What is a game or games that you think are an absolute must-buy?

I think everyone should play factorio for at least a few hours. It will be some of the most interesting 17 months of their lives.

For me: Easily Portal 2.

A deeply rich story, funny dialogue, and great puzzles that will truly make your brain think. The story is very rich and spans across several different eras of Aperture history, going as far back as the 50s. The dialogue is funny and some of the lines are the most memorable in all of gaming (like the Cave Johnson lemon rant). And last but not least, the puzzles are great. They start off pretty simple, but as you progress further in the story, they get more and more complicated, especially when you get the repulsion gel and proposion gel. I feel like Portal 2 is the Gold Standard for puzzle games that every game that comes after it will be judged on.

Also, if you don't own Portal 2 yet, now is a fantastic time to get it - it's on sale for $1 on Steam, same with Portal 1. And if you want both games, the bundle containing both games is $1.50. Do not miss out on this offer, it's so worth it.

Satisfactory. It's so fun automatizing stuff for 4 hours that could have been done manually in 30 minutes. I like looking at all of my work in the game and thinking "how, this is impressive".

If you like building I guess Minecraft is an epic choice. I have sunk hundreds of hours into the game, easily

I would add Outer Wilds to the list.

You can really only play it once in a lifetime but I think it's the best video game experiences available.

Honorable mention for Tunic and Cocoon for the same reason

Stardew Valley.

Its revolver has continuously released huge updates for free and has commuted to never charging for dlc.

The games mechanics are pretty great and nothing in the game requires too much grinding to get.

Even when you “finish” the game, there are still things to do and starting a new files is always fun.

The characters are all great and have unique personalities. It really makes you feel like you are part of the town.

My wife and I have over 400 hours on a single file. It’s also enjoyable starting a new file. I like to challenge myself to see how quickly I can do certain objectives in the game.

It’s also decently cheap and has a huge community behind it.

factorio

the dedication of the dev is perceptible, almost unlimited replay value and the will release a major extension in 9 days that looks wonderful.

Steel battalion with the full controller setup

Outer Wilds.

If you like space games and puzzle games (in the sense that you need to piece together the situation you're in), this is a great choice.

Highly recommend not looking anything up before you play.

Don't hate me, but I like Cyberpunk 2077. It may have had its problems at launch, and I heard people were promised all kinds of stuff that was not delived, or was delivered only much later, but I never listen to hype anyway. I've played this for many hours. There are great mods for that game that make it even better, and it has such cool characters, such a fascinating world, good music, great design, the combat is fun... I love it.

I agree with the guy that said Outer Wilds, even though I can't finish it because of my thalassophobia.

Personally, the two games that had a really profound effect on me are Disco Elysium and Hi-Fi Rush.

Disco is an incredible political game that really is damn powerful. It's definitely not for people who just want action.

Hi-Fi Rush is a rhythm action game so I wouldn't recommend it to people who hate rhythm games or people who hate action. But it's so fun, so charming and really uplifting.

Crosscode, Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Celeste, Fallout: New Vegas

Subnautica

I haven't seen it mentioned here, so I'll rep for Noita. It's an amazing rogue-like with great atmosphere and a really compelling world to explore.

There's a chemistry/alchemy system in the game that is really detailed and fun to explore. The game's tagline is "every pixel simulated," and it's not an exaggeration. Noita is like those falling sand games that were popular in the early 2000s, where each particle of sand could interact with other particles. Imagine that, but you're a badass witch flying through the world and blasting motherfuckers who try to get in your way. Your wands can set things on fire or freeze them or melt them with acid or blow them up or other crazy shit.

The wand mechanics are incredibly deep. Like, it's not "turing complete" levels of deep, but the rules for spells interact in incredibly interesting and exploitable ways. The feeling you get when you discover a powerful combo of spells is incredible.

The devs also have a cool policy of turning bugs into gameplay mechanics. I really can't say much about this without spoiling things, so this one is hard to talk about. Basically, if someone finds an exploit, they oftentimes won't "fix" it. Instead, they'll take it and tweak it to add consequences for using the exploit, or they'll balance it a bit to make it harder/remove a bit of the benefit. It's a really cool approach and has lead to a great relationship between the devs and the community. They don't take our toys away, they just make them work better in the world.

I played the game completely blind until I got my first win (it took about 80 hours of playtime), and I'd highly recommend that approach for folks who are willing to tolerate failure and who like to experiment. If it's too frustrating then that's okay, there are a lot of guides out there to help out new players without giving up too much. Many people describe your first win as you beating the tutorial, and there's some truth to that.

