this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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Patient Gamers

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Assuming the equipment was also saved so you could still play the games, and every game in existence you don’t mention gets permanently destroyed, and no new games are ever to be made.

Inspired by a video by OutsideXbox from a few years ago, I thought it would be a fun idea to see what this community would choose. You can choose to be selfish and pick games you personally want to always play, or try to figure out what games would be best chosen for humanity to save for whatever reason. I’d also love to hear why you chose your games. Do they have a special meaning to you? I want to hear your stories.

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[–] SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

OpenMW

MineCraft

GZDoom

DevilutionX

Wargus

[–] BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago

I’ll start the ball rolling. For me, I’d probably have to go with:

Skyrim - first off, it’s my most played game ever, and also my most purchased game too. Is it the best game ever made? No, I don’t even think it’s the best Elder Scrolls game. But there’s something so captivating about it for some reason and I can’t help but always go back to replay it all these years later. If mods are allowed to survive the video game apocalypse then it makes it a very easy choice but I’d still choose it even if it had to stay vanilla.

Pokemon Soul Silver - something for kids to play, but also my favourite Pokemon game and one of my most replayed games ever. Between having your Pokemon follow you around, the Johto region plus Kanto, and also the music, I think it’s the best Pokemon game ever made, and a game I can’t go without playing the rest of my life.

Elden Ring - I was torn between this or Dark Souls III, but I went with ER because (1) it’s more accessible, and again remember every other game is permanently destroyed so this does affect everyone, and I’d like to be at least a little nice in my choices, and (2) I find myself able to replay it a bit more, especially with the DLC. I’ve mentioned it many times before but I truly believe SotE is the best content FromSoft has ever put out, so it would be a shame to have it destroyed.

Hitman: World of Assassination - it’s sort of cheating as this was originally three separate games, but they’re all bundled together now and Steam recognizes it all as a single game in my library, so I’m including it. Plus it’s my list and my post so I say it counts. Anyway, I don’t see Hitman posted a lot on Lemmy, but it’s my second most played game ever and I really do think if you can get over the admittedly high cost to get all the content it really is a masterpiece of a game. It’s also got way more replayability than you’d initially think just looking at it, so it’s a great contender for this post. This is another Skyrim situation where I don’t think it’s a top pick for greatest game of all time but it’s just so easy to replay that I couldn’t omit it from here.

Dishonored - I really didn’t know what to put for my last choice. I was tempted to do another massive open world game like Red Dead Redemption 2 or cheat again and do another bundle game like Mass Effect Legendary Edition or Halo Master Chief Collection, but I decided to go with a game that is a bit less intensive to complete but is still really fun to jump back into and try a new style with. I feel like it’s a bit of an underrated game these days. I know it was very well received and sold well but I don’t hear about it enough when talking about modern-ish classics. This is probably my favourite game that’s not a sandbox or open world, aside from the FromSoft games. The art style is gorgeous, the story is engaging, the DLC is a great add-on, the gameplay is diverse and super fun, it’s just such a great game all around.

My list is probably going to be very different from everyone else’s, but that’s part of the fun.

[–] Bo7a@piefed.ca 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

factorio, noita, some random tower defense game, city of heroes, and Minecraft..

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[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)
  • Doom (1993): Arguably the best game ever made especially with mods, essentially created the FPS genre.
  • Half Life 2 (and its episodes considering they're now all one game): One of the best games ever, revolutionized physics and story telling.
  • Halo MCC: Some of the greatest games ever made and truly represents an era of gaming long gone, doesn't mean a lot to me but it means a lot to a lot of people.
  • Fallout NV: Arguably the best FPS RPG, amazing dialog choices and overall amazing story. The atmosphere is incredible and so are the factions.
  • F-Zero GX: One of the greatest games Nintendo ever made, it truly captures the arcade feel in a way very few other games have. Just intense racing that feels amazing, good gameplay and great controls.
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[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Minecraft and then just build games inside of it?

[–] BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Fair enough. I haven’t played Minecraft in a while so I sort of forgot it existed when I wrote my comment but it’s definitely a great pick for here.

[–] Redacted@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Id pick 5 games that have infinite replayability like dwarf fortress or other roguelikes

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[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'd probably go for historic impact if there's no more games I'd want a good selection of what people considered major titles of video game history. Maybe one classic, one old console, one arcade fighter, one modern PC, and one online shooter.

Pong

The legend of Zelda

Tekken 3

World of Warcraft classic

Team fortress 2

[–] Die4Ever@retrolemmy.com 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)
  • Deus Ex - this game will last forever, especially with mods (like my Randomizer mod lol)
  • StarCraft 2 - I just love watching the esports, and with no other esport games available I guess this would be pretty huge
  • The 7th Guest - this is a bad pick but I'm obsessed with the game
  • Doom - I mean, come on, obviously
  • maybe some kind of builder game, I'm not into any currently but someone else said Factorio and that sounds like a good pick as a game you can keep playing forever, or maybe Stardew Valley or something accessible like that so everyone can play forever
[–] MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm sure you've played The 11th Hour, but have you played The 13th Doll or The 7th Guest VR? Not as good as the OG, but worthy sequels.

