What are your top 10 games of all time?

[ZedClampet]

PCG recently posted its top 100 list. Unfortunately, it was wrong. To help set the record straight for history, we need to come up with our own list. So put your top 10 games of all time here, and I will put them together into a top 100, or maybe a top 50, PCG Forums list.

Your responses will be weighted as such (unless someone with more sense has a better idea)

1 - 20 points
2 - 15 points
3 - 10 points
4 - 7 points
5 - 6 points
6 - 5 points
7 - 4 points
8 - 3 points
9 - 2 points
10 - 1 point

Remakes and the original count as the same game. You will likely make your list and later think of another game that should have been included (or maybe it's just me who will do that), so you can makes changes to your list until December 1.

This list will not be impacted by moron bombing, as I reserve the right to not include any posts I choose not to include, but specifically ones related to bots, marketing or grass-root efforts to impact the final list.

Note: If you create an unnumbered list, each of your games will receive 0 points.

If we have 10 games tied for #1, we'll figure that out when we get there.

Note: PC games only

 

[Alm]

I have a lot of my favourite games as console only. Am I right to think that it's a PC only list given which forum we're on?

 

[ZedClampet]

1. Satisfactory
2. V Rising
3. Portal 2
4. Soma
5. Alien Isolation
6. The Witcher 3
7. Resident Evil 4 (original and remake)
8. Forza Horizon 5
9. Portal
10. The Talos Principle 2

 

[ZedClampet]

I have a lot of my favourite games as console only. Am I right to think that it's a PC only list given which forum we're on?

Yeah. PC only

 

[Alm]

1. Counter Strike
2. Half Life
3. Quake III Arena
4. Age of Empires
5. Grand Theft Auto 4
6. Forza Horizon 5
7. Civilization 4
8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
9. Halo Infinite
10. Hearthstone

 

[ZedClampet]

Already changed my list twice. I wasn't really ready to list a top 10, but wanted to have one in the thread.

 

[Pifanjr]

Already changed my list twice. I wasn't really ready to list a top 10, but wanted to have one in the thread.

I'm entirely unprepared, but let's give this a shot:

1. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
2. Mass Effect 3
3. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
4. Fallout 3
5. Portal 2
6. XCOM 2
7. Total War: Warhammer 2
8. Minecraft
9. Angband
10. Portal

Honorable mentions (aka games I just thought of that might replace the ones in the list but I'm too tired to figure out where to put them):

Black & White
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Civilization V or IV (it's been so long since I've played it that I honestly don't know whether I liked/would like it better than Civ V.)
Little Big Adventure 2
Rimworld
Dwarf Fortress

I feel like there should be an Assassin's Creed game on here somewhere considering how many of them I played, but I wouldn't know which one to pick. There isn't one I would consider ever playing again, unlike every other game I've mentioned.

 

[ZedClampet]

If anyone wants to list honorable mentions as @Pifanjr did, we can use those if we don't get 100 different games to fill up the back of the list.

 

[Colif]

I have to think about a top 10. I feel like we have had a thread like this recently but I can't find it... probably commented in the top 100 thread.

 

[ZedClampet]

I have to think about a top 10. I feel like we have had a thread like this recently but I can't find it... probably commented in the top 100 thread.

I only glanced through that thread, but that was what made me want to have our own top 100.

 

[Brian Boru]

I feel like we have had a thread like this recently

There were 2 re the PCG top 100, main thread and minor one.

1. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
2. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
3. Portal 2
4. Portal

So I assume you're good with 2+ choices from same franchise?

My starting Top 10:

1. Civilization IV
2. Far Cry 1
3. Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour
4. Half Life 2
5. Command and Conquer Red Alert 2
6. Crysis Warhead
7. Lemmings
8. Portal
9. Far Cry 6
10. Royal Envoy

Honorable mentions:

Commandos
Deus Ex
Far Cry 5 & 4
Ghost Recon Wildlands
Grim Fandango
Just Cause 2
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
Myst
Plants v Zombies 1
Prince of Persia 1
Rise of Nations Extended Edition
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Second Life [if it's a game?]
Sim City
Sniper Elite 4
STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl
Storm Tale 2
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
Tetris
The Book Of Unwritten Tales
The Operative No One Lives Forever
The Stanley Parable
The Talos Principle 1
Thief The Dark Project
Total Annihilation
Wolfenstein 3D
World of Goo

This is a list of games I've played a lot, so obvious ones like Doom, Skyrim etc etc are not included cos I dropped them fairly quickly.

 

[BeardyHat]

1. Deus Ex
2. Half-Life
3. XCOM 2
4. Pentiment
5. Snowrunner
6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
7. System Shock
8. Heroes of Might & Magic 2
9. Gates of Hell: Ostfront
10. Doom

I don't know if Doom is the best game of all time, but it has some amazing mods and it's an absolutely formative game for me. Without it, I wouldn't be who I am today, so it deserves a spot.

