Welcome to the voting topic for CGA!

Anyone can participate. CGA does not require membership and is always open to all.

Ballot Formatting

• Ballot entries are NAME (VOTES) e.g. Pong (3)
• Copy and paste the game titles from the list so they match exactly.
• The ballots will be tallied using this script from u/Spore_Prince.
• Any improper ballots will not be counted (but you will get a polite message from me or someone else asking you to fix them beforehand).

Topic Rules

• All top-level comments must be ballots and ballots only.
• Child comments can be anything -- feel free to talk about why you chose what you did.

Voting Process

• Each person has 20 votes to distribute among games as they see fit.
• Each person can allocate a maximum of 5 points per Single Game/Arcade Special.
• Arcade Specials count as one block (do not vote for each game in them individually).
• Voting closes 96 hours (4 days) from the posting of this topic. Voting has been extended as a result of rule changes. It will now close in 48 hours from the time of this comment.

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (5)
Portal 3 (5)
Half-Life 3 (3)
Team Fortress 3 (2)
Night Trap (2)
Xexyz (1)
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (1)
Left 4 Dead 3 (1)

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (10)
Protal 3 (7)
Wand of Gamelon (5)

Voting Outcomes

• The top 6 games/Arcade Specials will become the next 6 months of CGA (or more in case of a tie).
• Of the remaining games, the bottom 50% will be cut from the list.
• The remaining 50% will stay on the list and will enter the next voting round starting at their current point totals instead of 0.

Game List

              ____----------- _____
\~~~~~~~~~~/~_--~~~------~~~~~     \
 `---`\  _-~      |                   \
   _-~  <_         |                     \[]
 / ___     ~~--[""] |      ________-------'_
> /~` \    |-.   `\~~.~~~~~                _ ~ - _
 ~|  ||\%  |       |    ~  ._                ~ _   ~ ._
   `_//|_%  \      |          ~  .              ~-_   /\
          `--__     |    _-____  /\               ~-_ \/.
               ~--_ /  ,/ -~-_ \ \/          _______---~/
                   ~~-/._<   \ \`~~~~~~~~~~~~~     ##--~/
                         \    ) |`------##---~~~~-~  ) )
                          ~-_/_/                  ~~ ~~

Yokohama

1999

You've got big shoulders and big dreams

Headlights flash

I challenge you to a race

 You            Me

START          START
  |              |
  |              |
  |              |
  |              |
   \              \
    \              \
     \              \
      ----           ----CRASH
         |               
         |
         |
         |
       FINISH

Drat! It's always those hard turns, isn't it?!

You and your big shoulders win

Take your prize from my loser car

                          ______    ______   __                     
                         /      \  /      \ |  \                    
 ______ ____   __    __ |  $$$$$$\|  $$$$$$\| $$  ______    ______  
|      \    \ |  \  |  \| $$_  \$$| $$_  \$$| $$ /      \  /      \ 
| $$$$$$\$$$$\| $$  | $$| $$ \    | $$ \    | $$|  $$$$$$\|  $$$$$$\
| $$ | $$ | $$| $$  | $$| $$$$    | $$$$    | $$| $$    $$| $$   \$$
| $$ | $$ | $$| $$__/ $$| $$      | $$      | $$| $$$$$$$$| $$      
| $$ | $$ | $$ \$$    $$| $$      | $$      | $$ \$$     \| $$      
 \$$  \$$  \$$  \$$$$$$  \$$       \$$       \$$  \$$$$$$$ \$$      

For those that didn't play the game, that's basically Racing Lagoon in a nutshell! Except, well, the plot gets more involved (and... weird), and there's a city map you get to cruise on, and you can save at a gas station, etc.

But the key points are all there:

• Racing
• Getting new parts
• Big shoulders

Anyway, let us know what you thought of the game!

Next month will be hosted by the inimitable and incredible @J-Chiptunator and we'll be playing Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls).

Source for the ASCII art car
Source for the prize text
Source for the race art (It's me, I drew that. Art is my passion.)

