But now it’s time for your list, as voted for by you, the RPS readership.
The RPS 100: Reader Edition
100.
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia
Kiiiiim:The ultimate fantasy strategy game.
Great turn based combat, nice graphics.
Tons of races and units.
slick_named_pimpback:Just one more turn.
Simple but completely addicting.
dracorogue:The ultimate turn-based strategy game.
I put tons of hours into this and that just one more turn feeling keeps you going.
Karl Drinkwater:Because I’ve played it so much.
The VAT system would improve almost every other game of this jot down.
Enjoyed experiencing the trip through an alternative history.
Mahdi:Yeah, I like 3 better than 1, 2 or NV.
Enter the Gungeon
ElderBeagle:The original bullet hell roguelite.
I loved this game to death, which unfortunately happened to my little gungeoneer over a thousand times.
Tough but rewarding, with many secrets to uncover.
Namename:I sucked at this game, for months.
Each run is different enough to keep me engaged without quite pushing me to lose.
Twin stick shooters are pure fun and the strong absurd theme here carries everything perfectly.
TheStreamLife:Easily the best bullet hell roguelike to date.
Its horrifically hard, but fair.
It’s all random chance, but its always doable.
It’s always the same run, but the room variations are wild.
80 Days
Allie:The first time I played80 Days, I lost.
As my time ran out, I was still thundering across the ocean from Reykjavik towards Britain.
And yet, the story still came to a well-written and satisfying conclusion.
Of course, it helped that none of my own money went into Fogg’s wager.
Its the cozy steampunk adventure we all need, now more than ever.
How not to fall in love with something clearly made with so much love?
Papers, yo
Xavier:A great story told in a novel way.
And it made me care about and fear for my family members without ever showing them to me.
Godwhacker:The best VR game; possibly the bestHalf-Lifegame too.
Valve are really good at making games and they should do it more often.
There are four classes to choose from, all of which are support classes.
and yet, every class feels powerful in its own right.
For this reason, DRG is the best co-op game ever made.
Emperor of the Tuna Fish:We’re rich!
BioShock
91.
World of Warcraft
BloatedGuppy#5073:The ultimate time vampire.
Has become a shadow of its former self, but it was a genre shattering phenomenon in its heyday.
0wlbear:Perhaps the RICHEST game?
Crusader Kings II
juan_h:Crusader Kings II got in my brain and stayed there for years.
What it is that they want?
Persona 4 Golden
87.
Plus it was witty, charming, and had a kicking soundtrack.
Also, it’s beautiful.
Clancy:Samuel Barber’s Adagio For Strings.
Enough said
85.
See the Diablo, Assassin’s Creed, and Mass Effect franchises among others.
No lootsplosions here and it’s the better for it.
Chris M.:What a soundtrack.
I still play the daily challenge, and I’m almost good at it.
This one expands on that but actually IS funny.
Oh and the end is superb, everyone else is wrong.
Kiiiiim:Extremely funny.
Has the best story of all the games in the series.
Left 4 Dead 2
80.
Darkest Dungeon
ElTiempo:Its the best RPG battle system ever.
Prodigious size alone does not dissuade the sharpened blade!
Thief II: The Metal Age
StingingVelvet:Stealth and immersive sim in a blender?
With a steampunk world and the best voice actor of all time as the hero?
Okay if you insist.
The Talos Principle
timsmith:I recently replayed this and I’d forgotten just how good it is.
But I think it’s in the storytelling that it surpasses most of its peers.
Queen Bum Eggs of Beef World:The best first person puzzler outside of the Portal games.
I hate you, devs.
I already did my time.
mrMan:This was one of the few games that got me hooked, like really hooked.
Martin Aaby:Terraria is an adventure unlike any other.
We’d never had that much time to spend on a game together, we’ll likely never again.
Terraria was the perfect game to get lost in together.
I’ll always treasure it for that.
Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters
75.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
ArmitageV:The best combat system in gaming.
The best final boss in gaming.
One single sword, if fully mastered, is deadly enough.
Resident Evil 4 (2023)
WhigBullMoose:What’re you buying?
Horrifying, scary, but nailing those headshots is so fun.
I love the new characterizations and writing.
Ashley’s new design was sorely needed.
