Hey! This is not what I normally do on GMTK, but to celebrate the 10th year of doing this channel I thought it would be fun to do something a bit different. I'm now working on Mind Over Magnet with the aim of releasing the game before the year is out - so expect more Developing updates throughout 2024!
This video is so great... So surprised you didn't feel the impulse to throw in Obra Dinn with how fond you are of it (but I guess Her Story takes that spot)
I'm surprised you didn't put Mind Over Magnet as at least an honorable mention since it's kinda teaching you about game design through making it. Though I suppose it was at least shown in passing...
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Piracy, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Li
Great subtitles/closed captions support, as always. Your channel pretty much sets a standard with your constant great quality of CC. I have the deepest appreciation for this. Thank you.
@@GMTK I know I'm speaking to the master on this subject but I'll say it anyway. I'm hard of hearing and if it weren't for the CC I literally wouldn't be able to watch the video! It's very appreciated.
2:41 - Space Invaders 3:48 - Pac-Man 5:10 - Rogue 6:27 - Super Mario Bros. 7:46 - The Legend Of Zelda 8:56 - Mega Man 9:53 - Tetris 11:18 - Doom 12:32 - Super Metroid 14:00 - Pokemon Blue 15:28 - Tomb Raider 16:37 - Resident Evil 18:00 - Half-Life 19:13 - Thief: The Dark Project 20:34 - Crazy Taxi 21:55 - Deus Ex 23:05 - Diablo II 24:45 - The Sims 25:47 - Grand Theft Auto III 27:37 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 29:06 - Ico 30:23 - Rez 31:19 - Silent Hill 2 33:03 - Animal Crossing 34:20 - Warioware, Inc.: Mega Microgames! 35:36 - September 12th: A Toy World 36:32 - Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time 37:37 - Katamari Damacy 38:47 - Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 39:50 - Resident Evil 4 41:46 - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 43:08 - Dead Rising 44:27 - Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 45:59 - Portal 47:32 - Mass Effect 49:03 - Skate 50:23 - Team Fortress 2 51:14 - Bioshock 53:00 - Burnout Paradise 54:05 - Far Cry 2 55:28 - Left 4 Dead 57:25 - Spelunky 58:50 - Dead Space 59:46 - Batman: Arkham Asylum 1:00:52 - Plants Vs. Zombies 1:02:41 - Fruit Ninja 1:03:28 - Amnesia: The Dark Descent 1:04:19 - Fallout: New Vegas 1:05:10 - Sid Meier's Civilization V 1:06:44 - Dark Souls 1:08:08 - Minecraft 1:09:20 - Spacechem 1:10:26 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 1:11:28 - Journey 1:12:53 - Mark Of The Ninja 1:14:39 - The Walking Dead 1:16:00 - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward 1:17:17 - Xcom: Enemy Unknown 1:18:46 - Spec Ops: The Line 1:20:11 - Spaceteam 1:20:57 - Dishonored 1:22:20 - The Stanley Parable 1:23:23 - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons 1:25:33 - Cookie Clicker 1:26:17 - Gone Home 1:27:37 - Papers, Please 1:28:50 - Steamworld Dig 1:30:29 - Alien: Isolation 1:31:39 - Mario Kart 8 1:33:29 - 80 Days 1:34:31 - Her Story 1:36:15 - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 1:37:55 - Undertale 1:39:05 - Downwell 1:40:19 - Yakuza 0 1:41:40 - Kerbal Space Program 1:42:55 - Super Mario Maker 1:43:47 - Doom (2016) 1:44:51 - Factorio 1:45:47 - Persona 5 1:47:02 - Hitman (2016) 1:48:39 - Overcooked! 1:49:54 - Furi 1:51:19 - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 1:52:34 - Fortnite 1:53:57 - Getting Over It With Bennet Foddy 1:54:54 - Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War 1:56:21 - Among Us 1:57:23 - Celeste 1:58:51 - Rimworld 1:59:43 - Florence 2:01:15 - Into The Breach 2:02:01 - Slay The Spire 2:03:25 - Disco Elysium 2:04:44 - Outer Wilds 2:06:08 - Half-Life: Alyx 2:07:00 - Inscryption 2:08:18 - Vampire Survivors 2:09:08 - Tunic 2:10:21 - Shadows Of Doubt
This is a phenomenal journey through the history of games. As a 43 year old that has played games my whole life, this is a wonderful homage to my favorite hobby.
This kinda feels like some sort of endorsement for gaming as a whole. The way you explain everything so succinctly makes this video feel like a celebration of video games and their design, which I really love
EXACTLY! I got really teary-eyed at multiple occasions. Just really philosophical and poetic how we're random beings on a Blue Marble and thru years of history we achieved computers and this one thing known as Video-games and how much of a significant impact they have on us.
@@mckinneym.2743 ignoring the fact sims 3 has 400$ in dlc and sims 4 has 900$ in dlc (neither are reasonable), the sims 3 has better gameplay in pretty much every aspect except graphics. Sims 4, even WITH the dlc (pirate it), is really disjointed, and most of it is not really designed to be used at the same time. It has a lot of hot air in place of content but they sell it for such absurd prices. Full disclaimer, I still play 4 over 3 because I like the newer graphics but sims 3 is the og
I love at the very end when you say "go play jam games, experimental games, serious games..." and the "serious" game you show on screen is...Serious Sam.
As someone who has followed GMTK for years now, this videos feels as if it represents a milestone. A showcase of all of your inspirations and resources from the medium. Really appreciate your work, take it easy for the next vid.
Game list with timestamps (I've only played 68 of these 100, not bad considering the diversity!): 1-10: 01. 0:02:39 Space Invaders 02. 0:03:47 Pac-Man 03. 0:04:53 Rogue 04. 0:06:05 Super Mario Bros 05. 0:07:28 The Legend of Zelda 06. 0:08:38 Mega Man 07. 0:09:52 Tetris 08. 0:11:12 Doom 09. 0:12:24 Super Metroid 10. 0:13:48 Pokemon: Blue Version 11-20: 11. 0:15:18 Tomb Raider 12. 0:16:33 Resident Evil 13. 0:17:59 Half-Life 14. 0:19:11 Thief: The Dark Project 15. 0:20:10 Crazy Taxi 16. 0:21:23 Deus Ex 17. 0:22:56 Diablo II 18. 0:24:30 The Sims 19. 0:25:44 Grand Theft Auto III 20. 0:27:09 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 21-30: 21. 0:28:33 Ico 22. 0:30:03 Rez 23. 0:31:04 Silent Hill 2 24. 0:32:45 Animal Crossing 25. 0:34:11 Warioware Inc.: Mega Micro Games! 26. 0:35:19 September 12th: A Toy World 27. 0:36:18 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 28. 0:37:33 Katamari Damacy 29. 0:38:30 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 30. 0:39:45 Resident Evil 4 31-40 31. 0:41:15 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 32. 0:42:59 Dead Rising 33. 0:44:23 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 34. 0:45:58 Portal 35. 0:47:29 Mass Effect 36. 0:48:53 Skate 37. 0:50:10 Team Fortress 2 38. 0:51:10 Bioshock 39. 0:52:37 Burnout Paradise 40. 0:54:03 Far Cry 2 41-50 41. 0:55:26 Left 4 Dead 42. 0:57:01 Spelunky 43. 0:58:39 Dead Space 44. 0:59:35 Batman: Arkham Asylum 45. 1:00:37 Plants Vs. Zombies 46. 1:02:06 Fruit Ninja 47. 1:03:14 Amnesia: The Dark Descent 48. 1:04:15 Fallout: New Vegas 49. 1:05:08 Sid Meier's Civilization V 50. 1:06:40 Dark Souls 51-60 51. 1:08:06 Minecraft 52. 1:09:19 Spacehem 53. 1:10:24 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 54. 1:11:27 Journey 55. 1:12:49 Mark of the Ninja 56. 1:14:15 The Walking Dead 57. 1:15:58 Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward 58. 1:17:13 Xcom: Enemy Unknown 59. 1:18:44 Spec Ops: The Line 60. 1:19:54 Spaceteam 61-70 61. 1:20:54 Dishonored 62. 1:22:12 The Stanley Parable 63. 1:23:20 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 64. 1:24:38 Cookie Clicker 65. 1:26:14 Gone Home 66. 1:27:35 Papers, Please 67. 1:28:46 Steamworld Dig 68. 1:30:14 Alien: Isolation 69. 1:31:36 Mario Kart 8 70. 1:32:55 80 Days 71-80 71. 1:34:29 Her Story 72. 1:35:55 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 73. 1:37:37 Undertale 74. 1:39:03 Downwell 75. 1:40:08 Yakuza 0 76. 1:41:34 Kerbal Space Program 77. 1:42:35 Super Mario Maker 78. 1:43:34 Doom (2016) 79. 1:44:48 Factorio 80. 1:45:45 Persona 5 81-90 81. 1:47:00 Hitman (2016) 82. 1:48:37 Overcooked 83. 1:49:53 Furi 84. 1:50:58 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 85. 1:52:32 Fortnite 86. 1:53:38 Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy 87. 1:54:53 Middle Earth: Shadow of War 88. 1:56:19 Among Us 89. 1:57:22 Celeste 90. 1:58:49 Rimworld 91-100 91. 1:59:42 Florence 92. 2:00:55 Into the Breach 93. 2:01:59 Slay the Spire 94. 2:03:07 Disco Elysium 95. 2:04:30 Outer Wilds 96. 2:05:41 Half-Life: Alyx 97. 2:06:58 Inscryption 98. 2:07:55 Vampire Survivors 99. 2:09:07 Tunic 100. 2:10:09 Shadows of Doubt [Edit] I made this during the livestream and then rewatched a second time to get exact timestamps... Which means I TOTALLY missed the comment that there would be a link to the list later on lol. Oh well, at least I gave the video 2 full views for the UA-cam algorithm gods, gotta build that retention or whatever the lingo is. As for my own personal opinion of this list... I like it! Each game presented had enough of a purpose to keep me from thinking it wasn't necessary. I love making and sorting game lists in general and believe there is a lot you can tell by a person who shows their favorite/influential games like this. Keep up the good work!
I like how you say where you can play each game. I think people can explain gameplay and design pretty thoroughly with words but there’s always something you’ll miss if you don’t play the game yourself. Sometimes things just work and the way that game works might be dependent on your perspective and sensitivities.
The fact that Doom's source code is also public domain is worth mentioning, I think. Even with its age, it still has lots of techniques about efficient and simple programming that has been neglected by us younger generations of programmers.
