The Qt3 Top 10 Games of the Decade Voting Thread

  1. Dark Souls - Putting DS1 at #1. DS2 is close by in my top 10. DS3 probably will be honorable mention. What an amazing franchise. I echo those who are hoping for a DS4.
  2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - My favorite RPG since Ultima 7.
  3. Craft the World - I’m sure I’ll be the only vote on this one. It’s my most played game of the decade, as well as one of the most fun games I’ve played ever, and still play today.
  4. Dark Souls 2 - I know most people prefer #3 over #2, but not me. #2 was the one I spent the most time with, and still replay to this day. I love the first fight against the Pursuer, and I love that he keeps pursuing me throughout the game. Best named boss ever.
  5. Xcom 2 - Tough choice between Enemy Unknown and 2, but in the end, 2 is a better all-around game.
  6. Path of Exile - Sorry Diablo 3, PoE is more fun, has better character builds, and is FREE. While you tried to monetize the auction house, and skim millions from your customers, PoE had a different idea, and it worked!
  7. Grand Theft Auto 5 - Pure fun, great story, great characters. Playing 3 different characters in the same game was something I didn’t think would work, but it does here.
  8. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Just a great game from start to finish. I had to put 1 console exclusive on my list and this was the best console exclusive game of the decade for me.
  9. Prey - Any game that, when I finish it, I immediately think to myself that I must play it again, is top 10 in my book. Now after 2 replays, I’m still thinking of doing another.
  10. Into The Breach - Just an excellent game. It makes you think about every move you make, and punishes you if you don’t. The teams you play with are varied and well balanced. Lots of reasons to keep playing, and then start another play through.

Honorables
Batman: Arkham City - Most fun I’ve had while wearing a cape. (in game, of course).

Minecraft - Definitely a genre defining game, but ultimately became boring solo, and I don’t like MP for this.

Logistical - Probably my 2nd most played game of the decade, but it’s more of a time waster, something I can play while working on my other PC. Also, it’s graphically challenged.

Slay the Spire - I was late to this party, actually just stated playing in 2020, and it could have made the top 10, but it’s too soon to tell for me.

Papers, Please - great game. One of my top games of the year in 2013 I believe.

Dark Souls 3 - Love the game. It was very close to making my 10.

No Man’s Sky - Tons of credit to the devs for improving on it to this day, but it started and remains as a game I love to start, but never seem to finish.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Another great RPG, and probably deserves a spot in the top 10. What keeps it off for me, was that it was just a bit too long.

Stardew Valley - I thought at first this game would be in top 10, but as I debated my own list, it came down to the fact that while I love my first play through of this, I haven’t been able to stick with a 2nd play through because it’s just so task heavy.

Games I didn’t play, but want to now, thanks to other’s lists above:
The Witness
Kerbal Space Program - Especially thanks to the @CraigM write up about it.
DQ 9.

  1. 7 Wonders - everyone working all the time passing and tracking cards with so many moving parts that work in a relatively quick game. It’s deep, strategic, not light on things to do and also accommodates a lot of players well. Marvelous.

  2. Elder Scrolls Skyrim - suddenly open worlds and seeing that castle in the distance, actually being able to go there and check it out is a thing. Whether gamers love or hate Open World ideas, this game really put it on the map for everyone.

  3. Stardew Valley - a number of people thought the farming / life simulation died with the fall of Harvest Moon and was just for casuals anyway. Nope. 10 million copies sold, frequent updates including MP, and now available on multiple platforms makes this a gem and a reminder you do not always need giant teams an triple A budgets to move units.

  4. Dragon Age Origins - varying Origin stories, and references to it years after Bioware has made other games, and just as much conversations about relationships tells you this was not a minor entry into the RPG space. It did well and for a good reason. At the time, there was, once again, talks about RPGs in general kind of being dead, or at least this style of it… nope.

  5. Azul - It’s a beautiful game with a simple concept that requires strategy and long-term planning. This is a great testament that simple, beautiful and clean gameplay can still win over gamers even with the lots of stuff games doing so well.

  6. Monster Hunter World - I know, I know, it’s not the perfect game, and it has some issues and annoyances with basic attempts to just group with your friends and family, but you know what this game did that the others before it didn’t, it bridged the Monster Hunter world for a whole new crop of fans. And lest we forget how hard that is, we’re talking about a very, very well-known franchise that just didn’t do that before this title. Capcom made a good go with Tri, and aren’t we all fortunate they didn’t know how to quit. Maybe we’ll stop seeing how Japanese games are dying… no, no probably not. We’ve got as much chance of that as we do people to stop claiming PC gaming is dead or dying.

