The plot of a video game is the thing that keeps you connected to the world around you. Sure, cool mechanics and graphics may delight the player at first, but it's a compelling plot that keeps them wanting more. Doing this through emotional connections, twists, and suspense can make someone even forgo sleep to see more of what comes next.

Suspense is a key facet. The anticipation and sometimes anxiety you feel about what may happen to your favorite character next can mean staying up well into the morning. Considering how much sleep you've lost and how many times you showed up late to work the next morning, here are some of the games with the most suspenseful plots out there.

Zombie games usually handle suspense in a different way than The Last of Us 2 does. The first game set up the stage perfectly for continuing the lives of Joel and Ellie in a world that was perhaps beyond saving.

The thing is... the second game really didn't continue their story, well, not one of them. Seeing Joel die in the first few minutes of the game meant many rushed through the following chapters just to see if it was all a dream sequence. Whatever you thought of the game's plot, it definitely had you hooked from that point on.

Horror games and suspense are synonymous with one another, so it only makes sense that a horror heavy-hitter like The Mortuary Assistant had so many people finishing it as fast as possible.

Sure, part of that was rushing through levels trying not to get scared, but if you could overcome the fear of all the scary things popping out at you, then you probably had plenty of suspenseful moments wondering just exactly what you did to deserve to be working a job like this. Maybe there were good benefits?

Fantasy games usually hit you with quite a bit of new information at the beginning to get you accustomed to a place that is often so alien to you. The Witcher 3 avoids most of that lore dumping in the beginning and more or less throws you into the life of Geralt in one of his more desperate moments.

Fans of the book series were able to piece most of it together, but the rest of us had to not only live with the constant suspense of the Witcher world, new monsters at every corner, and the confusion that the main and side-quests threw at us every few minutes. We still aren't sure why Roach is like that.

Fans of the original Silent Hill 2 may remember how they felt the first time playing it, but for those who walked into the remake blind, it surely didn't disappoint in the suspense category.

Adding a new game to the classic subgenre of "where is my wife," the town of Silent Hill wasn't too keen on letting you in on its secrets easily. Each piece of new info about the protagonist and his missing beloved is spread out thinly on a journey of creepy fog, dilapidated buildings, and terrible, terrible monsters. The ending was well worth the wait, even if it was a depressing one.

The revamping of the long-standing God of War series was something that few expected, but many were excited about. The intro to the new games was something that had plenty of people questioning the next steps.

Why did Kratos have a kid? Where were they? Who was this angry man attacking their cozy shack? There were a lot of questions in the first few minutes of the game, and it didn't let up until the very end. Albeit tempered with the classic violent combat that fans were accustomed to from the beginning.

Horror games usually like to add tension with plenty of quiet moments, and especially a long, drawn-out intro. Outlast really said no to that more often than not. One second, you are outside of Mount Massive Asylum, and the next, you are being chased through dark hallways by creatures that may or may not have once been human.

The high-stakes and low-defense horror game that is Outlast sprinkles answers fairly often in a short game, but the chase scenes that are in between make it feel so much longer. So often you'll find yourself finally safe again, just to wonder what exactly is happening in that asylum.

You'd think a detective game would have some suspense to it, and you'd definitely be right with Disco Elysium. You probably just didn't know how right you were when you first played it.

Playing it for the first time probably meant you lost some sleep. Who is your protagonist? Why does no one take him seriously? Where is your wife? Why is there a dead body outside a café? So many questions in the first hour of gameplay, and those were only the first in a game that never pulled punches and always had something new to show you.

When talking about games that keep you up with suspense, you should probably talk about games that keep you up for other reasons, too. Some make you unable to sleep because of the adrenaline of a haunted house adventure. Layers of Fear has both of those wrapped in one creepy tale.

You wake up in your manor, a painter by trade, and seek answers as to the location of your family and the odd occurrences around your house. Every new room tells a little bit more about the bigger picture, and among the frights, there are some interesting tidbits about your character as well. Tidbits that you are telling the game as the game tells you.

You know anytime Hideo Kojima releases a new adventure, you're sure in for a wild ride. Death Stranding may have been his most out-there experience packaged as a game, and it never got tired of making you wonder what was next.

A mysterious Norman Reedus carrying a fetus while working as a futuristic package delivery person, not to mention the various ghosts and other things that made the lands you traveled that much more unique. You never know what will happen in a Kojima game, and just when you feel you have a handle on the game, there is something new he drops in your lap.

Futuristic text and puzzle-based adventures are usually interesting in a more subdued way. However, that was turned on its head when Mouthwashing came out.

A futuristic ride on a space cargo-hauler soon turned quite sour as the crew suffered an unfortunate crash. What followed was as much seeking answers as survival. Each new thing you learned about the crew and the mission you were on led to some unfortunate realizations, and the game didn't let up until the very end, each time with a new wrench to throw at you. It definitely wasn't a game for the faint of heart.