@@digital_hoboz Some, but not all, and while computers are much faster than they used to be, I would still prefer not to use that as an excuse to not care about the efficiency of a solution. The more efficient your code, the more machines it can run on, after all.
@@Parker8752 the reason I mentioned that was because I saw someone trying to use fast inverse square root algorithm im this day and age. Today cpus have dedicated instructions for that which is going to be faster than any algorithm.
@@digital_hoboz 1. Learning how to profile with minimal overhead cancels any specific advice of which old techniques are outdated. 2. Most software is orders of magnitude away from micro-optimizations moving their needle anyway. 3. Doom is a gold mine, and saying there's also dirt in it kinda goes without saying, but be careful not discouraging people from learning. Better solutions are rare and typically require expertise beyond understanding its techniques anyway - and people have to start somewhere.
You asked for it: Games you missed. - World Of Warcraft - R&C/J&D/Sky/Spyro - Command and Conquer/SC/WC3 - Qbert - Rayman - Pong (pong? Did you mention pong?) - Dance Dance Revolution/ Just Dance - Dota/Leauge/Smite - Neopets/Club Penguin - Tamagotchis - Jackbox series - Clash of Clans - Froggyjump/doodle jump/ temple run I’m only partially kidding. Amazing list, loved the video! Will be rewatching again to go over a lot of these important topics!
It's a small note on such a colossal video with so much to say, but I loved the choice to start playing the soundtrack of the game for each entry before naming it. It almost added a layer of interactivity to watching, to be able to recognise what was coming before it's announced. It gave me a very satisfying feeling to know "ooh Mark is going to talk about Undertale", or Disco Elysium, or Outer Wilds, before you did so.
Mark, I just wanna commend you on your wonderful editing. Not only is your script writing super thoughtful, engaging, and funny, but the fact that you could keep it that way for a full two hours is just a testament to your skills. The details -- like at 34:40 where you say "in the blink of an eye" and show a clip of the game where you're giving a man eyedrops -- are so subtle, but really appreciated. I just love hearing you talk and explain, and you're pretty damn good at it!
Hey Mark, just wanted to extend a massive thank you. I've been involved in the software world for a long time, but mostly fintech and business software. I recently got into business with a game design group and your videos have really helped me speak their language and connect with them more, so it means a lot that you put these videos out on the regular. Keep doing your thing, and sharing your journey with us -- but also be sure to take breaks since I've come to learn how much more taxing game dev work comparatively to other verticals.
1:54:54 Shadow of War had a good mechanic you don't see elsewhere because they patented it and nobody can use it until 2035, like the direction arrow in racing games in the 90s was similarly patented.
It's not not in games because it's parented it's not in games because it's a complex system. They have a patent on the specific way they made the nemesis system not on the idea, the idea is present in games like AC Odyssey, Watchdogs Legion, Warframe. None are as developed because no one wants to put that much investment in the system so they just end up with a good emo result. But a studio can put the effort in if they want
@@Naryoril If you play again, I'd highly recommend "Brutal" difficulty. On this difficulty, you do more damage, but will die in two or three hits, making it far easier to build those relationships with Orcs. I had the same experience as you when playing on Normal or Hard, so would definitely recommend Brutal.
@@researcher2993unless someone isn’t familiar with metroid or castlevania… I never played Rogue but 😂Ops comment remidned me where it came from… since I heard the term was based of an actual game. I had forgotten.
@@adityaanuragi6916 During lunch today. Took 5 sittings in total between working and parenting, but DONE! I think toward the end Mark had a harder time boiling the unique designs into terminologies, but I hardly disagree with anything on his list.
Thomas was Alone was probably the first indie game I've ever played and it is such a masterclass in how mechanics can affect how players empathise with the characters, objectively every character is just a square that jumps in slightly different ways, but the way the narrator (Shaun from Assassin's Creed) voices the characters plus how they move allows the players to be so emotionally attached to these little squares that the players feels everything from true joy to heart breaking sadness. I love this game and it's soundtrack is one of my favourites!
I feel like Before your Eyes is "one that you forgot" mostly because of how it pushes the boundaries of game controls, and in a way that matches the story ("blink and you miss it") instead of just being a really cool and original gimmick.
I've been watching your stuff for so many years, and as an apsiring game designer that has, quite recently, finally picked up the torch and began my journey, this series has helped me immensely. whether it be in alterring my outlook on concepts or igniting severe inspiration, GMTK has been a major highlight of my life it's so cool to be here at such a major milestone. there's certainly other youtubers who talk about game design all day, but few hold up a torch compared to the kinds of insights you offer this channel is special
Surprised to not see Shovel Knight on this list! It feels like one of those modern classics that exemplified whats great about retro platformers while teaching players about mechanics and in-game tools in a very smooth way.
Totally would love another video with another 100 games, as there are still many more that deserve to be mentioned but this was a great list. Games are truly wonderful.
As a player for over 40 years and a video game journalist for over 20 years, I have to say: This is an excellent list! It was just a joy to experience your fast time journey from the 1970s till today. I knew/played nearly every one of it, expect of September 12th (I am shocked that I never was aware of this one) and Spaceteam (never was very informed about iOS/Android based games, but this one I will definitely check out). Just want to add two games, which are/were in my opinion revolutionary at their times, get often overlooked in these kind of lists and would fit perfectly your criterias: Ultima Underworld, because it was the first game which truly mixed nearly every "basic genre". You had to fight like in an action game, jump like in a plattformer, talk with NPCs like in an adventure, solve puzzles like in a puzzle game and all this in a simulation of a eight-level-deep dungeon, including simple but working physics (so that a small stone would roll down a ramp). And every element was put together in a truly logic way, so everything worked pefectly together and nothing seemed "tacked on" or even "out of place". Braid, because it has the most varied puzzle/level design I have ever seen in a game. Nearly every puzzle is unique on its own and it was a blast to play all of them again in the recently published Anniversary Edition. And as a bonus, you had a truly... uhm... "bold" ending.
Of all (100) games that you could have chosen for the thumbnail I am beyond ecstatic that TUNIC got the spot. The *definition* of an indie masterpiece in my book
@@Bergbeklimmer2421you gotta play it friend. Just be prepared to feel very, very smart for like 50 levels then feel very, very stupid for every other level. And that isn't necessarily in order.
@@lpnp9477 I've played it, but I don't remember the level selection screen turning into levels itself... Maybe I'm just not far enough and this was a spoiler 🥲
Others mentioned The Witness, I'll add Braid. While you listed Prince of Persia for weaving the time rewind into the narrative, gameplay wise like you said it's essentially a quick save/ quick load. Braid explores time rewind as a game mechanic building interesting puzzles around it. And along with The Witness it shows how a game can explore a mechanic approaching it from many angles. In my mind this is very Jonathan Blow at this point, and he is doing the same in his newest reimagining of Sokoban, while the original game focused on the simplest form of pushing things, The Witness' designer explores pushing, stacking, teleports, etc, while the game still feels like being ultimately about pushing blocks around.
Braid offers a specific experimental mechanic, so it’s more noteworthy as a unique game. Prince uses this mechanic in a more generalizable sense, so it’s perhaps more useful as a case study.
The choice of Skate: A completely different take on skating from Tony Hawk, is why either NBA Jam, or NFL Blitz, would be on my list. I badly wish sports game had taken the exaggerated path instead of where they mostly are now
I like how the Souls mechanic in Dark Souls is kinda a red herring once you understand the game. What I mean is, it feels like losing a bunch of souls is a big hit, but with how leveling up get's exponentionally more expensive, those souls you lost are not really a big deal. Once you realize this, it's not the souls that become valuable, it's how you spend your limited level ups. At least that is how I came to look at it. I went from caring a lot about losing souls, to caring a lot about how I level up knowing that more souls are infinitely available.
I think the real consideration there is that if you're grinding souls for a level up or an item, the process doesn't end once you have all those souls, you still have to safely return to a bonfire with them.
Yeah once you've played the games for a while you realize the curve is designed such that it's usually not TOO hard to make up your losses, though big drops can happen. The game doesn't stop being hard but you feel less like you're being punished for making mistakes. (And this softens the blow a little those times you fall for a design trap.)
It also helps that many of your level ups mostly come from the bosses you face. Plus as you get better, you more often reach your unfortunate deaths and only really lose souls when you try to run for them, making mistakes.
People (and Mark here) focus on the loss of souls, but the unique part about is games is what you *don't* lose. In most games, if you die, you lose all the progress since the last save point. In Souls games, you don't loss items you find, major bosses you killed, or map changes. You unlock a shortcut? It stays unlocked. You ran through a room of enemies to get an item? You still have that item.
Great video! I feel like this was an even better list than a "best games of all time" list. Which I feel sometimes doesn't properly convey what games people might recommend to others. This feels like a list of games that you'd ACTUALLY use to suggest games to someone who's unfamiliar with a given concept or genre, because these games are truly masters at what they do. Also, from the 61-70 timestamp onward, the timestamps all start marking games with a 0 (instead of a 1) in the 1's place. (Eg. 61-70 --is--> 60-69, 71-80 --is--> 70-79)
Hey Mark, just popping in to say thanks for 10 years of cracking good content. Not only is the content fantastic, but the editing and presentation of your videos is top notch too. Looking forward to the 20th anniversary.
What a great idea for a video! I'm loving slowly working my way through it. Though it really shines a spotlight on the dire state of video game preservation that some of the most important titles in the medium just aren't available today. With that, a gentle reminder that, as long as you own a physical copy of a game, emulation is a perfectly legal and viable way to play classic titles. And I'd be remiss if I didn't champion Good Old Games here, which sells many of these games on PC without any DRM, which is a major win for both legitimate game ownership and preservation. I'd love more UA-camrs to mention this storefront as well, not only Steam.
I watched the WHOLE THING good lord how did you have the energy to record and edit this I'm surprised there's no Obra Dinn on this list! I guess both big Lucas Pope games would be weird.
The amount of work that had to go into this video - creating and narrowing the list, explaining how each game offered unique lessons in game making (often building upon past entries), writing and editing, let alone the time that went into playing all of these games and many more - is seriously impressive. Very well done. Congrats on 10 years! I'd love to see another 100 games list, perhaps celebrate the next 10 years 😀
Street Fighter 2 was also massively influential. Not only did it create the combo system due to a bug that was found during the development of the game, but it also allowed the player to pick from eight different colourful characters from different countries with vastly varying playstyles. So each time you put a quarter into the arcade machine, your playthrough of the ladder or a fight against someone else would feel very different depending on the character you chose. You chose Ryu? Your experience will most likely involve standing far away and throwing fireballs. You chose Zangief? Your experience will be to slowly approach the opponent until you're in range to land a devastating SPD. It was truly a hallmark in video game design, especially during the arcade era, and thanks to it an entire genre spawned and even games from other genres took heavy inspiration from it.