  7. XCom Enemy Unknown - X-Com had been a long time if old, very old, favorite with some not so successful attempts to revisit the concept. Enemy Unknown comes along and it… works. There are some debates about how much it captured the old magic and whether or not it sacrificed too much in the strategy department but there is little debate about how many game we’re seeing with like battle map combat… they often call them XCOM like. Maybe the old one started it but the one spawned more than a few fans.

  8. Red Dead Redemption 2 - you look at the games above, and there just isn’t much showcasing the from a single character point of view where you don’t really design anyone and just get to go through a story you barely have much control of. With its beautiful world to explore, some minor events you do get to make choices about, even if the overall story doesn’t hugely change, and attention to small details like stellar horse work and even releasing it on PC before the cobwebs set in on it, this game sure hits a spot many didn’t know was itching. In a time when we see so, so many games released every day, who knew a middle-aged guy in a western could leave that kind of an impact? Apparently really, really good voice acting and building out interesting characters still works. Good job Rockstar.

  9. Lords of Waterdeep - IPs are often seen as little more than a means to grab cash, regurgitate existing habits and just cater to fans. This is actually a good game, and there have been a few IP based games that have have followed. It’s a fun theme with greater worker placement mechanics, with a digital version available, some expansions that aren’t needed but add fun and a pretty tight game too. Did I mention this is a great way to get people who managed to avoid all things DnD most their life to finally ask what it is?

  10. Don’t Stave / Don’t Starve Together - What do you do after you tell all your players you will never, ever, ever make your game multiplayer, well make it multiplayer of course! Seriously though, survival games seemed to be stuck in a FPS kill everyone else mode and then this one showed up to not only reminded everyone that drawn graphics in interesting style can go a long way but hey, you can play with your friends against the world and still die just fine.

Runner-Ups / Honorable Mentions


11 and 12 are, well, they’re Kickstarter games that are pretty imperfect in their implementation but man Kickstarter is leaving a big footprint on the industry today, but even before that, one was really early in taking that risk and the other, well it’s been a few minutes since someone complained about Gloomhaven’s place on BGG.

Zombicide - This was one of the early Kickstarter games fully of minis that also had a game attached to it. It became wildly successful with plenty of use of stretch goals and is a dream or a nightmare for folks who just want the complete set. They even freshened it up a bit with a medeival option.

Gloomhaven - is it the cleanest game with the best components and tight rules, nope. Is it a Kickstarter darling that highlights shifts in the board game industry that many people love or love to hate, yep. It made a splash, and a not a minor one either. I’m sure gamers will be bitching about it’s inclusion and once top spot on BGG for years to come and long after anyone cares.

Fornite - I beta’d the game, fond it okay, but the Battle Royale wasn’t there and PVP is just not my thing. I can’t avoid putting this game on the list because nothing has done what Fortnite has done, the mania, the age bridging, online personalities all over this one, dances and skins… this is a phenomenon. It does nothing new really but what it does do, even gets accused of stealing form more creativity individuals, but what it did manage to do was offer a fairly tight experience while giving players a means and want to personalize it. Plus, you can’t get more accessible than free. Like it or hate it, this game will be talked about a long time, and for a good reason.

Can’t believe I freaking forgot Kenshi.

@Scotch_Lufkin Too late to edit?

I believe you can make changes right up until we count the votes. @arrendek can verify, though.

Just an FYI, this game will be free on the Epic store next week.

  1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
    Love all the Witcher games, read all the books, enjoyed the Netflix series. This was the only game I played for 18 months of this decade, and loved it all.
  2. Divinity: Original Sin
    The sequel is on my to get list sometime in the next 5 years. This one was another long long time to finish, but loved the humour and the old school RPGing.
  3. XCOM 2
    The mods that let me play as X-Men, Solid Snake and various other characters took this one over the top!
  4. Don Bradman Cricket 14
    Put your FIFA’s and your NHL’s away, give me leather on willow any day.
  5. Mass Effect 2
    This seems like such a long time ago, but the standout in the series for me.
  6. Batman: Arkham City
    I’ve played an enjoyed all the Batman games, even Origins. I enjoyed this one the most though.
  7. Slay the Spire
    My go to when I have an hour to relax. So much gameplay, and being added to all the time. Boy, am I bad at it though.
  8. Into the Breach
    My most recent go to when I only have 15 minutes here and there. A great simple puzzle that has so much variety as well.
  9. Marvel Heroes
    Grim Dawn almost got into my top ten, but I do believe I’d still be playing this instead if it were still around.
  10. Guild Wars 2
    A masterpiece in how to design a single player MMORPG. I will eventually get my Kudzu!

