Taleweaver's top 220 games of all time...

So before all hell broke lose early this year, I thought it’d be a good idea to take a look back at not just the a list of my favorite games of the past ten years but to list up ALL my favorite games. But as soon as I started inventarising, I realised it’d be an impossible task. There is no absolute quality treat as to what I consider quality, and mix in different genres (I like everything). And with the amount of games I’ve played in my 39 years on this planet, and it’s even more impossible. Heh...If I would list all ports, emulated games I’ve tried, board games and expansions/DLC separately, I might even cross 2020 games. But I doubt many would read an entire list if about half of those entries were things like “I’ve tried this game for five minutes but then it crashed and I never played it again. Were good five minutes, though ”. So instead, I’ll go with 220 games instead. More so: my 220 favorite video games. And I’ll mostly attempt to stick to one of a franchise, though there are a few exceptions when the sequels do more than ‘just the same thing with better graphics’.

This obviously is a personal list (and mentions the platform I've played it most on, not on where it was available). Not only haven’t I played even close to what I want to play, but some games I would remember different long afterwards. That’s just how things go...

Here goes...

220. North & south (DOS): a curious one from the era before game genres (1989): a two-player head to head featuring the blueskirts (a Belgian strip on the civil war) that is mostly worker placement, but has some platforming and battlefield gameplay as well. Got good memories playing this one co-op.

219. Z (windows): after C&C, there were many clones entering the field. Z was one of those. It added the curiosity of area control, thus making it a MOBA years before it became a thing. It’s fast paced and frantic, with fun characters (okay, they’re basically the turtles in robot form).

218. Clive Barker’s undying (windows): another oldie. A ‘doom clone’ this time, though IIRC it was one of the games using the first unreal engine. Either way: it’s a shooter/horror mix with my (then) favorite author in the title. As far as shooters go, it was pretty decent. Didn’t age well, though.

217. Trine 2 (wiiu): got this on release day of the wiiu. Incredibly pretty platformer, but kind of cheesy. You can solve most if not all the puzzles with enough boxes.

216. Fez (windows): pixelated perspective fun! This isn’t so low on the list because of controversy but because it didn’t grab me that much.

215. Badlands (android): at the time one of the best android games. And remarkable what “just one button” can mean for a game.

214. Kororinpa (wii): when it came to motion controls, nintendo did all the innovative stuff. Well...except for this one: you just roll your marble through a 3D-ish maze. Kind of childish theme, but relaxing to play

213. Triple town (windows): bejeweled mixed with city building. Three gras form a bush, three bush a tree, three trees a small house, and so on. If the bears weren’t introduced to mess up your plans, I’d probably still be building stuff right now.

212. Scorched earth (DOS): worms later popularized the concept, but this is one we sneakily played in computer class: you set your missile speed and angle and hope you’ll hit your opponent before he hits you. Then you buy extra weapons. What wowed me most was the huge amount of options in the game (especially the option to increase explosions so large bombs blew away over half of the screen )

211. The static speaks my name(windows): it’s free, it’s fifteen minutes...and it’s more horrifying than many hours long horror games. If you really want to know how depression looks like: this game shows it in a creepingly disturbing way.

210. Eldritch(windows): at first glance, it was like (original) wolfenstein 3D with some Lovecraftian theme. That would, however, not do it justice. You have some weapons, but you won’t survive if you don’t avoid the monsters. At the very least, it’s an interesting game. I had a lot of fun with it, but I’m just not good enough for roguelikes (or is this a roguelite? You unlock new chapters, but if you don’t go to the first part to grab extra gear, the second is just extra impossible).

209. Kirby epic yarn(wii): okay, I’ll level with y’all: I don’t like this game. There are easy games, very easy games...and kirby epic yarn hits rock bottom here (you literally CANNOT FAIL). Why is it on this list? Because it’s about the best co-op experience you can have with newbie gamers (aka: girlfriends).

208. Picross 3D: round 2 (3DS) one I’m currently playing. I’ve played 3D picross before and it felt like a gimmick. Round 2 introduces a second color. In theory this seems like extra madness, but thus far the puzzles are great, the whole atmosphere as well and it’s both very satisfying and different from “regular” picross.

207. Ghostmania (wii): somewhat of a variant on tetris attack: drop blocks, sorting them as much by color as possible. Drop a ‘bubbled block’, and it’ll take out that color. A bit disappointed it never went outside wiiware territory.

206. Bit.trip runner 2 (wiiu): the whole bit.trip series are quirky little gems. Runner 2 is the most normal one, and also the best endless runner game I’ve played (okay, aside from the music levels in rayman legends).

205. Cat lady (android): ugh...talk about a theme that is extremely far removed from what I normally like (cats and the color pink). Despite this, this is an interesting and rather fun little card game. And whomever made the digital port went all out on extras. The result is a small gem that’s easily worth the couple bucks it costs.

204. Hive time (linux): it’s a bee simulator game...or is it an idle game? Either way, it’s an interesting and relaxing sim. Simple, but efficient.

203. The sequence 2 (android): the original is a couple hundred positions lower, in the “wannabe zachtronics games” section. This one is a huge step closer to that compliment. My main problem is that the creator of this game is a genius. Solving a level certainly makes you feel like him, but jeez this game is frustrating if you’ve got “normal” intelligence.

202. Horizon chasers (linux): can be described in one word: “outrun”. It obviously isn’t (try playing it in an emulator once ), but this racing game captures the mood of that sunny californian racer so damn well...

201. Manifold garden (windows): okay...do me a favor and picture google “obscure cities”, perhaps with the words “Schuiten” and “Peeters”, the creators of this graphic novels (though it’s much closer to art than anything story-driven). The images speak better than I can describe the still urban landscapes that have something dark in them despite sometimes overly bright use of colors. Well...manifold garden draws direct inspiration from that, and is a more agoraphobian sequel to antichamber. This one really ought to be higher if it wasn’t for that damn epic store (and me running linux).

200. Unpuzzler (android): a pure relaxing puzzle game. Search which puzzle piece(s) you can remove from the board, and keep going until the board is empty. It’s in the “zen” category of games

199. Enemy mind (windows): a sidescroller with an unique twist that really schools everything else (yes, including all R-type clones): you are merely an ethereal entity. You survive by infiltrating ships and using their ammo and fuel before hopping to the next one. Not only is this darn unique in the genre, but the story is also worth following.

198. Shadow warrior remake (windows): after hard reset, I wasn’t too thrilled trying this game and expected a mindless shooter. And while it doesn’t disappoint, it has a very interesting edge with the sword. If you told me beforehand I’d ever be using my melee weapon in the last stages of a game, I’d thought you were crazy. But shadow warrior pulls it off nicely.

197. Driift mania (wii): top down racers (aka: super off-road) are a dime a dozen. The reason I picked this one is because of fond memories with a former girlfriend of mine. The reason it’s on the wii (and everyone, even including her mother, had a controller of their own) helped.

196. Bridge construction: portal (android): I feel sorry for the makers of bridge construction: they made their game many different ways and I’m about as many times unimpressed. It’s bad if even the addition of portals only helps pull it up to here. Don’t get me wrong: I had fun with this game. But after a while it was just “meh...I don’t care about this” when the next level felt exactly the same again (there’s only so many ways you can construct a bridge).

195. Outland(windows): a game that starts as metroidvania and ends in ikaruga. A very good game, really. It’s just...by the time I reached the end boss, I was just “meh...screw it”. Can’t really say why anymore...

194. Borderlands 1&2 (windows): pixelated art, endless enemies, endless gun variety. What’s not to like? Well...I had fun, but going at it solo diminished things, I guess. And I missed the guns from unreal tournament.

193. Wolfenstein: new order (windows): one of my last AAA-titles before I just couldn’t stomach the repetitioned gameplay elements anymore. Still: good story, good gameplay...I liked it.

192. Hey, that’s my fish (android): a simple area control game: each player puts some pinguins on the hexagonal boards. Then in turn, you move one of ‘em in a straight line to anywhere you want. Your previous position sinks under the surface. Some spots have fish on them, and you try to catch the most. While it looks cute and child-friendly, it’s actually an incredibly cutthroat game where you block and deny passages to others as the board keeps shrinking. It’s mainly here because I played it with my nephew, and he loved it.

191. Isle of skye (android): I thought this a carcassonne clone until I played it. The scoring mechanic is different per round, but that’s a small deviation. No...this game is all about bidding for tiles. Guessing how much a tile is worth, pricing accordingly and grabbing decent-cost tiles is...it’s not my favorite game mechanism, but it’s certainly pulled off great here.

190. The Stanley parable (windows): to be honest, I didn’t like this game at first. “So you go here and the narrator changes?”. Meh. But I had to hand it to the creators: when I jumped to my death in an attempt to prove I wasn’t being narrated, the narrator snarked at me that indeed: I had free will. Well done! So...it’s a game that managed to overcome a bad initial start, and with some fresh humor. Still: a branching walking simulator is still a walking simulator.

189. Onirim (android): a free mobile solitaire game that’s actually good. Why? Well...it has provocative art (think the Babadook or sjamanism). It has an interesting premisse (open the four doors to the dream realm). And it has a lot of tough choices. It’s certainly worth checking out.

188. A virus named Tom (windows): in a way, this reminds me of the older 2D puzzle games I played as a kid. You move around a board, avoiding bugs and rotating plates that turn green once they’re rotated correctly. You win if all the plates are connected/glowing green. The story is saturday afternoon cartoonish (think Hannah Barbera), the gameplay diverse and frantic. It also gets incredibly hard after some time.

187. Dust: an elysian tail (windows): to be honest, I almost forgotten about this one. Sure, it’s beautiful, has fancy combo’s and an interesting gameplay loop. But it doesn’t have any decent “oomph” that keeps it into memory. It’s good in what it does, but I’ve played dozens of similar ones.

186. Despotism 3k (android): oh, boy...there are games where you play the villain...and then you’ve got this one. On the surface, it’s a simple simulator. Increase your population, keep everyone fed, maintain motivation. Oh, and click a few binary choices once in a while. It’s mostly done by dragging up and down, making it simple to play on a phone. The thing is: you basically play the more cruel brother of GladOS. You increase population by forcing reproduction, you keep power by running your peeps in a hamster wheel, and you feed them by dropping your least useful workers in some sort of soylent green creator. Probably the most sadistic game I’ve ever played, and probably more sadistic than e.g. hatred or postal. But man...I can’t keep from grinning just by thinking of it.

185. Smash bros brawl (wii): yup...time for controversy. Yes, it’s on the tail end of my list and yes, it’s the wii version. Here’s why: I don’t like most fighting games, and brawl’s no exception. It’s here mostly because of the cutscenes in subspace emissionary. Don’t like it? Make your own list.