Great video! Some of my favorites that aren't on the list: - Nier: Automata - similar to Inscryption (but earlier), fascinating transitions between different game types, and incremental story reveal. Also taking the role of different actors to uncover the plot - Planescape: Torment (I feel like this may have been a big inspiration for Disco Elysium - writing that is on another level - utterly fascinating) - 4X mechanics - Stellaris, X3: Foundations (certainly less influential, but for me X3 is more rewarding than Minecraft in terms of sandbox depth) - The Witcher 3 - though I guess it perhaps just took existing principles and synthesized them in a particularly engaging way - Stardew Valley - though I guess this may not have done much new compared to Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon - just personally more engaging - Dungeon crawl games - I haven't played many of the older ones (Eye of the Beholder etc.), but Legend of Grimrock is great - engaging with secrets everywhere - Baldur's Gate 1/2 - not sure what I'd single out in terms of design, though - maybe fully custom parties to really give players choice, and like Mass Effect, engaging stories that go beyond a single title (those Pantaloons). These games are really nostalgic for me, and they have had a huge influence on the CRPG genre. - Dungeon Keeper 2 - not sure what I'd single out in terms of game design, but such an iconic game - This War of Mine - similar reason to Telltale games
Wanted to take the time to say thank you for all the content over the years, Mark! I've been working in games for almost 20 years and since finding the channel years back, I've learned a lot from following along and have recommended GMTK to just about every co-workers I have had. I consider GMTK to be foundational to my growth as a dev, so thank you sir!
you are such a hero Mark. You made me love games so much more, even when i dont play them. You've also helped me get through hard times. Your videos are like hanging out with a super smart and engaging friend who loves sharing his deep unique insights. Thank you man.
Just wanted to point out in the Mario Maker segment, ANY game with level/gamemode makers are amazing for getting into game design. My two go-tos when I was little was Starcraft's Scenario Editor, and Timesplitters Future Perfect's Level Maker. Both allowed you full access to the the games's entire asset library and then some, and you could add triggers, story beats, NPCs ans AI, and so much more. Starcraft's even allowed you to add dialouge with the main characters. It was awesome.
Blizzard's map editors are easily the best map editors I've ever used. StarCraft 2's campaign and level design philosophy in particular would make me easily put Wings of Liberty into my own list of 100 game design games. The fact the maps have data that can be brought between them and influence how you approach it as a whole, making your playthrough wholely unique from someone else's to benefit your strengths and strategies and your story of pushing through All In is just incredible. But the data editor in StarCraft 2 still makes me outright wish I could code the units myself half the time. XML is terrible. Actor data is terrible. The fact that all the Zerg stuff breaks if you so much as look at it is terrible. XD
LittleBigPlanet was _the_ level-making game for me as a kid. They even doubled down on the idea in the sequel, with the tagline "a platform _for_ games". And while 90% of it was crud (as the old saying goes), there was plenty of actually really good content out there just waiting to be played... It's a shame the series got its servers killed, but fans have already got replacement servers up and running, so Sackboy ain't dying anytime soon!
As a kid I played a lot of Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set and another EA release for computers, Adventure Construction Set which let you make RPGs.
Played allot of one of the online map types in War Craft 3 where you play around with some version of the level editor as a sort of dungeon master of your own domain with the other players.
It took me some time but I finally had time to watch the entire video in one sitting without interruptions. Definitely worth it. Awesome job as always!
My favorite thing about the automation genre (Factorio, Satisfactory, etc.) is that almost every new game tries to embed the core loop into a different other genre. Factorio blends with base defense, encouraging you to claim, defend, and expand what you have, rather than trying to branch out and make a dozen new outposts in its procedurally generated world. Satisfactory blends with open world adventure games, encouraging you to explore its hand-crafted world to find new goodies that can power up your machines, unlock more efficient recipes, and discover spots rich with new resources for smaller factories and outposts. Until its most recent update, Dyson Sphere Program decided not to blend with another genre, instead asking what a pure automation game could look like on a galactic scale. I love seeing so much variety in this relatively new genre, rather than the dozens of copycats other popular games get.
A great list with great explanations, and wonderfully focused on highlighting different aspects of game design. If I could add just one game to the list it would probably be The Witness (2016) which I was genuinely surprised not to see. The best example I can imagine of a game that carefully uses environment as a means to teach players mechanics, while always making players feel like they are piecing it together themselves. Maybe excluded in favor of other puzzle games that incorporate singular elements that The Witness puts together.
I was hoping you would mention rainworld either for it’s procedural animation or it’s ability for you to truly feel like just a part of a living ecosystem. I take a lot of inspiration from it because I haven’t felt anything like it. I’d also like to mention its ability to make you feel the passage of time through the dlc. It’s very cool.
Can we please just acknowledge that Rogue did NOT create a permadeath system? It just didn't have a save system. We can talk about how cool it is that people saw that limitation and decided to lean into it to create an entire genre of videogames, but the ONLY thing Rogue itself added to the discussion was the randomisation of the dungeon.
I still love how I saw a let's play of Gone Home, where they didn't know what game to expect and somehow felt it was a horror game and they were scouring through the house, checking every corner carefully, expecting a monster or some dark history behind everything and then it just turns out to be a very comfy story
That was exactly how I played it, and I think that's exactly how they intended it to be initially perceived. I 100% made sure to turn on every light I could find when I was going through the house.
From what I remember, there's at least one horror misdirect in there (I'm thinking of the bathtub). It doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to assume that it's a horror game.
Thanks for this! In puzzle games, I would add The Witness for how you take a "simple" mecanic and use it to change how you see the world (like litteraly)
Unique games worthy of mention imho: - *Mount & Blade's directional parry* (and attack) - Vampire the Masquerade Bloodline's & Fallout's blend of dark atmosphere plus humor - Total War's massive scale battles with deep mechanics - Kingdom Come Deliverance's immersion - Counter-strike's simple yet great gameplay
this channel has inspirerd me more then anything else and showed me what games are capable of. becuase of you and this channel i decided to go to collage in game design and i couldnt be happier with where i am. while i wasnt here for all the first 10 years i cant wait to be here for all of the next.
Even if you ignore the whole ethics of piracy debate and there is a way to pay for it, piracy is just copyright infringement, not stealing. Stealing is subtraction whilst piracy is multiplication.
Great video! Some games id have added personally: Majora's Mask - Work time constraint into a perfect immersive timeloop mechanic. Shin megami Tensei - Its demon fusion, demon conversation and press turn system. On top of being the first monster collecting game. Pikmin - Responsive and reactive rts and time management. Rollercoaster tycoon - Highly in depth tycoon game on top of being one of the most impressive developed games on a technical standpoint.
Happy 10 years! This was a great video, and I loved to see all the positivity and things to learn from each game! The only game that I kept expecting but didn’t see was Transistor. There’s so many amazing and unique mechanics in the game to choose from, but after watching the video, the one I use is its death mechanic where you temporarily lose an ability when you die.
You simply must play Sayonara Wild Hearts and Citizen Sleeper. Would also have liked to see a general shout out to fighting games and jrpgs. Awesome list and cool way to celebrate
One game that Cookie Clicker and other "games as commentary" games have taken heavily from is an old gem called Progress Quest. It was a game that literally played itself with no real player interaction. It just generated random names of monsters and gear and then turned them into progress bars that would fill up until you leveled up, gaining randomly generated stats and, of course, numbers going up. This was both commentary on games as an endless level grind and also the idea that players would do whatever they could to circumvent actually playing the games in order to get the rewards, such as running bots.
This is an incredibly cool list, and it's really cool to see the absolute variety this wonderful art form holds. I run a competition called "Norway's Best Gamer" where we test the contestants abilities to play a lot of different games across genres and platforms. Whereas other gaming competitions usually have people compete in a single game they've dedicated large parts of their lives to, we test it all. Game sense, adaptability, eagerness to try something new. It's a celebration of gaming first and foremost, and I am so chuffed to see how many games on this list are games we've featured in the competition! Thank you so much, Mark, for such a beautiful list. You've reshuffled the priorities in my backlog a ton, and I really appreciate all the effort that went into this!
@@matthewjones6786 Yeah, absolutely. Though it's only in Norwegian, considering it's Norway's Best Gamer. We're working on getting the VODS out for the finals this year. Our tie breaker was Nidhogg, and it was suuuuch a close race!
One game that's left an impression on me even three decades later is one I rarely see anyone reference. The game is Legend by Mindscape, a game I played back in the early 90's. The game itself is a very competent early iteration of the ARPG which felt like you were playing HeroQuest in realtime, but the unique mechanic it had was the spell crafting. You could combine runes in almost any way you saw fit to create programmable spells. Want a spell that shoots a healing blast at a friend and then surrounds them with fireballs which in turn shoot out more fireballs when they hit their target? The ultimate "get out of trouble" spell? You can do that. Moreover, these runes would also make up part of the environment in some dungeons, meaning you could craft spells to interact with the scenery to create interesting puzzles. A rune switch is behind a wall? Create a spell that rebounds to hit the switch. Switches that extinguish fire or light torches etc. It was such a novel concept that I've never really seen fully explored in any game since - sure many games let you craft potions and spells, but none of them so customisable and so integral to the puzzle aspects of the dungeons.
I 100% agree. Mediocre and middling games are where you really learn stuff. Because you spot the flaws. And when when you try to figure out how it could be better, you start realising “oh so that’s why game X did Y - but wait if this game did Y, they’d have problem A, oh wait game X also did Z which at first seemed unrelated to Y *but it solves problem A*”.
It doesn't have to be bad. I've recently been playing Blades of Time and as fun as it is it has so many obvious game design problems that it been such a learning experience of what to and what not to do
Not the approach to take. Games made because "I could have done it better" are rarely any good, especially since most people drastically overestimate their skill in this regard. Bad games can definitely teach good design though.
I still remember my father looking at Pokemon Blue with wonder, amazed at the world inside that cartridge. At the time, that was amazing. And it still is, if you know how little hardware power they had to work with.