The 'yet to play but probably will get on that list if I did"
Divinty Original Sin 2, DIsco Elysium, Baba is You, Control.
The ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ list:
Minecraft, League of Legends, Anything Souls.

Yep, you can edit your list as many times as you want until we score at the end.

Do Roman numerals matter? GTAV or GTA5? Diablo 3 or Diablo III?

I’ve been adding synonyms to the scoring sheet to match those together when necessary, but there are so many I’ll probably need someone(s) else to take a real hard look at the list of votes as we approach the voting endpoint.

What’s the best way to change your list? Editing the old post? Deleting it and reposting?

  1. Mass Effect 2
  2. Bioshock 2
  3. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
  4. Fallout: New Vegas
  5. Life Is Strange
  6. Grand Theft Auto V
  7. What Remains of Edith Finch
  8. Diablo 3
  9. The Witcher 3
  10. Tomb Raider (2013)

Let’s see if I got the formatting right.

Edit the original post for sure.

Alright, I’m changing mine to include:

Witcher 3- Not just for being a great RPG on its own, but for hopefully breaking out of the rote rutt that “empty open world” style games have been in following the cookie cutter Ubisoft model.

FTL- In my mind, this is what exploded the Roguelike genre into mainstream popularity. It also has yet to really be matched for that formula (man did Crying Suns end up being a letdown).

Hey when you’re editing your original post can you also fix the formatting? Right now you’re bolding the numbers with the title which messes up my little script.

The right way to do it is number period space bolded title

The way to bold is either to click the B (bold) button in the discourse editor with the game title highlighted or put two asterisks on each side of the title like

 1. **Title** 

Mentions

Most Influencial:

League of Legends- Not only popularized an entire new genre, but the entire concept of free to play and charging for skins as primary business models exploded onto the industry thanks to this one game, years before Clash of Clans (maaaaybe you credit Farmville for that). In just a few years, the influence grew so much that no game could get away with the previous norm of paid monthly subscriptions, or were at least forced into a F2P option to stay alive (even the juggernaut of WoW).

Farcry 3- For better or for worse, set the model for mass market open world games in a post GTA world.

The Stanley Parable- For better or for worse, established the walking simulator genre

FTL- Firmly established Roguelikes as a mainstream genre.

Dark Souls- Another subgenre pioneer (now if only it would ditch the “obfuscation as a feature” aspect…)

Candy Crush- Opened the floodgates of exploitative freemium business models

Okay, this took some time for me - and if you ask me to do this again in a month, several items may move from the Top 10 to the Honorable Mentions and vice versa. With some of these a decade in my rear view and others fresh on my mind, it’s difficult to really gauge their overall impact on me as a person, but I gave it a college try.

TOP TEN OF THE DECADE
Note - these are in no particular order (well - alphabetical):

  • Batman: Arkham City - These kind of quasi rhythm-beat 'em ups showed up this decade, and I discovered I enjoy them a great deal. From the Batman games to Mad Max to Mordor, I played and had fun with a bunch of them. The one that I think I loved most, however, was Arkham City. I just really dug the challenges, the depth of the combat and situations, the density of things to do, and the story. While it didn’t have the transcendence of attacking a convoy in a dust storm that Mad Max had, when you got into combat with like twenty dudes and took them all down in a smoothly flowing string of combos, you felt like fuckin Batman.

  • Diablo III - When I first played this on PC, I was kind of meh on it. Then we got the console version. While we’d played co-op on PC, couch co-op transformed this game, and I became convinced that this was the definitive version - the title Blizzard had really meant to create. It felt so much crunchier and immediate. I no longer felt the strange distance I feel from most ARPGs. I was involved, and part of the action. Playing it with my wife just made it even sweeter. We played this one f o r e v e r.

  • DOOM - I thought I was too old to play fast paced FPS games. I’m right - I am. But due to some pretty generous difficulty settings, DOOM made me feel like maybe I wasn’t. The music was amazing, the visuals were spectacular, but most importantly, the action was dead on. Tearing up a room filled with demons was so satisfying. The game made sure you never stopped moving, and encouraged you to teeter on the brink of death in order to reach your highest success. Great combat design.

  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - There’s not a lot to say about this that hasn’t been said by others. It’s really easy to get lost in a Bethesda game, and Skyrim was definitely one of those. I’d sit down to do a quest or explore, and find out a couple hours had passed and all I’d done was some enchanting and crafting. Did I have fun? I dunno, but I enjoyed myself, so maybe that’s really what’s important.

