Game Toolbox
A list of 101 games, when I played them, and some information I can draw from them.
Originally an excel document
that can be downloaded by clicking this text.
# |
Game | Year |
Age |
Details |
| Rolling Down the Hill (physical) | 1988 |
5 |
This game followed incredibly simple rules. A bunch of kids all got on their sides on the top of the hill and rolled to the bottom. The 'rule' was whoever got to the bottom first, won, but this was rarely enforced. More often we'd be to dizzy and giggly at the bottom to even care. There'd be some sense of "I won!" but in general everyone would just want to do it again for the experience. | |
2 |
Water Guns (physical) | 1988 |
5 |
This was another game with mysterious win conditions. You would run around with your water gun shooting your friends and telling them they were dead. They would respond in the negatory and inform you that it was you in fact who was dead. There was never a real negative for being dead, we just knew that we weren't going to be it. |
3 |
Duck, Duck, Goose (physical) | 1988 |
5 |
This was a game built up on the idea of anticipation. "Is he going to say goose? Is he going to say goose? AH, he didn't say goose! Oh but he might say it this time, I've got to be ready!" I mean, talk about your interest curve. This was a game played entirely with interest peaks and valleys. |
4 |
Sandcastle vs. Ocean (physical) | 1988 |
5 |
This was a game I would play everytime I went to the beach. I would gaze at the ocean, my old time opponent, and then create a sandcastle right on the very edge of his domain. I would erect walls, levees, canals, all in an attempt to thwart his power. I had great fun personifying the ocean to make the experience of building a castle to last all the more exciting. |
5 |
Beach Hold On (physical) | 1988 |
5 |
Another beach game involved my dad pulling me along on a boogie board and trying to shake me off. He'd yank me over rockier areas, smooth but slippery sandy areas, and then even smoother but rocking water areas. The entire experience made always more interesting by the question of, "Oh gosh, where will he pull me next?" |
6 |
Bounce the Fly (physical) | 1988 |
5 |
A simple game I'd play while waiting to come inside school. I'd find a fly and proceed to bounce it down with my folder. It'd fly up, then I'd knock it down again. Once a classmate crushed the fly and I was absolutely infuriated that they would take away my playmate. I had no concept (or I at least buried it well) that I was being terribly cruel, I was just angry that another person had seen fit to impose on my domain. |
7 |
Sorry (board game) | 1988 |
5 |
This game I remember for the commercial. I saw kids playing it with their parents, completely screwing them over, and then saying in an innocent voice, "Sorry!" God I wanted that kid to be me. I wanted to beat my parents so bad. |
8 |
Grandma with Book of Answers (make believe) | 1989 |
6 |
This is a game of pretend I would play with a school friend of mine. We would make up all these elaborate adventures to go on, often involving mysteries and dungeons. I played the girl's grandmother (I was always close to my own grandmother) and I always came armed with the Book of Answers, a mystic tome that contained the answer to every question within its pages. Even at a young age, I always wanted to know everything, or at least have a resource at my hands that had the answers -- I just had to find it. |
9 |
Submarine Box (make believe) | 1989 |
6 |
This was more a challenge to the self. My parents had gotten a new fridge and had given me the box. I was suddenly given a world of possibilities. Armed with marker and scissors I transformed it into a submarine with periscopes and torpedos and EVERYTHING. Strangely, I didn't play with it too much after that. I had always been more interested in turning the potential into something actual. Having created it, I looked for something new to create. |
10 |
Simon Says (physical) | 1989 |
6 |
One of the first competitive games I can remember playing at school. I was always trying to be the best student in class, and Simon Says just seemed to be another way of saying, "Who can listen best to teacher?" I not only wanted to show how good I was, but to have everyone else see how good I was. It was all about being the last man standing. |
11 |
Battleship (boardgame) | 1989 |
6 |
Another fun game to analyze for the interest curve. It stars with the nervous initial shots. Will you hit his? Will he hit yours? Then BAM. He hits something! Or you hit something! Oh god, will they be able to find the rest of your ship? Oh good he missed, but he'll probably get it next turn! DAMN! He did! Well hopefully he won't find the rest! Battleship was just a great game for tense waiting followed by periods of extreme action. |
12 |
Where's Waldo? (book game) | 1989 |
6 |
The first book game I ever played, a normally pretty passive experience. In a way, Where's Waldo is a lot like a crossword puzzle, except it introduces the idea of Easter Eggs. On each picture, all the non-Waldo people were engaged in all manner of things that if you made sure to see, would tend to engage you. You could breeze through the book and not see even 10% of what it actually had in it. |
13 |
War (card game) | 1989 |
6 |
A game that, looking back now, I don't know why it engaged me so much. I remember playing it a great deal with my father, but I also seem to recall feeling like I had some kind of influence on the cards. Through the turning over, I would be silently willing the cards to be higher so I could beat my opponent. It didn't make logical sense, but oh how I hoped. |
14 |
Reading Rabbit (computer game) | 1989 |
6 |
