Games

All time faves, it's a toss up between Fallout: New Vegas and RDR2.

Those two are the ones I still enjoy restarting new games in, and still enjoy playing, despite the cumulative hours logged over the years.

Very special mention to Skyrim though, obviously. I think I've logged more hours in Skyrim than the two above, potentially combined, but because I played that so much, I no longer have the desire to play it again whereas when I'm stressed at work, I often find myself daydreaming about riding my good boah through fields of lush grass and fishing in my lil boat.

And I would never have developed the love of gaming I have today if it wasn't for Oblivion, of all games - so for nostalgia, that gets a mention too.

Morrowind. One of the few games you can fail the main quest by going on a rampage or by selling the wrong item.

Best single game is probably Portal. The pacing, storytelling, innovation, sound, all are top notch even 20+ years later. Graphics aren't phenomenal, but don't need to be. The challenges and easter eggs made it a blast to 100%.

pronably rock band 3 i played it non stop until rock band 4 came out

and then theres skyrim which i cannot stop replaying every year

StarCraft: Brood War

Sekiro.

Only hard until you start to understand the dance moves. Then it becomes pure nirvana.

After NG+7 I had to stop playing it and give some other games a chance.

Super Mario World - just a fun game. Lots of little secrets and fun to speed run.

Titanfall - I played an absurd amount of this one and really wished there was a 3rd one. 1-2 remind me of the pattern seen in trilogys where 1 sets the stage, 2 deviaties pretty far and polarizes fans and then 3 uses the best of both while trying to feel more like 1. (Mario 1-3, Halo 1-3). My favorites in this pattern tend to be 3 so I'm disappointed I never got Titanfall 3.

Pubg - when it was new. Lost me years ago now but that first 6 months to a year was awesome. So many crazy games and absurd fun.

Gunz: The Duel was my first competitive online game and it'll always have a soft spot in my heart.

Not just my mood, but I have different flavors of favorite.

In terms of nostalgia and all-time enjoyment, hard to beat Ocarina of Time.

In terms of pure "this game is so good", may have to go with Red Dead Redemption 2. Truly a masterpiece.

In terms of most hours played, Civilization 6 at over 2000 hours.

It's a difficult question to answer. I personally barely consider Disco Elysium to be a game, more like an interactive story that uses certain game mechanics as grammar elements and punctuation in its storytelling. It's a novel masquerading as a game. It's three novels in a trenchcoat. But if we do count it then it is my pick, by a landslide.

Otherwise it's probably Baldur's Gate 2. It's the story game I've replayed the most over the years and it was absolutely fundamental in my journey as a gamer, the definition of a formative experience. Even though parts of it are dated now (some clunk is to be expected from a 25-year-old game) I still prefer it to BG3. It's got a great story, great companions and an all-time great villain. David Warner put in an incredible performance and even all these years later there aren't many video game villains who have surpassed Irenicus in sheer aura.

My all-time favorites have been in place for many years now.

It's a tie between Sonic 2 (Genesis) & Final Fantasy 6 (SNES).

They are two very different games that represent two different concepts in gaming. For Sonic it's all about smooth, fun gameplay. With FF6 it's all about the story and the experience of controlling an ensemble cast of characters. I can beat the first in under an hour, as while the latter usually takes 60+ hours. They're like the yin and yang of videogames for me.

All time favorite game is so hard to narrow down. I’d traditionally always say Mario 3 and I stand behind that but there are so many great games that stand beside it. Donkey Kong Country, Half Life, San Andreas, red dead redemption 1 and 2.

I think if I was trapped on a desert island, I’d be fine with any of these as my only game

Pathologic 2!

It's a rich world & narrative that throws you in the midst of an incredibly stressful seemingly impossible scenario and asks you to try your best. I love how the intense survival mechanics caused me to compromise my morals, starting the game trying not to kill anyone and then playing day 8 seeking out people to kill & steal stuff from. The mind map is also one of the most genius "quest logs" I've ever seen, giving you a feel for your characters emotions and providing hints on what to do next. The fact that anyone can die of disease & end quest lines makes it that much more important that you do your best to save them.

Gothic 2, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, GTA: San Andreas and Arcanum are for og ny favourite games that are a bit too flawed to be all time favourite.

Final Fantasy 6 and 7 were so good, but I can't play them alone, we used to pass along the controller.

I love point and clicks like Grim Fandango and Monkey island.

I played Planescape: Torment in 2006 and it left such an impression on me.

Of never games there's Disco Elysium and The Obra Dim.

Not to mention Zelda's, Illusion of Time, the Mana series, Mario's, the old Blizzard games, Brotherbound games and other amiga games. Quake........

Maybe Day of the Tentacle?

Any of those three

• Disco Elysium
• Death Stranding
• Outer Wilds

Into the Breach for sure. Extremely satisfying strategy gameplay with a ton a variety with the different teams/units, heaps of replayability especially after the content update from a couple years back, and it being a run based game is great for folks who only get an hour or two to play on any given day.