  • Gone Home - It was really hard to figure out which walking simulator (gah) to put on here, but in the end I’ve got to go with one of the first I played. What a revelation. A lot of other titles have taken inspiration from this one and have put their own spin on it, but Gone Home is still better than all of them. From how recognizable and familiar the setting was to me (lucky, I suppose, due to me being the right age) to how the game approached its narrative reveal, I was completely sucked in. Edith Finch may have better “gameplay” (and art), Ethan Carter may be prettier, but Gone Home is still the most memorable for me.

  • Mass Effect 2 - I’m gonna admit something that’s likely not popular here - I kind of disliked Mass Effect 1. It had some good world building, but the construction of the game itself felt incredibly sloppy. It was a bunch of pieces that didn’t really fit together well, like there was a strong vision for the tone and world of the game, but none for the gameplay itself. Due to the heavy lifting of the narrative done by part 1, however, ME2 found it’s gameplay voice and could focus on delivering a really tight game and story on top of the foundation they’d already laid down. I was completely wrapped up in this one.

  • Portal 2 - I played a bunch of first person puzzlers this past decade. I really enjoy all of them. But Portal 2 is so much stronger than all of them in all the ways that matter. Strong puzzles, strong visuals, strong narrative, strong “non puzzle” gameplay (exploration - or at least an imitation of it that’s good enough to fool the player if they’re really wrapped up in it). All of these things make Portal 2 the first person puzzler I’m gonna stick on this list. I think I got more obsessed with Talos Principle, and Witness was wonderfully weird and engaging, but Portal 2 had it all.

  • Red Dead Redemption II - Egads, what an accomplishment. Like several of the Rockstar games before it, the narrative gets waaaaaaay to bogged down in the middle, but with a world this wonderful I’m fine with it. Anything to keep me in the saddle with this game longer. This wasn’t really an action game, or an open world game, or anything - it was an experience. Odd controls, a meandering pace (in every aspect) that’s quite clearly purposeful - all of it designed to make sure you’re completely committed to the game while you play it. I was so impressed with the craftsmanship of this game, but also with how much I ended up adoring Arthur. It took me a while to warm up to him - but that’s just who he is, and that feels completely natural now.

  • Saints Row: The Third - This was the fourth game I worked on, and it taught me more about myself as a game dev than the preceding three. I finally got a sense of the “big picture” when developing a game as opposed to focusing on my single piece of production. I learned so much about the process, and how to define vision, tone, and player experience, and I still use all of that today. What makes this a really easy choice for my list, though, is that I also adored playing this game, even when it was all temp art and shit animations.

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - If I been forced to rank my list, this would be sitting at the top, not the bottom. Fortunately, that’s not required, because while it would have been simple for me to crown this with the number one spot, getting the other nine into some kind of ranking would have made me sweat. I’m not one for replaying games; because I want to play a lot of games, my time is usually better served (in my head) moving on when I’m done with a game, whether it took me 200 hours or 2 hours. I’ve replayed this one, a couple times. And it’s a big one, so that’s even more surprising. I can’t specifically point to any one thing to roped me in, but I think (like RDR2) the attention to details matters to me. The world they built is wonderful, and engaging to explore. The characters seem to have a life that exists outside of the quests. Even more than that - unlike most other RPGs, if you find a character before a quest, they’re doing what that character would do. If you find them after, you stand a good chance of having a conversation, not just getting their generic lines. I dunno. There are too many things I could say about this one, so let’s just say I love it to bits.

RUNNERS-UP (Again, in no particular order)
Alien: Isolation (totally nailed the visuals and tone), Dishonored (my favorite first person stealth of the decade), Fallout 4 (mostly due to context of how I played it), Grand Theft Auto V, The Last Door (just made me feel like I was a kid in the 80s again), Life is Strange, Opus Magnum (my extremely late entrance to Zachtronics, which I now love), Overcooked! (so much fun in couch co-op), Plants vs. Zombies HD, The Room, Tomb Raider, The Walking Dead: Season One.

  1. League of Legends - I realistically have to put this here because if I don’t, I’m not sure how I justify the massive amount of time I’ve spent playing it in the last decade (probably a major multiple of any other game). It’s funny, because this game has major problems with both its online community and simply the structure of the game (which allows any one player on a five player team to essentially ruin the game for the rest of the team). Yet it’s still addictive to me to this day.