The first edutainment game I can remember. I played these games religiously. The interactions were reasonably fun, and I was able to waste tons of time on them not realizing I was learning how to read, basic math, and logic. |
15 |
Swingset (physical) | 1989 |
6 |
This game was all about the audience. You would get yourself higher and higher and higher, and slowly a crowd would gather. They realized you'd have to get off somehow. The question is, would you go the pussy way and slow down with your feet? Or would you launch and pray you landed on something soft? Peer pressure's a fun thing. |
16 |
Cardboard Knights (make believe) | 1990 |
7 |
You and your friend would spend a lot of time meticulously making your armor and sword out of cardboard. You'd use the finest markers to color in your personal heraldry. You'd then show it to your friend and the two of you would pause and gaze lovingly upon your handiwork. Then you'd both put your armor on, and wail on each other until the armor was in shreds and you were both really sweaty and laughing. I think locked within this is everything you'd need to know about humanity. |
17 |
Connect 4 (board game) | 1990 |
7 |
This is the the first vertical game I can really remember. It's also one of the first games where I really had to use my spatial sense and somehow work with the idea that (unlike tic tac toe) I wouldn't put pieces down to form chains, but to create platforms upon which future chains could be built. I sacrificed pieces, if you will. |
18 |
I Spy (physical) | 1990 |
7 |
Another game that strategy became involved. The thing I most clearly remembering is how when your opponent is guessing, you have to be very careful where your eyes are looking. You can either just look everywhere, or try to focus on the exact area where the item isn't in an attempt to trick your opponent. Even though it wasn't that important, I really did have to get in my opponent's head. |
19 |
Duck Hunt (video game) | 1990 |
7 |
The first game with a gun, and ooh what a treat it was! Except that I'm terrible at shooting a gun and probably will be for most of my life. This game is where I learned to cheat for the first time. As soon as I was alone in the room, I'd be right at the TV screen firing perfectly at all the ducks. As soon as I heard a person coming back, I'd quickly scoot across the room. I didn't quite know what it was, but I knew I was doing something kind of wrong. |
20 |
Dragon Warrior (video game) | 1990 |
7 |
This was the first video game I ever played that seemed to have a real world and story in it. There were towns you could go to, people you could interact with, and things to accomplish. Sure it was linear, and easy, and wouldn't let you deviate, but the story was there and I loved it. |
21 |
T-ball (physcial) | 1990 |
7 |
Let's call this sport what it is. Baseball for kids that can't hit a pitch but can still make them feel like they're in the big leagues with the running around the bases. Basically, you made the initial task easier while still keeping the glory component. To our young minds, it was almos the same. |
22 |
Mario Brothers (video game) | 1990 |
7 |
This was the first video game I played that had secret zones in it. I remember being told about where you could find extra 1-ups and warp zones and being terribly incredulous. When these were actually shown to me, I became convinced they were everywhere and proceeded to jump wildly whenever I played all in the hopes of finding a secret invisible block. God, but I wanted to be like an explorer finding the first signs of a new world. |
23 |
Sonic: Game Gear (video game) | 1991 |
8 |
This was the first game I can remember seeing as a handheld. I was amazed at the technology. To my eyes, it seemed as though they had transformed all the power of a console into a small wallet sized screen and I was amazed by it. Just the concept of electronic gaming on the go made me feel like I had to have one. It was just so convenient! |
24 |
Mega Man 2 (video game) | 1991 |
8 |
This game introduced me to the idea of non-linearity, albeit with some punishment. You could face the evil robots in any order you wanted, but the powers you absorbed from them (another new thing) would help you against other robots. Just about every mega man game had an 'accepted' order that you beat the robots to maximize ease of play, although you could still choose another way. |
25 |
Red Rover (physical) | 1991 |
8 |
This game involved a lot more politics than you might think. It was all about groups polarizing into friends and then punishing their enemies. You would call people you liked to your side and then when someone you didn't like tried to break through, you'd form an iron wall they could never hope to overcome. |
26 |
Lone Wolf: Choose Your Own Adventure (book game) | 1991 |
8 |
Another book game, although this game helped introduce me to the idea of real save points. A finger in the page you were just at equals a nice recovery point in case of THE END |
27 |
Egyptian Game with Pits (board game) | 1991 |
8 |
A board game we bought in England. I don't really remember much about it except that the board was raised up on a pillar, there was a snake pit below, and four squares on the board with a sphinx head above them. Each turn you'd roll this wheel on the board causing some of the sphinx heads to open and the pit underneath them to open causing anyone on it to fall to their deaths. The game was lackluster I remember, but we loved playing it because of how nice the board looked and how cool it was to see the pits opening. |
28 |
Conkers (physical) | 1991 |
8 |
Nature provided us with trees whose seeds looked like spiked balls on stems. We proceeded to use said seeds to beat each other. We will use the barest excuse to rough house. |
29 |