184. Mystic vale(android): one of the most beautiful games I’ve played on android. Soothing nature, calm transitions...everything’s in this game is relaxed. It’s also a virtual card game where you upgrade your cards (yes: you upgrade your cards. Literally). So it’s strategic, tactical and pretty smart. It also has a push-your-luck elemental where you can keep drawing until you’re bust, or play with what you’ve got. The thing is: despite all this, I found it rather boring and unengaging. I recognize quality when I see it, but this just couldn’t keep me coming back for more.

183. Pac-man 256 (windows): pac-man as a roguelike? Yeah...it’s basically eating dots and avoiding ghosts in a procedurally generated environment. But it’s fun trying to eat as much dots as possible while keeping on the run from the nothingness that follows you.

182. Rusted warfare (android): before the C&C remake, RTS’es were something of yesteryear. C&C3, for example, isn’t on this list despite me playing all through it. But while rusted warfare automates harvesting perhaps a little too much, it is without question a decent RTS...on mobile, no less!

181. Renowned explorers (windows): unfortunately for this game, I dislike RPG’s turn based combat systems. This one was interesting because the ‘fights’ are really conversations, so you’re attempting to bully, convince or trick people to your side. It also has humor, some minigames and other plusses. But in the end, it couldn’t make its way higher on this list than this.

180. Stunts / Trackmania(DOS/windows): stunts is a very old PC racing game which was unique in that you could create your own tracks, complete with jumps, loopings and pipes. It was far from perfect, even for its day (basically: anything but the fastest car was just a waste of time), but my friends and me took challenges in creating racetracks for each other. The trackmania series continued that trend, but the lack of collision – while it makes sense – is a downer. Also: the more realism meant it lost some of its cartoony charm.

179. Spelunky(windows): my first roguelike experience. Loved the vibe, loved how you could attempt to steal from the shops, hated the difficulty.

178. Morphblade (linux): Tom Francis, aka suspicious developments, is a developer that gets a free pass from me. This is a survival tactical turnbased game is totally abstract but genius in its simplicity. Kill enemies, choose your upgrades wisely and move wisely. It should really be a mobile game, though...

177. Minesweeper genius (android): the lovechild of minesweeper and picross. Do I need to say more?

176. Threes/Kenshó (android): different games that scratch the same itch. The honor should really go to threes, as a charming evergrowing sliding puzzle that inspired the more popular 2048. Kenshó is what an AAA publisher would make of the concept. I’m not sure if it makes it better, but they certainly do share the same “slide to progress and screw up at the same time” mechanic.

175. The beginner’s guide(windows): after Dear Esther, I was convinced that walking simulators had reached their peak. The beginner’s guide, however, showed a serious impact in terms of storytelling (sort of like what The blair witch project was for movies). The gameplay decisions, however, are just zero.

174. Giana sisters: twisted dreams & rise of the owlverlord(wiiu): apparently there’s a very old predecessor series, but the reboot by black forest games just blew me away. A light & dark world intertwined, platforming that gives Sonic a run for its money and graphics that are up to par with Trine. There aren’t much surprises in what to expect, but you certainly get enough for your buck.

173. Zuma’s revenge/Luxor series (PSP/linux): shoot some balls into an approaching marblefest to line up the same color. Fast, franctic and ooooh sooo addicting.

172. Campfire cooking(linux): I never got the chance to play Stephen’s sausage roll, but after obtaining this one through itch.io’s monster giveaway, I played this instead. You basically roll and rotate your barbecue stick until your piece(s) are properly roasted (but not burnt). I just kept coming back to this until I finished all 100+ levels.

171. Train valley(linux): I don’t get people who like train games. Pick up goods. Drive to other destinations. Drop off goods. Yaaaaawn. No: I’ll go train valley style: you’ll lose upkeep money roughly every second. Cargo loses value in time as well. Tracks cost money. And trains need to go everywhere without bumping into each other. Result: a mad attempt at going “just in time”, as you lay tracks as the trains are moving, stop and start them to have them shave directly next to each other. Now THAT is a train game!

170. The witness (linux): okay, I admit it: I’m too dumb for this game. The whole connect the dots thing that is a large part of the game somehow (I initially thought this’d be a minigame) is still okay, but some stuff hidden in the scenery or how to interpret symbols...it’s like myst, really: it’s the sort of art I WANT to get into but just end up just pretending to like more than I really like it. :-(

169. Santorini (android): easy to teach, hard if not impossible to master board game with chess-like aspirations. There’s a 5x5 grid where both players have two pawns. On your turn, you move one of ‘em (even diagonally), then build a block adjacent to your destination. You win if you can climb to the third floor. As such, this game is tactical and engaging to the max. Oh, and beautiful. The kicker: this situation is just the ‘base’ game. There’s a few dozen special powers that each player can posess, that totally turn the game into something that’s both unique and deep PER INDIVIDUAL COMBINATION! It’s both very thinky and fast, and beautiful to boot. The reason it’s this low is kind of embarrassing: even standard AI bots just wipe the floor with me.

168. Sproggiwood(linux): after playing crypt of the necrodancer, this one served me just what I liked about that game: fast turnbased combat (yeah, I know: it sounds more ironic than it is), interesting powers and a funny story.

167. Fallout 3 (windows): let’s get one thing straight: fallout 1&2 are fallout. This is a wannabe. However, bethesda followed a fucking GOOD game to do a 3D makeover. I wasted quite some hours into these lands, searching for bottlecaps, weird stories and so on. However, when 4 decided to cut back on story options and focus more on crafting, I just went elsewhere...

166. Warcraft 3(windows): warcraft 1 was ‘okay for its time’, warcraft 2 ‘good’...and 3? Great. I wasn’t much a fan of the hero mechanic initially, but it certainly won me over. And blizzard really upped the ante with each iteration.

165. Hob (linux): this is a very temporary space for the obvious reason that I’m playing it now. It’s probably much higher, but for now… So what is Hob? A 3D exploration game with platforming and a steampunk/nature theme. It’s somewhat a cross between prince of persia and Zelda, really. Combat isn’t that great, but the exploration is so good it’s almost unrealistic (better than Zelda, IMHO. It’s that Zelda is better in some other departments).

164. Sim city 2000 (windows): nowadays I no longer have the patience for city building. But back in the day? Played sim city to the death and not only bought sim city 2000 but also an actual gaming guide for it (which I tossed away years later...something I still regret). Building all the way to arco’s was just awesome!

163. One must fall 2097(DOS): while street fighter was all the rage in arcades, I was using my dad’s PC to play this gem by the illustrious “epic megagames” studio. It was pretty corny (all the robots looked alike), but damn...I loved it.

162. Jaipur (android): in theory, a very simple 2-player trading game (based on a board game). However, with the fluctuating prices, the camels as wildcards and the estimating of what to draw, things got TENSE! One of the few games where I was really trying to guess what my opponent (the AI) was trying to do.

161. Jazzpunk (windows): outside of monkey island, good humor is rare in games. This 3D point ‘n click game, however, goes all out on that front. From bizarre minigames, random characters and genuinely funny puns, this is just a delight to play. I envy you if you’ve never played it before, as you can’t really replay it for the same effect.

160. Carcassonne (android): the classic tile-laying game. Strangely enough, after I had this and played it, asmodee took over and remade the entire thing in 3D...though it looks and plays almost exactly the same as the old one. So...I’ll leave it up to you which version I’m talking about.

159. One finger death punch 1 & 2 (linux): if ‘lightning in a bottle’ is a verb, then this is ‘lightning in a small bottle’. It’s a stickman beat ‘em up that ramps up to downright INSANE levels. But rather than tone it down, OFDP revels in it and adds angelic choires, rising suns, jedi swordfights and the kitchen sink into the frey. Looks and plays simple, but damn does it nail its power fantasy tropes.

158. Plague inc evolved(windows): the idea and the atmosphere really shine here. You’re a virus on its mission to wipe out the earth. You start out innocent enough and slowly either increase your transmission rate and/or your symptoms. Great music, has everything going with heartbeats, microscopes, easy to grasp graphs, newspapers that go from reporting boring stuff (‘Pratchett chosen best author in the world!’) to disaster (‘USA taking lolwhutvirus seriously!’)...you name it. It only has two problems (well...three if you take the “the US takes it seriously” as unrealistic): once a cure is found it’s immediately game over even if you wiped out half the world, and the gameplay is just clicking bubbles. Yyyeaahh...style only can only get you this far in my list. :-\

157. Race the sun(windows): this is an odd one. You are a solar powered machine that is racing a cube-filled planet (think original star fox) as the sun slowly sets. Avoid obstacles, grab upgrades and just keep going. The interesting part is that the sun slowly sets, thus eventually leaving you powerless...unless you run over speed pads which delay the actual sunset. Though initially pretty hard, it’s also very zen-like. My favorite endless runner (though I’m not too fond of the game in general).

156. Burgle bros: after playing this, I immediately fell in love with Fowers (board) games. This is a 70s heist game: you and your allies (it’s a coop) try to rob each floor of a bank while avoiding the guards. So be careful when lasers, movement sensors and other contrapments set off alarms that sends the guard your way.

155. Mushroom-11 (windows&android): both PC and android games work equally well, which is strange since it’s so mouse-heavy. It’s also pretty unique: you’re a blob that continuously grows in all direction to a certain volume. Your mouse (or finger) kills off a part. Result: you’re playing pretty much an eraser paintbrush, “pushing” your blob in a direction to grow. It’s both interesting and actually quite fun. Not sure if the fallout-vibe was needed, though.

154. Rebuild 3: gangs of deadville (linux): I had zero expecations going in, and almost quit upon seeing the graphics and even the gameplay. I mean...it LOOKS like a cashgrab (defend your city in a zombie apocalypse), and the graphics are more about clichés than anything else. But you deploy your troops, slowly build up food, shelter, a safe zone, let people rest...and before you know it, hours have gone by and you’re actively saying “well...I only want to clear THAT house before I go to bed”.

153. House of the dead: overkill(wii): my second best lightgun game. Unsurprisingly, it’s on the wii. Yes, it’s mindlessly blasting zombies. So what? I had hours of fun in this.

152. Excitebotswii) found this wii-gem while helping out a (now former) girlfriend to clean up her house. That took several days, looked hopeless and my job was becoming pretty stressfull. This is what I played in those times: a racer where it’s almost as much about performing tricks as finishing first. I wasn’t a fan of some wiimote antics (swirl the wiimote to gain traction on a trapeze?), but it was a very welcome stress-reliever.

151. Frostpunk(windows): I was a bit afraid when I accepted to review this for gbatemp. What if I wouldn’t like it? Should I piss on a free game if it wasn’t good? Luckily, this dilemma solved itself by frostpunk being actually good. It’s a survival city building game. You basically build houses and heating equipment around a central heating mechanic, but if you run out of resources your population dies. And oh, boy...if you’re on of the “games should be fun!” style, you’d hate this game. Because it throws dilemma’s your way by e.g. showing you near-starved children. Will you save them? Will saving them cause a revolt by others? Will you resort to canibalism for food? It’s tough...but it’s the good kind of tough.