  2. Monster Hunter: World - I had never played a Monster Hunter game before this. It combines the best aspects of an MMORPG for me (the instance fighting of a “boss” type monster and loot chase) without all of the utter grinding garbage and social crap you have to deal with in an MMORPG. And it’s even better, because it’s an actual combat game, not just a button pressing exercise.

  3. Dark Souls - One of the few games I have completed in the last decade (I’ve played a lot, but few finished long games). I think this was the incredible atmosphere, combined with the challenge that actually made me beat my head against the wall until it was over.

  4. XCOM 2 - Sanded the rougher edges off of XCOM, and was everything I would want a sequel to be.

  5. Factorio - Yeah, don’t know the Early Access rules, don’t care – I’ve been able to play this like a complete game for years now. It is engrossing, even for someone as logistically, engineeringly, and logistically challenged as I am. I sometimes weep and the thought of what I could do if I actually had the brain to understand the circuits, gates, and other automation functions that are available. As it is, I just have a blast building my little factory.

  6. Terraria - By far the best value I have ever gotten out of gaming (on a price basis). I love this game - it’s like what I imagine Minecraft is, but with actual goals, bosses, and win conditions. I love the discovery, the building, the sense of progress, the ongoing updates over the years, everything about this.

  7. Batman: Arkham City - Combined the open world of a Grand Theft Auto with much more fluid fighting mechanics. Best of both worlds, and a great theme (not hard with Batman, but still, they didn’t screw it up somehow).

  8. Stardew Valley - Normally I don’t like games without clearly defined win conditions. But this one managed to have just enough in-game goals (so it’s not utterly a sandbox, which I don’t like), that it sucked me in and allowed me to enjoy the peaceful farming life. This game is made with love, and it shows.

  9. Rimworld - Again, one of the few games I “finished” (recognizing it is the type of game that is meant to be played nearly forever, with mods, etc.). I’m putting this on here because it shows it is possible to make something like a Dwarf Fortress, but have it actually be playable and fun without a monstrously hindering UI. Maybe this is my grudge pick against a different game that I really want to play, but refuse to until it comes out with a functional UI.

  10. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - I have not won this. I have probably restarted it five times. I have played a fair amount of it, however, and I think it is almost necessary to acknowledge its professionalism and affect on the gaming world. It even has its own “arrow to the knee” meme to this day.

Reminder Dark Souls itself is derivative of Demon’s Souls

I keep telling myself this HAS to be the reason that the Battle Royale genre exploded: people were just sick of relying on random teammates, because BR is the first genre that made me feel like an old man not getting the appeal at all.

What’s really a shame is that this ruined what I otherwise considered THE best MOBA: Heroes of the Storm. No last hitting. Reduced lane time. Constant organic team fights. No more item fussing (what’s the point if every hero’s loadout is 90% the same every game?) while still retaining build choice. Varied maps. All heroes remain viable the entire match. The whole team levels together so no one lags behind.

What did it in though was that, by focusing it on constant team fights instead of farming or carries, it only amplified the problem of one bad teammate ruining the game. You had a chance to get around this in other MOBAs because a good enough player could steamroll and carry his bad teammate(s). Not in HotS. Everyone is the same level with no item farming, so if any player was missing at any of the mandatory teamfights, you were down to 80% strength and the other team probably wiped you. So many people kept playing it like other MOBAs, thinking that lane farming all game would pay off. I never, ever saw that pay off and the team that did it always lost. Hell, I think 75% of my losses were when I had a Gaz, Abathur, or Murky on my team who decided to split push all game.

RIP HotS

Just happy to narrow my list finally down to 10 games. :)
No specific order, just ones that I most enjoyed.

  • Dishonored 2
  • Batman: Arhkam City
  • Red Dead Redemption II
  • The Walking Dead
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Anno 2070
  • Mad Max
  • Portal 2
  • Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
  • Dark Souls

Honorable Mentions, I probably missed a few dozen, but here is what comes to mind:

Summary

Journey
Bioshock 2
Horizon Zero Dawn
Antihero
Fallout: New Vegas
The Long Dark
Assassin’s Creed Origins
Hitman 1/2
Saints Row 3
Minecraft
Elder Scrolls V
Far Cry Primal
Subnautica
Xcom
Unity of Command
The Last of Us
Rocket League
Just Cause 2
Cities: Skylines
Spintires
Northgard
A Plague Tale
Frostpunk
Dying Light
Mark of the Ninja
Prey
Grim Dawn
Diablo 3
Void Bastards
Tomb Raider
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Borderlands 2
Titanfall 2
Anno 1800