Steam Next Fest is currently underway, lasting until March 2nd. Coincidentally, I had just been thinking a little while ago that I kinda miss game demos. About a month ago I came across a little twin-stick shooter called Minishoot' Adventures and ended up paying it more attention than any other random game I see that looks kinda cool, because they had a demo available. I installed it, played it for a couple hours, and instantly bought the full game once I was done. It's quite a good game, but they got my money primarily because the demo was able to hook me into making an impulse purchase, totally defeating my usual standard of decision-making about buying games.

For Next Fest, Steam is recommending me a deluge of indie 2D platformers and metroidvanias, and I'm not sure if that's because those are the games in development that tend to have demos or if Steam thinks that's all I'm interested in (spoiler - I'm not). So, have you discovered any truly noteworthy upcoming games in this year's Next Fest? Also, what was the last demo to win you over?

Welcome to the lobbying topic for CGA!

This is your chance to try to sway people's votes by endorsing certain titles. Let people know why a certain game is awesome, or how a particular entry is of historical value, or why others really need to play this gem of yesteryear.

Lobbying is not limited in any way, so you can endorse/support as many entries as you like.

Negative lobbying is also allowed, but please try to do it as fairly as possible. The point isn't to rag on someone else's choices, but it might be acceptable in cases such as "The camera controls unfortunately can be very frustrating" or "It's quite hard to get up and running." Basically: try to keep it to valuable information that people would want to know before playing, but not for the purposes of hating on a game in particular.

Anyone can participate. CGA does not require membership and is always open to all.

Importantly, this is NOT the final voting topic. This topic will remain up for 48 hours, after which we will hold the voting in a separate topic.

A reminder on the voting mechanics

Just so people remember how the voting will go and can plan accordingly:

• Each person will have 20 votes to distribute among games they see fit.
• Each person will be able to allocate a maximum of 5 points per Single Game/Arcade Special.

A reminder on the culling mechanics

And again, so people can plan for what happens to the list once voting is completed:

• The top 6 games will be chosen to be played (or more in the event of a tie).
• The top 50% will advance to the next round. They will start the next round with a base score of 70% of their vote totals.
• The bottom 50% will be removed from the list.

Game List

All nominations and boosts have been added, so this is the final list of games and their vote totals that we will be deciding on.

We are up for another round of nominations for Colossal Game Adventure, Tildes' very own retro video game club!

These nominations will form the ballot for the next round of voting, in which will we choose the next SIX games to play after March's Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls).

Nominations for CGA do not start fresh each time. We rollover the top 50% of nominations from the previous round, and we decay their vote totals by 30%. So, many of the previously nominated games are still eligible to win in the upcoming voting.

Procedural Details

Nominations will be open for 96 hours (4 days) from the time of this posting.

Anyone can nominate. You do not have to have previously taken part in CGA in order to participate.

Anyone nominating in this topic will be added to the CGA notification list if they're not already on there (unless you request otherwise).

There is no hard definition for "retro." Choose whatever you feel fits that label.

Games that have been nominated in the past but were cut are still eligible for nomination again. They do not get "locked out" of CGA.

Voting will follow in a separate topic, and I will also be trying out a "lobbying" topic this time around to see how that goes. More on that in the comments.

Nomination Process

Everyone has the ability to take one (and ONLY one) official action for the nominations topic.

EITHER: Boost a rolled-over title.

This will add 3 points to the title's rollover points from the previous round.
You will also be able to add points to the game during the voting round.
The purpose of this is to limit new nominations if there are games already in the list that strongly interest you.

OR: Nominate a new title.

This will add a new game/arcade special to the ballot.
An arcade special is a group of shorter/smaller games meant to be played together.
Any new title starts at 0 points.

Nomination Formatting

Please do the following:

Bold your action (boosting/nominating).

If nominating, please link to your title on MobyGames. (You do not need to do this for boosting since the links are already in the list.)