150. Lula: the sexy empire(DOS): I admit: I’m a boring old “cis het male”. That means I like whorishly dressed girls, sexual innuendo, flirting, treating women as objects and all those other things I don’t usually say in public. This is pretty frowned upon these days, but back in the nineties some actually created games on that principle. Most of these games sucked, though (and no: not in a good way). Lula wasn’t exactly a technical or gameplay-wise masterpiece, but at least it was an actual game. With full fledged considerations like “how do I name my porn movie?”, “what quality bed do I use?” and “what kinds of porn scenes need to be there?”. And yes, it has some damn hot hand drawn images (note: channelling my inner 19-year old now), but it also has some humor. Cheap shots mostly, but fun ones nonetheless.

149. Hotline miami 1 (windows): aaah...a bit of the old ultraviolence. The fastest gorefest you’ll find, along with the most disturbing cutscenes. It’s a fever dream gone bad, a hectic “whatifItrythis...ohnoI’mdead”. The sequel was just ‘more of the same’, which is a shame (I mean...the first one dragged out things a bit too long)

148. Starcraft (windows): after playing warcraft 1 and 2, starcraft was on my “must have” list for that new computer I was going to build. And man...it did NOT disappoint. Never finished the protoss campaign, though.

147. Offspring fling (windows): I think I got this in a giveaway, which means at least someone’s missing out here. This is really a nintendo game not made by nintendo: quirky, cute and entertaining. As the name suggests, you’re a parent in search of her children. But picking them up increases your length and speed. Luckily, you can just throw them around, hitting switches or even effects to haul them to the exit. Yeah...family game of the year material right there!

146. Doki doki literature club (linux): yeeey, a game where I play a cis hetero male trying to court anime chicks in my local literature club. Despite it all starting pretty timid, I feel more creeped out playing dumb teenager main character than Lula. Luckily, the second half catches up where this game would otherwise fail. Oh yeah...the price of free certainly helps.

145. Zombiiu (wii): I honestly don’t get why, but I’ve had people telling me I wasn’t allowed to love this game. But I did...and still do. Zombiiu has you playing an unnamed character trying to survive with merely a baseball bat and some (very) rare ammunition as you try to survive London after a no-deal brexit ( ;-) ). The use of two screens really added to the atmosphere, and not having much experience with survival horror games might have helped. Still...to me this really holds up.

144. Far cry 3 + blood dragon (windows): okay, I’m cheating, as these are really different games who only ‘sorta’ scratch the same itch. But honestly: I liked the many side-objectives in far cry 3, and the nonsensical stuff of blood dragon. Unfortunately, someone at ubisoft decided that’s what every one of their games should be from then on, which plummetted my fun department.

143. Solsuite (windows): for some reason, this game still gets a yearly update and still refuses to be on steam, gog, any platform other than their own website. The concept is simple enough: hundreds of single player card games (752 in the latest iteration), with all the quality of life you might ever want and some you didn’t knew you want. And mostly anything I did was play spider solitaire over and over again (hellbent on proving that every game is winnable. I think I had 100 wins to 0 losses at some point...but it took quite some back-and-forth’ing).

142. Cosmic express (android): after I learned that draknek (the creator) did not only created sokobond but also ‘A good snowman is hard to build’, this one instantly got a free pass. And for good reason: cosmic express has a remarkable simple concept: lay down tracks so you’ll pick up all aliens, drop ‘em off at their home and then drive through the exit (which is also why I have it on my phone for around two years). It SEEMS easy until you start playing. Be prepared for a lot of “okay, this is simple. I just loop to here, than there, then...oh, I’ll be stuck then. Okay, so let’s instead go there, than...wait...huh???” moments. But really: all his games are masterclasses in elegant design.

141. Serious sam series (windows): a doom-clone with a Duke Nukem-clone main character. What makes this game so special? Well...massive, massive MASSIVE amounts of enemies. Especially when doom 3 had an identity crisis and Duke Nukem forever was a wishlist, S.S. picked up the market with decent 3D, endless hordes of iconic enemies (hint: ‘aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!’) and, of course, an actual cannon in your arsenal.

140. 140 (windows/linux): an abstract platformer that slowly implements rhythm in its gameplay. Weird, interesting, and probably my first game without any text or explicit story whatsoever. And yes, I cheated (but not much) by putting this at nr. 140.

139. Skullgirls (windows): could be my favorite fighter game. Street fighter might’ve been more iconic, but I don’t want to train my microsecond button presses. The all-cartoonish style with great, sexy characters is what really stole my heart.

138. Papers, please (windows): a bureaucracy’em up, all right. At first it grabbed me in style that reminded me more of 80’ish experimental games than most pixel art games (hint: most are just 13-a-dozen platformers). But what really pushed it to the top was the sense of humor in the seemingly dark undertone (“excuse me...are you a man or a woman?”).

137. Mark of the ninja (windows): there’s a nagging feeling I don’t play this game correct, even though I finished it. Sure, it was on my gpd-win, but still...Either way: it’s a stealth game that still allows for a lot of killing. It’s knee-deep in ninja tropes (love it!), has decent cutscenes and interesting gameplay. But again: I feel like I don’t do it enough justice by only playing it mobile.

136. Fluidity (wii): takes the price for weirdest protagonist: you play as a pool of water. The idea is that by tilting the wiimote, boiling to steam and freezing to a cube, you’ll get through this platforming world. It’s more interesting than fun, but I had fun nonetheless.

135. Dr. Luigi wii): while not my favorite puzzle mechanic, I gotta admit it’s pretty addicting when you clear out all the virusses by chocking some poor sod full of weird pills.

134. Book of demons (linux): what do you do when you want to make diablo but don’t have the budget? Why you make book of demons, of course! At first glance it’s diablo in papier mache. On second glance, you’ll ask “why am I restricted to only a straight path?”. But if you keep at it, you’ll find a very fun and self-referential diablo-clone that holds up despite your character is just an unanimated 2D-sprite. The game understands it’s a mouseclick fest, so it throws you some bones where you might not expect them (click on top of enemies when they’re power boosting to stop ‘em, click on your health to stop poison, hover over stars when you’re being smashed...it’s all about mouse control)

133. Wario: smooth moves (wii): yeey, microgames. Probably would be a blast at parties, but alas: never held one. Still: the overall game feels like improv theater. “brush the teeth!” “roll over the barrel!” It’s all about figuring out what to do in the 5 second interval. Pretty unique.

132. Mad max (windows): I won’t deny it: it’s just a bog standard sandbox game set in – oh irony – a desert. Fight baddies, do fetch quests, pimp your ride. I just loved playing this game, that’s all.

131. Dune 2 / original C&C (DOS): titles like these are really the hardest to place: groundbreakingly innovative, but can’t stand the test of time. Click unit. Click move. Click destination. Yeah...no way anyone’s gonna play original dune 2 now. And C&C? Drag move, click & move...all awesome. But the balance is just laughably bad.

130. Xenoblade chronicles (wii): on hindsight, I wanted to love this game more than I did. In an attempt to prove that game pirates don’t just cheapskate, I fully participated in...what was it? Operation rainfall? To get some JRPG’s over to the west. So I bought me xenoblade chronicles. Loved the environment, loved the story, was onboard with the “it’s not turnbased but…” combat...but I still mostly lack the patience for these kinds of games.

129. Wii sports resorts (wii): ...probably my favorite party game (when talking video games), really. Bowling, archery, that flyover game...all great stuff. But none was as great as the swordfighting game. Stupid visuals and plonk-plonk sounds couldn’t stand in the way of its greatness.

128. Zelda: skyward sword (wii): I really couldn’t tell a favorite with wii sports resort, even though they’re very different. SS was very decent, and I sorta liked the swordfights. It’s just that the whole exploration part went out the window, and the final boss is street fighter’s Akuma for some reason. Still...decent Zelda (though that’s probably just my opinion).

127. Freecell quest (windows): on hindsight, I probably wasted way too much time on this one. It’s freecell. Fun game, yes...but it came with an entire storyline that took itself seriously (which resulted in somewhat campy gameplay). Still...I loved wasting time on it.

126. Zelda: oracle of ages/seasons (gameboy color): another impossible choice. Neither have a nostalgic edge for me, and because I played these back to back I can’t even say which dungeons belong to which game. But oh boy, do they provide quality. Not up to par with Awakening, but solid game entries the both of them.

125. Pony island (linux): a game that’s not about pony’s...or an island. It involves weirdness, programming and platforming. Erm...I recommend it, but can’t say more of it.

124. Super metroid (3DS): I’ve tried many metroids, but mostly I just give up on them once I should backtrack to God knows where. Super metroid’s the only one I played through. IIRC, I payed two cents to this to nintendo for some reason, but I forgot why it was so cheap.

123. Roundabout (windows): a recommendation from the late Totalbiscuit: a sandbox(ish) game where you drive a limo that’s constantly spinning around. Of course navigating anywhere isa nightmare, but it’s also a main part of the game. The best part, however, is that the developers went all in on the crazy idea and got some of the most hilarious B-movie quality cutscenes to go with it.

122. Raptor: call of the shadows (DOS): yeeey, more nostalgia (also: thanks, GoG! ). A top down shooter that’s a dime a dozen for most, but is awesomeness to me. Also: start mission six, grab the extra weapon near the start, quit, sell it...and repeat this until you’ve got enough money to buy the insane guns .

121. Puzzle quest (PSP): I’m not even sure if I used my PSP for any other game during commutes. Match-3 never appealed to me, but throw some action elements in it and suddenly I was on board. Good stuff from my mid-twenties nostalgia.

120. Prince of Persia sands of time(wii/gamecube): PoP is mostly a “I want to get into it, but I had other games to play”. The original was great, but I had no idea where to place it. Sands of time is great in another way.

119. Picross series(SNES, gameboy, android, arcade): nonograms, picross, griddler...call it how you want. I played through the gameboy game (or even two?), the snes one and have it on my tablet (katana nonogram). Perhaps the best iteration was a weird Japanese arcade game called ‘logic pro’, where you had to help a gorilla find love by solving these against an insane time limit (but I finished it nonetheless).

118. Nova-111 (wiiu): my first positional-based turnbased combat game. The story is forgettable, but the combat manoeuvering is kind of good. What puts it here, however, is that after some time you’ll meet enemies that behave both in real time and in “frozen” time.

117. Mirror’s edge (windows): I’ve got a soft spot for zen-like games, and this one’s a gem in that regard. Well...I don’t know who insisted on combat sections, but he was WRONG. Despite this, I somewhat had a crush on Faith back in the day...

116. FTL (windows): what to say on Faster Than Light? It’s worth the hype, certainly. Loved “just going at it”. And it’s one of the few starship fighters I can tolerate (everyone else tries to be starship enterprise...but I ain’t no trekkie).