It can be gruellingly difficult at times, but it's just so damn good, and there's so damn much of it. I have around 600 hours in in that game which is twice as much as any other game I've played.

So many tedious recommendations when the answer is obviously heaven's vault.

It's dogshit in almost every way. Even moving around the world feels like pouring salt into your eyes. I hate almost every single thing, the protagonist, the pace, the awful vehicle sections to travel. But it's something you should play, or perhaps experience.

It's an archeological translation game and there are multiple moments of "Ok so maybe that actually means font of life not mother goddess, but that would mean this means artificial god which would mean that the extinction event was actually transcendence and holy shit..."

Chrono Trigger is a must for anyone that likes RPG's.

• ass effect
• pathfinder wrath of the righteous
• baldur’s gate 3
• warframe

Hades

Not everyone likes every genre of game - so here’s my grouped list:

The “I’m a nerd and like to build things and I like to watch lava lamps flow” Factorio

The “I enjoy tough but fair games that I can totally become OP in once I figure it out” Elden Ring

The “I just want to chill” game Stardew Valley

The “I like to build things” game minecraft Honorable mention-Terraria

The “Metroidvania” game Hollow Knight

The “Arpg” game Diablo 2 Honorable mention - PoE

The “I like action and smashing things in an open world” game Neir Automata Honorable mention - God of war (play one of the originals so you can 1st hate the remake, and then get to THAT point, and then happily eat crow and let Kratos be your baby daddy.

Valheim is definitely a must buy. It’s a survival game with crafting and building elements.

Half life, all of them, in order

Cyberpunk 2077. I've been known to simp pretty hard for this game, but I do consider it to be one of the best games ever made. The story, the music, the acting, the gameplay, the visuals... Every single part of the game is just masterfully done. I feel it's one of those games that everybody should play; a sort of "milestone" game like Ocarina of Time or Skyrim. Even if you're not a fan of FPS or RPGs, it's worth turning down the difficulty and playing just to experience the best story ever told through a video game, in my opinion.

The Talos Principle

Deus Ex and Balatro

Currently playing Fallout New Vegas and it's probably the best "Bethesda" game I've ever played.

Except for Morrowind, of course.

Kerbal Space Program

A couple of oldies, that deserve to still be played. Disclaimer: I played both games when they were already ~8 years old, and completely outdated in terms of technology.

Planescape: Torment

One of the best RPG ever created, and that is entirely for the world building and writing, and how much of the gameplay ends up being based on these rather than the combat mechanics (which are just ok)

Deus Ex

Again it was way ahead of its time in terms of world building and depth, and it was still an unashamed PC game, that dared to challenge its users a little and didn't need to have a GUI that could be used with a gamepad, unlike the sequels.

I only play a certain part of games, I don't care for rpgs or top-down games as much as I like first person shooters, racing games, or simulation games.

With that being said, here's my list.

• Red Dead Redemption 2: The best game I have ever played, hands-down. It's story and gameplay are both perfection.
• Trepang2: A less heard of game, but a really fun first-person shooter which is like a mix of Crysis and Doom.
• Mafia 1 and 2: A great series with solid stories and gameplay, these are very enjoyable to play. Just don't buy Mafia 3. It's like if Ubisoft made a Mafia game.
• Arma III: A classic military simulation game which I spent hours on hours in. I love exploring the maps while engaging in realistic shootouts, especially with mods like ACE which make it even more realistic and immersive.

Terraria

Dishonored!!

Dead Cells. Factorio. Mini Metro. FTL.

Hollowknight my beloved

Skyrim. I know, it's been re-released a dozen times now, it's buggy as fuck, etc etc, but fuck me if it isn't an enjoyable game, even without mods.

Fallout New Vegas. It doesn't treat you like mr savior of the universe, you're a (un)lucky nobody caught in the middle of a power struggle. No essential NPCs, you can kill everyone you come across.

Age of Empires 2. Old as fuck, still enjoyable. Thank god the remaster lets you play with higher screen resolutions.

Command & Conquer, Tie Fighter, Simpsons Doom, Quake, Portal, and DDR.

Civilization III and/or V

Edit: If you have lot's of time available.

I’ll do you one better: completely free.

Check out Ashes: 2063. It started life as a mod for Doom, but is now completely standalone and has more in common with the Metro games than anything else at this point. PC only, but both games and their expansions are 100% free and worth every minute of your time.

