- The Witcher 3
- Mass Effect 2
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Warframe
- 7 Days to Die
- XCom 2
- Diablo 3
- Fallout 4
- Rimworld
- Total War: Warhammer 2
- Minecraft - The defining game of the decade, without challenge
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
- One Finger Death Punch (franchise)
- VVVVVV
- Outer Wilds
- Florence
- Stardew Valley
- Walden, a game
- Spaceteam
Kind of happy that the list includes almost no overlap in genre, and a lot of games that are really unlike anything else.
I really wanted to get a great city builder on my list, and the recent Tropico franchise almost made the cut. I considered Settlers 7 as well. Unfortunately, Anno 1404 is slightly too old, and the follow-ups are good but not as perfect as 1404. Sad that I guess Stardew Valley is the closest I could come.
Also no strategy games! Whaat? Kingdom, FTL, rymdkapsel, and the Race for the Galaxy app (the game I maybe played the most in the last few years) were all considered.
Hohokum was basically the only console-only game I considered.
Here are some other games that made my shortlist: Life Is Strange, Grow Home, Mini Metro, Thomas Was Alone, Unavowed, Chuchel, Hollow Knight, The Messenger, Oxenfree, Valiant Hearts, Gorogoa, 80 Days, Desert Golfing
- The Witcher 3
- Oxenfree
- Europa Universalis 4
- The Long Dark
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Sunless Skies
- Northgard
- Gone Home
- Kingdom New Lands
- Renowned Explorers
Did I mail you my notes?
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Dark Souls
Not a Souls game. -
Offworld Trading Company
Not an RTS game. -
Kerbal Space Program
Not a game. -
Twilight Struggle
Not the board game. -
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Not a grind game. -
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Not an open world game. -
Slay the Spire
Not a deckbuilder game. -
Desktop Dungeons
Definitely a math game. -
Stephen’s Sausage Roll
Not a puzzle game. -
Divinity Original Sin 2
That last entry is a bit weird: it is a game I’ve been playing a lot for the past few months, but am nowhere to finishing, yet I feel like it could have ended up way in the top.
Regrets that I haven’t been able to experience: Witcher 3, Obra Dinn, but most of all OUTER WILDS.
Based on the amount of time Steam says I spent on these games, here are my most played games in order of most to least played.
- Battle Brothers
- Darkest Dungeon
- Crusader Kings II
- Age of Wonders 3
- Mount & Blade Warband
- Massive Chalice
- Endless Space
- Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes
- Deity Empires
- Stars in Shadow
Am limited to games that run on Intel integrated graphics card but this list ain’t too shabby.
What a great decade of games and time blissfully misspent.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Red Dead Redemption
- Mass Effect 2
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Diablo 3
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Dragon Quest XI
- Persona 4: Golden
- Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Honorable Mentions:
Resident Evil 2
Dark Souls
Batman: Arkham City
Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
Dragon’s Dogma
Divinity: Original Sin 1 or 2 (possibly top 10 material, had I played for longer)
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Etrian Odyssey IV
Steamworld Dig
Telltale’s The Walking Dead
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
This list was extremely hard for me. I think I could shuffle everything after my top 4 and it wouldn’t matter. I loved them all and for different reasons. Most of my Honorable Mentions could easily sub for one of the other entries.
My list would also have looked very different if my backlog wasn’t so extensive. Own but still haven’t gotten to or barely played: GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Monster Hunter World, AC: Origins & Odyssey, Forza Horizon 4, Quantum Break, and a bunch of other titles released in the last few years.
Unranked, cause I am lazy.
- Dark Souls
- Dark Souls 2
- Dark Souls 3
- Skyrim
- Divinity Original Sin 1
- Mass Effect 2
- Dragon Age: Origins
- Fallout 3
- Borderlands 2
- Assassins Creed 2
I think if unranked you are still supposed to bold them and stick an * (which reads as a bullet point) in front of each one.
I think AC 2 and DA: Origins were late 2009 releases.
Damn, I was too lazy to look. In the 2010 entry it just says Assassin’s Creed so I assumed 2 came after. As for DA:O, it’s hard to believe it is that old.
- League of Legends
In terms of hours played, and how they transformed the entire industry. The LoL beta came out late 2009, but didn’t technically release until early 2010.
Early on, LoL was the better game. It was the easy to pick up, less toxic, bright easy to distinguish graphics alternative. DotA 2 was the inverse. Over the years though, the games would swap until the opposite was true. So whichever one is better depends if you’re going by the first or second half of the decade. Since LoL came first, point goes to it.
- Eldritch Horror
Although Fantasy Flight has tweaked its co-op Lovecraft formula several times, none have surpassed Eldritch for sheer scope, strategizing possibilities, and longevity of play. We’re STILL playing it 5 years later while we quickly burned out on the card game and Arkham Horror 3rd ed.
- Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Dragonfall is in the running with me for THE best story-driven single player RPG. Every major quest manages to have some kind of tricky moral curveball to it. Every character an interesting backstory. They managed to fix 80% of the problems from the previous Shadowrun game. I honestly had more fun with this than the original Fallout games, Planescape, and The Witcher series.