For number 57, I'm not sure why Mark decided to go with Virtue's Last Reward and not 999, IMHO it is absolutely essential you start with 999 and go into VLR after you've completed it, it's basically a direct sequel and you WILL be very lost if you just jump straight into VLR. 999 is a fantastic game so don't think you'll be playing the worse one first, in fact I think a lot of things in 999 are better than VLR, but the sequel definitely has its strengths. If you can only pick one, make it 999.
VLR did a way better in terms of game design. 999 feels really outdated when you compare it to VLR. I much more recommend VLR, it spends way less time faffing about with talking and time wasting. Obviously story-wise 999 is a better starting point, but VLR I think is a way better example of how good the series is, because it's just a better game. Regardless of your opinion on the story or how lost you'll be jumping into VLR (you won't be lost at all BTW, 999s plot barely shows up in VLR, only like once that's important), it improved upon the game design principles and that's what this video is about. 999 isn't as user friendly as VLR is
From a narrative perspective I definitely agree with this take, but I can see the argument for going for VLR first if your first priority is to study game design. 999 was the one to feature the "info carrying over from branching paths" hook, but this really only actually clicks near the final third or so of the game. VLR in contrast has you navigating locks and jumping way more frequently, so it definitely communicates what makes it unique far more quickly. If you're reading this, definitely play the games in order (in particular, try to play the DS version of 999 first over the Nonary Games port), but if you only have a small time to kill with one of the games, VLR will probably have the more gripping second act and impress on you the series defining feature more effectively.
I think it's kind of a non-issue, as you can only legally get VLR bundled with 999 in the Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, unless you for some reason want to shell out for a physical 3DS/Vita copy of VLR, which tends to go for just about the same as The Nonary Games on digital platforms.
I think Mark went with VLR specifically because of the flow chart. I am mean literally because VLR HAS a flow chart. Originally 999 didn't allow you to select specific starting points after you finished your first play through, you had to button mash through all the scenario texts again and repeat every puzzle and pray you remembered what branch you needed to manipulate for a different route. I think the ports ended up fixing that problem, but it was originally fixed as the major QOL change in VLR's design. From a design standpoint, VLR is the game where the designers learned something and implemented a major change that showed how much they had learned from the first game, hence VLR being the right one for this list even though I would agree, after the ports fixing that problem, 999 is the most well-rounded game of the series.
Still prefer 999, while I did play through Nonary Games version of 999 (loved the VAs to not read it anymore), going straight to VLR was tiring. 😂 While I do like the flow chart, I prefer to not look at it to spoil how much I have to sift through. :/
Excellent list! One game I'd add (which you briefly showed at the very end) is Final Fantasy VII, simply for the opening mission. It introduces every system the game will use (aside from party member switching), starts almost all the major plot threads, establishes the main characters, and has incredible pacing, all set behind one of the best soundtracks in video games. That vertical slice of the game is unmatched to this day, IMO. That is how you open a game.
Everything may seem rosy, but did you know that old or discontinued games can be downloaded or emulated? No one loses money because they are no longer for sale.
Talking about doing illegal things is always a dicey business if you are hoping to be a respectable influencer/theoretician. Even if he is in favor of it, best to let mostly anonymous comments pick up the slack.
@@jameshart2622 But he went as far as "looking for physical copy of the games". As there was no other option. Like, he could just say something like "I'll share the official places where you can find the games" or something like that, but the way he spoke, was like emulation did not exist
In my mind, you took the wrong lesson from the wrong X-COM game. UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense has a huge lesson to give if you then play XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Note the smushing together of the predecessors' names? Yeah, fine tribute). Because the original UFO/X-COM games had something that I felt sorely disappointed by being missing in the Firaxis reimagining. That is, Aliens, both in the geoscape and in missions, actually have their own goals and try to go about them independent of what you as a player do. They move and act for their own objectives, not landing in pods as you come close to certain points in the map. This made the earlier games in a way feel more alive and fleshed out despite being technically inferior in pretty much every other way.
I never thought I would watch a 2-hour long video three times in a row. Thanks Mark for the amazing content of always. That's why my university recommends your content for game-related content.
Loved the 26th game choice (for obvious messege) But you should've mentioned the great game "Slice & Dice" when talking about "Slay the Spire" and "Into the Breach"
Really great list! Happy to see so many great games listed. I'm a little surprised you didn't mention about Dark Souls' message and bloodstain feature allowing players to hint, help, and deceive each other. I think it's just as unique as the drop your souls where you die mechanic. One note, COD 4 was made by Infinity Ward, not Treyarch
That aspect is not often talked about, but that is actually what felt most *unique* to me when I played Dark Souls: the novel approach to multiplayer interaction via soapstone messages, invasions, and bloodstains.
Thank you so much for mentioning the importance of playing board, card, and tabletop games! Too many folks only think of gaming as it pertains to video games where there is so much to be gained from playing games of all kinds! Great video! Keep up the good work! Congratulations on 10 years and here's to many more!!
I had lots of fun trying to place the music in the background before you name-dropped each game. This is a fascinating deep dive, and I'm sure it took lots of work. Thanks for sharing with us.
Maybe it's a generational thing but I'm really supprised that you didn't include any of the Halo Series on this list. Halo was a massive zeitgeist from 2001 - 2011, Halo's major innovation was creating the current standard layout (And the better one bumper jumper IkYk) for console first person shooters. I think they also did something interesting with the campaigns of the games told a good story with the main series, but Halo Reach Stands out as the GOAT standard to first person shooter campaign stories. But yeah just really surprised.
Great history lesson! I've been collecting authentic games with original and revolutionary gameplay mechanics my whole life, and there are a lot of brilliant gems that haven't made your list. Still an amazing video though, good work!
For such a fantastically insightful video on game design from one of the leading experts on the topic, it's a shame that Sound/Music Design was mentioned literally only one time in the entire 2-hour long video (referencing Silent Hill 2's "rooms that have scary noises, but no actual monsters"), not counting the side comments on Dead Space and Rez. I'd love to see Mark's take on Sound Design, but I don't know how much he consciously thinks about it considering its relative absence among his content. Great video, definitely added a few to my to-play list!
Oh, my God, yes. I got to that part of the video and was like “Wonder if the original is on any of my consoles?” I played it on PC but am generally not a PC gamer, and the sequel was basically riddled with free-to-play cancer.
Hey! This is not what I normally do on GMTK, but to celebrate the 10th year of doing this channel I thought it would be fun to do something a bit different. I'm now working on Mind Over Magnet with the aim of releasing the game before the year is out - so expect more Developing updates throughout 2024!
looking forward!
This video is so great... So surprised you didn't feel the impulse to throw in Obra Dinn with how fond you are of it (but I guess Her Story takes that spot)
5 minutes in and I think this is already my favourite GMTK video so far!
I'm surprised you didn't put Mind Over Magnet as at least an honorable mention since it's kinda teaching you about game design through making it. Though I suppose it was at least shown in passing...
Such a wonderful video and a myriad of interesting ideas!
I love the lengths Mark goes to in order to not say “they’re not selling it anymore, so just pirate it.”
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Piracy, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Li
@@BradenBest gotta have all them distros
True
If buying isn't owning then piracy isn't stealing.
Buy the games you like!
Support the game studios so that they can make more great games.
Great subtitles/closed captions support, as always. Your channel pretty much sets a standard with your constant great quality of CC. I have the deepest appreciation for this. Thank you.
Not a problem - every UA-camr making scripted content should do it!
@@GMTK i cannot agree more to this. i must also applaud you for thoroughly subtitling a two hour video - that must have been an undertaking
@@horrorspirit they already have the script written
@@GMTK I know I'm speaking to the master on this subject but I'll say it anyway. I'm hard of hearing and if it weren't for the CC I literally wouldn't be able to watch the video! It's very appreciated.
This.
2:41 - Space Invaders
3:48 - Pac-Man
5:10 - Rogue
6:27 - Super Mario Bros.
7:46 - The Legend Of Zelda
8:56 - Mega Man
9:53 - Tetris
11:18 - Doom
12:32 - Super Metroid
14:00 - Pokemon Blue
15:28 - Tomb Raider
16:37 - Resident Evil
18:00 - Half-Life
19:13 - Thief: The Dark Project
20:34 - Crazy Taxi
21:55 - Deus Ex
23:05 - Diablo II
24:45 - The Sims
25:47 - Grand Theft Auto III
27:37 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
29:06 - Ico
30:23 - Rez
31:19 - Silent Hill 2
33:03 - Animal Crossing
34:20 - Warioware, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
35:36 - September 12th: A Toy World
36:32 - Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
37:37 - Katamari Damacy
38:47 - Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
39:50 - Resident Evil 4
41:46 - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
43:08 - Dead Rising
44:27 - Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
45:59 - Portal
47:32 - Mass Effect
49:03 - Skate
50:23 - Team Fortress 2
51:14 - Bioshock
53:00 - Burnout Paradise
54:05 - Far Cry 2
55:28 - Left 4 Dead
57:25 - Spelunky
58:50 - Dead Space
59:46 - Batman: Arkham Asylum
1:00:52 - Plants Vs. Zombies
1:02:41 - Fruit Ninja
1:03:28 - Amnesia: The Dark Descent
1:04:19 - Fallout: New Vegas
1:05:10 - Sid Meier's Civilization V
1:06:44 - Dark Souls
1:08:08 - Minecraft
1:09:20 - Spacechem
1:10:26 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
1:11:28 - Journey
1:12:53 - Mark Of The Ninja
1:14:39 - The Walking Dead
1:16:00 - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
1:17:17 - Xcom: Enemy Unknown
1:18:46 - Spec Ops: The Line
1:20:11 - Spaceteam
1:20:57 - Dishonored
1:22:20 - The Stanley Parable
1:23:23 - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
1:25:33 - Cookie Clicker
1:26:17 - Gone Home
1:27:37 - Papers, Please
1:28:50 - Steamworld Dig
1:30:29 - Alien: Isolation
1:31:39 - Mario Kart 8
1:33:29 - 80 Days
1:34:31 - Her Story
1:36:15 - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
1:37:55 - Undertale
1:39:05 - Downwell
1:40:19 - Yakuza 0
1:41:40 - Kerbal Space Program
1:42:55 - Super Mario Maker
1:43:47 - Doom (2016)
1:44:51 - Factorio
1:45:47 - Persona 5
1:47:02 - Hitman (2016)
1:48:39 - Overcooked!