Valheim

Haven't seen it here yet: Metro 2033 (sequels good too)

I'd also say S.T.A.L.K.E.R for the similar elements. But it's pretty well known and if it interests you, you know why you should be playing it. :p

Metro 2033 wowed me, and I still think of it fondly. Y'see, at the time, everyone was loudly clamoring for "open world this" and "RPG progression system that" and "Every choice matters branching storylines!". Everything had to be marketed as some huge pseudo-endless experience with limitless freedom. Sure, sure, there's a place for that. BUT...

Metro 2033 is a fairly linear post apocalypse shooter based off of a novel of the same name that doesn't overstay its welcome. And know what? It feels like playing through a good book.

You experience this twisted, scary, often beautiful world through Artyom's eyes as he explores hostile tunnels and the inhospitable surface, and along the way you meet a cast of very interesting, very "alive" feeling characters. The various mutant creatures, too, have fascinating behaviors and personalities. Even though many parts are scripted, you still feel a sense of awe with seeing the consistency with how these things behave.

Subterranean tunnels and frozen post-nuke wastelands feel ALIVE when you're checking your map with a lighter, or scrounging for a gas mask after yours cracked, and you cling to the numbered, desperate breaths through your last filter. (I'm being dramatic it rarely gets THAT desperate lol.)

The real beauty of the game, like humanity's remnants, are under the surface. It's subtle. There's a hidden morality system keeping track of how Artyom reacts to the world, and the overall themes and sociology go much further than "war is bad mmkay?". Do you meet brutality with brutality, or do you combat the darkness of this world with understanding and mercy?

Sadly, Metro Last Light carries on with 2033's bad ending as canon. Which makes sense, but 2033's good ending is so GOOD.

They're regularly ridiculously cheap now, and I personally loved the experience.

Also: The best difficulty system I've ever seen in a shooter. It feels like playing on "Ranger Hardcore" is the intended experience. It doesn't go the lazy route of making the player weak and the enemies strong. It goes for realism.

Enemies get smarter but will actually go down in a good hit or two...But careful!...So will you.

There was an outstanding RTS game from 1997 called Total Annihilation. The soundtrack was 11/10, it was made by Jeremy Soule, the guy who did the Skyrim soundtrack. Some might say that Supreme Commander 2 is their most recent successor to TA, but they are wrong. Check out Beyond All Reason (BAR). It's in Alpha and it's free but it's already sooooo good.

Mount and Blade Warband for me. Native is fun but the community has made so many total conversion mods for it that can be swapped in and out at the launcher. It can be Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, most points of history between now and ancient Rome, and it can even be Star Wars

Tunic - at face value it is a gorgeous, brilliantly fun soulslike. Beneath the surface, however, it becomes apparent that the "souls like" part of it is a facade for the true game. Probably one of the single greatest gaming experiences of all time.

The Witcher 3 - it often goes on sale for like... £3 or something ridiculous, and its a standout example of an excellent open world RPG.

Celeste - possibly the single greatest (2d) platforming game ever made, with a soundtrack that is truly unforgettable by the great Lena Raine. Also if you play it you'll find out you're trans*

*(your mileage may vary)

First off I have to show my lack of taste by mentioning I will play any mainline final fantasy game.

But games I recommend and will likely buy the next ones are Persona 3R/4G/5R and The Witcher 3 with DLC / Cyberpunk 2077.

All great games of high quality, though some do not like the W3 combat mechanics.

Chess

I only gotta mention one that everyone should play at least once in their lifetime: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Katamari! It's just such a wild and fun experience. Even the sequels.

Nier Automata: It's a game that uses every aspect of the medium. From the story, the music, game play, even the end credits, it feels like they took such care in crafting a memorable experience and didn't let anything they could use to express themselves go to waste.

What Remains of Edith Finch, specifically Lewis' chapter. I think it's an excellent portrayal of how incedious and overwhelming depression can be.

Telltale's the Walking Dead (first one only): I was not prepared for the story. I wish they took the same care in the sequals, but I feel like the quality of the first one just came out of nowhere.

Any Monster Hunter. I just think it's neat.

Celeste absolutely! It's difficult but it's really really fun and has a great story. If you ever get super invested, the community is great and the skill ceiling is so high that you can always get better when playing new maps.

There could be hundreds that I post here, but going to just say the ones I go back to again and again.

Satisfactory, The Planet Crafter, Stardew Valley, Death Stranding, Kerbal Space Program, Cities Skyline, Cyberpunk 2077, Stray, Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom 1 & 2, Decent, and of course Skyeim.

