This is a difficult one - I could list my five favourite games across all genres, but whether they'd act as a suitable introductory point for a newcomer is a completely different question.
Case in point, I tried introducing my girlfriend to Monkey Island 2 several years back. Now, this has to be in my all time top 10 games, and in my top 3 adventure games. It's the pinnacle of the Monkey Island series, it's charming, funny, fairly user friendly, never frustrating too long with a couple of exceptions (looking at you, Monkey Wrench). So, I fully expected this to be a big hit. In reality? She was completely nonplussed. It was "too much reading", since we were playing the PC original, not the remastered ones with voice acting. She didn't "get" the plot or the protagonist's motivation, and she felt she was just wandering around with no idea what to do yet. Devoid of any rose-tinted nostalgia goggles, she found the graphics so basic that when discussing it later, she had assumed it was an internet browser game. After patiently indulging me for about half an hour, she politely asked if she could stop playing and never touched it again. I was gobsmacked.
So - the five "must plays"? We would somehow have to factor accessibility into the equation, which is a really tough one to gauge. Some games were great - for their time. You just had to be there. Especially games with an integral online community which has since gone.
But let's have a crack.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
- The Wolf Among Us
- Prince of Persia Sands of Time (2003)
- Quake 1 (Halo 1 or 3 would be strong contenders for second place)
- Minecraft
Case in point, I tried introducing my girlfriend to Monkey Island 2 several years back. Now, this has to be in my all time top 10 games, and in my top 3 adventure games. It's the pinnacle of the Monkey Island series, it's charming, funny, fairly user friendly, never frustrating too long with a couple of exceptions (looking at you, Monkey Wrench). So, I fully expected this to be a big hit. In reality? She was completely nonplussed. It was "too much reading", since we were playing the PC original, not the remastered ones with voice acting. She didn't "get" the plot or the protagonist's motivation, and she felt she was just wandering around with no idea what to do yet. Devoid of any rose-tinted nostalgia goggles, she found the graphics so basic that when discussing it later, she had assumed it was an internet browser game. After patiently indulging me for about half an hour, she politely asked if she could stop playing and never touched it again. I was gobsmacked.
So - the five "must plays"? We would somehow have to factor accessibility into the equation, which is a really tough one to gauge. Some games were great - for their time. You just had to be there. Especially games with an integral online community which has since gone.
But let's have a crack.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
- The Wolf Among Us
- Prince of Persia Sands of Time (2003)
- Quake 1 (Halo 1 or 3 would be strong contenders for second place)
- Minecraft