1:49:54 - Furi
1:51:19 - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
1:52:34 - Fortnite
1:53:57 - Getting Over It With Bennet Foddy
1:54:54 - Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War
1:56:21 - Among Us
1:57:23 - Celeste
1:58:51 - Rimworld
1:59:43 - Florence
2:01:15 - Into The Breach
2:02:01 - Slay The Spire
2:03:25 - Disco Elysium
2:04:44 - Outer Wilds
2:06:08 - Half-Life: Alyx
2:07:00 - Inscryption
2:08:18 - Vampire Survivors
2:09:08 - Tunic
2:10:21 - Shadows Of Doubt
you dropped this, king
You the real MVP. 💪
Thank you
Thanks a lot. ❤
Bravo.
This is a phenomenal journey through the history of games. As a 43 year old that has played games my whole life, this is a wonderful homage to my favorite hobby.
This kinda feels like some sort of endorsement for gaming as a whole. The way you explain everything so succinctly makes this video feel like a celebration of video games and their design, which I really love
EXACTLY! I got really teary-eyed at multiple occasions.
Just really philosophical and poetic how we're random beings on a Blue Marble and thru years of history we achieved computers and this one thing known as Video-games and how much of a significant impact they have on us.
@@prodbreezewe trapped lighting in a rock and tricked it into doing math problems, and now we can create entire living fantasy worlds of art
I kind of love the fact that you recommend the Sims 3 instead of the latest Sims 4.
Ive noticed people say this about the Sims 4, is there a major reason?
@@mckinneym.2743 ignoring the fact sims 3 has 400$ in dlc and sims 4 has 900$ in dlc (neither are reasonable), the sims 3 has better gameplay in pretty much every aspect except graphics. Sims 4, even WITH the dlc (pirate it), is really disjointed, and most of it is not really designed to be used at the same time. It has a lot of hot air in place of content but they sell it for such absurd prices. Full disclaimer, I still play 4 over 3 because I like the newer graphics but sims 3 is the og
@@voltingshock6406 I mean, the sims 3 brakes if you try and launch it with all the dlc without using a custom launcher so.......
sims 2 was peak tho (imo)
@@partylikeits1066Agreed, I love Sims 2
I'm glad it's such a nice round number in base 10. Imagine if you had been taught game design after only 97 games or something.
It would at least be a nice round number in base 97!
@@AdeonWriterBase 9.61927597E+151?
Assuming the first ten digits in base 97 were our numbers 0 - 9, then the number 97_10 (i.e. 97 in base 10) would be equivalent to 10_97!
Funny how that always seems to work out for youtubers
@@AdeonWriter unexpected factorial
I love at the very end when you say "go play jam games, experimental games, serious games..." and the "serious" game you show on screen is...Serious Sam.
I'm studying game design to make my own game, and this video happened to be very useful. Nothing like learning from the past!
This is truly the Dark Souls of GMTK videos
This video makes you truly FEEL like Mark Brown
Really it’s like Halo 2 meets Halo 3
@@kmikko8496 Imagine if a game like that was released on may 9th
Now let's wait for someone to make a 10h video essay on this video.
This comment is just full of the exaggerated swagger of a Cuphead player.
As someone who has followed GMTK for years now, this videos feels as if it represents a milestone. A showcase of all of your inspirations and resources from the medium. Really appreciate your work, take it easy for the next vid.
Game list with timestamps (I've only played 68 of these 100, not bad considering the diversity!):
1-10:
01. 0:02:39 Space Invaders
02. 0:03:47 Pac-Man
03. 0:04:53 Rogue
04. 0:06:05 Super Mario Bros
05. 0:07:28 The Legend of Zelda
06. 0:08:38 Mega Man
07. 0:09:52 Tetris
08. 0:11:12 Doom
09. 0:12:24 Super Metroid
10. 0:13:48 Pokemon: Blue Version
11-20:
11. 0:15:18 Tomb Raider
12. 0:16:33 Resident Evil
13. 0:17:59 Half-Life
14. 0:19:11 Thief: The Dark Project
15. 0:20:10 Crazy Taxi
16. 0:21:23 Deus Ex
17. 0:22:56 Diablo II
18. 0:24:30 The Sims
19. 0:25:44 Grand Theft Auto III
20. 0:27:09 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
21-30:
21. 0:28:33 Ico
22. 0:30:03 Rez
23. 0:31:04 Silent Hill 2
24. 0:32:45 Animal Crossing
25. 0:34:11 Warioware Inc.: Mega Micro Games!
26. 0:35:19 September 12th: A Toy World
27. 0:36:18 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
28. 0:37:33 Katamari Damacy
29. 0:38:30 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
30. 0:39:45 Resident Evil 4
31-40
31. 0:41:15 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
32. 0:42:59 Dead Rising
33. 0:44:23 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
34. 0:45:58 Portal
35. 0:47:29 Mass Effect
36. 0:48:53 Skate
37. 0:50:10 Team Fortress 2
38. 0:51:10 Bioshock
39. 0:52:37 Burnout Paradise
40. 0:54:03 Far Cry 2
41-50
41. 0:55:26 Left 4 Dead
42. 0:57:01 Spelunky
43. 0:58:39 Dead Space
44. 0:59:35 Batman: Arkham Asylum
45. 1:00:37 Plants Vs. Zombies
46. 1:02:06 Fruit Ninja
47. 1:03:14 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
48. 1:04:15 Fallout: New Vegas
49. 1:05:08 Sid Meier's Civilization V
50. 1:06:40 Dark Souls
51-60
51. 1:08:06 Minecraft
52. 1:09:19 Spacehem
53. 1:10:24 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
54. 1:11:27 Journey
55. 1:12:49 Mark of the Ninja
56. 1:14:15 The Walking Dead
57. 1:15:58 Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
58. 1:17:13 Xcom: Enemy Unknown
59. 1:18:44 Spec Ops: The Line
60. 1:19:54 Spaceteam
61-70
61. 1:20:54 Dishonored
62. 1:22:12 The Stanley Parable
63. 1:23:20 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
64. 1:24:38 Cookie Clicker
65. 1:26:14 Gone Home
66. 1:27:35 Papers, Please
67. 1:28:46 Steamworld Dig
68. 1:30:14 Alien: Isolation
69. 1:31:36 Mario Kart 8
70. 1:32:55 80 Days
71-80
71. 1:34:29 Her Story
72. 1:35:55 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
73. 1:37:37 Undertale
74. 1:39:03 Downwell
75. 1:40:08 Yakuza 0
76. 1:41:34 Kerbal Space Program
77. 1:42:35 Super Mario Maker
78. 1:43:34 Doom (2016)
79. 1:44:48 Factorio
80. 1:45:45 Persona 5
81-90
81. 1:47:00 Hitman (2016)
82. 1:48:37 Overcooked
83. 1:49:53 Furi
84. 1:50:58 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
85. 1:52:32 Fortnite
86. 1:53:38 Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy
87. 1:54:53 Middle Earth: Shadow of War
88. 1:56:19 Among Us
89. 1:57:22 Celeste
90. 1:58:49 Rimworld
91-100
91. 1:59:42 Florence
92. 2:00:55 Into the Breach
93. 2:01:59 Slay the Spire
94. 2:03:07 Disco Elysium
95. 2:04:30 Outer Wilds
96. 2:05:41 Half-Life: Alyx
97. 2:06:58 Inscryption
98. 2:07:55 Vampire Survivors
99. 2:09:07 Tunic
100. 2:10:09 Shadows of Doubt
[Edit] I made this during the livestream and then rewatched a second time to get exact timestamps... Which means I TOTALLY missed the comment that there would be a link to the list later on lol. Oh well, at least I gave the video 2 full views for the UA-cam algorithm gods, gotta build that retention or whatever the lingo is.
As for my own personal opinion of this list... I like it! Each game presented had enough of a purpose to keep me from thinking it wasn't necessary. I love making and sorting game lists in general and believe there is a lot you can tell by a person who shows their favorite/influential games like this. Keep up the good work!
How does this comment not have 1,000 likes already?
🫴🏻🫳🏻🫴🏻🫳🏻
@@meee_5155 i think thats a bot...
Surprised no Ori
Where are the rest of the timestamps?
I like how you say where you can play each game. I think people can explain gameplay and design pretty thoroughly with words but there’s always something you’ll miss if you don’t play the game yourself. Sometimes things just work and the way that game works might be dependent on your perspective and sensitivities.
The fact that Doom's source code is also public domain is worth mentioning, I think. Even with its age, it still has lots of techniques about efficient and simple programming that has been neglected by us younger generations of programmers.
im surprised he didnt say "doom is available on literally anything that can run code"
You have to be careful because some of the old efficient programming techniques are superseded by better solutions.
@@digital_hoboz Some, but not all, and while computers are much faster than they used to be, I would still prefer not to use that as an excuse to not care about the efficiency of a solution. The more efficient your code, the more machines it can run on, after all.
@@Parker8752 the reason I mentioned that was because I saw someone trying to use fast inverse square root algorithm im this day and age. Today cpus have dedicated instructions for that which is going to be faster than any algorithm.
@@digital_hoboz 1. Learning how to profile with minimal overhead cancels any specific advice of which old techniques are outdated.
2. Most software is orders of magnitude away from micro-optimizations moving their needle anyway.
3. Doom is a gold mine, and saying there's also dirt in it kinda goes without saying, but be careful not discouraging people from learning. Better solutions are rare and typically require expertise beyond understanding its techniques anyway - and people have to start somewhere.
You asked for it: Games you missed.
- World Of Warcraft
- R&C/J&D/Sky/Spyro
- Command and Conquer/SC/WC3
- Qbert
- Rayman
- Pong (pong? Did you mention pong?)
- Dance Dance Revolution/ Just Dance
- Dota/Leauge/Smite
- Neopets/Club Penguin
- Tamagotchis
- Jackbox series
- Clash of Clans
- Froggyjump/doodle jump/ temple run
I’m only partially kidding. Amazing list, loved the video! Will be rewatching again to go over a lot of these important topics!
You really missed the opportunity with Doom to say "It's playable on everything"
Yeah, to take a dig at Skyrim and not even touch that Doom had ports official and unofficial on everything from the SNES to pregnancy tests.
Like on bacterie
Rules of the internet should have a section "If it exists, it runs a port of Doom."
I was going to say doom is soo good it’s twice in the list but this is better
I've literally played doom on the interface of a robotic lawn mower :D
It's a small note on such a colossal video with so much to say, but I loved the choice to start playing the soundtrack of the game for each entry before naming it. It almost added a layer of interactivity to watching, to be able to recognise what was coming before it's announced. It gave me a very satisfying feeling to know "ooh Mark is going to talk about Undertale", or Disco Elysium, or Outer Wilds, before you did so.
