27
votes
Build your own video game listicle
- The top 7 chillest Genesis games YOU NEED IN YOUR BUSY MODERN LIFE
- Best video game barrel explosions, ranked
- Five games that defied your expectations (plus one you'll never guess!)
- These 3 console flops make the Ouya look like a success
- The best magical swords of the 16-bit era
The internet is loaded with clickbaity articles like these (note: I specifically made these up, so apologies if any sound interesting). They were already somewhat low effort content, but they've gotten far worse in the age of AI.
As such, I thought it might be cool if we could make our own hand-crafted, artisan, bespoke humanslop ones here. You know, for fun.
- Choose a list topic.
- Populate it with games/mechanics/series/consoles/controllers/whatever.
- Explain how each fits the theme.
Be as serious or as nonsensical as you like. Be as generic ("top games of 2025") or as specific ("games that kfwyre spent more time setting up than playing") as you want. Create the video game listicle of your dreams, with as little or as much clickbaitiness as you like.
Ten Games I Wish I Liked More (but didn't return. All on Steam)
Five Xbox Games For Which I'd almost Go Back
Three Games For Which I Overused My Hacked PSX (aka, I ripped from a Blockbuster rental)
Top four games I setup mods for a new experience then moved to Linux and didn’t feel like figuring it out again
Fallout 3/ New Vegas
Stalker
Skyrim
Battlefront 2
I probably should have done those in reverse, but I'm horrible at judging sale points and social media in general.
Games I Wish I Had Designed:
I’m actually in the middle of Kuru Kuru Kururin, no joke. You’ve mentioned it before (either here or on your blog, can’t remember which) and I finally picked it up.
I had played Roundabout for a Backlog Burner last year without knowing it was directly inspired by Kuru (though it has a completely different feel, design-wise).
One thing I like about both games is how you go from being clumsy to masterful as you learn to work with the constant spinning and read the maps and whatnot. Getting better at the game is tangible and feels great.
I just got to Machine Land in Kuru which feels like an achievement in and of itself, as the levels are getting devilishly hard. Not sure how close I am to the end or if I’ll even be able to finish it, but even if I don’t, I’m having a great time with it. Thanks for the rec!
Once you've finished it, there's the even better sequel Kururin Paradise on GBA (which adds some new controls) and Kururin Squash! on GC (which really needs to be played with a real GC controller as the physical hexagon direction guide makes movement easier).
You might like RayHound
Looks cool! Thanks for the rec
Games to play while you're detoxing from fentanyl
Factorio
Dyson Sphere Program
Satisfactory
Balatro
Slay the Spire
Europa universalis
Stellaris
Best video game barrel explosions:
I haven't played Doom in ages but I was able to easily recall the barrel explosions, all three frames of them.
Top 5 browser games of the 2000's:
Top 5 Warcraft III custom maps:
Man, those were great custom maps.
Sinjid was awesome, but I'd argue Sonny 2 was a lot better (made by the same dev)
In the spirit of being frustratingly subjective while hitting as much algo-bait as possible.
Top 5 most potent vibes in video games:
Top 5 Game and background sound pairings:
Game related t-shirts you could still get away with wearing in public when you're 35+ y/o:
This topic reminds me of those "minecraft while your parents fight downstairs" type videos.
I was going to do a "best video game soundtracks" featuring Burnout 3 but then I had a hard time deciding between original compositions like Halo 2 and collections of kickass songs like Burnout 3 so I scrapped it.
I also like the Dark Souls 2 mention. You have good taste.
Game soundtracks are a whole rabbit hole on their own so I don't blame you. I was working on an essay about the soundscape of Night City in Cyberpunk. But it got cumbersome when trying to illustrate what a tabletop RPG from the 80s "sounds" like.
And Dark Souls 2 might be the "worst" game of the series, but it's also the most memorable in my mind. Even more than Elden Ring. Mostly based on how strongly Majula anchored the entire thing to a theme and space. That bell-piano and harp sends my brain right to that bonfire on the cliff and I could just look out at the sea for hours.
The only other place in gaming that I found so meditative since then is Bellheart in Silksong.
I mean hey, somebody always comes in last place in the Olympics, but they’re still an Olympian.
(I feel similarly in that DS2 is peak vibes out of the original trilogy and no one will ever convince me otherwise)
Games for delight:
Katamari Damaci
Windwaker
SpiritFarer
Mail Time
Pikmin
Games for a cozy fall/winter evening:
A Highland Song
Wytchwood
A Night in the Woods
Curse of the Obra Dinn
Dredge
Games worth dusting off
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
GoldenEye
Ocarina of Time
Double Dragon
Age of Empires
Halo 2
Games rated by iconicity of their AI characters based on entirely unfair characteristics and whether I like them or not:
\10. BioShock 2 (The Thinker)
\9. System Shock (SHODAN)
\8. Fallout 3 (President John Henry Eden)
\7. Nier: Automata (2B, 9S, A2)
\6. Detroit Become Human (Marcus, Connor, Kara)
\5. Fallout 4 (Nick Valentine)
\4. Observation (SAM)
\3. Titanfall 2 (BT-7274)
\2. Portal (GLaDOS)
\1. Marathon (Leela, Durandal, Tycho)
Is SHODAN ranked toward the end because you think she’s less iconic or because you like her less?
Also, are we incorporating SS2 SHODAN into the calculus, or just the first game?
Also do you think I care about SHODAN too much?
Circle YES or NO
I really don't like SHODAN in any incarnation. Yes, she has her place in culture, and while I don't like to play the system shock games, I don't think they've aged particularly well, she is without a doubt the thing that makes them special, but I've never liked her voice, her design or her purpose in the story. She really just seemed, to me, like "baby's first rogue AI". I dunno, I never connected with her.
Damn, you didn’t have to circle yes that hard! 😂
Number 2 with or without Wheatley?
Oh Wheatley's a classic I loved this little moron
Top five evil fathers to have a spawned a 32-bit JPRG protagonist.
Top 3 Sega personalities who didn't totally loathe Yuji Naka
The most interesting 8 and 16 bit gibberish voiceovers RANKED ("DressUpPaah", "Fovu-fatoo-lay-Ooh!")
Now for rules 2 and 3, because I'm quite curious! :D
To answer @kfwyre's Top 16-bit swords answer directly (because I can't resist).
5 best turn-based tactics games:
Famous sequels that are great, but not as great as their fans claim:
I'm sure the list could be much longer, but these came to mind first.
Top 5 sequels that did a complete tonal shift to be way edgier than the original game but are somehow still really good: