worse.

It’s a show where every traditional RPG rule is thrown out the window thanks to Hiro playing such an unpopular and downright terrible game. It’s not the best series, but it certainly offers one of the most unique video game experiences in anime yet.

6). Recovery of an MMO Junkie

Rin Kokuyo’s Recovery of an MMO Junkie is an unsung hero of this kind of genre. It’s an entirely other extreme as it just offers a fun and magical journey through an MMO game as Moriko decides to quit her job and focus on just playing her favorite role game. Connecting with a new player, she ends up having a lot more fun than she ever expected when playing alone, and it changes her life.

It’s a cozy anime that unfortunately will never get a second season with the original series cancelled due to health concerns, but it’s certainly a cozy and fun experience that should be a real game. It looks fun to grind in.

5). Accel World

From the same creator behind Sword Art Online, Accel World offers another fun virtual reality game, but thankfully doesn’t have as high of stakes as its predecessor. It’s more of a wish fulfillment series as a young bullied boy throws himself into the world of games and gets the attention of the most popular girl in school in the process.

But upon learning a new technique that would help him speed his brain up, Haru discovers an entire new game world where players are fighting each other in a massive tournament to figure out who’s the top dog. It’s just fun and cool to watch, and really teases how cool a virtual reality experience like it would be.

4). Hi Score Girl

This one is a bit of a cheat because the games featured in Rensuke Oshikiri’s Hi Score Girl are already real, but it’s hard not to highlight just how many licenses and games from the 1990s that actually made it to screen with this one. It’s about a young duo who slowly get closer together through their shared love of arcade games (usually fighting games), and each episode centers those games as a way to bridge their personalities. It’s got some of the coolest games seen in anime, you really should check this one out if you haven’t done so yet.

3). BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense

If you wanted a relaxed anime experience where the main character is stronger than everyone, but also has a seemingly fun game, there’s nothing better than Yuumikan and Koin’s BOFURI. Kaede decides to finally join a VRMMO to play alongside one of her friends, but doesn’t like the idea of being hurt. Deciding to then make a character that emphasizes defense above all else and pours all of her stats into it, the anime then watches as she takes on all kinds of missions in this world with that in mind.

It’s fun to see what kind of strategies Kaede will use in order to counter enemies with her defense, and she eventually gets so strong that she can wipe out massive foes with a mix of stat boosts and more. It’s the kind of anime that really pays attention to its game system, and thus has a lot of fun exploiting it.

2). Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

Sword Art Online Alternative might be featuring Gun Gale Online, but it’s far from what was seen in the original Sword Art Online anime. Rather than being trapped in a virtual reality game and fighting for their lives, LLENN is instead a young girl joining the game to play with her friends. Using a uniquely small avatar that looks a lot different than the others, she’s able to dip and dive through all sorts of cool looking gun battles. It’s got a ton of action that impresses across each episode, and it really makes Gun Gale Online a super fun game to play. But there’s still one VRMMO that outclasses it in all respects.

1). Shangri-La Frontier

Katarina’s Shangri-La Frontier is the best anime about playing a game ever released. It stars Rakuro, a gamer who gets a kick out of beating the worst and most broken games possible. But when he’s tired and looking for a new thrill, he decides to finally play a great game for once and enters a super cool and intriguing fantasy world. It’s a series focused on the small details as many episodes see Rakuro not only strategizing about how to defeat tough bosses, but also grinding his levels to get there.

It’s a unique game world with hidden bosses players have never found, and the payoff to all the build are incredible looking battles. Each episode showcases more of this game’s world, and teases the kind of unreal experience that really should be recreated in our world in some way. There’s just no other anime like it as its troll of a protagonist wants to do things his own, difficult way.

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