Recommending the obvious GOAT titles is getting kinda old now so I'll go with my personal favourite genre right now: roguelikes.

In that genre, my favourite of all time are the Darkest Dungeon franchise, Slay the Spire, Loop Hero, Vampire Survivors and Dead Cells.

Xiii shooter (original on PS2, not the remake)

Metal Gear Solid 1, 3, and 4. 2 is okay but it's the black sheep. 5 is a good game but doesn't fit the series great imo. We don't talk about Survive. Revengence is okay.

Maneater. Basically a remake of the old Jaws game from PS2 era gameplay-wise

FF7 original. If you're bored with it, try the New Threat mod by SegaChief. Absolutely worth a look.

If you're into pokemon rom hacks, Emerald SeaGlass and Crystal Legacy.

Crash Bandicoot 1-4. Ignore any titles from PS2 era.

Spyro 1-3. Also ignore any PS2 era titles.

Castle Crashers

If you have a non-gamer around that does like movies, give Beyond: 2 Souls and Until Dawn a look.

Spec Ops: The Line

Doki Doki Literature Club

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 1 + 2

I'm sure I'll add more.

Katana Zero: Just try it. It's a 2D action platformer with good story.

Celeste. Great fun Mario-level game, but with a deeper story in both game and in development.

The classic Doom collection, classic Doom has a massive modding scene and you can put the wads into a source port like GZDoom.

Pikmin (any instalments of the main series) - though I must admit I'm incredibly biased since this is coming from someone who cried her eyes out when she saw the Pikmin 4 trailer 😭 yes I cried over a game trailer that's about weird bugs. It is my fave franchise ever it's like my baby.

Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild - this is a game that makes me wish memory wiping technology existed. I would love to play this for the very first time again!

Final Fantasy X - the first Final Fantasy game I played and it is still my fave!

Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine - the most fun I've ever had with 3D platformers by far, Super Mario Galaxy's visuals are still so impressive.

The first game I EVER played gets a honorary mention - Super Mario All Stars for the Super Nintendo! The very first game I played on it was Super Mario Bros 3! 😃

the binding of isaac and deep rock galactic. best games I've ever played oh and maybe minecraft (I'm 28 and the past 2 weeks got into the mc rabbit hole AGAIN)

To give something that most likely has not been mentioned: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. The character banter is the best I've encountered in any video game thus far.

Vintage Story.

It's indie Minecraft-alike that expand survival element 100 times. With various unique lore and semi-realism gameplay.

Voices of the Void.

Oh, wait. It's free right now??? Go get it!

some recent games I absolutely loved

• Disco Elysium
• Children of Morta
• Viewfinder
• Planet of Lana
• INSIDE
• Limbo
• Chained Echoes
• Detroit: Become Human
• Triangle Strategy
• Tunic
• Prodeus

RoboCop: Rogue City

1. Hollow Knight
2. Steamworld Dig 1 & 2

Hollow Knight is just amazing. Reinvigorated my love of Metroidvania-style games. The atmosphere, the environments, the movement, the controls, the music, it all works so well together. Just amazing.

Which leads me on to the second recommendation. Steamworld Dig and its sequel are pretty unique in the genre. They're Metroidvania games, but you're creating most of the tunnels and platforms as you go. Great character designs, and smooth progression all the way to the end.

• Velocity 2x - extremely fun fast paced 2d space shooter & platformer. Is extremely rewarding when you start to get to good at it and learn the levels.

• Muramasa Demon Blade/Rebirth - also really fun and satisfying skill-based combat game but with some light RPG elements. What I really love about it though is the sheer vibes. Set in feudal Japan with gorgeous artwork and sound/music. Great fun and a piece of art.

Doom 1993/doom 2. Decades of gaming since it came out and STILL nothing has beat the tactile sound of the super shotgun paired with the moans of demons collapsing. Absolutely amazing. though I only have 100+ hours in these 2 games combined they are a must play.

Closest I can think of is the engineers plasma gun in Deep Rock Galactic which is my #2 must play game. Its SO fun and a successful grapple + special powder x2 + grapple + skull crusher to get into a nitra vein when the engie isn't around is so incredibly satisfying. 1700 hours shows I love it so much.

Minecraft. Need I say more? rough estimate as a lot hasn't been tracked but 1500 on switch and 153 days on prismlauncher is around 5,000 hours in this silly block game.