- The Witcher 3
What happens when an overworld RPG is created by auteurs with a love for the material and detail, rather than a focus grouped AAA committee.
- FTL
You might be able to say The Binding of Isaac contributed first to the popular explosion of Roguelikes, but FTL did it better. Games are still trying to chase the things it did right.
The “Ultimate Edition” of DA:O came out on the consoles in 2010, so it could theoretically count.
@Scuzz Would you please put an * in front of each entry, and then bold the game titles?
Like this:
etc.?
Behold, a list!
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Kerbal Space Program - I’ve spent more time on this game than any other in the past decade. And it’s informed my interests and outlook more than any other game.
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Dark Souls - Not much to say here. You know why it’s ranked highly.
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Hitman - (I’m counting Hitman 2016 and its sequel as one game because they are.) I’m not sure how I forgot this on my first iteration of this list. The best sanbox murder simulation/puzzly stealth game/exploding rubber ducky ever. I have put a couple of hundred hours into its gloriously constructed locations and murdered my targets in many many many many amusing ways.
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Hadean Lands - Yes, this is a text adventure. It’s also probably the most glorious puzzle game to come out in the past decade. It rekindled my interest in interactive fiction, which is the most inventive, interesting, and forward looking genre of computer-based gaming.
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TIS-100 - I kind of wish I could just put “Zachtronics games” here because I love all of them. I know that Infinifactory is many peoples’ favorite, but I’ve always loved the stripped down essense of a programming game that is TIS-100.
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Portal 2 - One of the slickest, most instantly enjoyable games ever. It just goes down smoothly. Also, some of the best, most ingenious co-op puzzles ever designed.
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Horizon: Zero Dawn - If I have to pick one open world game, this is the one. Best environments, best combat, best world building, best protagonist.
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Saint’s Row 3 - “Anthony. Anthony. Anthony… Saint’s Row 3.”
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The Witness - Prior to release I anticipated this game more than any other in the past decade. And it largely lived up to my expectations.
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Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture – It’s a walking sim! Gorgeous, melancholy, emotionally turbulent. Also the greatest soundtrack in any videogame ever. The soundtrack is what edges What Remains of Edith Finch out of this spot.
Used to be on this list until summarily pushed off by other games I originally forgot:
Inside - No UI. Gorgeous, endlessly inventive and surprising iterations on its side-scrolling milieu.
Factorio - This game scratches an itch. Oh my yes it does.
Honorable mention: Minecraft. I don’t think there’s any question that Minecraft is the game of the teens. But though I’ve put many hours into this game, and my kids still play it constantly, it’s not among my favorite games, so it’s not on this list.
Second honorable mention: Tabletop Simulator. Is it a game or a platform? Whatever it is, I spent a couple of hundred hours with it both playing and creating board games on my computer screen.
Looking at this list, I must really really like puzzle games. I might edit the list a couple of times before the deadline, but I’m pretty satisfied that it accurately reflects my gaming interests and playtime over the last 10 years.
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - I’ve got 1500 hours into the most immersive game ever created. Mods certainly help.
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Pathfinder: Kingmaker - I’ve got 500 hours into the best BG2 sequel ever.
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World of Warcraft: Legion - The best and most epic of WoW, sadly, never again to be eclipsed.
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The Witcher 3 - A great game, but I’m a bit hesitant. I like to replay great games (and re-watch great movies). But I’ve tried several times to replay The Witcher 3 and I always give up eventually. It’s too single-threaded.
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Fallout 4 - A terrible Fallout game, but a great game nonetheless. Bonus for modding.
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Far Cry Primal - The Best Far Cry.
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XCOM 2 - Waaay better than Phoenix Point. Mods also help a lot.
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Saints Row 3 - Ridiculously awesome. I enjoyed 3 over 4 because it was more grounded.
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Dishonored 2 - Fantastic levels and options.
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Conan Exiles - My first 20 or so hours into Conan Exiles was filled with joy, discovery, and wonder not unlike the first time playing EQ or WoW. It managed to recapture that magic we all look for.
Is that so??? Hmmm…I wonder if my laptop will run this.
My list, including some also ran’s that may change places with the official list closer to the deadline. Most of these games I am still playing regularly, years after they came out.
- Minecraft This game is it’s own genre. The amount of time I’ve spent over the years playing, modding, playing online is staggering. It never gets old.
- Kerbal Space Program Thousands of hours, a new appreciation of science and technology, and a healthy amount of learning about orbital mechanics while shooting frogs into space! sign me up.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim On the short list of still playing after several years. VR mode, runs on everything, mega mod community. A lot to love here.
- Dark Souls III I love all the Souls series from Demon Souls on to Sekiro. All of them are awesome. I limit one to my list to keep up some diversity and number 3 takes the cake for me.
- Borderlands 2 One of the few games that I’ve bought DLC for, and actually finished all the DLC and the game several times over. The best in looter shooters.
- The Long Dark I don’t expect to see this game on many lists but for me, it just clicked. Over the years the developer has continued to pour resources into it, and evolve the formula in new and interesting ways. This game is a slow burn but truly immersive.