As per usual with Capcom’s recent titles, the sound design is superb.
Just an overall blast of a game with incredible replay value.
Agnol117:A fantastic update to the original.
Captures the spirit and modernizes it perfectly.
Undertale
Shazbut:Probably the greatest morality play ever made.
Undertale is pure lightness and confidence.
From the first moment, the game goes wherever Toby Fox wants it to go.
mrMan:Full of charm!
Hopefully the sequel can recover and pull it off once again…
71.
Dragon Age: Origins
70.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
KenTWOu:I think I played it twice, then played Directors Cut.
I think it still holds up.
It looks great, sounds great, plays great.
And it was kinda refreshing to see (and listen to) a happy dev team for a change.
Like they were really, really proud of what they achieved.
I wished Square Enix didnt mess up its sequel and let devs continue the trilogy.
I hope theyre still that happy despite all of that.
Crusader Kings III
68.
Soma
Jake Lowder:This game destroyed me… and for that I am in Frictional Games' debt.
Soma is oppressive and uncomfortable.
What’s more uncomfortable are the scenarios this game deals with.
As much as I’d like to gush about why I love this game so much.
It’s a game that should be experienced with as little narrative information as possible.
I recommend it to everyone who wants to challenge their idea of true horror.
Karl Drinkwater (author):Thought-provoking, scary, original.
Queen Bum Eggs of Beef World:Incredible scary atmosphere and a pioneer of safe mode.
Alien: Isolation did a much better job in these regards.
Though annoying in its sneaking gameplay Soma was terrifying in its themes.
Life Is Strange
I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze:Did this fully capture the way teenagers talk?
Is it a profound bildungsroman that rivals the literary greats?
Did it always strike the right balance between the magical and the mundane?
The feels were had and the music was on point.
Dota 2
MyrddinE:This is one of the most complex and engaging PvP team games in existence.
And unlike similar games you do not have to pay for (or earn) heroes.
You get them all, immediately.
Which is good, because you START being less of a noob as you pass 1000 hours.
Martin Aaby:Dota 2 is the thinking masochist’s game.
Miles ahead in its genre, and a game other PvP games could take design-lessons from.
BloatedGuppy#5073:A game so granular and demanding it offers bottomless play for the invested.
Suffers only from a toxic community and blame-funneling gameplay loop.
ElSparko:The original one.
It was exactly my kind of game.
There wasn’t much reason to go back, but the galaxy felt larger when you knew you could.
Dwarf Fortress
Caff:The ultimate emergent story-teller.
Honestly if it weren’t for nostalgia, I’d probably admit it’s the better sneaker.
Godwhacker:The Hound Pitts is the best pub in gaming.
What more could I ask for?
cbhv4321:Dishonored is the best immersive sim ever made.
Every mechanic is fully utilized, and it encourages the player to fully utilize them as well.
Its artstyle is incredible and despite going for realism, still holds up today.
Its gameplay is incredibly satisfying, and its maps are some of the best of any game ever made.
And that exactly is the result of incredibly good design - incredibly fun gameplay.
Gloomy:Lovely stuff.
Let’s have more games concerned with actual people and actual emotions and less about shooting/driving/jumping/kicking yo.
the_less_deceived:An absolute heart crusher.
Queen Bum Eggs of Beef World:Still the best walking sim.
Quake
quasiotter:A few times during the mid-2010s, I tried the shareware maps.
This plagued me because the weirdness of this game felt like it was tailor-made for me.
Just a year later, I started making maps and ended up creating more than 20.
Nothing will ever top this one for me.
What more can a gamer ask for?
David Edwards:Hyper Light Drifter is a game where you live in desperation.
You are foreign in a foreign land.
The experiences of the character and player are deeply intertwined - visceral and unrelenting in their representation.
Tom Spell:A meditative journey through beautiful, desolate world perfectly accented with sharp action.
A Short Hike
Pertusaria:This is such a beautiful game.
The kid played it from scratch again recently and it was a delight to revisit.
Just the right balance of wandering around and having things to do.
I must go back and catch all the fish, do all the races and so on.
A great soundtrack too.
slick_named_pimpback:A really short experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Most recommended
58.
Thief: The Dark Project
I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze:Unparalleled atmosphere.
Nearly every adventure game since has followed in its footsteps.