EDIT: didn't expect the variety of games in this thread, very interesting

Absolute Balderdash. It's the most replayable and funniest board game with a crowd. I've hurt my ribs many times through laughing too much.

You can't buy them anymore. They're all got delisted from every store by the publisher.

Metal gear solid 3 is IMO one of the best games ever made

For me personally, any game in the Super Smash Bros series.

They've always been a go-to when hanging out with friends, in their time.

Melee still has a following. Nobody likes brawl because of tripping (among other things i'm sure), but I learned how to mod brawl and added so many custom stages and character skins. Sm4sh was ok, and Ultimate is so complete.

Yeah it's Nintendo and "it's always moral to pirate Nintendo games" and there's plenty to complain about their online services but I've played smash so much that every time a new game comes out immediately a must-buy.

Binding of Isaac for me. Endless replay value.

I have been really, really enjoying the reworked Wayfinder. The story is ass but the visuals, gameplay and music are all awesome. The characters are likable, the build variety is pretty great, and the devs seem to be pretty in touch with the community lately. I never played it in its MMO state, but for $20 it's a real win.

I think the 1.0 release comes out in a few days, too!

I have been playing a lot of Arma reforger and rimworld lately and I love both but they definitely won't meet everyones taste.

Bioshock series

As i sadly have not found them here:

-Gothic (all three). One of the first non-us-centric and it showef

• giants:citizen kabuto. Weird genre-mashup that also was funny.

And a ton more I'm too lazy to list.

• Factorio
• Return to obra dinn
• Skyrim
• Chrono Trigger (must pirate because SNES is best)
• Papers please
• Enter the Gungeon
• Cuphead
• Slay the Spire
• Subroutine
• Medieval 2 Total War (bit aged with mods to fix)
• Warcraft 3 and/or StarCraft 2 (for the campaign)

Is it worth it if I played before the best patches and dlc? It left a bad taste in my mouth, even though I played many hours on it

omori

Pong

Which kind of games. From an Rpg perspective,

• Alice is missing a silent Rpg, which is played using instant messenging. That one is absolutely crazy, with a lot of potential for bleed

• Blade in the dark, which is basically the latest revolution in Rpg. And led to the FITD games, it kept the yes but partial success from previous generations of PBTA games, use long term actions (aka clock) for everything (same mechanics for opening a lock, seducing the princess or fighting a guard), and has this downtime phase which is more than just spending XP. It also has flashback mechanic letting you jump to the action and plan latter

• Mork Borg, the system is fine but banal. However, the weird aesthetic makes it a must have in a rpg lover collection

Mass Effect Trilogy (legendary edition).

Rain World hands down, such an interesting and challenging game.

What platform? I can think of multiple must buys, but it really depends on the system.

I'm currently addicted to Chained Echoes, a 2D SNES style rpg adventure.

Only a couple levels in, but so far I'd say if you like collect-a-thon style 3D platformers, Yooka-Laylee is worth checking out. So far my only complaint is how they allow you to go around certain edges of the first level past the tutorial and hub, but don't have hidden any hidden secrets.

Dark souls, bloodborne and sekiro. Must plays in my opinion.

Into the Radius (preferrably on PC).

None. Buying isn't owning and piracy isn't stealing. Pirate all the games!!

Drag really likes Deathloop.

Dragon age: origins: I got absolutely sucked into this game. The story is great (wtf dwarfs), combat was fun and challenging. One of the few games I've tried to 100%.

Football Manager: one of the most addicting games I've played, I must have put thousands of hours (over the different versions) into it at this point. I love building a team, tweaking my tactics, and leading my team to global dominance. My partner laughs at me because this game is basically my irl job (recruiter).

Banjo Kazooie/Tooie: showing my age here a bit, but one of the best 3d platformers imo. Levels are fun, music is great (pirate level music is always in my head), mechanics felt great and inventive, characters are super memorable

Red Orchestra: Ostfront: my favorite shooter of all time, but unfortunately the game is dead now. Nothing is more satisfying than killing a man in one shot at 700m and then manually cycling the bolt. The newer red Orchestras are good, but a bit too action-y and with pretty short engagement distances

ARMA 2/3: realistic military sandbox. I had so much fun playing this in my clan. It was almost like a FPS DND game, we had members create missions and then 100 people would play them out — some of my best gaming memories are from this. I miss you, Bourbon Warfare.

The original (or remasters versions of) Final Fantasy. If you can't appreciate the OG then you need to shut up about all the shitty sequels already.

None