- Tabi (ey/it)

do you like sportsball, but think it needs level ups, perks, and gear? no? Me neither. I absolutely loved Pyre though. When a game dev takes a risk on a weird mashup like 3v3 basketball + Fantasy RPGs + visual novels, it's an easy way to score points with me. What really cemented this as my favorite was the characters and the emergent interactions that develop as part of your decisions during the Rites. No spoilers, but the game asks you to make hard decisions at every turn of the wheel, and that particular kind of tension and release is very unique in my experience. It's one of the few games I've 100%'d to see every permutation of events.

Shenmue II

A revenge story set in 1980s Japan. Shenmue was excellent but Shenmue II is just another level in every way. For me it is the perfect combination of story, open world (which I don't normally like nowadays) and fighting game. It's quite a mixture of different genres but it works so well.

Fallout 2 is probably one of my favourite games of all time. Absolutely amazing game, if a bit sprawly. I've played through it many times and expect I will do again.

Red Alert 2 - the pinnacle of the isometric RTS genre. Bordering on too silly but without tipping into absolute farce. Mechanically very strong, the art is lovely, and even has nostalgia for me.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Massive game but a run can be completed relatively quickly. I always disable the music because I don't like games that try to scare and intimidate me. I'm pretty good at the game so it tends to be pretty relaxing for me, if a bit fugue-state-y.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2: the apex of the Battlefield multiplayer games for me. The others have plenty going for them, but BFBC2 was the best compromise between destructibility, player counts, etc. for my tastes. Sniping took significant skill and one couldn't go prone - it meant that open areas didn't feel like a death sentence (looking at you, later BF games!).

Assassin's Creed: Origins/Odyssey two open world games with beautiful maps and locations to explore. I think I preferred the setting of Origins but the story of Odyssey. A bit of escapist fantasy, I suppose. I loved the Ezio trilogy too, mind you.

Curse of Monkey Island.

I'm a teacher, and as soon as students figure out I play games, they inevitably ask me this question, but I largely think it's an unfair question to ask someone who games as a genuine hobby rather than just a kill time.

I like to tell them that's a really impossible question to answer and instead offer them my favorite franchise of games: Monster Hunter. I feel like I can more reliably say that I am a massive fan of the franchise, with it reliably being my favorite videogame franchise, without that seeming weirdly inaccurate considering the wide variety of genres and sub-genres that make up video game interests.

To say that Monster Hunter Rise is my favorite game would be a massive disservice to the captivating, genre-breaking storytelling power of Hades, my deeply rooted love of the flight mechanics in Elite Dangerous, my history as a brief world record holder for a Mario title, the thousands of hours of Team Fortress 2 I've shared with friends, or my experiences grinding World of Warcraft arenas to the top 0.5% of players. And I've somehow listed 5 formative titles from the top of my head without even representing my deep passion for rhythm games, with Hi-Fi Rush being a genuine contender for that "favorite game" slot that I am arguing doesn't exist. So I don't answer with any of these games, because not only would my answer be fundamentally untrue, but it's not really the question my student means to ask, either. They want to know what I am into, and giving them a standout franchise that automatically gets my money when a title is released gives them a much better answer than any one title could ever do.

The Witcher 3, followed by the Mass Effect trilogy (I consider it as a whole)

And honestly, Cyberpunk 2077 could complete the top 3

But if I have to consider multiplayer games, with 3000+ hours on Warframe (considering I haven't touched it for years), I guess it could also be considered my favorite (I think I also spent 1000h on ME3 multi)

same deal, favorites change according to mood, but there are overall few mainstays:

Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis.

It's a childhood favorite I return to every now and then. It's a point&click adventure, and to me it's essentially the 4th (and last) Indiana Jones movie. :D

Apart from one or two bad bits the game pulls, it's otherwise pretty logical from start to finish. 3 different paths from mid to late game, and mostly good voice acting (for the time). I know the game by heart at this point, but still it feels fun to play, every time. Nostalgia-goggles probably play a big part.

Cyberpunk 2077

I know it's a divisive game, don't care, works for me. The bleak vibes of the game just speak to me. Have played it through several times since launch, occasionally still find new things here and there. Not the deepest rpg around, but a good action-rpg with neonlights.

Unnamed Space Idle

I've been on this idle/timewaster for way over a year, slow progress raising the numbers all the time. Sure it's a bit low on gameplay, but absolutely neat little game to occasionally click few times when watching some longform content or so.

My nostalgia faves are still The Longest Journey and Grim Fandango. My love of stories told with games started here. I do need to think about what my all time favorites are, though. That's a big question.

Star Control 2 - it's a mix of RPG storytelling with zany aliens mixed with Asteroids style PvP arcade gameplay. Like Ham and Cantaloupe, you think the combination wouldn't work but it just somehow does. The writing and lore of the whole universe is just super rich and really immerses you into the whole universe.

I'm with you that my favorite changes with my mood but probably final fantasy tactics. Story is great, graphics have aged like wine, great variation in play styles, the death cries of my enemies will always play like music to me.

definitely Deus Ex

but also The 7th Guest lol

Thief 2: Metal Age

For me, Elden Ring. I enjoy open world exploration and collecting-heavy games, and I also enjoy soulslikes for the strategic combat and variety of options. So ER was like two of my favorite ice cream flavors combined into one delicious meal.