Honorable mentions might be

Return of the Obra Dinn
Transport Fever 2
DUSK
Cultic
World of Warcraft circa 2004-2006
Command & Conquer Red Alert

I think I'm good with that.

 

[Colif]

I don't expect mine to be in running but there you go... fun thinking of 10.

1. Sacred 2
2. Journey (only as its on PC now)
3. Torchlight 2
4. Diablo 2
5. Grim Dawn
6. Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 & 2 (can't really pick between them) - this was years ago.
7. Sim City series
8. Tropico series
9 Age of Conan
10 Wow - only as I played it a few years

7 & 8 are cheats as I can't be specific... amazed I thought of 10. Probably older games I have forgotten about.

 

[DXCHASE]

I have wild reasoning for my top 10, just personal experiences that made these games up here and yes i have 2 listed for 1 franchise, but it works for me.

1.Doom 1
2.Duke Nukem 3D
3.Mortal Kombat 2
4.Halo
5.Elder Scrolls: oblivion
6.Counter Strike
7.Sim City 2000
8.Grim Dawn
9.Titanfall
10.Ghost Recon

[Mod edit: changed per request in post #26.]

 

[Pifanjr]

Your responses will be weighted as such (unless someone with more sense has a better idea)

1 - 20 points
2 - 15 points
3 - 10 points
4 - 7 points
5 - 6 points
6 - 5 points
7 - 4 points
8 - 3 points
9 - 2 points
10 - 1 point

I do think this weighs too heavily in favour of the numbers 1 and 2. Personally, I think a game being listed at #10 for 19 people should count for (far) more than a game being listed as #1 for one person.

The question is, how many times does a game need to be placed #10 for it to beat out a single placement at #1? Personally, I think I would set the points for #1 to 12 and just count down to 3 points for #10, which means 4 placements at #10 equals 1 placement at #1.

So I assume you're good with 2+ choices from same franchise?

They deserve their spots.

 

[ZedClampet]

yes i have 2 listed for 1 franchise

There's nothing wrong with having two listed for one franchise. There's no rule against it. However, I'm going to have to move either Doom 1 or Doom 2 into second spot and move everything else down one.

I do think this weighs too heavily in favour of the numbers 1 and 2. Personally, I think a game being listed at #10 for 19 people should count for (far) more than a game being listed as #1 for one person.

The question is, how many times does a game need to be placed #10 for it to beat out a single placement at #1? Personally, I think I would set the points for #1 to 12 and just count down to 3 points for #10, which means 4 placements at #10 equals 1 placement at #1.


They deserve their spots.

If everyone agrees that a game is the tenth best game of all time, we should make it the best game of all time?

No matter how many times a game is placed 10th, it shouldn't be the greatest game of all time because we all agreed that it wasn't when we made our lists.

Plus, I'll note your concern and look at how it works out in the end, but I feel certain you are worrying about something that isn't going to happen anyway. But I'll keep an eye on it. I'm open to change if the lists point out an obvious problem.

I do see what you are saying, but I have to see the numbers at the end to see if changing the system actually makes sense. Take Portal for instance. If ten people put it 10th, then it wouldn't pass a number one listed game. But not everyone is going to put it 10th. People will put it all over the place, and it will get its points. Everyone putting something 10th is just too unlikely a scenario to inspire a change at this point, but if something similar does happen, we'll discuss it when we see it.

If everyone put Portal 9th instead, it would tie a game that had only 1 first place vote and would win the tie breaker since more people listed it. It would probably end up as our #1 game.

 

[Pifanjr]

If everyone agrees that a game is the tenth best game of all time, we should make it the best game of all time?

Yes. A game that, for every single person, has beaten every other game they've played except 9 other games, should be considered the greatest game of all time, unless there is another game that's (almost) unanimously considered better.

No matter how many times a game is placed 10th, it shouldn't be the greatest game of all time because we all agreed that it wasn't when we made our lists.

But I suspect for a lot of games placed by one person on #1 (almost) everyone else will agree it shouldn't even be in the top 10.

I do see what you are saying, but I have to see the numbers at the end to see if changing the system actually makes sense.

Fair enough. I suspect that our sample size will be too small anyway to get a proper measurement. Perhaps we can do a second round afterwards where everyone has to vote for the games they didn't pick themselves. But let's see what we get out of this first.

 

[ZedClampet]

But I suspect for a lot of games placed by one person on #1 (almost) everyone else will agree it shouldn't even be in the top 10.

Well, not for me. I don't see anything yet that I disagree with. It's all based on opinion. If those are your favorite games, then so be it. Now if someone had put Sewing Machine Simulator at #1, I'd be a little unhappy with it and we might organize a vote to veto it, but I'm very happy with everyone's picks so far.