Jumping around the whirling rope (physical) | 1991 |
8 |
One person stands in the center twirling a rope, everyone else has to jump over the rope. If you get hit, you have to twirl the rope. This game was all about not having to twirl the rope as it would make you dizzy and ill. People don't like to be the game mechanic! |
30 |
Each Person Do a Page of the Story (make believe) | 1991 |
8 |
Friends and I would create stories where one person would write and illustrate one page of the story, the next person would do theirs. This would invariably lead to fights of creative content and offers some insight on why non-linear story telling in games can be hard. You just can't predict everything. And even if you can predict it, you might not like it. |
31 |
Solitaire (computer game…yes I know) | 1991 |
8 |
Having gotten a shiny new computer with this strange game of solitaire I found myself pretty intrigued! I also found it a lot easier to play solitaire on a computer as aside to real life for a number of reasons. I didn't have to find the cards, I didn't have to shuffle them, and it was really easy to place them. Essentially, humans are lazy creatures. |
32 |
Shadow of Yserbius (computer online game) | 1991 |
8 |
The first online roleplaying game I ever played. You created your portrait, and then joined groups to kill monsters in this big dungeon. This was the first time I had coordinated with people over the internet how to deal with electronic monsters. Previous games had just had 2 people at most, and now we were doing parties of up to 6? It was an all new experience. |
33 |
Freeze Tag with Open Legs (physical) | 1992 |
9 |
Another sport that changed based on the terrain you were in. You could unfreeze someone by sliding through their legs. This worked well in the gym. Satisfactory on the grass. Slowly/bloodily on rocks. As in war, know your terrain. |
34 |
Hero Quest (minatures board game) | 1992 |
9 |
A board game/rpg game with models. Not just any models, but models that you got to paint to make them look cool. The game had a board with a generic setup of rooms and corridors, and each new level in the game had different doors/furnitures to make each level a new experience. There were also overarching campaigns like "The Death of the Witch King." This game was a lot of fun because it had customizibility, story, and en element of exploration and wonder. |
35 |
Monkey Island 2 (computer game) | 1992 |
9 |
The first adventure game I ever played. It had a great story, beautiful characterful graphics, and a lot of humor. How was I to know I was playing a glorifed puzzle? |
36 |
Mario in the Pool (physical) | 1992 |
9 |
A game my dad made where he would use his arms and legs to represent spikes falling down or fire plants coming from below against the pool wall, and I would have to swim and avoid them. A simple game of avoidance made fun by pretending I was Mario avoiding things in the video game. Personifying and adding a story to things made them seem more fun. |
37 |
Illusion of Gaia (video game) | 1992 |
9 |
The first action/rpg I ever played. More important though, it was the first game I ever cried at. At the ending, you and your best friend are realizing that because you have won and saved the earth and time, the earth will change and you two will forget about one another. That broke my heart as a child. All this effort and struggle reaching a point of bittersweet victory. This was my first taste that games could be more than simple toys. |
38 |
Game and Watch - Aztec Temple (video game) | 1993 |
10 |
This was a reminder that games could be diluted to just movement. A simple hand held game with just arrows where you had to navigate the top of the screen to escape the Aztec Temple. Also featured two screens (like a Nintendo DS) which at the time didn't seem that special to me! |
39 |
Secret of Mana (video game) | 1993 |
10 |
A co-op cooperative video game? Holy smokes! My first example of a game where you started to yell at one another, "Use your *** attack!..NO. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT IS WRONG." Still, it wouldn't have been half the game played by itself. |
40 |
Betrayal at Krondor (computer game) | 1993 |
10 |
This helped introduce me to the idea of traps as encounters to themselves. Occasionally you would get the usual 'combat screen.' But instead of enemies, it would be filled with a trap that you needed to manuever/solve to win the encounter. This game was also based on a book series, and I found the game got me interested in the book series, which then got me more interested in the game, etc. Interesting positive feedback loop. |
41 |
Four Square (physical) | 1993 |
10 |
This game was enjoyable by itself, but what made it a real kick was all the 'special moves' with all their fun names. A game of four scare would begin with something like, "Okay guys, pretty standard rules but no fried eggs, baby bumpers, or pie in the skies." There was an elaborate jargon and ruleset to the game about as complicated as a religion. Part of the fun was in getting to know everything. |
42 |
Walking around the track with my eyes closed (physical stupid) | 1993 |
10 |
This is something I did to keep myself engaged while having to walk around the school track. I'd close my eyes and see how well I'd do navigating just by my sense of direction and the feel of the terrain under my feet. An interesting way of seeing how a miserable activity can become somewhat enjoyable if made into a game. I stopped, however, when I ran into a tree one day and burst open my lip. The game wasn't fun anymore. |
43 |
Mouse Trap (board game) | 1994 |
11 |