Examples:

Boosting a game:

• Boost: Lode Runner

Nominating a game:

• Nomination: Portal 2

Nominating an Arcade Special:

• Nomination: Windows in the 90s
  Minesweeper
  Chip's Challenge
  JezzBall

It is recommended (but not required) that you share why you are nominating/boosting a particular game as well.

Rollover Titles

Personally, I find RPGs to be at their best when they are reasonably short - somewhere between 5 and 20 hours. Games like Chrono Trigger and Earthbound seem to come to mind. For more open-ended experiences like Fallout New Vegas or Skyrim I find that I generally lose interest after somewhere between 30-50 hours regardless of how addictive the gameplay is.

I haven't played tabletop RPGs so I don't have anything to say about them, but please feel free to chime in with them as well.

I typically don't play these kind of games, the few times I've played Souls games, I found issues I had with every game I've played more or less, I've tried Demon Souls around the time where Dark Souls was a thing on PS3, it didn't take too long to get used to the general idea and flow of the game, slowish/sluggish controls on purpose, overall being very difficult, parrying being something that could make or break battles, healing items are consumables that you need to farm, dying makes you lose souls, EXP is the currency, etc.

It's been so long since I've played it, but I recall it being an interesting enough experience to stick around for a little bit, Bolterian Palace being somewhat memorable from the first 2 zones or so including the first area, but I absolutely did not finish it.
I've played the first part of the game by myself, but ended up watching my friends play it more than I did play it, so I ended up knowing that Shrine of Storms has that weapon that makes farming souls super easy, I ended up going there.
Then I encountered the rolling skeletons, I don't think I was aware at the time that Turpentine is how you fight them ,so I had miserable experience there, I think at the end I got tired of it that I ended up just quitting the game to reload to not lose my souls and halve my HP, which in hindsight, I didn't know that. you take half damage as a soul(iirc) at the time and compounded with the PS3's insanely long loading times, which eventually made me to simply quit and never return to it, not having shortcuts also doesn't help, killing the same mobs over and over just to try fighting a boss once isn't fun.

I've not played Dark Souls 1 or 2 myself, so I have nothing to say aside from that I've seen my friends play PvP a lot in DS2, and that Bed of Chaos apparently is a rushed boss by the devs to complete the game, and it shows.

Despite what the title may imply, I did play Bloodborne a little bit, I did get to the first boss(Father Cosguine?) and getting a parry on him was one of those memorable moments for me playing the game, but phase 2 happened, and I'm going to blame the camera or locking-on for my death because 3D games from that era had dogshit cameras.
I have also seen some of my friends play the game, and the weapons BB has looked so fun, of note is the Chikage, which I wanted to use when I played BB, but apparently it's not a good weapon to get on your first run of the game.

Might be worth noting that I gave Little Witch Nobeta a try to see how non Fromsoft Souls-likes are like, I also didn't really go back to it after defeating the first boss.

Then a year or two ago I decided to give Elden Ring a go, being pushed to it by an irl friend.
I rarely get a game and go "Wow I regret buying this", but ER was exactly that.
As usual, I did see a friend stream it in discord or play it while I'm at their house, so it's not that I didn't know what I was into, but I assumed it would be similar to my previous experience with souls games.
 
I picked up a Sorcerer, so my spells are barely better than hitting things with bare fists, my melee weapon is adequate at best, and my base stats were sort of gimped, I leveled up Intelligence to make my spells do more damage and for mobs, they are ok. I leveled up Dexterity as my main source of damage and that was... ok enough, at first.
 
I didn't get to Margit until a couple of hours in, I was wandering around and activating Lost Graces, just to avoid combat.
When I got to Margit, I died a lot but I did have some fun, it didn't feel unfair as much as it felt like my weapon limiting me and my spells barely tickling the boss.
Similar to how my previous Souls attempts went, I stopped playing, until one day I did accept my friends assisting me with the game instead of trying to do everything solo, and we felled Margit but with minimal intervention from my friends, we then got to Godrick and I don't remember much aside from the stairs and the stupid hitboxes.
After Godrick though, my lack of damage was even more apparent in the overworld areas after him, I can't really pick most battles in the world by myself because almost everything there is a group of enemies that notice you when you start attacking one of their group.
They handed me these souls giving item to level up my stats but despite leveling up a fair bit, my damage still felt pitiful and I didn't want to over level. When we called it a day that day, I never really returned to Elden Ring and I don't plan to, I "got" Souls games even less after that. Nightreign however seems to be a much more interesting game in general.
I think you'd need to be a big fan of Dark Souls in the first place to even find fun with ER.
 
