Thousands of players log on to Elder Tale as the time for the game’s latest update draws near. All of a sudden, experienced adult gamer Shiroe finds himself inside the game as his avatar along with a few of his in-game comrades and unable to log off. Players all over the world are at a loss as to how they ended up inside the game and in-game teleportation portals are offline keeping some players isolated. What was once a world of escape has become a world they can’t escape from. Having spent more of his time and attention to Elder Tale than he ever did in the real world, Shiroe and his close companions Naotsugu and Akatsuki work to bring order and peace to the masses of terrified players.

Log Horizon has a bit of a foreboding theme compared to Isekai Maou, but it’s not without humor. Naotsugu is a proud pervert who doesn’t get up to much thanks to the constant efforts of their tiny teammate assassin Akatsuki who knees Naotsugu in the face the moment he begins to say something dirty. She’s as deadly as she is cute and considers Shiroe a savior to her, much like Shera and Rem see their rude master as their hero. Shiroe is a good guy but he definitely does what he wants, as seen when he denies joining his friend’s guild despite her begging. While neither Shiroe nor Diablo may have amounted to much in the real world, their knowledge and skills prove to be tantamount to those in the virtual world. It’s a bit more serious and a lot less ecchi but it’s great for those who love the constant reminder that one has been transported inside an MMO.

Shiro and Sora are the devastating sibling duo Blank that is the ultimate gaming master. All of their time is spent proving their superiority over all other gamers until one day they receive an invitation to another world that revolves around games called Disboard. They think it’s a joke until the god Tet whisks them away and the two have to figure out how to survive in a world where games take the place of battles and wars. With their meaningless lives gone, Sora and Shiro find a new purpose. They will unite the 16 races in Disboard and challenge Tet for the title of God, thus becoming the ultimate masters of games.

Think the life of a hikikomori is lonely? Not when your sibling is ignoring the outside world right beside you! Shiro and Sora both have equal levels of pride compared to Diablo who has never known an equal as long as he’s played. No one wants out once they’re in despite their disbelief at how these worlds can exist. Sora and Shiro share Diablo’s self-serving nature but end up using their superior powers to protect people (though they’ll still take advantage of cute girls). There’s more strategy than simple battle-focused gaming in No Game No Life, but both shows have ample amounts of attractive, fanciful-looking girls throwing themselves at the main characters!

In the final moments before fantasy MMORPG Yggdrasil is closed for good, the most powerful player in the game, Momonga, decides to sit on his throne to relish in his glory for as long as possible. He even decides to change the code on one of the NPCs, Albedo, so that she’s in love with his character as a last little hoorah to himself. Instead of being forced off the server, the player’s consciousness is shifted to Momonga and all the NPCs start communicating like regular people! As a guy with no real life skills, he tries to keep up his almighty dark lord illusion while testing his abilities and trying to make sense of how he ended up inside the game.

Overlord and Isekai Maou are probably the most similar of all the anime on our list. Momonga and Diablo are the most self-serving yet awkward demon and sorcerer of darkness. They want to be the most destructive, not heroic, yet get easily flustered when the in-game ladies show them affection. Both care far more about learning about their unstoppable powers and the world around them than returning to their boring, isolated lives.

Kazuma Satou can’t care less about his life unless it involves video games. When he dies a rather embarrassing death, the goddess Aqua gives the game addict a chance to be reborn in a fantasy RPG-like world and one thing to take with him to defeat the demon lord. Because Aqua made fun of his regrettable death, Satou decides he’ll be dragging Aqua with him to show her a thing or two! They’re both in for a rough time, however, as neither Satou nor Aqua end up being particularly powerful. As more semi-useful characters join them, perhaps they’ll be able to at least keep a roof over their heads.

Satou is definitely not the overpowered protagonist that Diablo is, but both guys make use of all the time they spent not talking to real girls in favor of playing video games to survive in these different worlds. Satou’s world is more of a magical other world than a game, but power is measured by levels and quests have to be asked for at a guild just like in the world of Cross Reverie. Both guys somehow manage to attract women without even trying because, hey, if you’re gonna have a fantasy setting, might as well go all out.

When God accidentally kills easygoing Mochizuka Touya, he hopes promising to reincarnate him in a fantasy world with a powerful, magical smartphone will make it up to him. Sure enough, Touya is thankful for the opportunity. Now one of the most powerful men in all the land, Touya quickly attracts many people (mostly girls!) with his prowess and good nature. Excluding the times he tries to see the girls exposed, of course. Obtaining quests at the guild, learning new magic, and managing a group of girls all vying for his attention is a lot to handle in an unfamiliar world even with his incredible powers.

Isekai wa Smartphone follows the same setting of KonoSuba where a god intervenes to reincarnate someone in a game-like world, but lucky for Touya, he’s made to be incredibly good at literally everything. Just as how the most high-level characters in Diablo’s world can’t do much to damage him, Touya easily wipes the floor with his opponents. Both characters owe much of their success to their crazy powerful objects. For Diablo, his ring reflects any and all magic used on him back on the caster and Touya’s smartphone allows him to see enemies’ weaknesses, gather supplies, and do just about anything else. Both guys want to protect the girls around them but also aren’t turning down chances to peep at them, sometimes even taking matters into their own hands!

Getting a job as a game developer working day in and day out with no time for a girlfriend may not seem like a good life, but even on his sleepiest nights, Suzuki Ichirou seems content. At least he gets to try out the games to test patches and see if bugs are fixed, always under the name Satou. After a death march of game alterations, Ichirou wakes up as ‘Satou’ in what appears to be a merged video game of the last two projects he worked on. He’s able to view a transparent screen like one might see sitting on their computer playing an RPG to cast spells and use items but when an arrow pierces his arm, he knows this is no ordinary game. After somehow leveling up like crazy, Satou sets out to learn more about this game in hopes it will help with his own work. That is, if he can ever figure out how to get home!

Death March almost never lets you forget this world is an RPG,, as Satou is constantly pulling up information screens, using items from his bag, or selecting spells just as one might sitting at their computer at home. Instead of just focusing on the setting being a game and listening to a monologue of what games are like, you get a very clear visual which further immerses you into the gamers POV. Both Satou and Diablo easily attract a number of cuties with their powerful displays of might while it certainly did nothing for them in the real world. It’s a more serious anime but still has it’s funny moments.