I don't even know what the rules to this game are anymore. All I remember is I love the elaborate Rube Goldbergesque machine that would cause the trap to fall from the pole to trap the mice. That machine was reason enough to love the game, mechanics completely aside. |
44 |
King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (computer game) | 1994 |
11 |
The first game I ever played that switched the perspective of the character throughout the game. For parts of the game you'd play the princess, for other parts, the mother. The two would often go to the same place at different times, and it was interesting to see how differently people and the environment reacted to them. |
45 |
Myst (computer game) | 1994 |
11 |
An evolution of puzzle games, this time with only the vaguest idea of who we were. As the game never articulated who we were, it made it a lot easier to put myself into that situation. It's one of the reasons the Zelda games are compelling. Even though the hero is Link, he never speaks and somehow that makes it easier to identify with him (as he never contradicts us). |
46 |
Throw Water at People (physical) | 1994 |
11 |
Water is fun. Water makes things fun. Have people in a backyard. Add balloons, a hose, buckets, and water guns. Hilarity and mirth will ensue, it is a natural progression of things. At least, when you are 11. |
47 |
Ultima: Martian Dreams (computer game) | 1994 |
11 |
This game did so much for a child's sense of exploration. It sent you to Mars and revealed the gradual story of the once great civilization of the Martians. Not only that, but you actually got to talk to people from that era, including Thomas Edison, Raspution, and Teddy Roosevelt (plus a whole lot of others). This game was all about the discovery. |
48 |
Ultima VI: The False Prophet (computer game) | 1994 |
11 |
This game did something I had never really seen before. Whereas most games ended with a huge battle, you facing off against your arch nemesis, or you getting the item of ultimate power, Ultima did something different. The game ended after you had demonstrated the 12 virtues of the Avatar, created a peace settlement with the gargoyle people, and had read from the Codex of Knowledge, thus finding enlightenment. Game didn't have to be about beating the worst baddie, they could be about something more. |
49 |
Underwater Sea Learning (computer game) | 1994 |
11 |
A progression of reading rabbit. If we make some semi-interesting games and slap some 3D graphics on it, kids will learn about underwater life! Really, the flash of new technology is a great smokescreen for learning. |
50 |
Final Fantasy 4 (video game) | 1994 |
11 |
I played this game with my neighbor. An RPG, yes, but you could specify which controller controlled which characters in the fights. Honestly, that helped add so much to the game and I regret it isn't seen more often in RPGs. It helped give a very nice sense of cooperation. |
51 |
Leisure Suit Larry (computer game) | 1995 |
12 |
Just as Ultima taught me games could be something more, Leisure Suit Larry taught me that games could be something…very different. I probably played these a little young, but it was a nice demonstration that games can have adult themes for adults. The game actually had a little quiz section where it asked questions from the 70's to see if you were 21+ years old. |
52 |
Grape Escape (board game) | 1995 |
12 |
An evolution of mouse trap. Again I can't remember what the game was about, but it involved grapes that went along a path when TERRIBLE things would happen to them. The grapes were made of clay pressed in a mold, so the traps could do all sorts of grissly things (squishing, pressing, slicing, etc). A game with a lot of juice. |
53 |
Lawnmower Boredom Game (make believe) | 1995 |
12 |
Mowing a lawn is boring. Really boring. BUT, it gets fun if you think of it as a game. Chase that grasshopper! Find the perfect ratio of around the lawn vs. back and forth over the lawn. Even after three years, the brain can still find new ways of occupying itself gamewise. |
54 |
Zork (text based computer game) | 1995 |
12 |
Strangely, it took me this long to play a text based adventure. Honestly, it took me a while to get into it, so spoiled was I with graphics from other games. The game itself was enjoyable, but thing I'll always remember is that initial technical hurdle I had to get over to enjoy the game. |
55 |
Warcraft 2 (computer game) | 1996 |
13 |
This, I remember not for the game, but for the campaign maker. The game makers had suddenly given me power to make my own games, and oh was I ever willing to do it. Sure the editor made it so you couldn't do more than the simplest of triggers and level layouts, but that was enough. They had given back customizibility, allowing their game to be so much more than the game it shipped with. |
56 |
The Realm (mmorpg) | 1996 |
13 |
The first mmorpg that enabled the full creation of character avatars (faces, bodies, clothing). You could also have houses that you could customize somewhat. Looking back, it really wasn't a very good game as the balance was shot, the world wasn't very engaging and the creative leads tended to be jerks to the players, but I played it for a long time because that character on the screen was me because I had made them. |
57 |
Karaoke (singing game) | 1996 |
13 |
A game that you need to be in a very unique mindset for. Optimal strategies are either to be incredibly good at singing, or not very good but terribly enthusiastic to the point of hilarity. Sometimes, being pretty rotten at a game can be kind of amusing. Losing can be a win unto itself. |
58 |
Elements with Cousins (make believe) | 1996 |
13 |
