The Outer Wilds. IMO, non-violence-based gameplay design is an underexplored space, especially in 3-D games. The Outer Wilds manages to feel like a fully-fledged game, rather than a traditional walking simulator, using exploration as it's core gameplay loop.

Further, it's main progression system is you, the out-of-game player, learning about the world. There's no abilities you gain or keys you have to find. You unlock new areas, not as a programmed game mechanic, but as a function of reasoning about what you've discovered and gaining insight into how the game world works. Any playthrough could be beaten in about 15 minutes -- there's nothing physically blocking you from triggering the end of the game -- but it takes you 15 hours or so of flying around the solar system to accrue the necessary insight to get there.

It's really a special game.

Tetris. Tetris is the King.

Definitely the original portal.

I'm generally not an FPS guy, but the puzzle game in the FPS format was really cool to see.

And when you finally do beat the game you can't help but think...

"This is a triumph"

Ocarina of Time.

Mass Effect. The one game I wish I could entirely erase my memory of and do it all again. <3

Titanfall 2 is the most fun I've had with a video game. The movement is so amazingly fluid, it's like Quake or Unreal Tournament but with more verticality, and then there's the Titans themselves, which feel like awesome weapons of war, yet not insurmountable to a skilled pilot on foot. Everything from the gameplay balance to the mechanics to the visuals and sound design is incredible, and the single-player story was very touching and exactly long enough to satisfy you without overstaying its welcome. I'm gutted that we're probably never getting a Titanfall 3.

Elder Scrolls III Morrowind. Everything in that game feels so different than anything else, including the other Elder Scrolls.

Super Mario World

DDR probably. Helped me lose a bunch of weight and actually get reasonably healthy.

Satisfactory.

I love making efficient systems and the freedom to do things the way I want to, such as by using the game's alternate recipe system.

The exploration and movement systems in the game are also to notch. It's not quite Titanfall, but I struggle to think of any other game where simply moving around is so fun. That's on top of how pretty the actual environment is to explore.

Stardew valley

Outer Wilds and 2nd place isn't even close

Final Fantasy VII (the original)

Elden Ring

Skyrim because it's not just vanilla skyrim.

Vanilla skyrim is good, but skyrim is also modded skyrim.

Some of those mods are basically games in their own right. And not average games either. Enderal and The forgotten city have won awards and are genuinely great.

You can easily spend a thousand hours playing Skyrim and that's saying something for a game that doesn't rely on grinding or have an online mode.

Tough choice as there are a lot of games I love, but I think I’d pick The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It’s definitely my favourite in the Zelda series.

The Sims 2 was really cheesy but had a lot of in-depth gameplay that balanced it out. The only thing better was The Sims 3, but it didn’t have as much charm.

Oblivion.

I think I was 12 or so when I first played it and absolutely no other moment in gaming in my life beats the pure joy and ecstasy I felt when, on my second start of the game, instead of leaving the sewers and going straight to Vilverin, I turned around and found the Imperial City and ran to it, being amazed that I just could do it and the game just let me do it. It was the first time I understood the concept of an open world game.

My first start of the game I went straight to Vilverin and couldn't go down the first flight of stairs because I was looting everything and I got over-encumbered. I'm not a native English speaker, and at the time I didn't understand what that word meant, so I just thought I didn't something wrong since I couldn't move or do anything and just decided to start again.

Minecraft: easily in the tens of thousands of hours played. I have been and continue to play it on and off with some regularity

Jagged Alliance 2

Super Metroid. Still holds up after so long.

I'm honestly stuck between Tetris (basically any form of it) and the entire Binding of Isaac series. I have put countless hours into these games and they're the ones I constantly go back to, no matter what.

Left 4 Dead 2. It's not my favorite game, or what I think is the best game of all time, but it's definitely my most played by more than 1k hours. The game hits a sweet spot in terms of tactical gameplay that's almost chess-like in its level of complexity, balance, and replay-ability. The fact that it was released 14 years ago and still has a massive modding community and playerbase speaks to its quality. It's also on sale on Steam right now for $.99, and as it uses the Source engine, runs well on the most basic of potatoes.

Age Of Empires. I still play to this day!

Witcher 3 is, for me, the best single player game I've every played. Though Ocarina of Time comes a close second - and I never even played it on release only years later when I bought an N64 at uni.

For multiplayer, however, you can't beat Halo with a load of mates round and a crate of beer.

Curse of Monkey Island, not even close.

I spent like 15 years of my life on World of Warcraft through all the good and bad, but it was the friends I made and the late night messing around that was the fun.

This is a hard call, and after a lot of self-deliberation...It must be Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the updated 3DS version. It's a moody, dark, and interesting title within the Zelda game series! The deadline before the world ends pushes the player to figure out the most efficient way to make progress to save the world. The updated Bomber Journal makes this experience so tight and compelling!

Final Fantasy VII, it's the most pefect game made by human hands.

Command and Conquer, it's one of the few things I can remember fondly sharing with my dad growing up. Also it has such a great soundtrack.

I started with a super nes - super mario world will always be my game!

EarthBound

Probably Life is Strange. It did a lot for me in my mid-late 20s.

#ArcadiaBaeNotBay

considers

I think that it'd have to be something with a lot of replayability, which doesn't lose value to me after one playthrough.

Also, it can't be a genre where the game was limited by technology. I mean, I remember Wolfenstein 3D being amazing when it came out relative to other games of the time -- walking around in a 3D world was so mind-blowing -- but the novelty of that technology has long-since worn off, and there are many more-impressive 3D games today.

I guess roguelikes are probably about the top of the heap there, and my favorite is probably Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. I still regularly play that, which seems to me to be a good test of whether it's still at the top of my list.

Burnout 3: Takedown

Mario Kart 64