This leads us to the past week or two where the same friend that got me to buy ER convinced me to play Dark Souls 3 with seamless co-op in memory of a recently deceased friend who has played the PC Souls games except DS3.
 
And I'm having fun, for change? I'm getting, guided, sure, and I'm not having the full experience by hitting the noob traps, and the bosses seem to get mowed down by playing with more experienced players.
Maybe it's a change in mindset, or maybe I'd only enjoy Souls games co-op.
My issue with DS3 however, is that everything looks the same to me, as in I'd get lost very easily because of how similar everything looks, which is in contrast of what I remember Demon Souls being like.
Not having a map of sorts makes me it difficult to navigate areas in games like these.
 
 

Given my struggles with the other Souls games, the fact that I really like what I've seen from BB's gameplay, the weapons, the fact that you can parry at range, what I've read of the story and lore that makes it very compelling. Are there any tips or ways that I can change my perspective so that when/if I undust my PS4 and my friend's copy of BB, I can have fun? I get that I don't need to like Souls games, but this feels like it'd be my best shot.
 
I don't intend to play it co-op because of both wanting the "full experience" and my PS4 can be modded on its current firmware.

Racing Lagoon

Versions: The only official release was the release of PlayStation 1 disc version in Japan.

Platforms: PlayStation

Genre(s): Racing/Driving, Role-playing

Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

Stores:

• Regrettably, there is no modern digital distribution for this game, so as much as I hate to say it, we're all on our own acquiring it. It should be noted that a fan translation exists, for which the patch is available here (it's a patreon link, but it's not paywalled), but as usual for translations released in patch format, you will still need to acquire your own copy of the game to patch.

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the game you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

Important

• Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

• Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>
 
Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

Every year my friend group and I have a long weekend meetup where we rent a house and communally nerd out with each other. Lots of tabletop gaming; plenty of Magic matches; handheld consoles everywhere; etc.

I always bring my Steam Link so people can cast their Decks to the TV, and I'm looking for recommendations for games that would be good for hotseat play where people can pass around a Deck and each play a little bit of. (So, specifically single player games rather than multiplayer games.)

In past years Peggle and Peglin have been big hits with the group. They're immediately pick-uppable even by people who don't play a lot of videogames (of which there are a few in our group). They're also eminently entertaining to watch because it's easy to tell what's going on.

I'm looking for other games that would fit the bill: casual, simple, fun, easy to hand off to others, relatively quick intervals between players. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

Welcome back, Heroes of Wind! (For the sake of full disclosure I myself am not yet a Hero of Wind, but should be within an hour or so...)

Hopefully everyone enjoyed their second consecutive month on the high seas as much as I did - I'd say at this point, we can basically consider ourselves a pirate club!

I had initially planned to actually plan something to write about in this post, but due to taking on way too many things this month I unfortunately haven't really had a chance to do any research beyond my own (almost) completion of the game. Hopefully any Wind Waker veterans in here will be able to help us out with any important insight that I am certainly overlooking!

For me, the most notable thing about The Wind Waker is how strongly it influenced the most recent two Zelda games. I'd say it seems to be the game that contributed the most to the modern Zelda formula. The freedom it offers you in being able to simply choose a direction and start exploring is a feature that is more or less missing from most 3D Zelda games. Also, the sheer scale of the world is really only comparable to BOTW and Tears. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Koroks - I had no idea that was a Wind Waker thing!

While I had heard about it in passing, actually seeing the underwater kingdom in this game was a strangely nostalgic experience. The way they tied in the old angular Link statue was very cool; I imagine it is safe to assume that an extremely long time passed between Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker to allow for such evolutionary toon-ification.