115. Lyne (android): a staple example of what a mobile game can be. Yes, it’s abstract. Yes, it’s “just” connecting lines. But it’s good. Its only flaw is that it takes 20-30 levels before some difficulty starts to show, and over a hundred before you’re really puzzling. Luckily, it has an insane amount (along with daily generated ones).

114. Lumines (PSP): if it was up to me, I wouldn’t have used the techno/house/rave style. It would still be a great puzzler game that could stand toe to toe with tetris. However, it started to grow on me and now I can’t think of the game without it. Meaning: if the game’s good enough, I will accept the music.

113. Kalimba (windows): someone on gbatemp recommended it at some point. Bought it, played it, loved it. You play as two totems at the same time trying to survive what amounts to madness. It’s somewhat simple, but man is it clever...

112. Istanbul (android): Hmm...I’ve bought board games ranked lower. Istanbul I’m content with just the app experience. Not sure why. In any case, it’s a race through city districts to collect five diamonds. The interesting part is that you can go almost everywhere each turn, but knowing what the BEST move is, is...tricky. Definately try it out if you’re even remotely interested in virtual board games.

111. Hexologic (android): on the surface, this is just kokuro on hexagons with ‘just’ numbers one through three. However, style, interesting design choices and ease of play give this addictive puzzler a welcome spot here.

110. Mole mania (gameboy): FFS, nintendo...why the hell did you never followed up on this gameboy gem on your (3)DS line-up? But nooo...it’s Miyamoto at his best, but apparently it’s not good enough. But ahem...in itself, mole mania still stands on its own. You’re a mole that has to traverse some worlds above as well as below ground. Very interesting puzzle designs (that would be better suited on, y’know...two screens?). It has some quirks because it’s a nineties game, but that has some charm as well.

109. Gorogoa (android): so...this is probably as artsy-indie as they come, but hear me out: gorogoa plays like a child’s dream. It’s a rather unique point ‘n click because of the different panels, but that somehow enhances the experience. Only minus is that you’ve got no idea how long this game is until it (almost) ends.

108. Gargoyle’s quest (gameboy): back in first grade when gameboys where the max, everyone traded games with everyone (we’d finish it, then pass it back to trade something else). I don’t remember how I got ahold of this one, but it blew me away. I hardly knew English (heh...I could barely read at all!) but still decyphered there was something of an epic story going on. The constant updates were also new at that time. I played it again on emulator about twenty years later, and still loved it (never got in the NES or SNES ones, though).

107. Gunpoint (windows): this pixel game basically fulfilled watch_dogs basic promise of hacking. I’m not sure if I was just very good at it or that the game was too easy, but damn it was hilarious. You could lure enemies by turning off the lights, but when they clicked the light button, you had hacked it so the electrical outlet on their feet killed them. And you could string all sorts of things together. It was wacky, had a hilarious story and is still pretty unique in how it handles things. Not the first Tom Francis game on this list.

106. Element4l(windows/linux): a 2D parcours platformer-ish game. You basically morph between elements air (a floating bubble), rock (a falling rock), ice (for smooth gliding) and fire (a spark to the right). With good timing, you’ll keep or even increase your momentum to send you flailing through the level. Cute style, engaging gameplay. Solid game.

105. Baba is you (windows): part of me wants to throw this game off the list because the solutions border on unfair. Exploration, however, is key. And programming. By shoving boxes together, you create or alter the physics of reality. So get ready to talk meme, as you change ‘baba is you’ into ‘flag is you’, move as a flag to form ‘lava is float’ so you can walk to the key after forming ‘key is win’. It’s brilliant in its design...but I’m all but brilliant in playing this game.

104. Double dragon 2 (NES): youth nostalgic! The kids from the block had an actual NES, and with that also a genuine game genie allowing for infinite lives. One of my best moments in video games is where me and someone else (one of the other kids? My brother?) where busy spin kicking and boxing each other for the sake of it on the left side of the screen while two enemies on the right side were just silently waiting until we were done kicking each other’s ass so we could kill THEM instead.

103. De blob 2 (wii): why no, splatoon did NOT invent a genre. Before that, de blob was a 3D platformer where you were tasked to throw some color into the greyness. Its sequel improved many, many things (among which the control scheme). More importantly was the period in my life. Things really looked grey (I was fed up with my job at that time, IIRC), so just smashing some color into the environment was a welcome relief.

102. Aladdin (SNES): I don’t know how this SNES game came in our posession (my brother, me and two friends had one snes to share, but I have no idea who bought the cartridges), but I already knew how awesome of a platformer this was. But damn, that cave of wonders was a hell to survive.

101. Capcom soccer shootout (SNES): I don’t like football (soccer), and video games about it aren’t much better. Especially not when EA’s involved. But soccer shootout on the SNES defies this trend. Not only because you can tackle and slide people unconscious (it’s even better because the game isn’t really AIMING for it like e.g. Mario strikers), but the referee taking its time meant that fellow players and me were already arguing (“it’s fine” “no, it’s not. You brutally murdered my guy!”) before he got a card out. Indoor soccer was even better. (final note: it wasn’t until ‘behold the kickmen’ that I’ve seen a sports game that really got my approval like this. That one I’ve just not tried enough to grant a rating here).

100. Bioshock (windows): one of the few games I played during my time I played my favorite game. I had to adapt to the horror element or the (light) crafting element, but I liked it and later loved it. Even things like the hacking minigame. The sequel is still on my “meh...perhaps I’ll play it once” list. Infinite...would have been better when not named bioshock (seriously...it doesn’t even pretend to be in the same universe until the very end).

99. 999 / virtue’s last reward (DS/3DS): probably my favorite visual novels...though despite the escape rooms I’m not sure whether or not I should count this as games or as e-books. Virtue’s last reward was ‘okay’ in that it not only jumped the shark but happily went for seconds (the first draft of the real ending sounds like something a teenager would write as fanfic).
(note: believe it or not, but the positioning of this game is completely incidental )

98. Wolf among us (windows): back when telltale was still good, they produced this gem. My familiarity with Fables (great comic!) helped, but it’s probably just as good if you’d never read any of those.

97. Simon thatham’s puzzles (linux/android): stumbled upon this free game collection bunch by accident, but it’s now a staple on every tablet I own: a bunch of simple procedurally generated puzzles to keep you busy. It’s like an infinite amount of those crossword-kind of puzzles. I don’t play them often, but never regret wasting time with it.

96. Batman arkham asylum / city (windows/wiiu): I played through both, and remember being wowed at the smooth combat, the great characters and the way everything was designed. However...it didn’t last. Honestly, I can hardly remember anything but small fragments of the game. I didn’t hunt for completion, didn’t search every nook and cranny and can’t even remember why I even played it.

95. Bastion (windows): pretty straightforward: beautiful looking game, fine gameplay loop and a smoooooth narrator.

94. Yellow & yangtze (android): this game’s here for artistic reasons. This board game (by Reiner Knizia) is both civilization building as area control. It’s both beautiful and so incredibly vicious. It’s a game I rather love from a distance rather than actually playing, if I’m honest.

93. Brothers: a tale of two sons (windows): probably the best game that I played once and then never again. It’s about controlling two characters at the same time. Granted: there’s a huge story element at about two thirds of the way, but while it lifts the story, it’s still the overall package that left an impression.

92. Lost vikings 1&2 (SNES): you control 3 vikings with different abilities, which you’ll all need to guide to the exit. The first was a bit too combat-focussed, but both remain classics in both storytelling and level design. It amazes me that to this day there are hardly or no clones out there.

91. Don’t starve (windows): didn’t like it the first time, but once I read up on some wiki’s on basic survival, this crafting game really started selling itself. I’m still terrible at it, but love it nonetheless.

90. Crypt of the necrodancer (windows): I’ll admit it: I only very reluctantly started playing this game, expecting nothing but some passtime. And...it wasn’t an easy boil, to be honest. Keeping a rhythm isn’t easy, and for a while I just played as the bard. But I have to admit: the music is all earwurm-quality, and just ‘being in the groove’ is just fun. I’m still terrible at it, but really: many thumbs up here.

89. Tetris party deluxe (wii): not specifically “this version”, but for the moment it takes the cake (haven’t played the tetris effect or one of the newer versions). Of course I love tetris for its simplicity, but I also really dig that climber game in here.

88. TMNT arcade / simpsons arcade / X-men (arcade): these are very different but scratch the same itch: beat ‘em ups by konami. There was a time my friends and me went to the fair just to play the Simpsons and X-men, and TMNT was an arcade in a local fastfood joint. Absolutely adore these games.

87. Super paper mario (wii): I honestly tried to get into the other paper mario games. But in the end, they all became “I’m trying to like it because super paper mario”. Yeah...what can I say? There’s platforming and all sorts of wiimote antics in this game. The others lack all of that.

86. Saints row series (windows): I finished 4 and 5, and perhaps 2 and 3 as well. But really: this woops GTA’s ass so much it’s not even funny. Well...except in worldbuilding (I won’t deny that rockstar does that a lot better). But the characters? The humor? Saints row all the way...

85. Offworld trading company (windows): I had to play it because I couldn’t believe it: a RTS game without vehicles? But indeed...it is that. Mine fast, flood the market, sabotage your opponents...there’s something here that is both unique and great about it.

84. Portal & portal 2 (windows): you know this game, you love this game as well. For me, portal 2 stood out mostly (ironically) because it came with this godawful online platform that stood between you and your game. But ey...that platform became a success after all, and the portal games are very decent puzzle games.

83. Sleeping dogs (windows): I already picked up karate as I started playing this game. As such, I respected the style of this beat-em up sandbox game. Oh, and the style as well. I think I 100%ed this one.

82. My farm life 2 (windows): without facebook, the whole farmville hype train passed me by. Years later, a (now former) girlfriend showed me ranch rush, a time management game where you’re pressed for time while you run around your farm completing mini tasks. The my farm life trilogy is sort of a sequel, but this one stood out as the best one (1st was a bit too basic, and 3rd added some stupid stuff, if you ask me).

81. Mini metro (windows & android):*sigh* by now you should realise I reward originality, elegance and simplicity more than a big budget that’s utilised for a rehashed gameplay experience. And mini metro is all three of those: you’re the operator in a city that sprouts both metro stations and people wanting to get to other stations. But where you you plot commuting lines? How many trains do you add there? It’s simple to pick up, hard to put down and very zen-like. One you should definitely get if you’ve got a tablet.

80. Patchwork (android): one of the first digital board games I’ve played, but still among the best ones. It’s hard to describe, though: you and your enemy pay for tetris pieces that will pay themselves back later, and as you race to the end of the track you hope to pick up the best pieces. I’ve never been able to crack how the AI works.

