I was reflecting on how we as board gamers are constantly putting out top 100 lists. I’ve done 2 in the past 5 years (2021 and 2024), The Dice Tower does one for every reviewer every year, and so many others jump on this trend. I started thinking about putting together my top 10 video games of all time, and immediately had a mental overload. In asking my friends, they had similar experiences, the thought of listing their top 10 video games of all time seems like a Herculean task.

I could do top 10 of each console. I could do my 10 favourite video game series, but narrowing down my 10 favourite games felt impossible, and yet I’m so willing to do it to board games. And so, mostly as an exercise for myself, I’m going to take a trip down memory lane and list out my top 100 video games of all time.

Here’s my rules and caveats for this series. I’m going to mostly focus on single player games. I’ve always been a solo video gamer, but there are a couple of games that are just dramatically better with friends, and it’s the friends that make the game good, not necessarily the game itself. I’m disqualifying any compilations or collections of other games. Rare Replay, Super Mario All-Stars, disqualified, right out of the gate. I’m going to talk about games where I first experienced them, which may be a port or a remaster. And lastly, I’m creating this list with my nostalgia intact. I did not go back and replay any of these games, I’m going completely off my memory of these games. Some of the games will be waaay too high, and if I replayed them now, I’d proclaim them to be utter trash. But for the purposes of this list, I’m keeping my nostalgia goggles firmly on.

Each game individually is eligible, but not the collection as a whole

So, journey with me and let’s talk about some of my favourite video games! I guess to start, I should say that I identify as a JRPG kind of guy. At least, when I was a teenager, forming my identity, I absolutely preferred any game that had a sword over any game that offered a gun. I’ve also been a pretty loyal Nintendo fan for most of my life. I’m pretty quick to pick up any new game in most of their major franchise, which I’m sure will become apparent when Mario makes his 7th appearance. I’ve also really dropped off of major non-Nintendo games in the last 10 years. I never picked up a PS4 or PS5, nor have I gotten an Xbox X/S. I did get an Xbox One two years ago, but my time to play games has been dramatically reduced ever since I started giving all of my free time to my board game hobby. That, coupled with the birth of my kids, has made it quite difficult to find time to just sit down and play a game the whole way through.

Something else to know about me, I generally don’t like horror games, shooters, massively multiplayer anything or beat-em-up games. They’re just not my jam. There are a lot of very popular games that won’t show up anywhere on my lists.

My Honourable mention is and Rocket League. Rocket League is one of the few online competitive games that I’ve ever actually gotten into, and while the game does reduce me to a snarling goblin at times, I can’t deny just how much fun I’ve had over hundreds of hours of smashing cars and making some crazy goals. My hooting and hollering at Rocket League even turned my wife onto the game for a short while, which is pretty special in its own right.

Well, tune in next week to see my #100 – 91! Please share your favourite games with me as we go along this series!