Patient Gamers

I'd have to give up 13 copies of Vagrant Story.

1. Luanti
2. OpenTTD
3. The Sims 2
4. Mahjong
5. Brutal Doom
6. OpenRCT
7. Sim Tower (Haven't played. Looks fun)
8. One of the early Sim City games
9. Euro Truck Simulator 2
10. Unciv

Stipulating what happens with MMO's in this timeline might be prudent. I'm assuming that live servers remain online and/or reputable vanilla like private servers are available.

Path of Exile 1

Final Fantasy XIV

Minecraft

Escape from Tarkov

Beatsaber

Elite Dangerous

Dark Souls 3

Skyrim

EVE

Mario Party (maybe 6?)

Grand theft Auto 5 (assuming FiveM remains)

My tenth spot stayed open and I didn't feel compelled to fill it with anything. I was writing out all the games which could have taken that slot and noticed that GTA V fills an important void in my original list, so for the sake of completeness I decided it deserves the last spot.

The list of games which could have had the spot I was writing.. Fellowship, World of Warcraft, Sea of Thieves, Civilization V, Breath of the Wild, Dark Souls 2 SOTFS, Hogwarts Legacy, Oblivion Remastered... If I think on it enough there could be more. And in fact, I'd probably rather have Hogwarts legacy in that 10th slot if it wasn't unfortunately abandoned so quickly after launch, it desperately needs and deserves a new game plus mode and further story expanding DLC.

My logic with my list is pretty simple, as there's only a handful of experiences in gaming that really compel me any more, so I just picked my favorite game for each of those categories. ARPG, sweaty ability based tab-target MMO, fantasy sandbox, sci-fi sandbox, rhythm, soulsborne, party game. EVE, Skyrim, and GTA5 don't fit into any of the categories I listed, but I don't really know how to classify them articulately.

• Colin McRae Rally 2.0
• Super Smash Bros Ultimate
• Football Manager 2024
• The Long Dark
• Red Dead Redemption
• Virtua Tennis 2
• Shenmue II
• Pokémon Leaf Green
• Dr Kawashima's Devilish Brain Training
• Halo 2/MCC

~~Brain Training is in there to stop my mind from turning to mush...~~

Civ 3 is all I need really.

I'd probably want a few sandbox games too. Minecraft, Besiege, and GMod. We'll add Civ 5 just in case. And Halo 3 or Reach for online and Forge mode.

Ball X Pitt, Power Wash Simulator, Vampire Survivors, RDR2. That is all.

Open world, ending and moddable games with huge modding communities are the best bet

• Minecraft
• GTA VI
• Roblox (yes, I know, but that's the most game-engine-like game out there with the largest dev community)
• Skyrim (mods)
• RE9
• etc
• Also, aren't there games that contain retro games emulators as part of the gameplay?

Hummmmm. Hard one, this. I think this is my final 10, after some consideration. I break it down to three categories:

Forever games

• Civilization V: Was a comfort game for years, could probably play it forever as a type of Solitaire. Several thousand hours of content still remain with learning the Vox Populi mod and modded extra civilizations.
• Football Manager: I would try to argue I'm allowed to buy each year's edition for the data update but if I must choose one it's 2024. Digital crack that I have lost months at a time to before.
• Magic The Gathering: Arena I would want a card game on the list, and even though I quit playing Magic a long time ago this would be the one with the most limitless content.
• Noita: I've never played it, but I've been told this game has potentially thousands of hours of content so it sounds like a perfect time to get started with it.

Evergreen action games

• Ninja Gaiden 2: I could probably spend a thousand hours just trying to beat my own high scores in Survival mode. The combat in this game just never gets old.
• Elden Ring: May be a surprising pick to some since this isn't even my favourite Fromsoft game and I've only played through it once and currently don't plan to come back. But I do enjoy a Soulslike every now and then and if we're being economical in terms of content this has to be the smartest pick.

Modding games with infinite content

• STALKER Anomaly: One of my favourite games, an open sandbox with potentially infinite content and a modding scene that could keep it fresh forever.
• Fallout New Vegas: Same reasoning as above. I also love the story and a lot of the writing and I could rotate different styles of roleplay to keep it fresh.
• Skyrim: I've never actually played Skyrim, so this would be a perfect reason to. All the mods could probably keep me entertained forever.
• Baldur's Gate 3: I'm not actually super high on this game, but it's an investment for the future. If I could choose Pathfinder Kingmaker+Wrath of the Righteous as a combo instead I probably would as I prefer that rules framework. But BG3 is unbelievably popular and has a modding kit that will let fans make custom campaigns, and so I pretty much am just banking on that to keep me going with this one.

EDIT: I might be persuaded to replace Fallout: New Vegas with Pokémon SoulSilver as there is some overlap between it and STALKER Anomaly/Skyrim and a Pokémon game might be worthwhile to have. Or I might replace it with a full simracing rig and iRacing. I don't own one at the moment as it's expensive as hell and I don't simrace but this sounds like a decent reason to start and probably worth the investment (I'd eat the upfront payment for the rig with the knowledge that I'd not buy any more games for the rest of my life).

Hmm, I do make games as a hobby and developing games without playing them is pretty much impossible depending on what you count as "playing"... Anyway here's my list:

• ULTRAKILL

• Minecraft: Java Edition

• Kerbal Space Program 1

• Universe Sandbox²

• DELTARUNE - i wanna play the new chapters when they release

• Portal 2 - are Portal Reloaded or Portal Revolution different games from the original? They're different entries but I think they're just mods

• Garry's Mod

• Outer Wilds - I've never played it but I wanna play it some day so I'd put it on the list

Idk what else to pick, I'm assuming the list would only limit videogames and not stuff like UNO cards

Pocket Pool, Hide the Willy, Choke the Chicken, Pocket Pool 2: Spoogie's Return, Hide the Willy 2: Where He At Now? , Choke the Chicken: Colonel Rising, Pocket Pool Party: Everyone's Invited, Choke the Chicken: Remastered and Servant, Hide the Willy 3: Dark Caverns, and Ow My Balls!

• Monster Hunter World
• Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix
• Hitman WoA
• Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion (toss-up with Skyrim)
• Titanfall 2 (with populated servers)
• Shadow of the Colossus
• Yakuza 0
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Elden Ring
• Tabletop Simulator

It's interesting because only a couple of these I would call my "favorites", but they're the games I can keep coming back to and enjoy. Yakuza 0 has so many games within itself that I could get so much enjoyment from just playing Outrun. Similar to Tabletop Sim where mods could keep me engaged for a long time.

In terms of games I actually play all the time, Monster Hunter & KH2 are up there. In theory I actually prefer Bloodborne, but Elden Ring offers so much more exploration and variety that it feels like the better choice for this kind of list.

Minecraft Java Edition.

That’s it. Could probably mod in just about any other game I’d want to play.

1 - Skyrim 2 - Morrowind 3 - Fallout New Vegas 4 - Megaman X8 5 - Castlevania Curse of Darkness 6 - GTA San Andreas 7 - Streets of Rage 2 8 - Megaman X Collection 9 - Final Fantasy V 10 - Age of Empires II

Crusader Kings 2

Imperator Rome

Fallout 4

Dwarf Fortress

Kenshi

Worker and Resources Soviet Republic

Disco Elysium

Fallout New Vegas

Unsure on the last two.