79. Half life (windows): lemme repeat: this game isn’t aiming to be a “best of” video games but a personal one. And for me, half life just didn’t had the same impact as it had on some. It’s a good shooter, absolutely. Great story, loved how it all flowed into the next part, absolutely adored the helicopter parts. But it didn’t define me as much as other games.

78. Final fantasy adventure/mystic quest (gameboy): youth nostalgia: this game came with a huge-ass map, a long manual and an actual list of items and weapons. Oh, and music that wasn’t bad for the gameboy. In layman’s terms: it’s a poor man’s Zelda (this came out before awakening). Looking back, the story was pretty flaky and the design could’ve been better. But you can’t beat nostalgia here.

77. Hardback (android): one of the most unique games I’ve ever played: it mixes deck building with scrabble of all games. I’m...all but a sucker for word apps (and its predecessor – paperback – reminds me a bit too much of it), but it’s no joke: this IS a deck building game as well: stock up on letters that grant bonusses if you use them in combination with other letters. And it’s so damn addicting...

76. Fran Bow (windows): I’ve come to accept that neither horror games nor point ‘n click games are among my favorite bunch. Consider this the exception to the rule. In large part because the makers understand psychological horror, which is a main part of the normal/psychedelic world you’ll both need to travel to get anywhere in this game. On top of the splendid storyline, the handdrawn visuals are a far better choice than anything 3D-ish (IMHO).

75. Bubble bobble (gameboy): rationally, this should be because of nostalgia. But really: the gameboy one is the only really good one (with the NES one as “okay”). 200 levels, 4 bosses, a gazzilion bonusses and endless fun. Mindless, yes...but fun nonetheless.

74. Burnout paradise (windows): look...it’s not that I don’t like racing games. Racing games don’t like me. “oh, you don’t like the hyundai Romeo Starlink 3000 with extra neon chrome? Then GTFO!!!” they seem to shout at me. Like the fast & furious franchise, it’s like they pornographize cars (it probably has a term, but I don’t know which one). Luckily, it “only” needed a game that’s actually about racing to get my attention. Burnout paradise is that game: an open city filled with ramps, shortcuts and cutoff environments. Scratching someone’s hood isn’t a cardinal sin but how you greet each other. Scrapyard cars, takeout matches and spectacular chases that end in exploding vehicles...now THAT is how you do a racing game.

73. Age of rivals (android): this one ticked off about all my red flags against it, but somehow came through despite all this: it’s...erm...I guess it’s a game about building and upgrading your civilization. But you do this by drafting one of four cards. I’m not even...how can I explain all this? There’s an economical aspect, you need defence, offence, scholarship...it’s like civilization condensed in a mobile app but somehow it all WORKS. More so: it somehow reminds me about magic: the gathering’s best moments as well, as you need to pick careful to allow for powerful combo’s. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just fails spectacular. It can’t work. It SHOULDN’T work. But. It. Somehow. Does!

72. Spec ops: the line (windows): nice...after dissing ‘other’ racers and ‘other’ civ games, it’s time to piss on chest-high wall shooters. Well...I remember trying gears of war with a friend once. I was just so damn LOST. What was I doing there? Why was I shooting? Was I supposed to be enjoying this to be labeled a “gamer”? I only reluctantly started playing the line. I guess others will hate it because it holds a black mirror to military shooter gamers. Me, I just felt like FINALLY a shooter didn’t indulge in childish power fantasies but dared to explore what it’d be like to be a soldier. I didn’t LIKE the experience, but damnit...it’s not like, say, Spielberg made Schindler’s list for entertainment purposes either.

71. Monument valley 1&2 (android): no surprises here: just calm impossible perspectives, soothing music and interesting puzzles. The experience was just too short, though...

70. Yoku’s island express (linux): it’s not the first pinball RPG, but it’s head and shoulders over the other one (that’d be ‘rollers of the realm’). As a metroidvania, it’s not the best one, but it managed to properly incorporate a rather quirky mechanic into an actual fun game.

69. Inside/limbo (windows): okay, it’s not really fair to lump these different games into one slot. But on the other hand, they’re too similar in what they set out to do to judge otherwise. On the surface, inside is certainly the better game, with its still horror that reminds of the comic outcast. Then again...limbo has a more thorough place in my heart as one of the indies that put indies on the map (also: that spider!). So as such...a shared place.

68. Golf peaks (android): perhaps the best puzzle game I played in 2019: a clean card game about golf. Each card represent a type of stroke and strength. It’s up to you to pick a direction and a card to get the ball to another spot...and to the goal in the end. Clever, smart, intuitive and so satisfying to play (note: their ‘inbento’ game is also good, but falls somewhere below the 220 spot).

67. Thomas was alone (windows): bithell games have made some notable games afterward, but his debut is (thus far) still his best work. Platforming with multiple characters (so no: Thomas is hardly EVER alone in this game) is still fairly unique when it comes to actually depending on each other.

66. VVVVVV (wiiu/linux): lemme get this straight: super hexagon is good. Great, even. But it’s somewhere just below this list. But VVVVVV? Best pixelated platforming game I’ve ever played. Fantastic music, superb storyline...difficult but not frustratingly so...if this came out in the early days of the gameboy, Terry Cavenaugh would be more popular than Miyamoto (well...that is to say: initially. The latter just has much MORE good games on his name).

65. Donkey kong country returns (wii): I have very fond memories of the SNES donkey kong country. And truly miss king K.Rool. But when revisiting it later, I’m all like “wtf is this?”. Luckily, DKCR kept what was cool about it and doubled down on it (woooo, insane minecart sections! ), and boosted the characters as well. Only the boss battles are a fucking chore… :-( I honestly can’t say why tropical freeze doesn’t get mentioned here. I have it, I tried getting into it...and it just fell flat. It doesn’t do it for me for some reason.

64. Contraption maker (windows): an unmentioned favorite from my youth was ‘the incredible machine’. A puzzle game where you complete rube goldberg machines for wacky effects. But alas...Sierra let the series die out. So I was extremely pumped when the original makers were kickstarting “contraption maker” (kickstarting was pretty new at that time, IIRC), a new entry. It came, I played it, loved it every bit as much and even more. ...and then nobody seemed to know what this game was about (or what a rube goldberg machine is, for that matter). I’m really saddened by this, because with all the games seeming to fit certain boxes, this one is even at that a welcome change.

63. A good snowman is hard to build (android): I mentioned draknek before. This is his finest work: the best block pusher game you’ll find. Not only is it both imaginative and a clever idea, the puzzles themselves are of a quality you wouldn’t expect from a “random” indie developer. Oh, and if steam reviews mean anything: this has gotten people into gaming who otherwise wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.

62. Super mario land 3: wario land (gameboy): I had all three: mario land, six golden coins...and this one. The former were good, this is just awesome. I can’t count it as a Mario game as it’s about bashing into enemies and grabbing coins, but the level designs, the many secrets (even an entire hidden world!), the way some levels changed after some fashion...there are hardly better platformers in nintendo’s lineup if you ask me.

61. Desperados (windows): this game really stole the thunder for the original commandos for me. I loved that game as well (though it was frustratingly save-scummy most of the time), but played desperados soon after. This one not only is less hard but added an awesome wild west theme to it. Upon playing it years later, I gotta say that it’s much harder than I remember (insert “games back in the day”-meme here). Still...a very solid entry.

60. Rise of nations (windows): one of the many games from my youth where an illegal copy just “ended up” in my collection. Bought it years later...less than a month before it came to steam. Anyway: this game easily knocks age of empires off of any of my list. Why? Well...because it’s both historically themed and an RTS. RoN, however, doesn’t stay restricted to one era but allows upgrading from the stone age all the way to a futuristic one, and the way areas work mean that you can’t just ‘zergling rush’ to your opponent while he’s busy upgrading. The side effect is a bit sadistic, though: if you out-upgrade your opponent (which isn’t very hard against the AI), you can attack their horsemen army with tanks or even planes. It’s very unfortunate that there never came a sequel (I can’t even FIND rise of legends anywhere legally ).

59. Kirby pinball land (gameboy): I had anticipation when playing this game: surely others would copy the franctic concept of combat-based pinball. But nope...twenty or even thirty years later, and Yoku’s island express is the only one somewhat coming close. As such, kirby’s pinball land remains a nostalgic gem of a game to me.

58. Steamworld dig 1&2 (windows): I guess I should thank the existence of dig dug for this duo: a platforming/RPG’ish/roguelike’ish game where you just dig to the center of the earth. You try to collect treasure which you’ll spend on the surface to buy better gear and there are monsters...but the entire selling point is just that: JUST. DIG. DOWN. I love it (especially the second), but can’t really pinpoint why.

57. Another perspective (windows): this started as a joke. ‘huh...this game’s only 6 megabytes in size. The trailer is larger than the game. How good can it be? ’. But it really blew me away. On its surface it’s a puzzle game where you’ve got to switch between two dimensions to grab all the keys and open the door. But the way the narrator works is something I want to stick into many AAA-developers’ faces, screaming “NOW THIS IS HOW YOU TELL A STORY, DAMNIT!!!”.

56. Duke nukem 3D (DOS/windows): I actually played through Duke Nukem 1 and 2 (okay platformers for their time), but that only increases the greatness of this one. Duke Nukem 3D wasn’t just “doom with an attitude”: it was pop references, a great weapon selection, incredible level design and – of course – mature content. Yes, it was sexist, treated women like objects, gory and had toilet humor...but critics failed to mention that it was also a game that was directly aimed at maturing teenagers like me, that it had many secrets, great level design and great quotes (though most if not all of them came from pulp classic movies most of the audience – including me – had never heard of ).

55. Tony hawk pro skater 2&3 (windows): there are but a few demos I played even remotely as much as the THPS2 demo. Pretty soon I chained the most absurd combinations known to man together. So...there’s something to be said about realism in games, but this is NOT it. I spent so many hours on 2 and 3 that I can’t even count. But I had enough of it before 4 rolled out, though.

54. Torchlight 2 (windows): another diablo clone (see also: book of demons). This one’s higher probably because I played it not too long after diablo 3, and catered more to what I wanted: less faffing about, less forgettable (but expensive) cutscenes, more hulksmash action. This was also in a troubling time personally, so it provided much relief for me.

53. Fallout 1&2 (windows): ‘War. War never changes’. Common lines now, but back then I had no idea what a gem my friends got their hands on. It was on a “crazy bytes” CD that housed a few other great games. This version of fallout was buggy and missed sound and cutscenes. It didn’t matter: my friends and me learned how “turn based combat” worked and loved playing and even discussing it while we played (“aim for the eyes! No: the torso!”). I bought the game later just to pay tribute.

52. Stealth bastard & inc 2 (windows/wiiu): stealth bastard deluxe was in my first humble bundle I ever bought. The other games were forgettable, but this one stole my heart: stealth puzzle’ish platforming, an evil narrator that’s up to par with gladOS and some of the best music I’ve heard in a game.