Having learned of the four elements from Final Fantasy 4, I sought to recreate this with my cousins. Each of us picking an element (having watched Captain Planet didn't hurt) we would then act as ambassadors from each of our respective elements, having to solve mysteries and problems in how we thought our element would do it. Being given a rough framework for roleplaying, we were happy to fulfill that role. |
59 |
Ultima: Serpent Isle (computer game) | 1997 |
14 |
This Ultima game taught me that long lasting games had resonance and how things that happened to an established world could really hurt. Between Ultima 6 and 7, Skara Brae, the Island of Spirituality had been devastated in a magical accident. I was crushed. I hadn't been there to defend it and there was nothing I could do. If i were to play UItima 6, the island would still be there and I could warn the people but of course it wouldn't do anything. And damn it, that meant something to me. In Ultima 8, one of the characters who had been in just about every single Ultima (sometimes as just another NPC, sometimes as a party member) sacrifices his life for yours. That's it. 6 games and now he's gone forever. And damn it, that meant something to me. Those characters and places were a history that I was part of and then they were gone and I would never really see them again. |
60 |
Street Hockey on a Hill (physical) | 1997 |
14 |
The element of physical danger can do a lot for the excitement of a game. Street Hockey was pretty fun, but on a hill where a fall can meet certain doom? That makes things a big more interesting. |
61 |
Pokemon (video game) | 1997 |
14 |
Combining the notion of having to 'collect them all' with using little creatures to fight your battles for you is pretty interesting in and of itself. Besides that though, the game was such that by yourself, you couldn't get all the pokemon. Some of them could only be found on the other game cartridge or you would need to trade them to have them evolve properly. Okay, sure, you could buy two copies of the game and two gameboys and then play it alone, but that's pretty sad. |
62 |
Roadtrip Alphabet Games (make believe) | 1998 |
15 |
Where a game emerged in a game. On roadtrips we'd pick a topic and each person took a letter of the alphabet to think of something for that subject. In playing the game, I would find it fairly easy so I would enforce restrictions on myself such as, "Okay, we're doing animals, but I'm going to try and do all sea animals." Just littls things I would do to make the game a little bit more fun for me. Bonus points if no one notices I'm doing it. |
63 |
Paintball (physical) | 1998 |
15 |
Strangers will not always follow the rules. This can be annoying in video games and painful in real games. People who overclock their guns to faster than the course limit should have their guns broken over their heads. |
64 |
King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (computer game betrayal) | 1998 |
15 |
This game strikes me for its betrayal. I had played all the previous King's Quest games and all of them had been adventure games where you played a member of the royal family (King's Quest after all). Mask of Eternity was a third person perspective hack and slash where you played some guy. The game offended me from many points of view. It may have been an average game by itself, but by tacking on the title 'King's Quest' and then serving me that made me hate it all the more. It just didn't seem true to the series. |
65 |
Magic the Gathering (card game) | 1998 |
15 |
This game actually taught me more about economics. I would invest in certain cards, check the montly magazines to monitor their prices, and sell them when I thought I would get the best deal. I would make shrewd trades with people to get the best value, in some cases playing two people against one another. I didn't find that much enjoyment from the game itself, but playing with cardboard money was kind of enjoyable. |
66 |
Pong (video game) | 1998 |
15 |
It took me a while before I ever actually encountered that game, and like Zork, it took me a bit to get over the technical hurdle. I kind of approached it with a scoffing, "This'll be easy" and then found that not the case. Games can be timeless. |
67 |
Freecell (card game) | 1999 |
16 |
This game kind of infuriated me because of the one key rule, "Every game of Freecell is winnable." As all the cards are face up, there's no quasi-random element as in Solitaire where you need to make a judgement without knowing everything. In Freecell, you know everything. The solution is right there, you just need to do the math in your head and solve it. |
68 |
E.V.O. (video game) | 1999 |
16 |
This was the first game I had played that featured a kind of dynamic class building. You choose general talents and skills that either spec you as a fast nimble stabby creature (rogue), a big beefy bruiser (warrior), or some jack of all trades, master of none character. Other games had you select a class, whereas here you gradually came unto it. |
69 |
Lunar, the Silver Star Story Complete (video game) | 1999 |
16 |
The first game I encountered that scaled challenge to your level. You could try to level your heart out to make boss fights extra easy, but the game would just make everything relative to your character, thus it would always be a challenge! |
70 |
Everquest (mmorpg) | 1999 |
16 |
The first big 3D MMORPG I ever played. I remember the first tentative steps I took in the game, just absolutely enthralled with the environment I was seeing. It felt like I was really there in the world. The world is something I always loved about the initial game, as long treks were dangerous, and there was so much out there to see. Death was hard, causing a loss of items, a corpse run, and lost experience. Later on, the game added a lot of portals/short cuts to help the newbie player along, revamped the death system, and generally made the game easier. Yet, I felt weird about this. Getting through the rough beginnings always seemed a kind of rite of passage! The mystery of the world was now vanishing, to be replaced by pre-made in-game maps instead of print-outs from websites. It all became too clear, too evident. The exploration and danger was mostly gone. |