Gloomy:Still the definitive point-and-click adventure, with the smartest, sassiest humour around.
juan_h:I have played this game at least a little every year since 1999.
Some years I play it a lot.
Alpha Centauri isnt perfect, but its so damned good.
Its got an excellent story, quite possibly the first ever to grace the genre, and excellent writing.
Its got factions which are more than just a collection of bonuses.
Its got mag tubes!
The Hunter Seeker Algorithm!
So much good stuff.
In this one, doing so means condemning your favorite to hell.
Its a unique twist which, when combined with the story, is super emotional.
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
Kiiiiim:The ultimate strategy game.
Xavier:The fourth instalment of Sid Meier’s classic series is probably its best.
The expansions are great and there are a gazillion mods that are truly labors of love by the community.
Isaac Kelley:One.
Rimworld
MyrddinE:This game takes Dwarf Fortress, and makes the scope smaller.
These games (colony sims) are best when they’re viewed as story generators.
Focusing on fewer colonists lets you get better attached to them as individuals.
oneleg:The setting.
Paired with an excellent multiplayer mod this is a game that keeps on giving execellent gaming experiences.
Which are apparently salt deposits leftover from sweating.
The moon operates on accurate lunar cycles.
Opossums pretend to be dead when threats, including the player, are nearby.
0wlbear:Another RICH game!
Its mechanics are introduced and developed with grace and humour.
This feels like a game tailor-made for my neurons.
The best puzzle game since the Portals.
Thankfully my concerns were unfounded because the finished game is sublime.
Heaven’s Vault
Caff:The ultimate archaeological adventure across time and space.
Emperor of the Tuna Fish:Learning a language has never been so much fun!
Oooh that little apostrophe-looking thing implies it’s like owned by something!
I’m doing it, dad!
Team Fortress 2
Clancy:Near ruined my university experience by draining hours of my time playing with housemates.
Stellaris
MyrddinE:This 4X game is every science fiction trope in a single game.
you’re able to be the Gek, the Sith, the Foundation.
I don’t judge.
And it’s a pretty excellent strategy game too!
Kevin:SPACE!!!
I can play it solo or with friends and either way it’s a great time.
It allows for and even rewards tall play in ways that earlier iterations often didnt.
The one-unit-per-tile rule makes military operations considerably more interesting than the old doom-stack days.
Finally, for reasons I cannot fully explain, it is undoubtedly the most relaxing game I own.
Invisible Pete:I was hooked with the original Civilization bringing many friends and acquaintances into the series.
Civilization V seemed to have the right amount of refinement, as well as playability.
Just one more turn…
45.
Europa Universalis IV
Sonthonax:Games like Civilization make you feel like you are playing with history.
Europa Universalis made me feel like I was playing IN history.
As an early modern historian, I am obviously biased towards the game’s enormous amount of flavour.
The game does a great job at simulating the mechanics of the period.
I surprised myself by plundering a continent so I could pay for my European wars.
It is great because it feels so utterly complete.
Nothing is out of place, and nothing is there without purpose.
It really is game development at its best.
quasiotter:I’ve never met a game that was as brilliantly designed as this.
And they’re extremely kind and cute and radiate warmth, and you want to marry them.
This is a well-oiled machine built out of childhood nostalgia and the mysterious possibilities promised by an instruction manual.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
pandiculator:What could I say here that hasn’t been said?
It is by turns repulsive and attractive, flexible and straightforward, generous and callous.
A masterpiece, after its extensive fan-patching.
Pavel:Still remember playing Bloodlines for the first time.
That song in the main menu.
Talking with bleeding Mercurio.
I finished Bloodlines three times and I want to finish it many more times.
I just hope we will someday get that cursed proper sequel.
It’s not where you think.
Kiiiiim:Great story and characters.
Lots of choice and consequence.
Karl Drinkwater:I felt like I was in the city, a vampire.
Namename:Practically its own subgenre at this point, just like FTL.
While it combines many pre-existing ideas everything is so slick that it is a definitive strategy title.
I love seeing what is going to happen, feeling stumped and making the best of a bad situation.
XCOM makes me feel cheated, Into the Breach makes me feel cold and calculating, masterful.
ElTiempo:It is the best tactics game ever made.
