The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 31. 05. 2024
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One of the best ways to learn about game design is to just play a whole bunch of games. But with thousands of titles to choose from... where do you start? Well, this video lists 100 games that have most helped me in my journey to understand game development - from arcade classics to virtual reality thrills.
=== Corrections ===
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was developed by Infinity Ward, not Treyarch.
Spaceteam is actually still on the iOS App Store!
=== Important information ===
Content warning: Blood, Language, War
Backloggd list - www.backloggd.com/u/GameMaker...
While most of the games are available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch, a few can be found elsewhere. Use these links to begin.
Space Invaders - www.vizzed.com/play/space-inv...
Pac-Man - www.vizzed.com/play/pac-man-2...
Rogue - www.myabandonware.com/game/ro...
Tetris - www.retrogames.cz/play_136-Ga...
Diablo II - eu.shop.battle.net/en-gb/prod...
The Sims - www.myabandonware.com/game/th...
September 12th - www.newsgaming.com/games/index...
Cookie Clicker -orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclic...
Spelunky - spelunkyworld.com/original.html
=== Sources ===
[1] Resident Evil Creator Shinji Mikami Reflects... | Gamespot
www.gamespot.com/articles/resi...
[2] Preview: Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars | 1UP
web.archive.org/web/200709272...
[3] 40 years and I'm still here | Game Developer
www.gamedeveloper.com/busines...
[4] The Last Guardian creator... | The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/technolog...
[5] Rez - Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Timeless Masterpiece | Time Extension
www.timeextension.com/feature...
[6] Keita Takahashi talks Katamari Damacy | GameSpy
www.gamespy.com/articles/595/5...
[7] Spelunky by Derek Yu | Boss Fight Books
bossfightbooks.com/products/s...
[8] Designing side quests? Study these 7 games | Game Developer
www.gamedeveloper.com/design/...
[9] Soundbite: Age of Empires and Civilization... | The Life & Times of Video Games
lifeandtimes.games/episodes/f...
[10] Ahead of the Curve: The SpaceChem Postmortem | GDC Vault
âą Ahead of the Curve: Th...
[11] Designing Mark of the Ninja - Nels Anderson | Full Indie
âą Designing Mark of the ...
[12] Jake Solomon | Designer Notes
www.idlethumbs.net/designerno...
[13] Brilliant Indie Game The Stanley Parable... | Wired
www.wired.com/2011/08/the-sta...
[14] Cow Clicker | Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Cli...
[15] 18 things we learned about Alien: Isolation... | MCV UK
mcvuk.com/development-news/18...
[16] â80 Days': Jules Verne-inspired game... | LA Times
web.archive.org/web/201408310...
[17] How Fortniteâs success... | Polygon
www.polygon.com/2019/4/23/185...
[18] ...The aesthetics of frustration in Getting Over It | Gamasutra
web.archive.org/web/201904190...
[19] Designing Florence... | Game Developer
www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/d...
[20] Understanding the meaningless ... Disco Elysium | Game Developer
www.gamedeveloper.com/busines...
[21] Road to the IGF ... Outer Wilds | Game Developer
- www.gamedeveloper.com/design/...
=== Chapters ===
00:00 - Intro
02:39 - 1 to 10
15:18 - 11 to 20
28:34 - 21 to 30
41:15 - 31 to 40
55:26 - 41 to 50
1:08:07 - 51 to 60
1:19:55 - 61 to 70
1:32:56 - 71 to 80
1:45:45 - 81 to 90
1:58:50 - 91 to 100
2:11:28 - Outro
=== Credits ===
Some music provided by Epidemic Sound - www.epidemicsound.com/referra... (Referral Link)
Other music from original soundtracks of games shown
Video credits - pastebin.com/iDY3GaAn - Hry
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 âtheyâre not selling it anymore, so just pirate it.â
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
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!
â@@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
â@@AdeonWriter unexpected factorial
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.
@@px2059 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.
â@@px2059 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.
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 CZcamsr 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. đȘ
Thank you
Thanks a lot. â€
Bravo.
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 itâs twice in the list but this is better
I've literally played doom on the interface of a robotic lawn mower :D
Remember. Piracy isnât stealing if there isnât a way to pay for it. Itâs just art.
I expected him to say something but he didnt
â@@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...
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
This is truly the Dark Souls of GMTK videos
This video makes you truly FEEL like Mark Brown
Really itâs like Halo 2 meets Halo 3
â@@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.
I kind of love the fact that you recommend the Sims 3 instead of the latest Sims 4.
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
â@@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.
Well, this title explains why the video lasts for 2 hours
2 * 60 / 100 = 1.2 min per game
â@@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 Iâm an hour late
@@aqua-bery He was correct, though. 120 minutes / 100 games = 1,2 minutes per game. ^^
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 CZcams 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?
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â@@meee_5155 i think thats a bot...
Surprised no Ori
Where are the rest of the timestamps?
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
Surprised Baba Is You wasn't on here with how the level selection screens turn into levels themselves
Wait what?
@@jasperdriessens2421 play baba is you! amazing puzzle game
â@@jasperdriessens2421you 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 đ„Č
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.