71 |
Super Smash Brothers (video game) | 2000 |
17 |
A fighting game that didn't use the absolute of a health bar. Rather, you had a meter that just showed how much damage you had accrued. The more damage you had, the easier it was for you to go flying off the screen. The experienced player might be able to get back to the fighting area, but it got harder every time. |
72 |
Planescape: Torment (computer game) | 2000 |
17 |
Of all the games I have played, I think this is the closest I have ever seen to a game being Art. It accomplishes an experience that would be impossible to reproduce in any other medium. You start off in a mortuary with all your memory gone. As you progress throughout the game, you come to points where you will "remember" something from your past life. Of course, you aren't actually remembering. The game mechanic has you making choices that determine what your memories are (example: cast spells = you were a sorcerer). The game features moments where you can say things like, "Give me that or I'll kill you [Truth]" or "Give me that or I'll kill you [Lie]" where that little meta information on if you're telling the truth or not in your threat informs so much about the character. It doesn't hurt that the game is set in the Planescape roleplaying system, a setting where belief is what fuels the cosmos. At one point in the plot, a character asks you, "What can change the nature of a man?" Instead of the usual few different conversation choices, you're given literally hundereds of options that you may choose. That is what is so great about this game. You are playing a character, yes. But it's also you that is defining him, bit by bit. |
73 |
Warhammer 40000 (minatures wargame) | 2000 |
17 |
My friends got me kind of interested in this game, but it took prodding. A basic $100 buy in price, which they justified under being like a video game console and game. Strangely, I cared less about the little battles you would fight, and more about the creation of the models. I derived more enjoyment from creating wild and weird conversions and new armies based on fun themes. The war game became much more of an art project. |
74 |
Turkey Bowling (ridiculous) | 2000 |
17 |
Turkeys + Baby Oil + Platic sheets + Bowling Pins = Fun. Take any regular sport, add a dash of messiness, and a completely ludicrous item and you can have a pretty good time from the novelty of it all. Granted it's not something I'd break out every week, but as a special Thanksgiving tradition, it can be pretty fun. |
75 |
Sim City 2000 (computer game) | 2000 |
17 |
Sim City is kind of a modern day version of Cardboard Knights. You spend all this time making elaborate beacons of civilization…and then you go to the disasters window and see what kind of havoc you can set upon your creation. There's just something primal about creating, destroying, ad infinitum. |
76 |
Fatal Frame (video game) | 2001 |
18 |
A horror game that truly freaked me out, with a fairly unique weapon. Some horror games give you swords, or guns. Fatal Frame gave you a spiritual camera. Whenever you saw a ghost, you'd have to use the camera (which would cause a second delay as you brought it up), then you'd be in camera mode which featured the small frame of what the camera could see as the ghost was coming towards you. It was also a really great way to switch from 3rd person perspective to 1st person, as the sudden shift in seeing a ghost, to not seeing a ghost, readjusting the camera angle, and seeing the ghost COMING RIGHT AT YOU created some great moments. |
77 |
Animal Crossing (video game) | 2001 |
18 |
Such a weird game. You basically took care of a town, interacted with your NPC neighbors, dug for treasure, decorated your home, and engaged in special holiday adventures when your gamecube clock corresponded with holidays. A unique game in that it seemed more something you might log onto every holiday or so to check what was going on in the city. |
78 |
Joust (video game) | 2001 |
18 |
A game that I encountered through Animal Crossing actually. A weird to control game in that the controls were a little stiff and halted to reflect the fact that you were riding a mount. Just that little change in interface, though, gave a completely different feel to the game. Changing those around would result in much different (and probably) poorer game. |
79 |
Morrowind (computer game) | 2001 |
18 |
A game that suddenly put you into this big lively yet…lifeless world. Not since Ultima had I seen a world of this size before, and never in a 3D sense. The game is interesting in that I've tried to play it to completion at least five different times, but each time I tend to get overwhelmed with the full bulk of all the different things I can do that I freeze and just stop playing it. Being somewhat anal about needing to complete everything in a game, I feel I wouldn't ever be able to play Morrowind unless my attention span increased a lot and I got a bunch more free time. Still though, there was something wonderful about just walking out into that big world. |
80 |
Black & White (computer game) | 2001 |
18 |
This game was built up on the idea of your creature. You could teach it, and somewhat direct it, but it was yours. The other flaws of the game aside, the one that sticks out the most is one level where they take your creature away. Suddenly the games other flaws came front and center and left me with a pretty bitter taste in my mouth. If you're going to take an element in a game away, make sure the rest of the game is still enjoyable. |