Most other stealth games just challenge your reload button.
Emergent puzzle design and storytelling shouldn’t look this simple.
Factorio
MyrddinE:Endless fiddling.
cbhv4321:Factorio perfected factory games.
But no other game does factory gameplay as well as Factorio - not even close.
It’s impossible to quit, and definitely one of the best games ever made.
Garrison Fox:I played Factorio during the worst of the pandemic.
Stardew Valley
pandiculator:Another video game that is a love letter, Stardew does so many things right.
A great game to get lost in the playing of.
Adam in Kent:I hate farming simulation games, I said, booting this up.
Hundreds of hours later and I stand by that, Stardew was a life simulator for me.
WhigBullMoose:Never before has there been a game that keeps me coming back as much as Stardew Valley.
Also, a surprisingly good multiplayer experience.
Mass Effect 2
Joel:Still the most fun I’ve had with a group of virtual friends.
It’s done companions better than any other game.
Each companion is unique in their own way and feel real.
The story starts with a bang and ramps up from there.
Laneford :Guns & Conversation (& the suicide mission).
It’s worth playing the whole trilogy but the second chapter stands out the most.
the_less_deceived:The crew and your bonds with the crazy collection of personalities.
Mahdi:The last mission of ME2 is a masterpiece and the perfect climax.
Lets hope we see the like again before Psychonauts 3.
0wlbear:Great game from a scrappy team that deserves love!
Birky2002:It would be higher on the list if it brought back Mr Pokeylope.
Jake Lowder:My first and favorite Double Fine game was Psychonauts.
While everyone and everything feels so familiar, it also feels very new!
It’s a very human game in a cartoon fantasy world.
It let me gain new perspectives that the first game sometimes fell short on.
Thank you to everyone at Double Fine who made this game possible, I love y’all.
Shazbut:Arkane’s magnum opus and probably the best immersive sim in gaming.
So much design complexity pulled off seemingly effortlessly.
They’d created the same atmosphere.
The space felt alive.
You could lose yourself in it.
I’d forgotten how much I longed for this.
Godwhacker:It’s the best immersive sim ever made.
It also has an art deco space station.
Jake Lowder:Masterful writing, a haunting atmosphere, and a smart approach to level design.
KenTWOu:Sadly I wasnt impressed by System Shock 2.
As a result a little too much RPG numbers for my taste.
It also ditched some really cool features.
So for years I was thinking about what a modern System Shock game might be.
Arkanes Prey exceeded almost all my expectations.
It also has one of the best intros in video games, if not the best.
Alasseo:The zenith of the immersive sim, so far.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Garrison Fox:My favorite narrative-driven game of all time.
Mass Effect isn’t about the gameplay.
It’s not even about the apocalyptic story at its centre.
Okay, maybe not Ashley.
Point is, the character writing and world-building in this epic space romp are unparalleled.
Sigh, I miss old Bioware.
Agnol117:The ideal way to play the trilogy.
Love and hate your supporting cast, witness their amazing stories, save a honking galaxy.
It’s sometimes very smart and sometimes very dumb, but it’s never boring.
Also, Mordin »> Garrus, fight me!
Grim Fandango
Kiiiiim:It’s still the perfect game.
Great story and puzzles.
Fantastic voice acting and music.
Birky2002:Style, wit, an incredible soundtrack, and everyone’s favourite orange polygon… Glottis.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
Allie:I have very rarely played a “proper” Civ game.
Plus, there are mods for aesthetics and hopeful spirit too!
Chris M.:The latest in the greatest strategy game series of all time.
This was enough for me to fall in love with this grim and depressing world.
ElSparko:What can change the nature of a man?
If only I would know.
slick_named_pimpback:What can change the nature of a man?
Perhaps a journey across planes, trying to find the answer to your own immortality?
Invisible, Inc.
Kevin:Cyberpunk stealth X-Com distilled into clever little randomly generated puzzles.
timsmith:It turns out XCOM + stealth is a winning combination.
That, or I just got lucky a lot!
AnoSi:The combination of stealth and push-your-luck create a tense atmosphere.
Really perfects the feeling of leading a team of stealthy infiltrators.
Mahdi:I played Half-Life 2 so many times I feel its rhythm in my veins when playing it.
Martin Aaby:It was an evolution.