Mass Effect music jumps out at me with a single note. Such an iconic soundtrack.
@@amoliskithat’s how I feel about the tf2 soundtrack too, when it started playing I knee it jnstabtly
Mark, I just wanna commend you on your wonderful editing. Not only is your script writing super thoughtful, engaging, and funny, but the fact that you could keep it that way for a full two hours is just a testament to your skills. The details -- like at 34:40 where you say "in the blink of an eye" and show a clip of the game where you're giving a man eyedrops -- are so subtle, but really appreciated. I just love hearing you talk and explain, and you're pretty damn good at it!
Hey Mark, just wanted to extend a massive thank you. I've been involved in the software world for a long time, but mostly fintech and business software. I recently got into business with a game design group and your videos have really helped me speak their language and connect with them more, so it means a lot that you put these videos out on the regular. Keep doing your thing, and sharing your journey with us -- but also be sure to take breaks since I've come to learn how much more taxing game dev work comparatively to other verticals.
1:54:54 Shadow of War had a good mechanic you don't see elsewhere because they patented it and nobody can use it until 2035, like the direction arrow in racing games in the 90s was similarly patented.
The mechanic unfortunately also only works if you fail. I only died a handful of times, so I never had any "relationship" with any of the orcs.
It's not not in games because it's parented it's not in games because it's a complex system. They have a patent on the specific way they made the nemesis system not on the idea, the idea is present in games like AC Odyssey, Watchdogs Legion, Warframe. None are as developed because no one wants to put that much investment in the system so they just end up with a good emo result. But a studio can put the effort in if they want
@@Naryoril If you play again, I'd highly recommend "Brutal" difficulty. On this difficulty, you do more damage, but will die in two or three hits, making it far easier to build those relationships with Orcs.
I had the same experience as you when playing on Normal or Hard, so would definitely recommend Brutal.
Warframe has a legally distinct system called Liches or Sisters. Not as in depth but heavily inspired.
Surprised he didn't mention that this time.
How did it take me THIS long to realise that "Roguelike" comes from the game Rogue 😭😭
I wonder if metrovania isnt obvious to someone
@@researcher2993unless someone isn’t familiar with metroid or castlevania…
I never played Rogue but 😂Ops comment remidned me where it came from… since I heard the term was based of an actual game. I had forgotten.
We were all there at one point.
And here's where I stop on 27, go back to work, and pick this up again later. This video is an epic undertaking, Mark. Well done.
Just checking in... Did you watch it fully yet, I also just came from college and finished it
@@adityaanuragi6916 During lunch today. Took 5 sittings in total between working and parenting, but DONE! I think toward the end Mark had a harder time boiling the unique designs into terminologies, but I hardly disagree with anything on his list.
Thomas was Alone was probably the first indie game I've ever played and it is such a masterclass in how mechanics can affect how players empathise with the characters, objectively every character is just a square that jumps in slightly different ways, but the way the narrator (Shaun from Assassin's Creed) voices the characters plus how they move allows the players to be so emotionally attached to these little squares that the players feels everything from true joy to heart breaking sadness. I love this game and it's soundtrack is one of my favourites!
I feel like Before your Eyes is "one that you forgot" mostly because of how it pushes the boundaries of game controls, and in a way that matches the story ("blink and you miss it") instead of just being a really cool and original gimmick.
Came here to say that, fully agree, one of the games that made me most emotionnal
I've been watching your stuff for so many years, and as an apsiring game designer that has, quite recently, finally picked up the torch and began my journey, this series has helped me immensely. whether it be in alterring my outlook on concepts or igniting severe inspiration, GMTK has been a major highlight of my life
it's so cool to be here at such a major milestone. there's certainly other youtubers who talk about game design all day, but few hold up a torch compared to the kinds of insights you offer
this channel is special
The fact that Tunic is on the thumbnail makes me soo happy, One of the best and most underrated game. Especially for game design!
Plus I literally started playing it this week
The realisation of the "Holy Cross" is one that will stick with me for a very long time
Underrated? What rock have you been living on top of? :p
@@statick160 I still need to experiment with the holy cross
@@Dizzula It is underrated from what I've seen (very little)
Surprised to not see Shovel Knight on this list! It feels like one of those modern classics that exemplified whats great about retro platformers while teaching players about mechanics and in-game tools in a very smooth way.
Totally would love another video with another 100 games, as there are still many more that deserve to be mentioned but this was a great list. Games are truly wonderful.
This is an amazing resource! So many good ideas all in one place.
This is the last place I thought I could find you
As a player for over 40 years and a video game journalist for over 20 years, I have to say: This is an excellent list! It was just a joy to experience your fast time journey from the 1970s till today. I knew/played nearly every one of it, expect of September 12th (I am shocked that I never was aware of this one) and Spaceteam (never was very informed about iOS/Android based games, but this one I will definitely check out).
Just want to add two games, which are/were in my opinion revolutionary at their times, get often overlooked in these kind of lists and would fit perfectly your criterias:
Ultima Underworld, because it was the first game which truly mixed nearly every "basic genre". You had to fight like in an action game, jump like in a plattformer, talk with NPCs like in an adventure, solve puzzles like in a puzzle game and all this in a simulation of a eight-level-deep dungeon, including simple but working physics (so that a small stone would roll down a ramp). And every element was put together in a truly logic way, so everything worked pefectly together and nothing seemed "tacked on" or even "out of place".
Braid, because it has the most varied puzzle/level design I have ever seen in a game. Nearly every puzzle is unique on its own and it was a blast to play all of them again in the recently published Anniversary Edition. And as a bonus, you had a truly... uhm... "bold" ending.
Of all (100) games that you could have chosen for the thumbnail I am beyond ecstatic that TUNIC got the spot. The *definition* of an indie masterpiece in my book
REALLLLL
"Tetris is a perfect game" while I sit, playing Tetris in the browser, avoiding my tasks, late at night
Feels good man
Surprised Baba Is You wasn't on here with how the level selection screens turn into levels themselves
Wait what?
@@Bergbeklimmer2421 play baba is you! amazing puzzle game
@@Bergbeklimmer2421you gotta play it friend. Just be prepared to feel very, very smart for like 50 levels then feel very, very stupid for every other level. And that isn't necessarily in order.
@@lpnp9477 I've played it, but I don't remember the level selection screen turning into levels itself... Maybe I'm just not far enough and this was a spoiler 🥲
You mentioned one trivial gimmick/part that doesn’t at all justify why a game would be on his list
Others mentioned The Witness, I'll add Braid.
While you listed Prince of Persia for weaving the time rewind into the narrative, gameplay wise like you said it's essentially a quick save/ quick load. Braid explores time rewind as a game mechanic building interesting puzzles around it.
And along with The Witness it shows how a game can explore a mechanic approaching it from many angles. In my mind this is very Jonathan Blow at this point, and he is doing the same in his newest reimagining of Sokoban, while the original game focused on the simplest form of pushing things, The Witness' designer explores pushing, stacking, teleports, etc, while the game still feels like being ultimately about pushing blocks around.
I was also surprised that Braid was absent from this list. Fantastic example of solving puzzles by understanding game mechanics
Braid offers a specific experimental mechanic, so it’s more noteworthy as a unique game. Prince uses this mechanic in a more generalizable sense, so it’s perhaps more useful as a case study.
Braid deserved that spot way more than Price of Persia did, I agree
The choice of Skate: A completely different take on skating from Tony Hawk, is why either NBA Jam, or NFL Blitz, would be on my list. I badly wish sports game had taken the exaggerated path instead of where they mostly are now
New mutant league football and other wacky sports games exist
@@Enigmalake Modern day take on arcade hockey is _Tape to Tape_ on Steam. Still in beta, but scratches the old _NHL '94_ itch.
@@wcjerky I don’t have steam. Lol
I will do a translations about the part where Mark says "you can't find this game in the stores". Here: "Pirate the fuckin game". Done.
I like how the Souls mechanic in Dark Souls is kinda a red herring once you understand the game. What I mean is, it feels like losing a bunch of souls is a big hit, but with how leveling up get's exponentionally more expensive, those souls you lost are not really a big deal. Once you realize this, it's not the souls that become valuable, it's how you spend your limited level ups. At least that is how I came to look at it. I went from caring a lot about losing souls, to caring a lot about how I level up knowing that more souls are infinitely available.
I think the real consideration there is that if you're grinding souls for a level up or an item, the process doesn't end once you have all those souls, you still have to safely return to a bonfire with them.
Yeah once you've played the games for a while you realize the curve is designed such that it's usually not TOO hard to make up your losses, though big drops can happen. The game doesn't stop being hard but you feel less like you're being punished for making mistakes. (And this softens the blow a little those times you fall for a design trap.)
It also helps that many of your level ups mostly come from the bosses you face. Plus as you get better, you more often reach your unfortunate deaths and only really lose souls when you try to run for them, making mistakes.
People (and Mark here) focus on the loss of souls, but the unique part about is games is what you *don't* lose.
In most games, if you die, you lose all the progress since the last save point. In Souls games, you don't loss items you find, major bosses you killed, or map changes.
You unlock a shortcut? It stays unlocked.
You ran through a room of enemies to get an item? You still have that item.
Great video! I feel like this was an even better list than a "best games of all time" list. Which I feel sometimes doesn't properly convey what games people might recommend to others. This feels like a list of games that you'd ACTUALLY use to suggest games to someone who's unfamiliar with a given concept or genre, because these games are truly masters at what they do.
Also, from the 61-70 timestamp onward, the timestamps all start marking games with a 0 (instead of a 1) in the 1's place. (Eg. 61-70 --is--> 60-69, 71-80 --is--> 70-79)
Hey Mark, just popping in to say thanks for 10 years of cracking good content. Not only is the content fantastic, but the editing and presentation of your videos is top notch too. Looking forward to the 20th anniversary.
What a great idea for a video! I'm loving slowly working my way through it. Though it really shines a spotlight on the dire state of video game preservation that some of the most important titles in the medium just aren't available today. With that, a gentle reminder that, as long as you own a physical copy of a game, emulation is a perfectly legal and viable way to play classic titles. And I'd be remiss if I didn't champion Good Old Games here, which sells many of these games on PC without any DRM, which is a major win for both legitimate game ownership and preservation. I'd love more UA-camrs to mention this storefront as well, not only Steam.
