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

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

It's really a special game.

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

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

Ocarina of Time.

Definitely the original portal.

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

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

"This is a triumph"

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

Tetris. Tetris is the King.

Satisfactory.

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

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

Stardew valley

Super Mario World

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

Skyrim because it's not just vanilla skyrim.

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

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

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

Outer Wilds and 2nd place isn't even close

Final Fantasy VII (the original)

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

Super Metroid. Still holds up after so long.

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

Elden Ring

Jagged Alliance 2

Knights of the Old Republic I & II, I've spent so many hours playing those game when I was a teenager that I don't even know. I remember finishing them multiple times with different build and when I though that there was nothing left to do I discovered the restoration project and mods that the replay options became infinite.

Oblivion.

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

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

The thing that made me fall in love with classic video games: SMB3 (NES)

Favorite game that got me into the next iteration: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With a nice helping of a Perfect Dark as a palette cleanser.

More modern: I've got about 1000 hours into Skyrim and have played Diablo 3 more than I'd like to admit.

I'm massively looking forward to Starfield.

This was a tough one, but I think I've finally settled on Super Mario Kart.

It's not the best game in the franchise, but I think it's still my favourite, and the game I still have the most hours put into ever.

It's been 30 years of play now, and ongoing.

Half Life 1. That game was so ground-breaking, so atmospheric, so interesting in its puzzles and its combat that it just blew my mind and made me a forever fan.

The original Legend of Zelda on the NES. It fully captivated me as a child. I remember taking the game map to school with me and my friends would circle trees that could be burned or rocks that could be bombed. Such fond memories.

Age Of Empires. I still play to this day!

The games that started it all for me: Mega Man 2, Earthbound

The games I've played the most: Rocket League, Starcraft

All time favorite playthroughs: Portal 2, Skyrim, Halo 3, Ghosts of Tsushima, RDR2

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

Dishonored, I absolutely adore that game, and it still looks so good because of the art direction they took with it. Funny enough, it was the same art director as Half Life 2

Unreal Tournament '99.

I spent hours playing on instagib servers and also replaying the 'campaign' as a kid. It was the first game I likely logged over 100 hours on.

Freespace 2 (I’m old). Still one of the most compelling story’s I’ve enjoyed in a video game to date.

Team Fortress Classic. The game was fun but the modding community really took it to the next level.

It's a tie between Wildermyth or Yakuza 0.

Two games that tell their stories in wildly different ways. Yet, they both got me to feel some serious emotions.

Burnout 3: Takedown