It’s a classic, it’s Valve firering on all cylinders, doing what they do best.
I don’t think we will see such a leap forward again in our lifetime.
My version of video game comfort food.
Kevin:It’s gross, but once you get past that the strategy of combat feels great.
This was my first roguelike and I compare all the rest to it.
Mahdi:you’re able to urinate on poop.
That’s pretty unique, gotta admit.
Pentiment
PolygonClassicist:Best enjoyed with a Bavarian-style beer, Pentiment has a great sense of place.
Moreover, their lives continue to exist even when Andreas isnt interacting with them.
There are no easy answers to the problems of Tassing.
Not to the murders, the towns issues, or the factional disputes.
But Pentiment reminds us that change will come, no matter how much we want to resist it.
A beautiful, slow-paced journey into philosophy and sociology.
Pentiment made me care about a whole town of people.
Each interaction and choice can put a weight on your shoulders.
It’s a game that makes you ponder humanity and how we perceive people.
You are faced with the reality of the expectations we bestow on others.
slick_named_pimpback:Things change as time passes by.
It’s obvious, but we rarely see it in video games.
Most often we’re just visitors, tourists that will never come back.
How certain events are or will be remembered depending on your choices.
Inside
Xavier:A rich, mysterious story told entirely without words, within creepy yet gorgeous environments.
There’s something mind-blowing at every corner.
Namename:Even without the ending, it’s great.
I’ve watched several people play it, which probably makes me a borderline sadist.
ElTiempo:Someone yo explain the last 15 minutes to me.
Game had incredible legs via mods, and some of the richest tactical gameplay to ever grace the medium.
Germansuplex:XCOM 2 (including the expansion) is a big, broad, endlessly replayable tactics romp.
Kentucky Route Zero
Kiiiiim:Maybe the best story ever written in a computer game.
Incredible Twin Peaks atmosphere.
Closest a computer game has been to art.
Maybe the best music scene in a game ever.
Kentucky Route Zero is the only game that gives me that feeling.
Its also full of characters experiencing real-world struggles.
Plus, the bluegrass numbers are top tier.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
the_less_deceived:An incredibly creative game with loads of potential ways to play.
Literary and smart as hell.
Adam in Kent:I’ve never finished The Sopranos.
I appreciate how good it is, breaking off lumps of it every so often.
I’m in no rush.
DOS2 is the exact same thing in video game form.
Love the writing, the characters, the sense of play overlapping the dice rolls and structure.
A treat, that I may never finish, but a treat nonetheless.
Joel:The best CRPG ever made.
So many combinations, paths, choices, and fun fights to take part in.
Citizen Sleeper
AnoSi:Citizen Sleeper is the perfect expression of community and home.
It also makes you really want to eat mushrooms.
Not the trippy kind.
cpt_freakout:I cant get over how special this game is.
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows Of Amn
Kiiiiim:A massive classical role playing game.
Great story and characters.
Best D&D ruleset.
Martin Aaby:It’s peak RPG and the most uncompromising version of a tabletop RPG on a PC.
A lot of RPG standards were set with this series and a lot have yet to be surpassed.
And it was challenging, to boot.
A genre-defining, or perhaps mastering, game.
ElSparko:The continuation of the ultimate adventure.
Bigger maps, bigger NPCs, bigger villains.
Why is it called Baldur’s Gate when it plays in Athkatla?
It’s been a long journey from Candlekeep all the way to the Throne of Bhaal.
Sacrifices were made, friendships formed.
Now that all is over, there’s no need for a sequel in my book.
Emperor of the Tuna Fish:Look, it’s not an addiction, okay?
Gotta have that FRESH campaign.
PolygonClassicist:Really, Im voting for the entire trilogy.
But I chose Total Warhammer III because of the Immortal Empires campaign.
Its just damn great to watch in action.
ElTiempo:Its the GOAT platformer and its had a long tail for a reason.
More games need to have the message “go climb a mountain and find yourself”.
Garrison Fox:This knocked out Super Meat Boy as my favorite difficult platformer.
How does Tamriel feel like a place I’ve been?
dracorogue:I’ve put 1000s of hours into this across a lot of characters.
I’ve modded it to oblivion to get new experiences.
This is my go-to game when I’m severely depressed and need to get away from it all.