51. My time at portia (linux): this recent entry is mostly because of the time (see also: my 2020 list). I never got into harvest moon or even stardew valley. The reason this one stole my heart was partially the 3D aspect but also the variety: I can mine all day, socialize everything, befriend everyone and just have stuff to do all the time. It’s like a walk in Disney land: serves no purpose, but tickles that inner child of mine.

50. Sin & punishment 2 (wii): from the most calm to one of the most franctic games: s&p2 is a lightning gun shooter that makes full use of the wiimote and nunchuck. It’s very arcade-ish (meaning: lousy story) and almost a sleeper hit, but oh man is it satisfying to blast everything to bits.

49. Factorio (linux): the intial steam reviews kind of scared me: is it really crack in game-form? Will I still have a social life when playing this? The answer is...this is only partially for me. See, I’ve come to accept zachtronic games as individual puzzles. A large open-space engine-to-build is...interesting and engaging, but not to the degree I like. And while I understand the drab theme (you’re basically a one man industrial revolution), I’m not a fan of it. Still: the reviews are right, even though it’s somewhat lower on my list.

48. Rogue legacy (windows): yup...this is my top roguelite game. And for good reason: the core gameplay (castlevania dungeon dwelling) is just the best I’ve played. Yes, enemies whack you dead the first times, but provided you’ve collected enough to spend, you’re upgrading your castle, ensuring your next run will be (slightly) better. And the traits your characters have are just absolutely bonkers.

47. Super mario galaxy 1&2 (wii): Can 3D platforming be better than this? I’d doubt it, but haven’t played Odyssey yet. In any case: these are classics for all the right reasons. What else to say? Nintendo absolutely nailed it on these games.

46. Starcraft 2 (trilogy) (windows): I wasn’t a fan of the split of the campaign, but in the end it was probably the best choice. It absolutely blew the first starcraft out of the water, and it was one of the few games I played competitively online. I’ve got to note that this score is based on my own PLAYS of the game, as I’ve watched hours upon hours of professional matchups (heck...I could probably watch some right now and still love it).

45. Rollercoaster tycoon 1,2, parkitect (windows/linux): original RCT had some of the best not-team game memories for me where me and my friends where outdoing each other creating the most insane rollercoaster that still attracted guests. RCT 2 mostly added scenery, parkitect is a remake by others (that does roughly the same thing). I’d include RCT3 in this spot but I hardly ever did more in that game than dabble around a bit.

44. Rayman origins / legends/jungle run/fiesta run (wii, wiiu, android): 4 games in one spot? Well, that’s one way to condense things. Seriously: Origins and legends play exactly the same, so that kind of settles that: great platforming games with great atmosphere. The best parts, IMHO, were the runner sections where you jumped, slided and overcame all sorts of hurdles. It’s a work of art how the timing syncs so well to the music (especially in legends) and the parkour elements. ...and this should explain why jungle and fiesta run (on android) are included: these distill the game down to just that. I was a bit worried about the mobile ports at first, but it is really just the base games except that someone glued the “run to the right” button shut. Perhaps weird (especially when playing on a GPD XD+), but it works very well.

43. Ori & the blind forest (windows): ah yes...Ori. Strong contender for the most beautiful category. Yes, the story hits some strong emotions (though admitted: that’s mostly the introduction). And there are some very good racing moments in it. But after the introduction and I was finally able to play, I was like “wait...is this just another metroidvania?”. I wasn’t wrong. Granted, I like the genre and Ori has more to offer than its introduction and visuals, but...perhaps not as much as I had hoped it’d be.

42. Mr shifty (linux): at one point I wanted to play something “like hotline miami”. First played through ‘12 is better than 6’ but left a bit unsatisfied. Expecting something similar, I started playing this...and as it turns out this throws hotline miami some 100 points below this one. The best description is ‘hotline miami mixed with double dragon’. You basically play like Nightcrawler at the start of X-men 2: you hit enemies with a sort of falcon punch, hopefully before they shoot you. In typical beat ‘em up you sort of trash the place and pick up throwable ammo (which includes cellphones and deadly wads of money here, btw ). This gameplay loop would be great fun in itself, but the icing of the cake is the story: nonsensical, witty and all sorts of awesome. The devs clearly had a great time making this game.

41. World of goo (windows, wii): most indie games (or most video games, for that matter) iterate on proved concepts while keeping the budget in check without sacrificing the experience. 2DBoy debuted by creating an entire new genre: stacking goo together in a tower. While an awesome experience, he at least acknowledged that there needed some diversification to keep it from becoming repetetive, which is good. The game’s music is probably in my top 10 as well.

40. Mario kart 8 / wii (wiiu, wii): for the obvious reason: couch co-op. I’ve spent weekends with friends where many had board games and I had a plugged in wii with some controllers. Mario kart games could last for hours. Mario kart 8 did some interesting twists that made it better, but alas I don’t think I’ve got as many couch co-op experiences with it (why oh why doesn’t my girlfriend play video games? )

39. Guacamelee 1&2 (windows): I really like metroidvania games (this duo isn’t even the best one). This Mexican styled one not only oozes with charm, but has allround awesome characters in it. On top of that: the abilities you’ll get often not only increases your wrestling-style fighting (I forgot to mention: awesome combat as well!) and open up other parts of the world but also vary the way you’ll play future parts of the game. Guacamelee 2 is the safe kind of sequel, doing roughly “more of the same” as the first. But really: they’re both top notch games.

38. Shards of infinity (android): while waiting for the roll for the galaxy app, temple gates “instead” released shards of infinity. Ironically just as I was trying out deckbuilder apps (e.g. ascenscion and star realms). This one immediately blew those out of the water (especially the latter: star realms plays very similar), and cemented the indie developers as my favorite ones. I still play this regularly, though I’m very much awaiting the two or even three expansions for the board game right now...

37. Infinifactory (windows): I later heard that it’s one of zachtronic’s early games (infiniminer) that inspired minecraft. I really wonder how the world had turned out if notch had played infinifactory instead. This game is about utilizing assembly line tools to automatically build a given outcome. So line up your lines from the belt so you can fuse, rotate, split or destroy the given resources in the hope that you actually create the output. There are more than a few 3D puzzle games, but this one really stands out. It’s hard, yes, but it is so stupidly addicting that I often didn’t dare look at a new puzzle once it became available, as it would probably just cut into more hours of sleep.

36. NSMBU/wii (wiiu, wii): Mario platformers are probably the toughest to give a name and place. I’ve got the best childhood memories of world and super mario land 1 and 2 (3 is a different story). The NES ones are ‘okay’-ish, and for some reason the (3)DS games I don’t like at all. The wii (finally!) added true couch co-op, which meant that I’ve spent many of hours with former girlfriends playing through it (one even bought her own wii for this purpose!). NSMBU...is the better game, if you ask me. I like the levels more, the large world is more connected, and so on. It’s just that at this point it’s more an exercise to get my little nephews to not throw the wiimotes at each other while I try not to show off my 20+ years of platforming skills.

35. Anno 2070 (windows): on hindsight, I really shouldn’t have been hesitant. Steam reviews hate this game with a passion because of uplay, but it turned out I NEVER HAD THE SLIGHTEST PROBLEM WITH IT! What I got instead was uninterrupted pure utopian city building. It’s pretty complex in terms of resources (IIRC I counted over 70, and that’s without any DLC enabled), and it’s like every building is a challenge to place efficiently. It has combat for some strange reason (this isn’t an RTS, ffs!). The only disadvantage was about a researching building. With this building being pretty expensive you don’t build many of those, but these unlock permanent upgrades (by which I mean “you also keep this unlocked when you restart from scratch”)...but they take literal hours to become available. It’s luckily an optional and small thing, but it left a sour taste in my mouth nonetheless.

34. Zelda a link between worlds (3DS): I waited far too long to play this. Why? Because the “grab any weapon you want in advance rather than from a dungeon” ticked me off. I mean: finding the weapon for a dungeon is half the reason for being there! And would I need to farm up money in advance for this stupid gimmick? Luckily, this feature played out much better than I thought, and this zelda has another trump up its sleeve: wall hugging! Yup: rather soon in the game you can turn into a moving 2D wallpaper. This adds depth to the dungeon like no other Zelda game before without adding unneeded complexity. These dungeons make good use of perspective and other Z-axis stuff while at the same time being unique and interesting. An easily deserved 2nd best Zelda game for me!

33. Half life 2 (windows): I’ve thrown many franchises together in a single game, but for half life I honestly couldn’t. Half life 1 was good and I could see why people adored it, but I wasn’t one of ‘em. I also see why people worship half life 2...and this time I AM one of them. From the gravity gun to the awesome level design, to the storyline to the great shooter moments...all of the raving reviews are honest and more. The only reason it isn’t higher for me is because it doesn’t have the emotional impact as the above games are. And like it or not: how I perceive games isn’t up for discussion.

32. Rockband 2 (& guitar hero 5) (wii): I remember feeling kind of embarrassed buying a plastic guitar for my wii. I was a grown man without a girlfriend...how pathetic could I be? But once I started playing guitar hero (erm...on tour, or 4, iirc), this quickly faded in the background. I was somewhat late to the plastic clickfest party, but I was enjoying it nonetheless. Granted, the wii modding scene allowed me to ...ahem...test out more games than I’d like, but these were about the setlist, right? Well...wrong. Guitar hero 2 had (by far) the best setlist, but guitar hero 5 had the best interface and way to “just play a damn song”. ...but rock band 2 just blew it out of the water. None of that “here’s a song that’s super hardcore for sake of being hardcore” bullshit, but just playing rock songs. Good rock songs, that is (RB2 easily had the best songs I had never heard about before). Sure, the genre died out (I can’t even remember what I was thinking when I bought the drums ). But countless great co-op memories remain.

31. Final fight 3 / vendetta (SNES, arcade): one tough question to answer in this list is: what is my favorite beat ‘em up? In the end, I decided not to decide and crown both winners combined. Final fight franchise is obviously the most known one. It was up to par with double dragon, but alas this is also what dragged it down. Why? Well, because DD couldn’t improve (I honestly think the developers only accidentally created a great genre). I’ve never even SEEN final fight 2, but 3 is a gem. 4 fighters, almost as much action moves as street fighter, and multiple paths to the end boss. Not much in terms of real replayability (though that didn’t stop us from replaying it OVER AND OVER AGAIN), but still: great stuff. Vendetta, however, came out of nowhere. Saw it on an arcade machine when beat ‘em ups were on their way out. This might be their swan song, really: insane end bosses (the first one fights you with a circlular saw...on a driving truck!), LOTS of pick-ups (a bucket, bricks, tires, bats...even a freaking SHOTGUN!)...I had to look up the makers (konami...who else? ) because it’s like no one ever knew about this. Still: great stuff!

