Minecraft

What the hell do you say about Minecraft that hasn't already been said. I'm really glad I got the opportunity to grow up with this game, and although it is starting to get just a little bit stale in 2025, it's actually crazy how I can KEEP coming back to it year after year after year for my past 14 trips around the sun.

I wouldn't call this my favorite game ever, but maybe it would be if I hadn't played it for such a long time. Perhaps more importantly, this game probably influenced my opinion of every other game going forward in this list...

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

I was extremely late to the party with Isaac. I had watched people play this game for years, and it did not manage to pique my curiosity until in 2021. Despite its long history, I managed to go in almost completely blind, with Repentance as my first Isaac experience. Clearly, I got absolutely obsessed with this game. It was the most frequent and obsessively I have ever played a game in my life, racking up hundreds of hours within just the first year of playing it (that's more than I ever played RimWorld in one go!).

Besides its icky, goofy aesthetics and addicting gameplay, this game is remarkably profound and heart-wrenching.

Stardew Valley

Shockingly, I'm not your die-hard fan of SV, but I hold this title very close to my heart. This is probably my no.1 comfort game, that has a history of walking me through a lot of tough emotions. When I play through rainy nights in this game it almost feels like I can smell the petrichor through the screen.

Then there's the farm part, obviously. A quick look through my website tells you enough about how I actively want to associate myself with SV. It's much less that this game created the gardnerer I am, but rather I feel a lot of pride in that I have grown up so much, and how I can now live out a small part of what made this game feel so special. (side note: emily best girl)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

I have your avarage opinion about this AC. New Leaf was better, but the experience of this game was extremely intense while it lasted. At some points it was all I played. Indoors, outdoors, in my bed, out in the grass... But then it tired itself out, the content ran dry, and eventually I could not stand it anymore. Several updates and a DLC later, it was still not a game I was ever willing to return to. Nevertheless, it holds many fond memories and a weird sense of nostalgia of the pandemic.

Oxygen Not Included

I gotta play this again. Why have I not played this game since 2019!? I love this game, but right now I can not speak for its official release or DLC's, because that simply isn't fair. Maybe I'm just not very keen on making my way across that learning curve after I've forgotten about everything. That learning curve is what makes it so damn awesome, though! I can at least say that it's still really up there in terms of my top 10 colony simulator strategy games, that's for sure.

Project Zomboid

No, I really do not care for the zombie thing. What makes me do really care is a very rich simulation, deep survival mechanics and tons of clutter to collect. -This is what makes PZ so famous, if you weren't in the know.

Weirdly enough, I consider PZ to be my most favorite least played game. There's just something about the energy of this game that really sticks to me, even if I'm not up there in terms of played hours. Sometimes I just genuinely can't play it, because the mood and the loneliness of its world makes me feel ill. Sometimes that's exactly what I'm after.

After B42's (unstable) release in late 2024, this has been so worth jumping back and really digging your teeth into. Knox Country has never felt so alive, detailed or interactive. Even if PZ remains without a goal, the new crafting trees, wildlife and farm animals really livened up the gameplay loop I missed in B41. I can see myself putting many many more hours into it going forward!

TLOZ: Breath of the Wild

Promise not to get mad at me? This was my first Zelda game. I don't know what the diehards will say about first impressions, but this game was—as a newcomer—a gigantic breath of fresh air. Generic, I know, but this game is something else.

I think BOTW, traditional to the Zelda formula or not, really spoke to me in particular because of my survival-crafting background. I don't think it would have appealed to me as much at all if it didn't let me run around collecting things, cooking meals, navigating health, armor or inventory so extensively. On top of all these exciting features was a great story, fun characters and PUZZLES! My goodness, the whimsy! I get warm just reminiscing about it. I think this game held my hand as my teenage years came to a close, actually.

No Man's Sky

Good lord. Well, I've obviously spent a lot of time exploring this game, but I'm very conflicted when it comes to my opinion about it. The character development and modern development cycle of this game has been impressive, but most survival features still feel half-baked and lack any particular goal. Simply put, the survival and crafting component does not reach my standard. The stakes are low. The skill trees are simple. Strategy is non-existent. I do not like the story. This isn't Minecraft, it's not Subnautica and it certainly isn't RimWorld. -But that is not what NMS has set out to be.

So, does this really matter? Where No Man's Sky REALLY shines is in the exploration aspect. It's incredibly relaxing to pick up this game after a new update just to explore some planets and walk around a bit. This is why I would save the recommendation of NMS for walking simulator enjoyers, and not the survival crowd.

Satisfactory

A weird game to review fairly, because I have spent most of my 70+ hours just making a new save over and over after I could not accept the amount of spaghetti accumulating beyond Tier 4. I have a very surface level experience in terms of building an absolutely gigantic factory, but the experience I do have I absolutely adore!

This game plays so incredibly well. Everything is so extremely polished down to how the UI sounds like as you poke around in it. Half the time, I just enjoy sliding around on the ground rather than building my factories. Satisfactory gets a little overwhelming and a little stressful, but it is also well... very satisfactory. No pun even intended. It's that good.

Cyberpunk 2077

*coughs*
Wake the fuck up samurai, the dumbass bought into the hype the WEEK before release and proceeded to speedrun every stage of excitement and grief within a couple hours as Reddit completely imploded on itself. Was I mad about it? Was it that bad? No, not really.

In fact, I had a jolly good time with Cyberpunk even at day one. Yeah it was a little wonky in a few places, but this was STILL quite unlike any game experience I had ever had before, especially after buying my shiny new computer the same year. Even in 2020 it was eye candy and absolutely awe-inspiring. Yes, perhaps this insight came alongside my otherwise lacking library of action RPG's. I have not played The Witcher, any kind of Fallout or not even Skyrim! Prepostorous!

My second playthrough in 2023 was even more magnificent. I think I love this game, actually. Besides the rich world and quite excellent lore, I really love the story and side-quests, the characters (especially you Johnny) and all the lessons learned along the way. I also love my wife, Judy.

Subnautica

It's been too long, my dear Subnautica. This one was BIG for its time, and absolutely mind blowing. It was very well optimized, too! I have a very dear memory of my 20 year old self beating their record of the longest they had ever played a game in one go: 7 hours straight. I got very immersed in this world, and I loved all of its mechanics and crafting trees. The story and worldbuilding is really cool, too! This is a very warm recommendation for anybody interested in getting into the genre of open world survival games, as it perfects the balance between freedom and a compelling progression and storytelling system. Everything you do has a purpose, and it keeps driving you toward the next goal in a compelling way.