81 |
Disgaea (video game) | 2002 |
19 |
The item building in this game was crazy. You could enter your items to fight through multiple dungeon levels (to increase the skill level of the item), subdue specialists (who gave bonuses to your item), and transfer specialists between items. The game could literally go on forever with you just creating an uber item out of your starting Short Sword. Devotion to one item tended to pay off more than always getting the better item. It was just a question of when to devote. |
82 |
Kill Doctor Lucky (board game) | 2002 |
19 |
From the makers of CheapAss games (a fun company that believes in good game concepts as opposed to flashy boards and dice), the game had all the players in the mansion of Doctor Lucky, all trying to kill him and get away scott free. You would always need to make sure no one else could see you killing him, and attempts to kill him could be foiled by the other players banding together and sacrificing enough cards to stop you. |
83 |
Planescape: Faction Wars (roleplaying game) | 2002 |
19 |
The Planescape campaign setting was a fantastic one, built up on weird worlds and creatures, and a place where belief was the currency of the realm. Faction War was the last adventure of that campaign and it had all the feel of being something truly epic. Following that campaign, the setting was changed drastically so it had an awful sense of finality to it that I found hard to reproduce elsewhere. Partially it was due to the well established history of campaign setting, and the people in it. And then, through the period of an adventure, seeing it all change. |
84 |
Disc Golf (physical) | 2002 |
19 |
I never thought the frisbee could be improved, but as soon as you eliminate the need for a human to catch it, you can change it so it can spin a really far distance. Combine that with golf, and you can get a really fun game. It's interesting how sometimes to come up with new games, it may be necessary to remove one of the factors of the game and reanalyze. |
85 |
Earth and Beyond (mmorpg) | 2002 |
19 |
The first MMORPG that mainly had your character as a spacecraft travelling through space. While there were issues with long boring treks through space and a lack of competitive content, there was something nicely epic about blasting a ship into space (something I had always wanted to do) and choosing whether I would mine space debris, or go after some rogue space pirates. |
86 |
Ico (video game) | 2002 |
19 |
A game that seemed to capitalize on the theme of a wild alien world with strange things going on that you don't quite understand. The only thing that does seem clear is that you need to help this girl escape. You can't understand her, nor can you understand why the shadows are chasing you, but her seeming innocence and the horror of the shadows just compelled you to do what seemed right. |
87 |
Legend of the Five Rings (card game) | 2003 |
20 |
One of the most unique card games I've ever played. Set in a fictional Japanese-like empire called Rokugan, players select one of a number of factions. Here already there is an improvement over Magic the Gathering. In Magic, you tend to pick colors of spells to use and there you go. You feel little sense of connection with those spells. In L5R, you picked a clan with its own unique sense of motives and play behind it. Will you be a proud and warlike Lion Clan member? Perhaps one of the Crane Clan who focuses upon personal perfection and excellence? Perhaps an underhanded Scorpion clan? Or maybe even the honorless Oni of the Shadowlands? The game was also wonderfully unique in the different ways you could win. Conquest (destroy your enemies), Honor (start a turn with 40 personal honor), Dishonor (dishonor your opponents to -20 honor), or Enlightenment (achieve the goals of the five elemental rings). So not only does the game feature factions you can get into and numerous roleplayingish win conditions, there is also the matter of the Emperor's Favor. Each turn, players can vie for the Emperor's favor via gifts and courtier actions. The favor grants special abilities that can be used in conflicts. Game mechanics aside, the makers of the game also do something quite unique in card game companies. They let players pick the stories. The company regularly has story tournaments that are meant to decide important plot points. Such as the "Test of the Jade Champion." The player that wins the tournament gets to select a character from their clan to become the Emperor's Champion. If a Shadowlands player wins, they might make it so that they can pick a person, but that person is actually killed and replaced with an evil double. And this goes into the actual back story of the game! That level of player input has made it incredibly popular. |
88 |
Wario Ware (video game) | 2003 |
20 |
A game made entirely of small fast paced (5 second at most) mini games. Kind of the popcorn of gaming, where you can plug it in, start munching, and then an hour later you find the bowl/game is done. The spastic quality and zany weirdness of the game helped keep it novel through a constant stream, "I wonder what'll happen next!...what the hell is that?" |
89 |
Star Wars Galaxies (mmorpg) | 2003 |
20 |
The first MMORPG I played where you could be roles other than the standard combatants. You could be a dancer, image designer, architect, or merchant, and with the game mechanics that was perfectly fine. If you so desired, you would never have to set foot out of a city and some people flocked to that and found it incredibly appealing. |
90 |
Star Control 2 (computer game) | 2003 |
20 |