I watched the WHOLE THING good lord how did you have the energy to record and edit this
I'm surprised there's no Obra Dinn on this list! I guess both big Lucas Pope games would be weird.
It's his job?
The amount of work that had to go into this video - creating and narrowing the list, explaining how each game offered unique lessons in game making (often building upon past entries), writing and editing, let alone the time that went into playing all of these games and many more - is seriously impressive. Very well done. Congrats on 10 years! I'd love to see another 100 games list, perhaps celebrate the next 10 years 😀
Street Fighter 2 was also massively influential. Not only did it create the combo system due to a bug that was found during the development of the game, but it also allowed the player to pick from eight different colourful characters from different countries with vastly varying playstyles.
So each time you put a quarter into the arcade machine, your playthrough of the ladder or a fight against someone else would feel very different depending on the character you chose. You chose Ryu? Your experience will most likely involve standing far away and throwing fireballs. You chose Zangief? Your experience will be to slowly approach the opponent until you're in range to land a devastating SPD.
It was truly a hallmark in video game design, especially during the arcade era, and thanks to it an entire genre spawned and even games from other genres took heavy inspiration from it.
agreed for ignoring the genre at least SF 2 which was revolutionary
Great video! Some of my favorites that aren't on the list:
- Nier: Automata - similar to Inscryption (but earlier), fascinating transitions between different game types, and incremental story reveal. Also taking the role of different actors to uncover the plot
- Planescape: Torment (I feel like this may have been a big inspiration for Disco Elysium - writing that is on another level - utterly fascinating)
- 4X mechanics - Stellaris, X3: Foundations (certainly less influential, but for me X3 is more rewarding than Minecraft in terms of sandbox depth)
- The Witcher 3 - though I guess it perhaps just took existing principles and synthesized them in a particularly engaging way
- Stardew Valley - though I guess this may not have done much new compared to Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon - just personally more engaging
- Dungeon crawl games - I haven't played many of the older ones (Eye of the Beholder etc.), but Legend of Grimrock is great - engaging with secrets everywhere
- Baldur's Gate 1/2 - not sure what I'd single out in terms of design, though - maybe fully custom parties to really give players choice, and like Mass Effect, engaging stories that go beyond a single title (those Pantaloons). These games are really nostalgic for me, and they have had a huge influence on the CRPG genre.
- Dungeon Keeper 2 - not sure what I'd single out in terms of game design, but such an iconic game
- This War of Mine - similar reason to Telltale games
This is a next level way to procrastinate on your own game 😅
Wanted to take the time to say thank you for all the content over the years, Mark! I've been working in games for almost 20 years and since finding the channel years back, I've learned a lot from following along and have recommended GMTK to just about every co-workers I have had. I consider GMTK to be foundational to my growth as a dev, so thank you sir!
you are such a hero Mark. You made me love games so much more, even when i dont play them. You've also helped me get through hard times. Your videos are like hanging out with a super smart and engaging friend who loves sharing his deep unique insights. Thank you man.
Steamworld Dig has to be one of my most favorite games of all time. I played both it and its sequel on DS and could hardly put them down.
Just wanted to point out in the Mario Maker segment, ANY game with level/gamemode makers are amazing for getting into game design. My two go-tos when I was little was Starcraft's Scenario Editor, and Timesplitters Future Perfect's Level Maker. Both allowed you full access to the the games's entire asset library and then some, and you could add triggers, story beats, NPCs ans AI, and so much more. Starcraft's even allowed you to add dialouge with the main characters. It was awesome.
Blizzard's map editors are easily the best map editors I've ever used. StarCraft 2's campaign and level design philosophy in particular would make me easily put Wings of Liberty into my own list of 100 game design games. The fact the maps have data that can be brought between them and influence how you approach it as a whole, making your playthrough wholely unique from someone else's to benefit your strengths and strategies and your story of pushing through All In is just incredible.
But the data editor in StarCraft 2 still makes me outright wish I could code the units myself half the time. XML is terrible. Actor data is terrible. The fact that all the Zerg stuff breaks if you so much as look at it is terrible. XD
I also think the Geometry Dash level editor is worth adding as sort of a middle ground between the two extremes
LittleBigPlanet was _the_ level-making game for me as a kid. They even doubled down on the idea in the sequel, with the tagline "a platform _for_ games". And while 90% of it was crud (as the old saying goes), there was plenty of actually really good content out there just waiting to be played...
It's a shame the series got its servers killed, but fans have already got replacement servers up and running, so Sackboy ain't dying anytime soon!
As a kid I played a lot of Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set and another EA release for computers, Adventure Construction Set which let you make RPGs.
Played allot of one of the online map types in War Craft 3 where you play around with some version of the level editor as a sort of dungeon master of your own domain with the other players.
It took me some time but I finally had time to watch the entire video in one sitting without interruptions. Definitely worth it. Awesome job as always!
Extremely impressive video. This must have taken A LOT of time to make. So much history and game design packed in 2 hours. Very much enjoyed it.
RIP whoever had to edit this.
i had this on in the background, but as soon as i heard the outer wilds theme, chills took over my entire body. that game is just so impactful
Well, this title explains why the video lasts for 2 hours
2 * 60 / 100 = 1.2 min per game
@@RustyDusty87two hours are 120 minutes, but thats still 2.4 minutes per game
@@aqua-bery note to self: post after coffee, not before
Oh crap I’m an hour late
@@aqua-bery He was correct, though. 120 minutes / 100 games = 1,2 minutes per game. ^^
My favorite thing about the automation genre (Factorio, Satisfactory, etc.) is that almost every new game tries to embed the core loop into a different other genre. Factorio blends with base defense, encouraging you to claim, defend, and expand what you have, rather than trying to branch out and make a dozen new outposts in its procedurally generated world. Satisfactory blends with open world adventure games, encouraging you to explore its hand-crafted world to find new goodies that can power up your machines, unlock more efficient recipes, and discover spots rich with new resources for smaller factories and outposts. Until its most recent update, Dyson Sphere Program decided not to blend with another genre, instead asking what a pure automation game could look like on a galactic scale. I love seeing so much variety in this relatively new genre, rather than the dozens of copycats other popular games get.
A great list with great explanations, and wonderfully focused on highlighting different aspects of game design. If I could add just one game to the list it would probably be The Witness (2016) which I was genuinely surprised not to see. The best example I can imagine of a game that carefully uses environment as a means to teach players mechanics, while always making players feel like they are piecing it together themselves. Maybe excluded in favor of other puzzle games that incorporate singular elements that The Witness puts together.
I was hoping you would mention rainworld either for it’s procedural animation or it’s ability for you to truly feel like just a part of a living ecosystem. I take a lot of inspiration from it because I haven’t felt anything like it.
I’d also like to mention its ability to make you feel the passage of time through the dlc. It’s very cool.
Long video format is under appreciated. Tank you for this gem.
1.3 million views on this video...
Can we please just acknowledge that Rogue did NOT create a permadeath system? It just didn't have a save system. We can talk about how cool it is that people saw that limitation and decided to lean into it to create an entire genre of videogames, but the ONLY thing Rogue itself added to the discussion was the randomisation of the dungeon.
I still love how I saw a let's play of Gone Home, where they didn't know what game to expect and somehow felt it was a horror game and they were scouring through the house, checking every corner carefully, expecting a monster or some dark history behind everything and then it just turns out to be a very comfy story
That was exactly how I played it, and I think that's exactly how they intended it to be initially perceived. I 100% made sure to turn on every light I could find when I was going through the house.
From what I remember, there's at least one horror misdirect in there (I'm thinking of the bathtub). It doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to assume that it's a horror game.
Thanks for this! In puzzle games, I would add The Witness for how you take a "simple" mecanic and use it to change how you see the world (like litteraly)
Unique games worthy of mention imho:
- *Mount & Blade's directional parry* (and attack)
- Vampire the Masquerade Bloodline's & Fallout's blend of dark atmosphere plus humor
- Total War's massive scale battles with deep mechanics
- Kingdom Come Deliverance's immersion
- Counter-strike's simple yet great gameplay
this channel has inspirerd me more then anything else and showed me what games are capable of. becuase of you and this channel i decided to go to collage in game design and i couldnt be happier with where i am. while i wasnt here for all the first 10 years i cant wait to be here for all of the next.
Remember. Piracy isn’t stealing if there isn’t a way to pay for it. It’s just art.
I expected him to say something but he didnt
@@seatyourself7082 playin safe
Even if you ignore the whole ethics of piracy debate and there is a way to pay for it, piracy is just copyright infringement, not stealing.
Stealing is subtraction whilst piracy is multiplication.
Exactly what I was thinking when he said there was no way to play Pokémon red/blue today
@@droycon Where do you play it? I actually wanted to download blue from vimms lair yesterday, but saw that nintendo had intervened...
Great video!
Some games id have added personally:
Majora's Mask - Work time constraint into a perfect immersive timeloop mechanic.
Shin megami Tensei - Its demon fusion, demon conversation and press turn system. On top of being the first monster collecting game.
Pikmin - Responsive and reactive rts and time management.
Rollercoaster tycoon - Highly in depth tycoon game on top of being one of the most impressive developed games on a technical standpoint.
I read the title as; Mark Brown’s top 100 video game recommendations! 👍 Thank you. 😃❤️
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary! 🎉
Happy 10 years! This was a great video, and I loved to see all the positivity and things to learn from each game!
The only game that I kept expecting but didn’t see was Transistor. There’s so many amazing and unique mechanics in the game to choose from, but after watching the video, the one I use is its death mechanic where you temporarily lose an ability when you die.
You simply must play Sayonara Wild Hearts and Citizen Sleeper. Would also have liked to see a general shout out to fighting games and jrpgs. Awesome list and cool way to celebrate
Sayonara Wild Hearts is SO good.
One game that Cookie Clicker and other "games as commentary" games have taken heavily from is an old gem called Progress Quest. It was a game that literally played itself with no real player interaction. It just generated random names of monsters and gear and then turned them into progress bars that would fill up until you leveled up, gaining randomly generated stats and, of course, numbers going up. This was both commentary on games as an endless level grind and also the idea that players would do whatever they could to circumvent actually playing the games in order to get the rewards, such as running bots.
This is an incredibly cool list, and it's really cool to see the absolute variety this wonderful art form holds.
I run a competition called "Norway's Best Gamer" where we test the contestants abilities to play a lot of different games across genres and platforms.