30. Captain toad: one of my former girlfriends stated that she hated 3D games because they’re too hard to aim in. Which is a very fair point for platformers: just landing on a koopa can go wrong all sorts of ways. This makes it all the puzzling why it took so long for a major company to understand that 3D platforming without jumping could be a thing. So this spin-off for super mario 3D land just ended better on my list than Mario’s 3D adventures.

29. F-Zero GX: if games ever held a western-style gun duel to the death, you can be sure that F-Zero GX would be the one remaining standing because damn is this game FAST! Ever since, I sometimes think of games in comparison...Sonic & Sega all-stars? Rollcage? Fast? Redout, perhaps (note: haven’t properly tried this one)? But then I look at GX again, and the comparisons fall apart. Saying that this is a hard game is an understatement: this is just sheer madness. You can get passed by a dozen vehicles in the time it takes you to blink. The tracks are Escherian fever dreams. And I sometimes think that games like this and super hexagon are made for some sort of übermenschen that perceive time at about half the speed we are. Nonetheless, I keep coming back to it for the pure adrenaline rush.

28. Plants vs zombies (android, windows): a former girlfriend introduced me to this one. I didn’t have a tablet at this time and wasn’t really convinced at first. So you plant a few plants that kill zombies. Okay...so how do YOU kill zombies? What do you mean ‘just the plants’? Safe to say I had no idea what tower defense was about. But once I started playing myself, I slowly but surely got hooked. Every level got you a new plant to use, and every level the zombies marched on further. The key was to diversify and think strategically. And yes, the approachable theme helped tremendously: I’ve dismissed most other tower defense games as “simply not as good” (and with most, I mean everything aside orcs must die).

27. C&C remake (2020) (linux): if the adagio is true that game studios go to EA to die, then this is some sort of zombie game. It’s in each and every way how a remake must be: smoothed, quality of life improvements, fit for today’s monitors, remastered music...this, my friends, is how you do a proper remake. Not polish up a game from 4 years ago that looks exactly the same but reimagine something from TWENTY years ago and release it with all the expansions (this was from before DLC became a word) for both C&C (a.k.a. tiberium dawn) and red alert. Yes, it also means keeping some wonky pathfinding, but that was part of the original game!

26. Wii fit plus (wiiu): I often feel like a curiosity in that I like both sports and gaming. And that never got displayed more clearly than in wii fit. The whole plethora of minigames are awesome, I worked myself in sweat from the super boxing challenge and the skiing and snowboarding games reminded me of the actual thing. I beat the trainer to 100 jacknives, and (believe it or not) completed all the jogging distances before nintendo updated it with some extreme ones. Heck...I even bought me a second balance board one time just in case my first one would ever break. Laugh all you want...I really loved this game.

25. Duet: premium (android): the ultimate zen-game. Turn two dots clockwise or counterclockwise in a circle, and avoid all obstacles. While barebones on the surface, the brilliant soundtrack, the soothing soundbites and the near-endless levels (on top of the ACTUAL endless games that the generated ones come down to) pump it up to the extreme. Granted, it’s perhaps more a therapeutic anti-depressant aid than an actual game, but that doesn’t mean the game doesn’t deserve this place.

24.Braid (windows): though I’ve been playing video games roughly my whole life, I’m sure Braid was the first one where the story climax totally blew me away. Yes, the time mechanic is interesting, yes the puzzles still stand on their own, yes the game is still incredibly beautiful...but you can only truly experience the end once.

23. NBA jam (SNES): heh...most of my owned SNES games must be on this list. NBA jam was the obvious ‘versus’-game. The game wasn’t even so much as actually playing as about bragging. At one point half our schoolyard were shouting things like “he’s on fire!” and “oooohYES! ”. The wii version was a faithfull remake, but couldn’t but fall short because the audience – that’d be us – grew up since then.

22. Roll for the galaxy (android): check it out...one and a half year before the actual release, I was awaiting roll for the galaxy. And to what it is? Erm...an economical tile laying game about trading in the universe that involves dice as workers. Yyyeah...it’s not a great pitch for people who don’t know Tom Lehman, but to his fans (e.g.: me), he’s among the best. In video game terms, I probably best say “it’s a puzzle game of some sorts”.

21. Pang series (arcade, SNES, android): on the surface, this shouldn’t be this high. I’ve played better arcade games. I played better frantic puzzle games. But when I tally up hours alone, I’m like...okay, I finished the first and second arcade games (on MAME). Also the buster bros on SNES. And the pang adventures game twice (both android and PC). And even some otherwise unremarkable game called Juanito arcage mayhem. And I’ve never been bored, even though the concept is always the same: shoot hooks upward to the ceiling so large bubbles burst into smaller ones, and the smallest ones disappear. Go to the next level once it’s bubble clear. It’s simple but catching...and I’d play any game with this concept instantly.

20. Tetris attack (SNES): I’m honestly not sure why it has tetris in the name, as it’s about switching blocks until sets of three match and disappear...and it has a Mario (okay: Yoshi) theme. That theme is only accidental, but man...for a snes game this is loaded with extras. Puzzle game, different endless modes, and my very personal: versus AI. Of course you didn’t “just” match three. No way: you lined things up to match at least four, and ideally from six onwards, which dumped blocks on your opponent (and vice versa). This game mode has me zoned out so much that I nearly missed my train station once: it sucks you in and keeps you until either you or your opponent is pushed off the board. I have no idea what the story was about, but any reason to beat up more enemies was fine by me. :-)

19. Dead cells (android): I was late to the party here: everyone and their mum had already unlocked all sorts of stuff while I couldn’t even survive the promenade of the damned. But this year I found out it was on mobile as well, and man does it work well on gpd xd+. I’m sort of lucky that I’ve got a kid and renovations to take care of, or I’d probably waste any free time attempting to 100% this game.

18. Walking dead season 1 (windows): I feel like I’m betraying telltale here, but I never played season 2, the DLC and hardly any of their other games. Still...walking dead was a milestone in storytelling. I never cried playing video games, but man this was a close one.

17. Tabletop simulator (linux): I attempted to play this a few years back and dismissed it for its GUI. In the pandemic, however, I first used it for trying some solo games, then some games against myself or even my girlfriend, and now I’ve hooked two colleagues into this. None is a true replacement for actual board gaming, but the near-infinite amount of board games available finally means it ranks where it should have been years ago.

16. Unreal + return to na pali (windows/linux): mid nineties I got a new computer with an actual “voodoo 2” graphics card. Unreal was one of the first games I got for it. And...well...my life hasn’t been the same since. I wasn’t new to 3D shooters at all, but this one somehow mixed extremely fun and interesting weapons (with two fire modes! ) with a serene medieval planet inhabited by peaceful creatures under siege. It not only had absolutely marvelous atmospheric music (that I still listen to sometime) and never-before seen visuals (water that actually looked like water), but some unmatched opponent AI and level design that still hasn’t found its equal over 20 years later! Oh, right: and if that wasn’t enough, it had bot deathmatch directly built in. Heh...I understand that for some, half-life changed their life. But this? THIS was the actual game changer in the industry. And on top of all that, it came with a full blown editor as well! It wasn’t until much later that I learned just how deep it was, but certainly on hindsight it’s no wonder that the unreal engine became a standard: epic games just layed out the red carpet for using their editor in the first place! Return to na pali did more than offer “more of the same”, offering more weapons, different enemies, a different storyline and the signature level design. Still...it scratches the same itch, so it has to share its spot.

15. Monkey island (1&2) (DOS): “my name is Guybrush Treepwood, and I want to be a mighty pirate”. Almost from the getgo, I knew this game was a gem. Other games (point ‘n click were what PC gaming was about) kept a realistic or even mature tone, but humor in games were rare. From the speech options in dialogues to the comments whenever you looked at...well, ANYTHING...this game was gold in video game form. I wasn’t much a fan of the sequel at first, mostly because it branched out much faster, which could leave you very clueless at times (oh, and wtf was the ending about?). But I won’t deny that both have given me great laughs and my undying love for the videogame medium.

14. Abe’s Oddyssee (windows): it’s not that the game was a sleeper hit, but upon playing it for the first time I thought “wow...THIS is the future of platforming! ”. For more than a few reasons, really: the worldbuilding stood head and shoulders over anything I’d ever seen (ahem...which was, admittedly, mostly Mario stuff). Abe still holds the crown as the most likeable protagonist. And the juxtaposition of Mudokons (those are your guys) and the monsters from Rupture farms (your bosses) is top notch dystopian lore. Oh, and the cutscenes are still among the best I’ve ever seen. Still...I won’t deny it wasn’t flawless in the gameplay department. The pace often grinded to a halt and required some thorough thinking. And because you played a very timid main character, having him killed physically hurt (at least it did to me). And while the control scheme was novel (you had a button to fart. Yeah...beat THAT, flight simulator! ), it meant that porting didn’t easily work out. I’ve still got to properly work my way through exoddus and the remake.

13. Donkey kong / mario vs donkey kong (gameboy, gameboy advance): let me just state this now: I FUCKING HATE THOSE MINIS!!! >:-( Lemme explain: like many, I was pleasantly surprised that after the initial 3 levels of donkey kong on the gameboy, it turned out you were only at the very start of a puzzle platforming adventure where bringing the key to the exit was the goal. I think I played through the whole thing at least 3 times, and perhaps more: this was platforming at its finest. The Gameboy advanced version was equally great, even though the levels were somehow split in two and you had this weird ‘box the minis’ level every so often. But my enraging problem comes from the next sequels: these forgot the original platforming elements and went all in on puzzle mechanics. Not terrible games and probably pretty unique and charming...but I want Mario vs Donkey Kong, damnit!

12. GTA San Andreas (windows): so...despite me stating earlier that Saints row blows GTA out of the water (which it does), the nostalgia factor is just too strong in this one. And it can hardly get better than San Andreas: not one but three huge cities with a buttload of side missions, a downright insane amount of stuff you can do and a storyline that I actually found engaging all the way through. So...yeah. It’s for nostalgic reasons, but it’s still my most favorite sandbox game ever.

11. UT99 (windows/linux): after blown away by unreal, I soon learned that the sequel was going to be called “unreal tournament”, and would focus on the multiplayer aspect. Had I known in advance, I wouldn’t have been disappointed: unreal 2 (which came later) was a joke, and unreal tournament proved even better than unreal. Why? Well, because the bots got (even) better, the weapons were tweaked, we got some extra stuff (both the translocator and redeemer became classics in the genre), extra gameplay modes (capture the flag! Assault!) and the signature great level design. UT was released at almost the very same time as quake 3, which also relied solely on multiplayer. But to most people, the latter came with fists to a shotgun fight. UT’s trumps not only hammered things home but it became clear that the included editor was like an endless present to this new “internet” thing that was becoming mainstream. UT also had mutators, which were mini-modifications with a twist: they could be combined. Low gravity AND replace all weapons with sniper rifles? Sure thing. No health and extra damage? Absolutely. And the bots just adapted to everything as if it was nothing. Man...I remember using a 100 megabyte zip drive to use a neighbor’s 56k modem to download a map pack and a bunch of mutators for UT and being happier than Christmas morning that year. Perhaps the best testament is that I found out that even ten years after release, people were still building maps for this game!