[–] Die4Ever@retrolemmy.com 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah those are great too! I bought my Quest 3 headset just for T7GVR and played it on release day lol.

I actually run the Lemmy community for these games !stauf_mansion@lemmy.mods4ever.com

and the Discord community https://discord.gg/Hss5cJg

[–] Flickerby@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago

Tough. If this is all I get forever I'll go for replay over best games ever.

Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, good 5k hours

Monster Hunter World(Iceborne), like 5-10k in that

NieR Automata, less so for the replayability and more for the music

FFX For same as above

Aaaaand hm. Oh I want some childhood. Majora's Mask.

[–] darkdemize@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago
  • Chrono Trigger - It's pretty much the perfect RPG: great story, cool art, replayable, not too long or grindy.
  • Earthbound - I admit I have a lot of nostalgia for this one, but it's still a game I've replayed at least a half-dozen times.
  • Final Fantasy Tactics - Fantastic story, plenty of character customization, and some extremely broken builds if you know what you're doing. Also, did I mention the story?
  • Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - THE metroidvania. Great gameplay, soundtrack, and visuals.
  • Hollow Knight - Fun to play, difficult to master. Has a lot of charm and plenty of secrets to discover.

There are plenty of other games I would love to throw on the list, but some would require a ton of mods or just didn't quite make the cut for me.

[–] Syun@retrolemmy.com 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)
  • Morrowind
  • Chrono Trigger
  • The full motion Afterburner arcade machine (that thing was so much fun)
  • A link to the past
  • Tetris
[–] toxicbubble@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Pokemon, FF7, GTA San Andreas, Resident Evil 4, Portal

[–] BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Which Pokemon game? Also portal is a great choice, I was very nearly tempted to have portal 2 as my last pick.

[–] toxicbubble@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Pokemon Crystal

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[–] Malix@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)
  • OpenTTD, easily. Would be nice if I could sneak in the og assets (music mainly) from Transport Tycoon Deluxe as well, but not critical
  • Fallout: London - or does that count as 2 as it's a tc mod + basegame of fallout4?

really drawing a blank on the other ~3 games. Probably some mix of old Lucas Arts adventure games (indy atlantis, day of the tentacle, the dig...), imsims (dishonored, deux ex).

[–] calliope@retrolemmy.com 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Came here to make sure someone said OpenTTD! I got the original when I was about 12 in 1994 and I’ve been playing it on and off since then.

[–] Malix@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

The ~~factory~~ transport network must grow!

[–] Vizzerdrix@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Zelda Link's Awakening ... this one somehow has both the most Nostalgia and replayability for me even though I have also played the N64 Zeldas when growing up

Factorio - of course can't go without Cracktorio

Caves of Qud - really good mix of roguelike and open world RPG. Lot's of replayability as well.

Diablo 2 Resurrected - one of my favrotie games of all time. Got back into it recently on Switch and it's just soo good. Also big Nostalgia for me

Mario Kart Double Dash - need to have something I can play with my wife and Mario Kart is just the Couch Multiplayer game. Double Dash is my favorite entry of the series as well

I'd say I hit a solid ish genre mix as well with it. Pity I couldn't fit an FPS though

[–] BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)
  • Half-life 2 (Garry's mod)
  • Quake 2 (plenty of mods)
  • Desert Bus (Penn and teller's smoke and mirrors)
  • Luanti (Open source Minecraft)
  • Turtle WoW (So I can quest in vanilla'ish)
[–] Lag@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

It's crazy that there's still nothing that comes close to Garry's Mod.

[–] pasdechance@jlai.lu 6 points 1 day ago

Based on current tastes...

  • Super Metroid
  • SSBU or a Street Fighter
  • FFVI (because I still haven't finished it) or Chrono Trigger
  • a shmup, any vertical shmup, Crimzon Clover WE probably
  • Mega Man X
[–] atopi@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 day ago

Minecraft
Terraria
The game i am working on that will definitely release
Maybe celeste?
Maybe vivid/stasis? I play like 6 games in total

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Baldur's gate 3, tiny Tina's wonderlands, ff7, annnnd I'm not sure. The fourth and fifth slots are harder.

I would say pacman, but even if you gave me the arcade game for free, I don't think I could play it worth a damn now. Same with centipede (they were my favorites back in the day, but pacman I was good at).

The original Mario Kart could be in there. And I can't pretend that need for speed carbon couldn't compete for a spot either. I think I'd take Kart over Carbon though.

Yeah, fuck it, pacman and Mario kart. Those are the last two spots.

No! Wait!

Neverwinter, the mmorpg. Fuck mariokart, I'd take that one, assuming I could either have ai teammates that didn't suck, or could just keep a server for it running without cost/effort. Loved that game. Technically still love it, but when I stopped playing for a while, I got power crept and didn't want to play ptw style like it turned into. But my haste cleric? Fuck yeah!