After sleeping on it, I do think your suggestion probably makes the most sense, but lets cheat and just figure it out when we get all the votes in.

 

[Rolfil]

1. Half Life 2
2. Grand Theft Auto IV
3. Company of Heroes (Just first in series)
4. Doom
5. Cities Skylines
6. American Truck Simulator
7. Path of Exile
8. Forza Horizon 5
9. Skyrim
10. The Planet Crafter

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

These may not objectively be the best games Ive played, and some of them may not even be the best in their series. But for me these are the ones that did something memorable that changed my taste or expectations from other games going forwards after I played them. So there.

1.Planescape: Torment
2.Dark Souls.
3.Battle Brothers.
4.Baldurs Gate.
5.Half Life 2
6.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
7.Civilization 2.
8.Disco Elysium.
9.Bioshock.
10.Dead Space.


Special mentions:
Total War: Warhammer.
Slay The Spire
Galactic Civilizations
Homeworld: Cataclysm
F.E.A.R
Banner Saga
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn.
Battletech.
Deus Ex
Prey (2017)
WarCraft 2
XCom: Enemy Unknown.

 

[ZedClampet]

These may not objectively be the best games Ive played, and some of them may not even be the best in their series. But for me these are the ones that did something memorable that changed my taste or expectations from other games going forwards after I played them. So there.

1.Planescape: Torment
2.Dark Souls.
3.Battle Brothers.
4.Baldurs Gate.
5.Half Life 2
6.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
7.Civilization 2.
8.Disco Elysium.
9.Bioshock.
10.Dead Space.


Special mentions:
Total War: Warhammer.
Slay The Spire
Galactic Civilizations
Homeworld: Cataclysm
F.E.A.R
Banner Saga
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn.
Battletech.
Deus Ex
Prey (2017)
WarCraft 2
XCom: Enemy Unknown.

Whatever "best games" means to you is fine. We're all going to have different definitions. Mine is just about which games I enjoyed the most.

My honorable mentions:

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2
Fallout 2
Total War Medieval 2
Total War Warhammer 3
Warframe
House Flipper
Car Mechanic Simulator 21
Farm Simulator 22
Titanfall 2
Battlefield 1
Big Ambitions
Astroneer
Ark Survival Evolved
Slay the Spire
Parkitect
Tavern Master
Factorio
Kingdoms Reborn
Timberborn
Total War Troy

 

[neogunhero]

1 - Red Dead Redemption 2
2 - Half Life 2
3 - Deus Ex
4 - Garry’s Mod
5 - Cyberpunk 2077
6 - DayZ
7 - Fallout 4
8 - Vampire Survivors
9 - Elder Scrolls Oblivion
10 - Dying Light

I have a bad case of recency bias, and the order of these games could shift around over time, but I tried to put them in a good order here that I’m happy with. RDR2 is perfect in many different ways in my eyes, and it offers something for me to do no matter what mood I’m in. It’s one of those games that I’ve played so much I have to wait to fully dive into it again. I think at this point it’s been over a year or two since I played it regularly but I still want to wait a bit more.

Half Life 2 was the game I technically got Steam for, and it still holds up very well with its fun action sequences and blockbuster set pieces. Deus Ex introduced me to immersive sims, one of my favorite genres ever. Garry’s Mod was the actual main reason why I got Steam, and it’s my most played game ever. Cyberpunk to me is a perfectly crafted hybrid of intense FPS action and deep character progression RPG elements with an amazing story. DayZ has given me so many of my most memorable gaming moments that will stick with me forever. Fallout 4 is almost everything I could want in a semi-casual action RPG game that still has secrets I’ve yet to discover. Vampire Survivors was such a huge breath of fresh air with its extremely unique gameplay, I’ve played so much yet have only gotten half of the achievements. Finally Oblivion was one of the most magical games I’ve ever played which blew me away when it first came out, and still it gives me this intense feeling of immersion of wonder that no other game has ever replicated for me. * I originally had Mario 64 on here, removed for obvious reasons then replaced with Dying Light. Dying Light is my perfect zombie game and there is a lot of depth that kept the entire 60 hours I played fun and fresh.

 

[ZedClampet]

6 - Super Mario 64

PC games only. I would have put this in my list, too.

 

[neogunhero]

PC games only. I would have put this in my list, too.

I totally skipped over that point of your original post, so after I completed my list and went back to read the others, I noticed that and changed it immediately haha. Took me a bit to figure out what to swap it with.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I have a bad case of recency bias, and the order of these games could shift around over time

I think we have until 1st December before its concrete? I might do some shuffling because this kind of thing can depend on the day for me as well.

Whatever "best games" means to you is fine. We're all going to have different definitions. Mine is just about which games I enjoyed the most.

I figured Id go with the stuff that meant the most to me personally because theres probably a ton of games that would be on my list if I'd ever actually had the time to play them all.

Dont mind me, overthinking is what I do.