I wish I had had more time to finish exploring more thoroughly and compile a list of secrets. I just finished exploring the map today, and know there are still plenty of things that I have yet to see. So instead of rushing through the last dungeon, I decided to post this for now, then come back to share more thoughts in the comments later.

Next month, join us as u/Kawa guides us on a trip to the lagoon... the Racing Lagoon!

Until next time, you filthy bilge rats!

Schedule

There was a three-way tie for 5th, so instead of scheduling the next 6 months, I scheduled 7. Bonus month!

@CannibalisticApple will be hosting her nomination, The Last Express, for our first month. If you're interested in hosting a month, see the Hosting section below.

Also, I selfishly scheduled PlayStation WHAT? during the Backlog Burner so I can use those games in my Bingo Card. :D

For the rest, I tried to create variety in the schedule so that we weren't playing the same systems or genres back-to-back.

Discussion Topics

Each month will have two discussion topics:

• "Insert Cartridge" - 1st of the month
• "Remove Cartridge" - 20th of the month

Insert Cartridge topics are primarily for getting the game set up and running. Remove Cartridge topics are primarily for reflecting on the game once you've played it. However, the game itself and anything else related to it can be discussed in either one.

Hosting

Each month, the discussion topics will be posted by a different "host" who will act as the emcee for that month.

Hosting is not required, but it is encouraged that people host months for games that they are either already very familiar with or that they are strongly interested in playing.

People who nominated a game will be given preference for hosting, otherwise it will be given to whomever claims it first.

If you would like to host a month, let me know which one and I will add you to the schedule.

Before your month begins, I will send you a "Hosting Package" featuring templates that you can edit to your liking.

If no one claims a month, I will host it as a fallback.

Voting Results

The top 6 games from the voting round were chosen to be played.

Of the remaining games:

• The top 50% will advance to the next round. They will start the next round with a base score of 70% of their vote totals.
• The bottom 50% will be removed from the list.

Removed games will be able to be re-nominated in future rounds if someone chooses to do so.

Happy 2026 everyone, and welcome back to the Colossal Game Adventure!

Introduction

The Zelda games released for the Nintendo 64 are widely regarded as the best adventure games of the era, if not of all time. Ocarina of Time in particular is often heralded as one of the greats, for many factors including its graphics, story, combat, music, and general atmosphere. So Nintendo clearly had a lot to prove with their next Zelda title, which would be releasing on the N64's successor. Naturally, Nintendo decided to alter course and provide fans with a something no one was expecting: a cel-shaded, pirate-themed, sea-faring adventure! As the 3D title that came directly after Majora's Mask (which remains one of the darkest and most off-putting games I have played), this was a massive shift in tone for the Zelda series. For me (and from what I've read, many others as well), this shift has put me off playing the game for many, many years.

The Wind Waker is the only 3D Zelda game that I haven't played, even though it came out at a time when I was heavily into Zelda. My first memory of gaming was watching my Dad beat A Link to the Past, which I am still a huge fan of to this day. When Ocarina of Time came out it felt huge and mysterious, and quickly became my favourite game for many years. I can't remember when (maybe '98?), but one Christmas I got a purple Game Boy Colour and a copy of Link's Awakening. I later played Seasons and Ages, which I would highly recommend if you haven't played them. In 2003 or 2004 I got a Game Boy Advance SP, and I played the Zelda games that were on that system a lot as well (Four Swords and The Minish Cap). However, the one thing I never had was a GameCube, and due to the cel-shaded graphics of The Wind Waker I never really felt like I was missing anything.

Looking back now, I feel like I probably missed out on something special with this game, as a lot of people cite The Wind Waker as the defining gaming experience of their childhood. Many people also claim that it is the best Zelda game, which has obviously set an extremely high bar over the years. Back in 2017 or 2018, I purchased The Wind Waker HD, but unfortunately ended up parting ways with my Wii U before I got past the first dungeon. So now, FINALLY, I am ready to experience this game for the first time as part of our shared Colossal Game Adventure!