1:41:40 I think the best thing Kerbal Space Program achieved was to *make an incredibly hard to learn subject fun, by catastrophically failing at it fun.* KSP has one of the *steepest* learning curves of any game, like, ever, because it's quite literally rocket science, and basically no skills can be transferred from having played other games because of the unique control schemes a space simulator game requires. To the point where you can't get anything meaningful done without HOURS of figuring stuff out, where %90+ of the player-base has never even left Kerbin's Sphere of Influence to go out to the other planets. But the process of learning is made so much fun, and the sense of accomplishment you get when you achieve what you set out to do is so incredibly potent, that you can't put the game down if you somehow manage to get your first rocket to orbit.
If there was a list for "most positive impact made to the real world", KSP would reign at the top for inspiring countless people to pursue engineering(aerospace or otherwise) as a career.
There's a reason why Dwarf Fortress has a motto of "Losing is fun".
In general, it doesn't matter how much players fail, so much as how much fun they have failing.
I just want to add to your comment, KSP is the first time I truely started to understand things like orbital mechanics as a lay person. I can't do the math on that, but KSP showed me how to feel it in my bones! Oh god my bones. ( More struts!)
I prefer Juno: New Origins myself, but my sentiment is the same!
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!
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
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.
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)
"Tetris is a perfect game" while I sit, playing Tetris in the browser, avoiding my tasks, late at night
Feels good man
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 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.
This is a next level way to procrastinate on your own game đ
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
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.
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 donât have steam. Lol
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 âoh so thatâs why game X did Y - but wait if this game did Y, theyâd have problem A, oh wait game X also did Z which at first seemed unrelated to Y *but it solves problem A*â.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
This is an amazing resource! So many good ideas all in one place.
This is the last place I thought I could find you
Long video format is under appreciated. Tank you for this gem.
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.
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.
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
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.
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"
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.
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 read the title as; Mark Brownâs top 100 video game recommendations! đ Thank you. đâ€ïž
Congratulations on your 10th anniversary! đ
I think that, in terms of Rhythm Games, A Dance of Fire and Ice (7th Beat Games, 2019) manages to combine the visual with the audio in a beautiful harmony. Each beat is tied to a physical piece of the track on a larger string of pieces that your two orbiting balls traverse. I love how certain beat patterns are also tied to a physical combination of tracks, so memorizing an entire level in order to complete it feels like applying your prior knowledge from past levels, making it more manageable. A triangle will always be a triangle, the only thing that changes is the bpm! The game, as far as I am aware, is only on Steam. Highly recommend!
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
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.
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
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.
I'm studying game design to make my own game, and this video happened to be very useful. Nothing like learning from the past!
Half Life was number 13 on the list. List has 100 games. 100-13=87. Video was released 16.05. 16+5=21. 87-21=66. 66 is 33x2. 2. There were 2 Half Lifes. 2x33. 33. 2 half lifes times 33. 2 times the number 3. 3. Half Life 3 confirmed.
hmm, wouldn't Half-Life Alyx mess up your math?
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 donât want to bother you, but in case you have it, that would be wonderful!
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 didnât see was Transistor. Thereâs 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.
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!
>tfw no Baba Is You, the best puzzle game of the past 10 years
This isn't a "top 100 games" list
Yeah but maybe he didnât learn anything about game design from the fantastic game Baba is You.
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.
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!
Just wanted to say that I really enjoy the presentation and insight of your videos. This was a great watch. I've never made any serious progress in game design, and likely never will, but the topic fascinates me and this video has inspired me to at least open up a game design document I've been keeping for the past few years and jot down one new idea, so thank you for that.
I had always imagined it would be better to play the best example of each of these concepts to learn game design instead of the progenitors. Open to ideas!
Everything else: "Here's why this game mechanic is good and smart in this game."
Fortnite: "It just updates alot."
lol I hate that game
Mark chose just one aspect that is special about this specific game.
Is like saying that Mark thinks Bioshock's only good trait is having audio diaries. It's not, it's just the single trait that Mark chose to address.
@@TheCaliforniaHP me too
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.
Thank you so much for this video! Every one of your commentaries was a delight to hear â€
"[game] is available on the Switch Online service" I can't wait to come back to this video in another few years to find out that is no longer true.
The best way to learn about game design is to play a lot of games.
And learning about game design and how to think like a designer makes playing games a lot more interesting.
This might be my favorite video of yours... impressive dedication and passion put to it. I also want to say that the things you've highlighted about Hitman are also the same strong points that I truly enjoyed in Mark Of The Ninja: The mastering of levels and "creation of the perfect choreography" in order to become the perfect assassin... so yeah, now I need to play Hitman hahaha.
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!!
should've put hitman at number 47.
I now have an excuse to stay up till 2:00am
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.
The music of the games in the background was amazing thank you for all of the feels
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.
dear mr. toolkit,
thx for the video.
best regards,
Please, Mr Toolkit was his father, he's just Game.
This video is amazing, congrats on 10 years!
Great vid! I am amused by how you described the Beginners Guide though, itâs a game that made me cry but it does have some fun bits for sure
Man this is the most complete video about videogames a human mind could ever come up with. I'll send this to anyone that says "I don't know what to play". I am grateful I have discovered you channel now more than ever
2 hour video lets goo!