10. CSD trilogy (windows/linux): cook, serve, delicious is a bloody hard sell on gbatemp. I played the first one after buying it for like a buck or so, expecting nothing. It’s a button clicker game with a cooking theme (hit S for salami, O for olives and <enter> to serve...that sort of sums it up). Granted, it doesn’t look like much – certainly not the first one – but I was quickly hooked nonetheless. The fact that you could pick and upgrade your menu made a whole lot of difference. I beta tested the second one (a very nice developer, by the way), but if I was honest I was sort of left out. The RPG element of upgrading your menu items had been changed for more (much, MUCH more) different menu’s. It looked far better, yes, and had a way to prepare some part of the meal in advance. It’s...different. Not worse or better, but different. Same goes for the latest entry: it mostly follows the outline of the second, but has a slight bit of upgrading (hooray!) and an interesting storyline that handles the way the day is outlined. IMHO it’s strictly better than the second, but still only ‘on par’ with the first unless you bring visuals in the mix. But either way: the gameplay loop is very rewarding if you’re into this sort of game.

9. Zelda: link’s awakening (gameboy): yup...this is THE Zelda for me: awakening on the gameboy. The one I learned to appreciate just how smart the levels were designed in. Where I slowly progressed and was thrilled to achieve progress once I got myself a sword. The one I probably cost my parents more money than the game was worth in phone bills to the nintendo hotline. But damnit, I had no idea how to get in that bloody castle at that time! Ahem...but still: lovely characters, great story, combat was great, music was great...and it still is. I WILL get a switch one day and I WILL play that Awakening remake on it. But...just not today.

8. Opus magnus (windows): Zachtronics’ best work, and really on par for the best puzzle game. If you want to call it that, as it is an open ended programming game. Anyway: your job is to place, pick up, transform, transfuse and/or split or rotate alchemy elements to match the demanded goal. This is really the sort of game where you run into your own flaws in thinking. It’s less complex than infinifactory (which is this game in three dimensions, really), but that only means that there is more room to improve efficiency. In a brilliant move, this game not only shows your ranks on efficiency and blocks used against others who solved the game, but also allows you to record a gif of your collection. Just picture google ‘opus magnum gif’ to see the most interesting contraptions on the planet. But that just entices you to build and program more. Or to achieve it in less steps. Or just place that there, and then set that part to rotate...and so on.

7. Antichamber (windows): I’m a sucker for both Escher paintings and deeper meaning (wisdom) in games. This game does both in a way that should really be impossible. None of the games are real brainburners but most have a very nice “oh...of COURSE! ” moment when you think outside the box properly. To make it even weirder, about halfway you get a gun that multiplies blocks that play a part in the remaining puzzles. The storyline shifts from the psychological wisdom in...erm...sort of 2001: space oddysey territory, really. But that only enhances the experience.

6. Celeste (windows/linux): quite simply: everything in this story is either amazing or stellar. The platforming? Amazing. The story? Stellar. The characters: amazing. The gameplay loop: stellar. And so on. Really, why am I talking about this? Just...get it and play. Yes, it’s better than Mario, Rayman, Braid, Abe’s oddyssey or whatever platformer you can throw at it. I fucking mean it: just play it rather than hear me ramble about it.

5. Doom 1&2 (DOS): I was hooked to doom from the moment I got it properly running. But really: you’ve got to know the context here as well. There weren’t many other video games vying for attention. There wasn’t anything similar until others started copying it. And it was so much better than wolfenstein 3D that the very least you could say that it was a classic. But really: this goes beyond that. It’s 25 years later and I can still start up doom and have a good time. It’s both iconic, simple and efficient. It is, rightfully so, a milestone in video gaming. Doom 2 was...erm...it was heralded as more than I initially gave it credit for. Some new weapons, yes, but at least the initial levels lacked the imagination that the originals had. And the city levels were just open spaces. It’s not that I don’t like it, but every time I look at comments saying that a sequel was “a lazy job”, I think of doom 2. Id just created more levels, a single extra weapon (which used the same ammo), a few new enemies and done. Yet nobody cared. So lemme just say it: doom 2 was a far lazier job than whatever you’re bitching about when discussing this or that sequel.

4. Race for the galaxy (android): easily my favorite mobile game. Race for the galaxy is a card game where you pay to play cards by discarding other cards, and aim to combine them with certain other cards in your tableau. I know: doesn’t sound very revealing, or even replayable. And granted: I was initially confused by the many icons and phases as well. But once I understood how it worked and had an idea what all cards did (and you sort of needed to know ALL cards to properly estimate the value of single cards), I started liking it. And then loving it. And then buying the DLC for it. And then hunting down the physical board game. And...damnit, I’ve spend hundreds of hours into it, even though it plays in 10-15 minutes, has barely any variation in mechanisms (ingame variation is endless though: every card combination means different decisions and different outcomes) and has no grinding whatsoever. I still love it to death. I’ve mentioned Tom Lehman before in roll for the galaxy. Well: this game is still the better one. And if you ever feel like trying a game you’ve never tried before: try this. If you take the time to learn it, you won’t regret it.

3. Red alert 2 & Yuri’s revenge (windows): Tiberian sun was a letdown for me. I had anticipation even while playing red alert. But I didn’t like most of the ideas, didn’t like the sort of sci-fi they went with (westwood studios swapped the ‘realistic’ science fiction for campy aliens, really...though on hindsight, c&c was always campy). And definitely didn’t like that the cutscenes gave the credit for your work to someone else. Cherry on the shit turd was that the mammoth tank literally blew away everything (I finished the last GDI level with nothing but that tank and a repair vehicle from a stolen enemy factory). When I caught wind of red alert 2, I had little hope. But then I got reading. Mind control units? Blimps? Robo drones? Bombing units? I admit I became curious again. And oh, man...Red alert 2 did NOT fail to deliver. Rather the contrary: it was westwood studios’ swan song (they were just acquired by EA). No more useless units...just counter-units and units that countered those. Cheap ground units could garrison buildings. There were camouflage tanks, prism tanks and snipers. The blimps were near impossible to destroy but moved incredibly slow. The V3 rockets fired fast but could be shot by anti-aircraft. Nothing was invincible, everything had a weak spot. And the sea units were fully present. Even the balance was better than ever before. I loved every moment of playing it, and couldn’t get enough.
...and then came Yuri’s revenge. A whole extra faction that cranked the madness that was already at eleven to...erm...twelve? Granted: fighting the faction was a lot easier than playing it, but there were so many tricks you could do. Mind control units, then send them into the grinder for cash. Mass produce the cheapest unit, turn them into small tanks and either attack or rack up EVEN MORE cash. The things you could do with your units were just about limited to your fantasy, and even then. RTS’es were never the same afterward. Red alert 3 required hotkeys. Starcraft 2 was years away. And generals...hmm...I never really liked playing it. Either way: it just couldn’t be topped. This was (and still is) the pinnacle of RTS territory.

2. Rocksmith 2014 remastered (& rocksmith) (windows): I told you about my shame of buying a plastic guitar for guitar hero and rock band, right? Well...I later thoroughly hesitated to buy a real guitar. A cheap 70 bucks one, but that with the 20 for ubisoft's stupid cable (which isn't even noise-proof) and the 5 bucks for the game (steam discount) was a pretty hefty investment. And I'm not even counting the guitar band, the guitar stand, extra strings and the plectra. And I hadn't touched an instrument in over 20 years (and that wasn't a guitar). But It Was So Fucking Worth It!!!! Look...in a way, rocksmith doesn't belong here because it's not really a game. It has some minigames that involve the guitar, but the main gist is just what you expect: learning the guitar and playing songs. There's none of that "play at X level or you're boo-ed off the stage", no campaign, no characters and hardly any steam achievements. Just you, a guitar and a voice that guides you through 100+ tutorials. It has of the best soundtracks for a guitar game, but I'll get back to that. But really: all that is there is all that there should be. I found out that learning to play the guitar is an intrinsic motivation for me. All that "steam accomplishment" and "beat the high score" is just unnessecary clutter that'll only entertain those who shouldn't play this in the first place. Me, I'm perfectly happy replaying the intro from "it's been a while" at 60 percent speed over and over again, slowly increasing the speed or the amount of notes until it's in my fingers. I've spent hours on Don't look back in anger, set a goal to myself to understand the melody of the XX's islands or just play through anything from Bob Marley without it being embarrassingly bad. It's just...that. I’m not aiming to be in a band or something. The learning, understanding, improving...that's what it is for me. I don't like all tracks and will probably start from roughly scratch again (haven't played it since we moved houses), but you can bet I'll pick this one up again. And though it's 'only' number two, I'd pick this game as the sole game if I can't but take one video game to an uninhabited island (though I'd request a buttload of strings with it). It's not for everyone...but it is absolutely for me. (btw: I bought the original rocksmith as well. As reviewers pointed out, 2014 rightfully blows it out of the water. I knew this...but I bought it to import the tracks into 2014).

1. UT2004 (windows): the one...the only. The legendary...or is it? It came out just at the right time for me (due to circumstances, I graduated just a few months earlier...and less than a week after my birthday). It was an all out buffet right out of the gate.
See, it included everything from UT2003 (the UT sequel my PC wasn’t powerful enough for), and included vehicles as well. This split the community in those who played onslaught (a connect-the-dots gameplay on large maps where you slowly gain ground until you’ve got a connection to their base) and those who played the “regular” first person shooter. I played everything. And almost always online. I quickly found that most people sucked at onslaught, which meant that I could singlehandedly change the outcome in 16-player matches. I later found communities and even a clan where the competition was a lot more fierce, but always friendly. I went to private LAN’s, communicated through voice chat and at one point had written over 100 reviews on custom level maps (yeah, there were dedicated sites where people could send in their work). I participated in 3 forums and helped beta test maps. The mods had grown from the “proof of concept” work of UT99 to sometimes indistinguishable or even better gametypes than the standard ones. Really: UT2004 was my world, my home and where I belonged.
I’ve got to admit there was a dark shadow side to this period. It took me 2.5 years before finally landing a job (and damnit, I didn’t slack on that department AT ALL! >:-( ). So my private life was a mess. I won’t deny that I was addicted to that game, but what choice did I have? I never neglected sending resumes, preparing for interviews or being ill-prepared on those, let alone that I’d give gaming time priority on any of that. Instead, it was UT2004 that kept me from becoming depressed.
*sigh* Don’t get me wrong: it would’ve been my favorite game regardless. It’s just an extra thing I’m grateful for when it comes to praising the game...