This game is the ultimate game, at least ‘til Starfield comes out.
Invisible Pete:Played all the previous games in The Elder Scrolls series.
Yet fate decreed this murky wilderness, with pretty awful first-person melee combat, was the chosen one.
Viscount:It does show its knickers a bit with the repetitive sidequests but I sunk hours into this.
Joel:Skyrim’s open world is, in my mind, still unbeaten.
It’s full of surprises, not mere fetch quests or collectables, but quests.
Caff:I took an arrow to the knee.
Subnautica
Queen Bum Eggs of Beef World:A gorgeous, terrifying underwater world to explore.
The most jaw dropping moments I’ve ever experienced in a game.
Garrison Fox:I had never been into survival games until I tried Subnautica.
It’s quite literally an immersive experience.
pandiculator:The best horror game on PC.
Half-joking aside, Subnautica provides an excellent atmosphere for its survive-em-up.
It is alien and beautiful, and the early exploration feels exciting with just a hint of curious danger.
One of the very best there ever was at nailing its sense of purpose all the way through.
WhigBullMoose:Must go deeper.
Martin Aaby:It was a phenomenon, hidden away as part of a box-set.
It’s tightly and masterfully executed in both style, presentation and gameplay.
Its vision is more focused than that of the (also exceptional) sequel.
It’s also unmatched at environmental storytelling - no audio logs here!
There is nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said.
is one of my favourite gaming memories.
StingingVelvet:Still the most amazing and unique world ever created.
pandiculator:This game has poisoned me with nostalgia, and I’m okay with it.
Yes, playing it through a modern lens diminishes its light somewhat, as it did not age gracefully.
Gloomy:Zero-to-hero simulator.
and deeply ambiguous lore that you might analyze forever.
Slay The Spire
Isaac Kelley:As of yet, still the best deckbuilder.
I’ve put 600 hours into this game and I still come back.
Then comes the realization, oh man, this run could bethe one.
It probably isnt, but suddenly youre ALL IN.
The balance of Slay the Spire is undoubtedly better and it will always be the best game ever.
Except for Monster Train.
Incredible design making an almost infinitely replayable game.
Some of the games it inspired are great (like Monster Train), just less so.
ElderBeagle:The pinnacle of roguelite strategy for me.
So finely tuned and balanced I have yet to find a game that comes close.
I have over 300 hours in this game I still go back a few times every year.
But eventually, one brick comes loose and falls out.
You probe at it, study its structure, see how it fits in its place.
Then you dislodge another, then another.
Before you know it, you’ve turned into an unstoppable God.
That’s Slay The Spire for you.
Great diversity of playstyle depending on your starting ship and what devices you manage to find via RNG.
Plus the soundtrack is killer.
timsmith:FTL is my most played game ever.
It’s my go-to comfort game, the perfect level of engaging yet relaxing.
Isaac Kelley:I always wanted to like space games but never did, until FTL came along.
This game captured my desire to be a starship crew like no game, before or since has.
For someone who dislikes any rogue-ish elements this is the addictive exception.
ElderBeagle:One of the all-time best roguelites and was the game that ignited my passion for the genre.
Still playable and fun all these years later.
Chris M.:Somehow combines a race against time with whimsical space exploration.
David Edwards:The game that launched a thousand roguelikes.
Karl Drinkwater (author):Because I’ve played it so much.
The lore, the musical score and a million things more.
ElSparko:I was confused when this game first made a top RPG spot on RPS.
It took Dark Souls 3 to convince me to play the original.
And man, was I wrongly judging those games.
It’s not about bragging rights and masochistic difficulty.
Dark Souls tells its story through enemy encounters and world building alike.
Words don’t do it justice.
The more games come out, the longer this list grows.
It’s the closest that video games or any art form in general can come to being… magical.
Would a game come along that would also surpass this feeling for me?
I don’t know.
But even if it never does, I would be okay with it.
Laneford :No one needs to hear more about why this is good.
Minecraft
oneleg:Bought and booted the alpha back in 2010.
Was blown away and got totally addicted for two years.
Never happened before or since.
cbhv4321:Infinite creativity, executed better than every other game ever has.
It does so much to spark your creativity and drive you to make cool shit.