A 2-D older space game that not only had a well balanced space combat system, but encouraged exploration by populating worlds with all manner of interesting creatures and space empires. So much of the game's endearing quality comes from interacting with other species. The varying difference of appearence, attitude, and conversation made every encounter an absolutly novel joy. |
91 |
Couchies with Spooky (physical) | 2003 |
20 |
This is a game I play with my cat. It involves me chasing after her, having her hide behind a couch, then she chases after me and I run on top of things, then pounce on her and generally act like a cat. It feels incredibly silly, but I kind of like pretending I am a cat with her because I feel like she's seeing me as one of her 'cool cat buddies.' Man that sounds weird, but it's true. |
92 |
Nationstates (web game) | 2003 |
20 |
An interesting web game where you create a country, and then your advisors come to you with questions about an issue or case that has come up that requires your decision. The rest of your country is ruled by precedent, so the more questions you answer, the more defined your country becomes. Like Planescape Torment, it starts you off with a nebulous idea of a country that gradually becomes more concrete. |
93 |
Mario Party (video game) | 2004 |
21 |
The minigames for these are always great fun, and it is really a shame that the game itself suffers from horrid randomness. You can be a champion at the game and can be doing very well, then suddenly you hit a random square and all your stars go to your opponent. That's not fun, that's random to the point of incredibly annoyance. |
94 |
ilovebees (advertisement game) | 2004 |
21 |
An advertisement game designed to raise up attention for the upcoming Halo 2 game. Featured a website called ilovebees.com that seemed like it had been hacked. Featured people having to call in to communicate with the "A.I." and events would happen to reveal more of the story. Ended with calls to meet at various theatres across the US where all would be revealed. An interesting display on how game/internet/real life all combined with one another. |
95 |
Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles (video game) | 2004 |
21 |
This game when played multiplayer had a number of characters doing the fighting, and one person who would have to become the 'bucket bitch' holding onto the bucket that would define how the maximum area that players could go around before getting damaged. Bucket bitch is not enjoyable, but it's a job that needed to be done and it was interesting to watch how the decision for who would do it would be. While an interesting mechanic, I really wish near the end there would unlock a way to stop it just so all players could enjoy fighting at once. |
96 |
Run and yell Shakespeare (physical and mental game) | 2004 |
21 |
A game we had in theatre. Involved running across the room while dodging the other people and objects while saying a single line of Shakespeare and then holding the last word out until your breath died. A seemingly random game of energy expenditure that actually taught us about breath control, knowing your surroundings, and memory by putting us in a stressful situation. Plus, the energy expenditure was pretty enjoyable. |
97 |
Arkham Horror (board game) | 2005 |
22 |
A cooperative boardgame that featured all the players working against one global threat. Portals to a dark dimension are opening all over the city and it is up to the players to close them all in time before a dark Elder God enters our domain. The fluff of the game is interesting in and of itself, but where it really shines is the cooperation as the investigators work together, spreading their resources across a city to win the game. The way that portals opened across the city constantly added a lot to the sense of perpetual Lovecraftian doom. |
98 |
D&D: Trial of Winter (roleplaying game) | 2005 |
22 |
The process of DMing is an interesting game as the goals are rather complicated. One needs to make a game challenging enough to engage the players, use enough indirect control to get the players to hit the necessary story points, and be loose enough so that you can respond to anything the players can do. It's a real trial of non-linear storytelling which requires a good degree of flexibility as well as knowing when to fudge/boost certain statistics to make the game feel challenging and epic while not being soul-crushingly difficult. |
99 |
Wario Ware: Twisted (video game) | 2005 |
22 |
A video game hand-held system, that suddenly takes advantage of the fact that you can rotate the system around easily? Oh be still my heart. Something that takes into account not just screen and button impulse, but physical qualities of the environment. |
100 |
Twinkle Star Sprites (arcade game) | 2005 |
22 |
A two player competitive (against one another) flight shooter. You kill enemies on your half of the screen to launch fireballs at your opponent. Your opponent can dodge the fireballs or shoot them back at you. Different characters have different special abilities, but still that competitive dual screen play where things on your screen effect your opponents was quite amazing. I'd seen it in puzzle games, but never before in a shooter. |
101 |
Shadow of the Colossus (video game) | 2005 |
22 |
This game truly captured a feeling of loneliness. A bit beautiful EMPTY world. It took two real themes, the hero's journey and the hero's conquest and made a game out of just that. If there had been more enemies in the world, the journey would have been more a slough as opposed to an exploration. Your journey, you find the enemy, and you destroy it. It's a game concentrated down to very powerful elements without any of the chaff. |