It’s the mid-way point! Hopefully you’re able to ascertain what kind of gamer I am, and what types of games really tickle my fancy.

50 – Cuphead

Year Released: 2017 | Platform: PC

I utterly love the super cute aesthetic, reminicent of the hand drawn animation of 1950’s cartoons and the whimsical score. The cozy, funny vibe gets wiped away pretty quickly once you start playing. The controls are move, dash, jump, and shoot. And for your sake, don’t stop shooting.

A devilishly difficult bullet hell game lies underneath this cutesy exterior. I had so much fun playing Cuphead. Learning the attack patterns, getting better and further with every attempt, I felt like the game was actually rewarding to play. Every loss felt fair, every obstacle felt like you could overcome it, if you’re strong enough to persevere. Cuphead was a fantastic experience, and I wish I could play more games like it.

49 – Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Year Released: 2014 | Platform: Xbox 360

With gameplay very similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor established itself as a fast favourite of mine. The Middle Earth theme infinitely more appealing than Batman, and a dynamic nemesis system that made hunting down the cretin that killed you last utterly satisfying, This was a fun game to play.

Story-wise, I’m always dubious of anything outside the main LotR cannon, as nothing consequential can happen to the story I already know. It’s not like I can find and destroy the ring in this game! Calebrimbor’s ghost teaming up with a human to get revenge is a pretty fine tale to tell, and I’m more than happy for a reason to slay orcs. I can’t overstate how, once you get into the game play of Shadow of Mordor, it’s just really fun violence. Highly recommend this polished title!

48 – Into the Breach

Year Released: 2018 | Platform: PC

A puzzly, tactical, turn-based, strategy game about piloting mechs, time travel, and saving the future from an alien invasion? Sign me right up! But Mechwarrior, this is not. Instead, Into the Breach is a slow, tactical game where everything that’s going to happen is blatantly and obviously telegraphed before you ever push a button. The goal is to save the human race, protect the citizen buildings and the electrical grid. You’ll get to upgrade your mech with new weapons and abilities, push back the alien Vek, keep yourself alive, and eventually, save the earth.

More realistically, you’re going to fail. And when you do, one of your surviving pilots will be thrown through time to start again. As you win, though, you’ll unlock new teams of mechs with wholly different skill sets that are actually surprisingly interesting to play as. A team might specialize in stunning the enemy, or setting the forests on fire. Some will be able to deal huge damage, while others won’t be able to do damage at all, but they’ll be able to push and pull several spaces, which has some huge tactical implications.

Into the Breach is a perfect mobile game. Runs are short, and when you ‘solve’ the puzzle and manage to get through a confrontation without any casualties, it’s utterly satisfying.

47 – Pocky & Rocky

Year Released: 1992 | Platform: SNES

One of the few 2 player coop video games that my mom and I played together, Pocky & Rocky was one of those weird SNES games that no one else I’ve talked to has ever heard of.

Pocky & Rocky is a bullet hell-esque cooperative game where you and a partner take on the roles of a shrine maiden (Pocky) and her tanuki companion (Rocky) as they fight against hordes of goblins inspired from Japanese mythology.

Things get hectic in Pocky & Rocky, but it’s so much fun when you manage to accrue a full set of power ups and fill the screen with your bullets (which are either leaves or fireballs, depending on your power ups). I have such strong nostalgia for this game, if my mom and were to sit down and play a game together, it’d very likely be this one.

46 – Sea of Stars

Year Released: 2023 | Platform: Xbox

This might be one of the most recent games on the whole list, and one that I’ve already talked about in depth. There may be some recency bias, and in my review I point out some of my qualms with the game, especially with how it ends, but I still found Sea of Stars to be a highly endearing experience. The music, the visuals, and the characters are all things to love! Not to mention that I’m a sucker for any RPG that has an active combat mechanic, which you’ll see more of those the further up this list we go!

45 – Journey

Year Released: 2012 | Platform: PS3

Journey caught me off guard. What started as a quiet little adventure in the desert, grew into a surprisingly emotional experience. And that’s really what lands it so high in my top games list, that it was able to evoke an emotional response without using a single word.

The Hero’s Journey is a story template that we’re all familiar with, but in Journey, everything happens so organically, that you’d be forgiven for missing each of the story beats. It’s brilliantly done, and culminates wonderfully. The aesthetic of a ruined civilization and beautiful music give depth to the adventure. A high recommend from me

44 – Rogue Legacy

Year Released: 2013 | Platform: PC

Rogue Legacy was my introduction to the roguelite genre. This Castlevania style game features a lineage of heroes, each with randomly determined characteristics. Perhaps you’re a giant with colourblindness, or an endomorph, so you can’t get stunned. Each run through the castle randomizes the room layouts as well, making the experience feel fresh each time.

Rogue Legacy was a fun game to get good at. Figuring out the broad strokes of the castle layout, memorizing enemy attack patterns, and getting the right gear made flying through the castle feel awesome. When you die, you take your gold back to your home and build out a new wing that increases your next character’s stats. I feel that Rogue Legacy strikes a perfect balance between permanent upgrades and reset-able runs.

43 – Enter the Gungeon

Year Released: 2016 | Platform: PC

I have 200 hours in Enter the Gungeon, making it my 5th most played game on Steam. My interest in EtG came in waves. I played for a few hours, then left it for a few months. Then I came back and put another few hours in, got frustrated, and left it for a few months. Then I came back and fell in hard. The bullet hell gameplay, the synergies between the guns and the items, all the secrets to be discovered, I was in love.

I’m actually quite surprised that this isn’t higher on my list, considering how much I’ve enjoyed playing this over the years. And really, I credit Enter the Gungeon for my modern affection for rougelike and rougelite games, which is both a boon and a bane, depending on my mood

42 – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Year Released: 2018 | Platform: Nintendo Switch

I’ve been playing Super Smash Bros. since the series started on the Nintendo 64 back in 1999. I’ve chosen for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to represent the entire series, because of its tagline “Everyone is here”. Considering that I’m not a competitive gamer, I feel like every Smash Bros. game has gotten better and better, culminating with Smash Ultimate.

Super Smash Bros. is an arena fighting game where each player takes on a unique character, and tries to knock the others out of the arena. As characters take hits, they fly further and further until the inevitable happens. Featuring representatives from every major and minor Nintendo franchise, Super Smash Bros. is the series crossing smash up that is the envy of every major platform.

While not every fan favourite character gets a fully fleshed out fighter, each game is packed to the gills with references to even the most obscure characters. This really culminated in the Spirits Mode in Smash Bros. Ultimate, where the base fighters with colour swaps and specific quirks were used as avatars for a wide variety of unplayable characters. The adventure mode had literally hundreds of references to characters that just left me tickled.

41 – Borderlands 2

Year Released: 2012 | Platform: PC

The Borderlands series is a post-apocalyptic first person looter-shooter game with cell shaded graphics and a juvenile sense of humour. The series really found its voice with the second game, and that’s the one that I’ve sunk the most time into, particularly because I was able to play it cooperatively the whole way through.

While there are a wide variety of guns, each one with its own unique blend of attributes and quirks, in the end it really is just a pew pew pew shooter game. Pick the gun with the biggest numbers, and use it until you run out of that ammo type, or you find a gun with bigger numbers. I had a real good time with Borderlands 2 specifically, and I’ve played every sequel that’s come out since, but considering my coop partner isn’t available, and my sense of humour has matured while these games haven’t, it’s one of those video games that I remember fondly, while not actually having a strong urge to go back and revisit.