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Versions:

• Original: The GameCube version of The Wind Waker released back in 2002. It is probably the easier of the two versions to emulate.
• HD: In 2013 Nintendo released an HD remaster of The Wind Waker for the Wii U. This the version I would personally recommend playing if you can figure out a way to do so.

Platforms: GameCube, Wii U

Genre(s): Action-adventure, RPG, Puzzle

Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia

Stores: Currently the only way to play this game officially is via GameCube emulation on a Switch 2, which requires Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (and a Switch 2).

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the game you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

Important

• Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

• Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>
 
Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

The recent discussion of Baldurs Gate 3 tempted me to play a video game after a long break. What games do you suggest for someone who likes getting emotionally involved and likes intriguing twists?

I've played the Mass Effect series and the first Bioshock. Apologies if this is information that is easily found.

For example, games like Superliminal (solving puzzles), The Stanley Parable (exploration) and the upcoming Subliminal.

The backroom games I've looked at tend to be just about walking and walking and it gets really boring. I played the game called "Pools" and though I liked the aesthetic, I just got so bored because there wasn't anything to do at all other than just looking around and walking. any suggestions?

I have stolen this idea from a Reddit thread and thought it would be a good discussion here. I am placing these in approximate order of favorite to least favorite.

Caves of Qud - Probably a top ten game of all time. Greatest environmental flavor I have ever experienced. Great soundtrack. This was the very first traditional rogue-like I played for more than a few hours

Wildermyth - I think the character creation/progression is my favorite of any game ever. Character age, befriend each other, fall in love, die, have children, and more. Also this is my favorite soundtrack of the decade, a very dreamlike and melancholic track that suits the game perfectly.

Jupiter Hell - The second traditional rogue-like i played for a few hours. Incredible tactical gameplay

Balder's Gate III - While not my favorite RPG (Wildermyth) probably the one I have played the most considering all the different ways you can play with story choices and character builds.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - The game has many flaws, particularly the poorly designed combat scenarios and a story that differs quite a bit in quality throughout. But the combat adds a bit more crunch then BG3 and the variety of choices and builds is multitudes larger than BG3.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020/2024 - Not much to say other than the flying mechanics are good and the entire Earth being mapped and populated is maybe my favorite technological feature in a video game ever.

Dorf Romantik - Cute puzzle game. Released in 2022 but was a game that I am 99% sure I played in early access during the pandemic and was warm and quiet in a terrible year

Spiderman Remastered/Spiderman Miles Morales

Total War: Warhammer III - On one hand a culmination of all the Total Warhammer games. On the other hand by the time I had played it I had played so many Total War games that the formula wore on me and I found myself auto-resolving battles more often then playing them.

Far Cry 6 - A step down from Far Cry 5 as far as I am concerned, but there is no FPS game with an open world that lets you approach things in any way you want. Guns blazing? Sure. Stealth? Four or five ways to approach a location? Yep. The only thing I did not like was the base design, which i felt was much more poor then in previous Far Cry games

Starfield - On the one hand, a game with a lot of flaws that make it a hard game to love. Tons of loading screens that break immersion. A lack of depth in systems. A story with little/no sense of morale choices. On the other hand, no one does open world like Bethesda and their formula is like crack for me. Good gun play. Best stories Bethesda has told in years. The ending and new game + hit really hard for me as well.

Here are other games that I play but are more of a 'annual series', so I am placing them separately
Pokemon - Arceus was my favorite Pokemon game, with Scarlet being my favorite 'traditional' Pokemon game
NBA 2K Series
Madden NFL Series
Out of the Park Baseball series

Inspired by the recurring topic every Steam sale over at /r/GameDealsMeta:

• What are some lesser-known or overlooked Steam games that you recommend?

• Are there any genres you’d like hidden gem recommendations for?

If you're interested in previous Hidden Gem topics, you can find them here.

For popular recommendations and general purpose sale discussion, please use the main Steam Sale topic.