Every mechanic in some form pushes you to do something cool.
mrMan:One of the most widely accesible games was the foundation of my digital childhood!
No list of great games is complete without this legend, and nobody can prove me wrong!
Hades
ElderBeagle:A beautiful and surprisingly emotional action roguelite.
I never knew I wanted a coherent story in my roguelite games until this came along.
Clancy:I have 200 hours in Hades and completed it 100% on PC.
Then again on Switch.
Then again on Steam Deck.
The attention to detail is stunning and there are plenty of little easter eggs to satisfy the mythology nerds.
Chris M.:Supergiant’s masterpiece take on the roguelike formula in a Greek mythology setting.
you’re free to pet the (biggest!)
Caesar’s Legion were a real WTF moment for me.
The real magic is that, even after three playthroughs, that feeling never quite faded.
Surprisingly few occurrences of Morton’s fork in this game.
Would be higher if it wasn’t creaking so much, but STILL a great game.
the_less_deceived:Two words: Yes Man.
Martin Aaby:Beautiful, vast and dauntingly dangerous.
That would be enough, but it’s also attached to the best Souls game ever made.
WhigBullMoose:I always bounced off Dark Souls because I really don’t have the time to git gud.
Maybe one day I’ll actually beat it.
Tons of types of enemies and locations and awesome items to have fun with.
It’s a true fantasy experience.
SeekerX:Marika damn me, there’s a whole lot of game here.
Adam in Kent:This will probably be my number one, in time.
0wlbear:Such a RICH game!
Portal 2
Queen Bum Eggs of Beef World:It’s Portal 2. the_less_deceived:No other gaming experience like it.
Incredible gameplay, awesome puzzles, and hilarious writing.
No game had me laughing out loud so often.
ElTiempo:This was the first game I played coop with my son.
Jake Lowder:Valve at their finest.
Portal 2 opens up more fun possibilities and gets you thinking creatively and feeling like a master problem solver.
The puzzles are varied, keep you on your toes and are incredibly satisfying.
The miscommunications and accidents that happen add that much more to the joy of the game.
The framing and attention to detail make each screenshot of this game a work of fine art.
Simply one of the best games ever made.
It is a little more timing oriented than Portal, but largely does not require appreciable dexterity to complete.
Thats not the future we were promised.
Pavel:Back in 2001, I played Metal Gear Solid and No One Lives Forever.
Little did I know that my dream game was already made and released and it was called Deus Ex.
Playing it (in 2002), it was everything I dreamed about and more.
Peeling back layers of conspiracy has never been so much fun.
It is said that just mentioning this game will make you reinstall it.
I might do so as well.
Look, there’s my brother Paul greeting me on Liberty Island.
Deus Ex is all about player freedom.
Or find an open window to crawl through!
Or scale the building and drop down through a vent!
Or create a distraction to lure a guard out to fire up the door!
The possibilities are endless!
Viscount:The game which first showed ‘games can be so much more’.
StingingVelvet:The OG immersive sim with that funky music.
Hollow Knight
Adam in Kent:Best soundtrack and atmosphere in any game I have played.
SeekerX:Hollow Knight is a masterpiece of world design and gameplay.
Cute, creepy, epic.
I love this game.
Birky2002:I sometimes greet my partner my making the random Hollow Knight bug noises at them.
“Oh ee aw”.
Namename:I’m more excited for its sequel than any other game coming out.
It’s the sense of exploration combined with the artwork I think.
Gameplay is good, okay, but the world… WOW.
Chris M.:Somehow they made bugs cute.
And a wonderfully detailed and intricate metroidvania.
the_less_deceived:Soulful, poetic, and a real thrill to play.
You feel like a proper hero when you take down its bosses.
A game to play for 100ish hours, and lose yourself in.
Tom Spell:The worst thing about Hollow Knight is its price.
I feel bad paying so little for a true masterpiece.
Martin Aaby:An absolute masterclass in designing an open world while also telling a story.
Everything is alive and feels lived in.
Isaac Kelley:Forget all the world-building and story-telling.
I’m here for the Gwent.
The Gwent in this game is better than the Gwent in Gwent the video game.
That’s how good this game is.
Gilmir:No other game that I played comes even close to create such a living world.
Quest design is simply amazing.
Every sidequest is a story.