- Subnautica I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did. This game always gave me fear, wonder, and excitement. Even after I knew the story and what was to come, I was still a sucker for exploring the deep alien oceans.
- Stardew Valley I was never a huge fan of harvest games until I met this little game. Add to that an enriching story about the developer and his love for the project and this game always finds a place in my heart.
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 I was weaned on gold box games, but over the years they lost their luster for me until I met this game. Now I’m back in the saddle and it’s all thanks to the brutal, challenging game play and interesting story lines of this game and its NPCs
- Persona 5 Just when I had given up on the JRPG genre entirely, along came this breath of fresh air that was fun, snappy, challenging, grindy in a good way and with a fun sound track. Reminds me I need to finish that NG+ run!
My also ran’s are all wonderful as well. I wish I could put in votes for them, but I imagine many of them will get votes anyway. Some of them may swap places in my list after it ferments a bit:
Red Dead Redemption 2
Mount and Blade: Warband (It’s Stand alone DLC released in 2010 so that counts right?)
Civilization 5
X-Com 2
The Witcher 3
Ark: Survival Evolved
Grand Theft Auto 5
Demons Soul, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne, et al
Out of the list above, the games I have still installed right now are Minecraft, KSP, Skyrim, Long Dark, Stardew, GTA 5, subnautica
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Europa Universalis 4 as if it could be anything else. My most played game ever. It dethroned Metroid Prime as my favorite game of all time. Sprawling, deep, varied, and just a perfect game for me. If you were to tell me I could only pick one video game to play for all time, this is hands down it. I love maps, and I love history. And both from a young age. As a grade school kid I would go in my room and spend hours reading the atlas. No, really, I would trace out routes between cities, how geography impacted growth, the namings and so on. So map simulator 1444 is exactly my kind of game. Johan, thank you.
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X-wing Miniatures I have spent more time boardgaming than with video games over the last 5 years or so, and this is a big reason why. The tactics, list building, variability, competition, the fact I just get to shoot the shit with friends pushing Star Wars ships around for 90 minutes at a crack. This game is so tailored to me, and 2.0 relaunch improved the mechanics and balance so much that it really lives up to the promise. Roughly 3/4 of my gaming budget over the last few years has been in this game. (Of course 3/4 of the remainder has been Paradox), and I regret nothing.
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Kerbal Space Program what EU IV is for my love of maps, KSP is for my love of space. And like EU, I learned so much from it. Apogee, perigee, inclination, prograde, retrograde, why rockets launch the way they do, how to go faster in orbit requires you to slow down. This game taught me more about astrophysics than all my college courses. I was learning god damn rocket science here. I always was fascinated with space, but now I understand it more. Side effect: it ruined so many movies for me. But ones that do it right? Yes! Use real physics please! This is a game that not only tapped into my interests, but made me feel smart and accomplished when I figured out how to do things. It won’t hold your hand, and in fact the games ambivalence to things like direction, teaching, goals, hand holding turn many people away. But the fact it says ‘here is space, do what you want, if you are Kerbal enough to figure out how’. Man I dig that. Let me try, fail, and learn from failure. Getting to the Mun with only a scant fraction of remaining fuel, then winging out a launch angle and timing, hoping that by launching at that point in rotation would give me just enough delta V to clip Kerbin’s atmosphere? And then doing it with .2m/s left? What a rush! The hybrid Neil Armstrong-Gene Kranz simulator is a singular achievement that only exists because digital distribution.
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Napoleon: Total War stand in for the series in some ways. My personal favorite due to setting, the satisfying cannons, and strategy. But the series is the only one that can compete with EU for hours played this decade, so it needed a nod.
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Unity of Command elegant design, challenging maps, and a game I played where it perfectly fit my time. Played it on my tablet while a sleeping baby lay on my chest. Hard to top that.
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Harry Potter Hogwarts Battles a game by USAopoly in my top 10? Yes! I am as shocked as you are, but this is a legitimate co-op deck builder. Ranks this highly because the mechanics are solid, the Book 1-7 progression system is interestingly done (almost a semi legacy game really), thematic as hell, my wife loves the series, we played it together a ton. So yeah, a game I played with my wife more than all but a few light games has to get on the list somewhere.
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Bastion Spectacular sound design earns it this spot. The music and narrator elevate an otherwise pretty and solid game into exceptional. Zia’s song in particular is a stand out, as is the closing song. Logan Cunningham should voice every game ever.
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Xcom a tremendous revival. Loved my time with it, and got multiple play throughs, which is a rare enough thing.
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Mass Effect 2 pretty much copy what @ArmandoPenblade said above. I like the first one better, because it is better space opera. But even if I dislike some of the directions this game took, the companions were fantastic, and some of the missions are second to none.
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Minecraft I mean do I really need to explain why this deserves to be in a top 10? My time with it came and went, but it left an impression. It is undeniably influential, and the fact it broke the drab brown shooter stranglehold was a plus. Undoubtedly we see more game variety today because of Minecraft.
Oh, I may need to swap out a game for that.