Optional: Feel free to categorize your recommendations by number of reviews (as a proxy for popularity)

I know Steam Replay isn’t out yet, but I figure it’s still a good enough time to get the ball rolling.

This is your place to share any and all thoughts on your gaming for 2025.

Games you talk about do NOT have to be limited to this year’s releases.

Feel free to share:

• Favorites
• Disappointments
• Surprises
• Memorable moments
• Self-reflections
• Anything else!

Let us know how your gaming for 2025 went.

Introduction

Deep in the Caribbean, the pirate haven of Mêlée Island is home to the deadliest brood of ne'er-do-wells what ever sailed the seven seas: the infamous scurvy seadog Meathook; the buccaneer Sword Master whose name is feared in every corner of the isle; and most horrifically, the spectral ghost pirate LeChuck. Onto these disreputable shores late one night arrives the hapless, clueless, and utterly guileless flooring inspector Guybrush Threepwood, with nothing to his name but the dream of somehow becoming a real pirate himself.

Discover a thrilling world of swordplay, thievery, and, er, treasure huntery in The Secret of Monkey Island. Insult your enemies, fire the cannons, find true love, concoct mysterious voodoo brews, poison guards, evade cannibals, traverse hellish catacombs, raise a pint of grog, and (maybe) discover the Secret for yourself!

The Secret of Monkey Island

Happy December! This month we're playing the legendary 1990 Lucasfilm Games point-and-click adventure from the minds of Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman.

You see, one of my favorite rides in Disneyland is Pirates of the Caribbean. You get on a little boat and it takes you through a pirate adventure… Your boat keeps you moving through the adventure, but I’ve always wished I could get off and wander around, learn more about the characters, and find a way onto those pirate ships.

• Ron Gilbert, from the Lucasfilm Adventurer, Fall 1990

I was sorting through some boxes today and I came across my copy of Tim Power's On Stranger Tides, which I read in the late 80's and was the inspiration for Monkey Island. Some people believe the inspiration for Monkey Island came from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride — probably because I said it several times during interviews — but that was really just for the ambiance. If you read this book you can really see where Guybrush and LeChuck were plagiarized derived from, plus the heavy influence of voodoo in the game.

• Ron Gilbert, from Grumpy Gamer, 2004

The Secret of Monkey Island is renowned for its zany humor, great (and mostly fair) puzzle design, gorgeous pixel graphics, and memorable soundtrack. Unlike other adventure games of the era, SMI invites you to try anything and everything without worry — you can't die. It's chock full of goofy swashbuckling anachronisms and hilarious good times. Maybe a little frustration too. Hey, you can just look up the answers when you get stuck. We couldn't do that in the '90s. Respect the grind.

The game originally released for DOS, Amiga, Macintosh, Atari ST, FM Towns, and Sega CD. Those versions are no longer available for purchase in the usual places (you might try eBay but save up your pieces o' eight if you go that route). All the original versions are playable in ScummVM if you lack the necessary hardware. If you find yourself needing access to a Dial-A-Pirate wheel, the original has been helpfully digitized here for your convenience.

Different releases of the original game have different audio and graphics. Some people have opinions about which version is best. These are all valid. I prefer the version I grew up with, but no shade on the others. They all have their own charms.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is a 2009 remaster that is the official recommended way to play today. It includes fully recreated high-resolution graphics, music, and voiced dialogue, with a modernized UI. It includes a quick toggle between classic and remastered modes, which is a nice touch. The Windows version is currently on sale for 50% off from GOG (DRM-free), and also available from Steam. It is reportedly playable on Steam Deck.

From what I can tell the Special Editions of SMI and its first sequel were also sold as a bundle for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and iOS. I can't speak to the current availability of any of those but they're probably all terrible ways to experience it anyway.

Limited Run Games has also issued a few re-releases of the original game in recent years. I don't know much about these, and good luck finding them for sale anywhere.

Genres: Adventure, Point-and-Click

Links: MobyGames, Wikipedia

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the game you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

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<summary>Spoilers</summary>

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FAQ

Closing Thoughts

How appropriate, you fight like a cow.