Whereas other gaming competitions usually have people compete in a single game they've dedicated large parts of their lives to, we test it all. Game sense, adaptability, eagerness to try something new. It's a celebration of gaming first and foremost, and I am so chuffed to see how many games on this list are games we've featured in the competition!
Thank you so much, Mark, for such a beautiful list. You've reshuffled the priorities in my backlog a ton, and I really appreciate all the effort that went into this!
oh wow this is such a fantastic idea! do you publish the list of games you used in one of the competitions perhaps?
Is that competition recorded somewhere? I love the idea.
@@EugeneYunakI can certainly try to do a list of all the games we've had the in the competition, sure. Gimme a little while
@@matthewjones6786 Yeah, absolutely. Though it's only in Norwegian, considering it's Norway's Best Gamer. We're working on getting the VODS out for the finals this year. Our tie breaker was Nidhogg, and it was suuuuch a close race!
@@Focie oh i don’t want to bother you, but in case you have it, that would be wonderful!
One game that's left an impression on me even three decades later is one I rarely see anyone reference. The game is Legend by Mindscape, a game I played back in the early 90's. The game itself is a very competent early iteration of the ARPG which felt like you were playing HeroQuest in realtime, but the unique mechanic it had was the spell crafting. You could combine runes in almost any way you saw fit to create programmable spells. Want a spell that shoots a healing blast at a friend and then surrounds them with fireballs which in turn shoot out more fireballs when they hit their target? The ultimate "get out of trouble" spell? You can do that.
Moreover, these runes would also make up part of the environment in some dungeons, meaning you could craft spells to interact with the scenery to create interesting puzzles. A rune switch is behind a wall? Create a spell that rebounds to hit the switch. Switches that extinguish fire or light torches etc. It was such a novel concept that I've never really seen fully explored in any game since - sure many games let you craft potions and spells, but none of them so customisable and so integral to the puzzle aspects of the dungeons.
Noita is probably the most well-known "current" game with a very deep spell crafting system.
Play lousy games. You'll become a better-designer, out of spite.
Halo infinite made me feel this feeling 100%
I 100% agree. Mediocre and middling games are where you really learn stuff. Because you spot the flaws. And when when you try to figure out how it could be better, you start realising “oh so that’s why game X did Y - but wait if this game did Y, they’d have problem A, oh wait game X also did Z which at first seemed unrelated to Y *but it solves problem A*”.
It doesn't have to be bad. I've recently been playing Blades of Time and as fun as it is it has so many obvious game design problems that it been such a learning experience of what to and what not to do
Good things are rarely made out of spite.
Not the approach to take. Games made because "I could have done it better" are rarely any good, especially since most people drastically overestimate their skill in this regard.
Bad games can definitely teach good design though.
I still remember my father looking at Pokemon Blue with wonder, amazed at the world inside that cartridge. At the time, that was amazing. And it still is, if you know how little hardware power they had to work with.
For number 57, I'm not sure why Mark decided to go with Virtue's Last Reward and not 999, IMHO it is absolutely essential you start with 999 and go into VLR after you've completed it, it's basically a direct sequel and you WILL be very lost if you just jump straight into VLR. 999 is a fantastic game so don't think you'll be playing the worse one first, in fact I think a lot of things in 999 are better than VLR, but the sequel definitely has its strengths.
If you can only pick one, make it 999.
VLR did a way better in terms of game design. 999 feels really outdated when you compare it to VLR. I much more recommend VLR, it spends way less time faffing about with talking and time wasting. Obviously story-wise 999 is a better starting point, but VLR I think is a way better example of how good the series is, because it's just a better game. Regardless of your opinion on the story or how lost you'll be jumping into VLR (you won't be lost at all BTW, 999s plot barely shows up in VLR, only like once that's important), it improved upon the game design principles and that's what this video is about. 999 isn't as user friendly as VLR is
From a narrative perspective I definitely agree with this take, but I can see the argument for going for VLR first if your first priority is to study game design. 999 was the one to feature the "info carrying over from branching paths" hook, but this really only actually clicks near the final third or so of the game. VLR in contrast has you navigating locks and jumping way more frequently, so it definitely communicates what makes it unique far more quickly.
If you're reading this, definitely play the games in order (in particular, try to play the DS version of 999 first over the Nonary Games port), but if you only have a small time to kill with one of the games, VLR will probably have the more gripping second act and impress on you the series defining feature more effectively.
I think it's kind of a non-issue, as you can only legally get VLR bundled with 999 in the Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, unless you for some reason want to shell out for a physical 3DS/Vita copy of VLR, which tends to go for just about the same as The Nonary Games on digital platforms.
I think Mark went with VLR specifically because of the flow chart. I am mean literally because VLR HAS a flow chart. Originally 999 didn't allow you to select specific starting points after you finished your first play through, you had to button mash through all the scenario texts again and repeat every puzzle and pray you remembered what branch you needed to manipulate for a different route. I think the ports ended up fixing that problem, but it was originally fixed as the major QOL change in VLR's design. From a design standpoint, VLR is the game where the designers learned something and implemented a major change that showed how much they had learned from the first game, hence VLR being the right one for this list even though I would agree, after the ports fixing that problem, 999 is the most well-rounded game of the series.
Still prefer 999, while I did play through Nonary Games version of 999 (loved the VAs to not read it anymore), going straight to VLR was tiring. 😂
While I do like the flow chart, I prefer to not look at it to spoil how much I have to sift through. :/
Excellent list! One game I'd add (which you briefly showed at the very end) is Final Fantasy VII, simply for the opening mission. It introduces every system the game will use (aside from party member switching), starts almost all the major plot threads, establishes the main characters, and has incredible pacing, all set behind one of the best soundtracks in video games. That vertical slice of the game is unmatched to this day, IMO. That is how you open a game.
Everything may seem rosy, but did you know that old or discontinued games can be downloaded or emulated? No one loses money because they are no longer for sale.
Yes, idk why he did not talked about that, legal reasons maybe?
Or he just dont suport emulation?
I think that it is a can of worms he doesnt want to open. I, personaly, dont mind that.
That may be ethical but it's still not legal so I'm not surprised it didn't get brought up
Talking about doing illegal things is always a dicey business if you are hoping to be a respectable influencer/theoretician. Even if he is in favor of it, best to let mostly anonymous comments pick up the slack.
@@jameshart2622 But he went as far as "looking for physical copy of the games".
As there was no other option.
Like, he could just say something like "I'll share the official places where you can find the games" or something like that, but the way he spoke, was like emulation did not exist
The music of the games in the background was amazing thank you for all of the feels
In my mind, you took the wrong lesson from the wrong X-COM game. UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense has a huge lesson to give if you then play XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Note the smushing together of the predecessors' names? Yeah, fine tribute). Because the original UFO/X-COM games had something that I felt sorely disappointed by being missing in the Firaxis reimagining. That is, Aliens, both in the geoscape and in missions, actually have their own goals and try to go about them independent of what you as a player do. They move and act for their own objectives, not landing in pods as you come close to certain points in the map. This made the earlier games in a way feel more alive and fleshed out despite being technically inferior in pretty much every other way.
I never thought I would watch a 2-hour long video three times in a row. Thanks Mark for the amazing content of always. That's why my university recommends your content for game-related content.
this video sounds like someone starting a video essay over and over 100 times in a row haha
Loved the 26th game choice (for obvious messege)
But you should've mentioned the great game "Slice & Dice" when talking about "Slay the Spire" and "Into the Breach"
Really great list! Happy to see so many great games listed. I'm a little surprised you didn't mention about Dark Souls' message and bloodstain feature allowing players to hint, help, and deceive each other. I think it's just as unique as the drop your souls where you die mechanic.
One note, COD 4 was made by Infinity Ward, not Treyarch
That aspect is not often talked about, but that is actually what felt most *unique* to me when I played Dark Souls: the novel approach to multiplayer interaction via soapstone messages, invasions, and bloodstains.
As a developer, this is the single best video I’ve ever stumbled across
dear mr. toolkit,
thx for the video.
best regards,
Please, Mr Toolkit was his father, he's just Game.
Thank you so much for mentioning the importance of playing board, card, and tabletop games! Too many folks only think of gaming as it pertains to video games where there is so much to be gained from playing games of all kinds! Great video! Keep up the good work! Congratulations on 10 years and here's to many more!!
That feeling when Mark Brown talks positively about one of your favorite games is one of my favorite things ever
I had lots of fun trying to place the music in the background before you name-dropped each game. This is a fascinating deep dive, and I'm sure it took lots of work. Thanks for sharing with us.
2 hour video lets goo!
Maybe it's a generational thing but I'm really supprised that you didn't include any of the Halo Series on this list. Halo was a massive zeitgeist from 2001 - 2011, Halo's major innovation was creating the current standard layout (And the better one bumper jumper IkYk) for console first person shooters. I think they also did something interesting with the campaigns of the games told a good story with the main series, but Halo Reach Stands out as the GOAT standard to first person shooter campaign stories. But yeah just really surprised.
I love how you recommended The Sims 3 without even the slightest acknowledgement of Sims 4's existence. 😂
proof that he knows what he is talking about
I know everyone loves skyrim but I got bared really quick with that game. But personally 4 and 3 were more mt thing
should've put hitman at number 47.
You said this isn't a history lesson, but it does feels like a love letter to video game history. Thank you for making it, I had a blast watching!
Finally, the GMTK Cinematic Adaptation I’ve been waiting for
If I were doing a series on the most influential youtubers that taught me english, you'd definitely be there. Perfect C2 learning materials
damn, not even a mention of portal 2?
Great history lesson! I've been collecting authentic games with original and revolutionary gameplay mechanics my whole life, and there are a lot of brilliant gems that haven't made your list. Still an amazing video though, good work!
I‘m expecting at least one Metroid and one Zelda game on this list.
I bet that Doom is there too.
For such a fantastically insightful video on game design from one of the leading experts on the topic, it's a shame that Sound/Music Design was mentioned literally only one time in the entire 2-hour long video (referencing Silent Hill 2's "rooms that have scary noises, but no actual monsters"), not counting the side comments on Dead Space and Rez. I'd love to see Mark's take on Sound Design, but I don't know how much he consciously thinks about it considering its relative absence among his content.
Great video, definitely added a few to my to-play list!
You need a warning that Plants vs Zombies 2 (a microtransaction cash grab) is NOT a supplement to the near perfect balance of the original
Oh, my God, yes. I got to that part of the video and was like “Wonder if the original is on any of my consoles?” I played it on PC but am generally not a PC gamer, and the sequel was basically riddled with free-to-play cancer.