Some small, some big.
All of them pretty unique.
In the end, the main quest is probably the weakest part of the game.
Germansuplex:The existence of The Witcher 3 is simply unfair to every other western fantasy RPG out there.
It just leaves them in the dust across the board.
Story, characters, world-building, writing, quest design, sheer quantity and quality of basically everything.
Even the combat isn’t bad, contrary to popular (wrong) belief.
Viscount:The most brilliantly realised game world - so rich.
From the mud of Velen to the living city of Novigrad.
Characters here just feel like real people.
CD Projekt delivered like nobody else ever has.
Return Of The Obra Dinn
Germansuplex:A detective game with some actual detecting?
With an iconic art style?
A fascinating story being told piece by piece?
Designed and programmed by ONE person?
Sounds crazy, but it’s all true.
Caff:A proper detective game, that makes you go “ah HA!”
The world’s greatest logic puzzle.
Ticking off the dead like cargo as you observe the strange and sad fate of this ship.
But then I was full to the kraken’s eyeballs on IV antibiotics, so who knows.
Laneford :The best designed game of all time.
I’ve never felt so clever and so stupid playing (and discussing) a game.
Return Of The Obra Dinn is a masterful example of this.
That is why it is uniquely a great game, and why you should play it.
Godwhacker:The best insurance assessor simulation ever made.
ElTiempo:This game is like reading a book over and over again.
Each scene, though no different, feels completely different each time you revisit it.
Kevin:This game made me feel like Sherlock Holmes.
Did I love the game that much, or did I not want the time loop to ever end?
TheStreamLife:It’s one of the only true exploration games, being honest.
Both the base game and DLC made me go OHHH more than any other game.
David Edwards:Music is at the heart of Outer Wilds.
That experience alone is what makes Outer Wilds truly great and something everyone who loves games should experience once.
mapletea:My favourite, most memorable experience in 30+ years of gaming.
BuckZero:No other game has blown my mind so thoroughly and so repeatedly.
Viscount:Not a single ounce of fat or bloat - the most focused exploration and puzzle game ever.
A genius loop metric.
Every detail original and mindblowing.
Full of aha moments and it all, in its own logic world, makes perfect sense.
I will forever search for another experience like Outer Wilds.
It is an experience that couldn’t be replicated in any other way and is both mindblowing and unforgettable.
The motion of its world within the time loop is both a technical and artistic achievement.
It is unfortunately difficult to describe the game more specifically without spoiling it.
But if there is a game you must absolutely play, it is this one.
An immensely satisfying mystery to unravel.
KenTWOu:There will be lots of people who would give this game 10 points it truly deserves.
It’s the best in almost every aspect.
All I can say that its the real reason why Men in Blacks memory eraser should exist.
Never forget Contact Mike.
syllopsium:A unique, inventive take on RPGs that doesn’t hold back from addressing life issues.
Stunning art, mysticism, and many paths to the end.
Who can forget the anarchist tie, too!
AnoSi:Disco Elysium has one of the best portrayals of addiction as an inner struggle in gaming.
And there’s always some small amount of hope.
Even today, AAA games often feature soulless dialogue and trite plotlines.
slick_named_pimpback:I love the rather bold decision to get rid of combat altogether.
To let you retry ability checks so that you’re never blocked from progressing.
To set the game in non-fantasy, down to earth setting.
That’s when I know I care for the game.
Caff:It speaks to all aspects of your reptilian brain with sparkling and poetic language.
The lead character Harry Dubois is a total mess, but aren’t we all?
It’s Marquez meets Bukowski meets Raymond Chandler with a side order of China Mielville.
And it’s got Kim!
Tom Spell:It’s still hard to believe this game even exists.
If the multiverse theory is true, we are one of the lucky few dimensions that got it.
Matthew Parsons:Lots of games are huge and empty.
It is gamings most satisfying pocket universe.
You will have face the consequences either way.
Polyhop:The writing is just too good, the world fascinating and art evocative.
the_less_deceived:Wicked smart, emotionally crushing, and conceptually rich.
Never experienced a game like it.
Gloomy:“Murder was the case that they gave me!”
“Ah, the unpromising race pupil returns!”
“Life is hard…
But we go on…” “Cuno doesn’t f****** care.”