This video was a massive delight and is the best kind of fuel for being in the games industry - Massive thank you for making it @GMTK
Omg, amazing video with amazing titles, thanks for sharing all of these with us â€
Finally, the GMTK Cinematic Adaptation Iâve been waiting for
Iâm expecting at least one Metroid and one Zelda game on this list.
I bet that Doom is there too.
Great video! Must have been sooooo much work to put this together, but watching it has been very interesting.
After watching this channel for years, this was an incredible journey of both discovery and reminiscence. Thank you for your efforts, Mark! You never fail to inspire and bring a smile to my face :D
2:18 or emulate, that works also
Here's my take on what I've learned about boiling down game design to its core elements from playing lots of games, condensed:
1. DISCOVERY. Learning how to play the game, learning what the game has to offer, and finding whatever secrets you can in it.
2. TENSION. Learning how to play the game 'well' and problem solving in it.
3. FEEDBACK/REWARD. A sense of accomplishment from overcoming the obstacles (and how the game is teaching you when you're doing something right or wrong). There are many ways you can do the latter to keep a player coming back, but IMO, the best of them can be as simple as "More gameplay".
4. IMAGINATION: How can the player "Make their own fun" in the game, be it tailoring their own difficulty/strategies, or just plain screwing around?
BONUS: NOVELTY--What makes this game stand out from any of the millions of other games out there today?
IMO, the best games are those where a player has the option to create their own strategies and solutions to solving a games challenges that aren't the most obvious methods, by creatively using whatever the game gives them and then tailoring their play styles and level of challenge with it. Mario 64, Final Fantasy VII, Tetris, Street Fighter II, Minecraft, MYST, Star Wars Battlefront, the classic board game Go, are all great examples of this. The variety of options (while staying focused within the games core design to give a sense of context and direction) makes the games infinitely replayable as a result due to how many different ways you can go about your adventure in them, because theres ultimately no 'wrong' way to play em. Not to mention, the contradictions and fun of pushing the games rules to their breaking point and beyond is a fun meta challenge in itself. There's a reason glitch hunting and speed running is so huge in gaming now!
TLDR: A great game allows the player to make their own fun!
Took me a few days to get through this, but man what a great video this was. Thank you.
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.
watch this become mandatory viewing on every game design college course.
It's a fantastic video, but WHOA boy does it make me feel old and not American. Absolutely very specific to GMTK's experience. (Not that it needs to be anything else! It's games that taught THEM to design after all.)
@@valkyrie-randgris Going by the accent, I donât think GMTK is American eitherâŠ
@@valkyrie-randgris pretty sure mark is based in the uk đ
(before primer comment)
I some how know that this video will be really long like 2 hours and 13 minutes
Not that anyone publicly announced anything i just know
how
A long but extremely worthwhile watch, thanks for taking the time to make this
This was an amazing video! I am a beginner in the game-making world, and I hope I'll do something interesting in the future! Discovering your channel was the best thing that could have happened to me, since there is a lot to learn from your analysis videos and your dev blogs of Mind Over Magnet. I'm really thankful for your work.
There is not a lot to take from rhythm games that we can apply to other genres, so I understand the lack of this type of game in the video. However, two games I think are worth mentioning are BPM: Bullets Per Minute, a game that combines first-person shooter and rhythm, and Crypt of the Necrodancer, a really fun and unique rhythm roguelike.
The fact that Tunic is in the miniature tells more about the video than the title
This was a much less personal list than I was expecting. Like was space invaders actually where he learned about this style of difficulty curve, or is he reapplying a lesson he learned from like klonoa to the oldest most classic example of this that he could think of?
Edit: maybe this list would read better to me if he took more time to narrativize his experience throughout games in the actual order he played them
It definitely seems like the first 50 or so are just a list of the most famous games of all time. Maybe he felt a need to cover all of gaming history, and had to look up examples from before his time to do so.
Definitely a bit of a mishmash between "early venerated example", "personally relevant" and "this game is important because of the effect it had on the culture" (Looking at you Cookie Clicker, Among Us and Fortnite). But then, I honestly have no idea how you'd go about making any of those three lists by themselves without your own bias seeping in (or cultural osmosis in the case of the second list) or tangling yourself up in academia level research that would add very little to the point of the video, so I can hardly begrudge them that. Lol.
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.
I managed to get around to watching this after being busy for the past few days, and it was very informative and helpful to see how these games can help to shape a designer's perspective and approach, especially trying to learn more designer-oriented sensibilities to help give my programming prototypes some more direction and structure
Team fortress 2 is not about counters but rather about every class having its own distinct role
... which counters the role of the other classes (in its most basic form).
I will watch it. I do not care about Ghost of Tsushima.
this channel is a blessing, thank you GMTK â€
I was hoping you would mention rainworld either for itâs procedural animation or itâs ability for you to truly feel like just a part of a living ecosystem. I take a lot of inspiration from it because I havenât felt anything like it.
Iâd also like to mention its ability to make you feel the passage of time through the dlc. Itâs very cool.