Exploding barrels, invisible walls, cutscene deaths -- gaming has a whole host of tropes that range from loveable to hateable. Which are the ones you most like, and which are the ones you most dislike? Give examples of games that demonstrate these, and talk about how and why you feel the way that you do about them.

For those that you like, what games have really elevated their use? For those that you dislike, which games are the most egregious offenders? Also, have any games played with the tropes and subverted them in interesting or meaningful ways?

For the purposes of the question, these don't have to be tropes that only exist in gaming -- it's fine if there's crossover with other media.

Also, please mark any spoilers!

We're trying to start a Gamecircle (kind of like a Bookcircle) with friends and accuintances and I'm looking for some good Games to start. It is a daunting task to be honest, as there will be some first time gamers taking part. And for me as a singleplayer for year (mostly factorio and some round and grand strategy games) I dont even know where to start looking.
I'm looking for something like mario kart, which is easy to understand and fun for everybody to play, for the first months. Not cost more than 10$, be aviable through steam or gog or itch.io, preferably cross-platform (steam play works fine too).

On another note, has someboy tried something like this? how did/does it work out? What would be your Advice?

Latest update here. Thanks to everyone who helped me out!

I have an Nvidia Shield hooked up to my TV, and it's great for Android games and emulation. I'm looking for similar hardware that will allow me to play my Steam library on the TV.¹ It doesn't have to be as small as the Shield TV, but I'm not interested in having a giant tower hooked up in my living room. Basically, I want what those old Steam Machines promised before fizzling out.

What I'm looking for:

• Pre-configured
• Able to support wireless controllers through Bluetooth
• Able to play smaller, less demanding games flawlessly
• Would be nice if it could play more demanding titles, but this is not a must
• Has decent cooling (I'm worried that boxes not designed for gaming will get way too hot)
• Price point: undetermined so far -- I'm willing to pay what I need to, but I want to see what's out there before committing to anything
• Would like to be able to set it up to basically be a seamless "console" if possible, where I can boot right into Steam (or easily get there with a controller) and not have to use a keyboard and mouse (I do have a Steam controller but I would rather use an 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ as my primary input method)

Searching around, here's what I've found so far:

• The System 76 Meerkat is a mini PC that looks great (and I'm partial to the company), but I don't know how it would perform with gaming. Also, I haven't decided if I want the (small) amounts of friction that come with gaming on Linux on my TV or not.

• Intel NUCs seems to be popular, and they have some gaming-focused models at higher price points.

• The MSI Trident 3 is explicitly gaming-focused and has a dedicated cooling system. Might be overkill for what I need though?

Here are my main questions:

1. What other hardware options are out there that I don't know about?
2. What hardware profile and price point should I be targeting for my needs? How little is too little, and how much is too much?
3. Are there any pitfalls to this kind of setup that I'm not aware of?

I'm open to any and all suggestions, as this kind of stuff is all a bit over my head so it's hard for me to even know what I'm looking for. I haven't even decided that this is definitely something I'm going to do yet, since there's such a wide range in price and performance. Instead what I'm trying to do is figure out what my needs are and then which models (if any) would fit them best.

1: I do have a Steam Link and have tried the app, but the quality for me has been spotty enough that I would rather have native hardware playing them than trying to stream it from my laptop.

In case anyone is interested, tomorrow 24 May 2020 is the anniversary of the launch of this indie mmo. Regnum is one of the largest indie mmos in the latin speaking world. The game is f2p and is quite simple -- 3 realms warring for fun over forts and invasions. it's very casual, so you can join in the war, or just hang around and chat, laugh at the fortunes of war, or go grind a bit etc. https://www.championsofregnum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112175
If you guys have questions, I can try to answer.
It runs on really low spec pcs too (and runs on Maxc and Linus very well).

(if you are totally new to the game, the anniversary event is usually hugely packed out, so you may find lag during these few days in the war itself)