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

if mmo's that stay online count I might choose 5 mmo's just for the human interaction part.

[–] semisimian@startrek.website 6 points 1 day ago

Tears of the Kingdom and Minecraft would be important to save for their infinite playability due to their physics and craft engines. Final Fantasy 6 for story. Stellaris so people could have a competitive, chess-like monster to wrap their mind around. And Bonk for TurboGrafx16 so everyone could know that game design just doesn't happen overnight.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago
  • Puyo Puyo Champions - Extra selfish pick, in this scenario now people would have to play it and we'd have a healthy playerbase again. I'd finally get to fulfill my dream of large offline tournaments.
  • Skullgirls - See above.
  • Stepmania - I was tempted to say Wacca or Chunithm, but in this scenario Stepmania would be ideal for nearly infinite content, as well as offering both keyboard and pad playstyles in one game.
  • Slay the Spire - My pick for casual second monitor content. I'm also assuming the modding scene is allowed to continue, in this scenario it'd suddenly have everyone making tons of new characters.
  • Super Mario Maker 2 - Actually took me a bit to think of what the last game should be. Gotta be an endless game, but I didn't want to duplicate genres by just adding another fighting game or puzzle game. Though if we're allowing romhacks to count as part of the game, if new romhacks can continue to be made, substitute Super Mario World instead.
[–] haywire7@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For me I'd say...

Borderlands 2 Left4Dead 2 Destiny 2 Zombies Ate my Neighbours (SNES) Pokémon (ZA has me at the moment but I'd say keep Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire)

CO-OP shooters with single player elements are what I'd play more than anything else to avoid it being the same thing over and over, Destiny has hit hard times recently but still has a lot to give.

ZAMN is just cool.

I can lose hours shiny hunting and mucking about in the Pokémon games so easily has to be one around.

[–] Die4Ever@retrolemmy.com 2 points 1 day ago

I didn't expect to see ZAMN here lol, it's a great game though

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Based on my currently highest time spend in the game, in no particular order: Terraria, Dark Souls 3, Factorio + expansion, Stardew Valley.

The last one kinda depend on some caveat: Fallout 4(assuming mods also survived), Project Zomboid(if the dev will still working on it), or dying light(assuming some mods also survived). Else Prey 2017.

Edit: honestly i would put Monster Hunter 4U up there, but not sure if i can still take the early game grind, World kinda ruined a bit of 4U but it still a significantly better game.

Forsaken 64 (multiplayer does things with "4th Dimensional" space I've never seen elsewhere, else this slot would belong to Descent)

No Man's Sky (open to others for this slot, but not aware of any that check the same boxes for me)

Minecraft (Factorio mods)

Armored Core (any besides 3)

Starcraft or Dawn of War or Total War ... so long as the best of the RTS genre is represented

Wait ... no new games ever? Wtf, just kill me. ... or rather, why bother rebuilding civilization only to stagnate like so?

My list is tailored towards inspiring a re-launch of the industry. I would rather disappear into Amish society than play the same five video-games forever more.

[–] kuadhual@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I'll pick 5 genre (4x/building sim/strategy, RPG, Sandbox, Sport, and maybe racing) then choose the best open source game in each genre.

A very good closed source, mod-able game will be limited on what technology exist when it was made. While an open sourced game would have a lot of possibilities. It will count as an update, not a new game.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

if anthologies are allowed:

Activision Anthology: Remix Edition
Atari Anthology
Sega Genesis Classics
Namco Museum Archives
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition

I'm a novice gamer, so someone who's got more experience with retro gaming history could probably come up with a list that includes the greatest possible number of titles for preservation

[–] Asidonhopo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Nah just destroy them all, maybe I can get my friends to learn Bridge with me. If not, Canasta will suffice.

[–] Krudler@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I could only come up with three for now because it's no small task!

  • Squarez Deluxe

  • TormentorXPunisher

  • Quake IIx

I didn't choose anything with crafting or making, because I can still craft and make things in real life. I chose games that provide something that I could never get anywhere else, and also games that for me are infinitely replayable. I would never pick a story driven anything because if that's the only game I can play for the rest of my days, I don't want to hear/play the same story 70 times, and RPG combat systems are easy to figure out and game after a while

Squarez Deluxe to me is the greatest shape packing game ever made, it makes Tetris look like Tinker Toys idc fite me. It's probably three decades old by now and it's DOS freeware and I still play it. Extreme mode only, my peeps

TormentorXPunisher is the best twin stick shooter I have ever played, and I have played hundreds of them. It has an infinite skill ceiling. I play every day and have done so for about 7 years. I was number two WR on hard mode until my protegé took me down, but I recently ascended on regular mode by 14 ranks. I'm so invested in this game I actually developed a friendly acquaintanceship with the sound engineer Joonas Turner

Quake 2 is just a granddaddy of all amazing FPS with again, an infinite skill ceiling esp in movement. I actually enjoy the movement of Q1 better, but the mod support of Q2 and upgraded engine makes it a game that goes on forever. Team CTF, rocket arena, etc

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