1. Neverwinter Nights
   Especially with all the modules, and the online role playing servers, this one has kept me entertained for over twenty years.
2. Caves of Qud
   I’m going to finish this one… some day.
3. Daggerfall
   For nostalgia’s sake
4. Songs of Syx
   I just got started with this one, but it feels like a game I could not get tired off any time soon. It’s still under development, so I hope I get the updates as well?
5. Streets of Rogue
   A fun game that I like to play with my son
6. Unlimited Adventures
   A precursor to Neverwinter Nights from the early 90s. Has a huge library of modules to play.
7. Cyberpunk
   I mainly like it as a virtual world to explore
8. Fallout New Vegas
   It was either this or Fallout 2. But FNV has mods, so I guess this one will win.
9. Fallout 2
   Ok, I want this one too :)
10. <Placeholder for some kind of roleplaying MUD>
    I don’t know enough about them yet, but I’ve always wanted to properly get into one. With only 10 games to play, I hope I will be able to stay focused enough to get invested in one.

Journey

GTA San Andreas

GTA V

OpenTTD / TTD

Minecraft / modded

Half Life 2

Interstate '76

Age of Empires II

Roller Coaster Tycoon

And probably Factorio for the very end

1. Factorio
2. Kerbal Space Program
3. Minecraft

…don’t care about the rest of the list

Nightreign - hundreds of hours in and I can’t get enough. The gameplay loop is so satisfying. I think they made this game just for me.

Noita - infinite wand tinkering

Bloodborne - greatest game ever, and I will die on this hill

Elden Ring - obvious masterpiece and widely replayable

Hades - perfection of the genre, great storytelling, masterful voice acting

Crusader Kings 2 - always lose a hundred hours to this when I dip my toe back in

Half Life Alyx - another perfecting of the genre

Morrowind - dated but truly the best of the series

Mario Kart - loved each iteration and I’d need something a little more lighthearted in my ten games

Terraria - another one I end up spending dozens of hours in when I start it back up. i always loved crafting and building in this more than similar 3d games.

• Minecraft, obviously.
• Skyrim, obviously again.
• No Man’s Sky.
• Elden Ring.
• Wii Party, for local multiplayer.
• Deadlock, for PvP multiplayer.
• Gary’s Mod, for variety.
• Roblox, for variety again.
• Terraria.
• Project Zomboid.

Can you tell I’m almost only into sandbox / open world games ? x)

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).

This was really thought-provoking as my “choose 10 forever” list is much different than my top 10 games list. My goal here was choosing games that provided variety and depth, while typically also being great narrative experiences as well.

1. Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. Since trilogies count as one. They’re all JRPGs with deep mechanics that I could master over my lifetime. XIII-2 provides replay value with side content and catchable monsters, and Lightning Returns is nonlinear. XIII has the amazing story that would always remind me our fates aren’t written in stone.
2. Bloodborne. An action RPG with a great setting and atmosphere and endless replay value.
3. Stardew Valley. I’m not a big cozy game person because of my backlog, but if I could only play 10 games, I’d finally have time to sink into this game, making different characters and romancing everyone and transforming the game with mods.
4. Final Fantasy XIV. This would be my big damn fantasy RPG with a beautiful world I wouldn’t mind living in.
5. Dance Dance Revolution. Specifically Stepmania so I can play all the songs, but if I had to choose an official game, it would be Ultramix 2. I need at least one fitness game here. I’ve been playing for years and am still nowhere close to mastering the game. For longevity, I probably should pick Ring Fit Adventure, Just Dance, or Wii Fit, but DDR is just too nostalgic, even if my list of 10 would eventually turn into nine as I age.
6. Pokemon Crystal. Black 2 has the most vanilla content and replayability, but Crystal is compatible with the Pokemon Pikachu 2 pedometer, which would get me moving. Since mods are allowed, I could also have access to Pokemon Prism, Crystal Clear or any other hack for additional replay value.
7. Flower. Flower has a way of always coming back to me when I need it most. It’s a great way to decompress and meditate.
8. Darkest Dungeon. Rolls roguelikes, dungeon crawlers and survival horror games into one demoralizing package. It’s a long game, and every playthrough is different due to the depth of randomization at play.
9. Shovel Knight. Really fun gameplay both as an action game and as a platformer with tons of DLC and side content without falling into the Metroidvania trap of having repetitive scenery.
10. Cyberpunk 2077. I need an FPS to round out the list, and since I’m not a PVP type of person, I need to get replay value by other means, so an open-world RPG shooter will be perfect.

Minecraft

Factorio

FFXIV

Star Citizen

Stardew Valley

Slay the Spire 2

Clone Hero

Project Zomboid

Xcom 2

Skyrim

Honorable Mention: Dolphin Emulator (if the games count as dlc instead of individual games)

• Terraria
• Nier: Automata
• X4: Foundations
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Beat Saber
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• Stellaris
• Witcher 3

And I still have 2 games left to choose

1. Oxygen not Included. Near perfect colony simulator IMO. Plus if I’m screaming at the dupes doing dumb stuff, I’m not complaining at RL people doing dumb stuff.
2. Stardew Valley. I can min-max if I want, I can roleplay it if I want, I can even loaf around chatting with villagers.
3. Factorio. I’ll stop playing it once I get enough iron. (You never have enough iron.)
4. RimWorld. It could be Dwarf Fortress instead, but IMO RW is better designed, and the mod selection is amazing.
5. Minecraft. Modded the shit out of. Probably 1.12 or 1.7.10.
6. Final Fantasy VI. I thought about Chrono Trigger; it’s also fun but FF6 has better replay value.
7. OpenTTD. CHOO CHOO! I tend to spend more time staring at the paused game and planning shit out than actually playing it, but the whole process is fun.
8. Donkey Kong Country 2. It’s a sentimental game for me, and I can literally play it blindfolded.
9. Civilization V. When I’m really pissed at something, I play as the Shoshone in the easiest difficulty, Pangaea, small map, versus Venice. No city states nearby. My goal is to reduce Venice to a one tile civ.
10. Pokémon Emerald. Or even better, some hack that keeps everything vanilla but allows you to catch all 386, there should be one out there. Leaf Green or Fire Red could be, too.

Crusader Kings 2

Imperator Rome

Fallout 4

Dwarf Fortress

Kenshi

Worker and Resources Soviet Republic

Pokemon Heartgold

Super Smash Bros Melee

Fallout New Vegas

Pokemon Emerald

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.

Since online games are a thing, honestly 10 games is a huge list for me personally:

1. FFXIV (I could probably live with just this one)
2. Slay the Spire 2
3. Europa Universalis 4
4. Elden Ring
5. Dyson Sphere Program
6. DCS:World (idk if this will have the longevity once I finally learn every plane)
7. Guild Wars 2
8. Terraria
9. Victoria 3
10. Baldur’s Gate 3

Shadowrun (Sega version) - one of the best RPGs of all time

Grim Dawn - I was a big Diablo 2 guy, and this is the next step up

Chronotrigger - probably my favourite RPG

Terraria - just a treasure of a game and fun for lan coop

Deus Ex - my favourite game of all time

Final Fantasy 6 - perfect example of what was good about the SNES

Sonic 3 and Knuckles - there’s a lot of excellent 8 and 16 bit platformers, this one is edging out some tough competition from Shinobi 3

KKnD - I’m going back to my PC roots in real time strategy, and I’m going with an old favourite that never lets me down when I go back to it

OpenTTD - I can (have) spent years building up a transport empire

Tyrian 2000 - the king of shmups

There’s definitely games I regret not being able to play again, but I’d be happy with this lot.

• Civ IV, just for the mod Fall from Heaven ][

• Dwarf Fortress, natch

• Minecraft

• Tetris

• Spelunky

• MarioKart Double Dash

• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

and I guess I’ll save the other three for games that haven’t been made yet. Actually, since I do make games, I’ll pick three games I make myself.