The 2025 Desert Island Video Game Draft

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Title: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Format: PS2
Year of Release: 2001
Developer: Neversoft

Theee AAAACCCEEE of SPAAAAADES!! Skated every minute I could as a teen, so this series hit close to home. 3 features my favorite level (Airport) and soundtrack entry (my intro to Motörhead). Also appreciated the series’ inclusion of real world skateparks (shoutout Burnside!).

Remake/re-release out in three days! Theee AAAACCCEEE of SPAAAAADES!!

Never played v3 but v2 was great.
 
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Pick 5; UNDERTALE (we’ll go PC, but it’s on everything)

I was dead set on a different game until about 30 minutes ago while driving home, when suddenly this gem of a game popped into my head. Taking it back to a retro style of yesteryear, this game plays with your emotions throughout to tell one of the best stories I have ever played. I can think back to story beats and relive the chills thinking about it. And there are multiple ways to play it, though I haven’t been able to do one way because I love these characters too much. This game had so much hype by the Internet when it came out. I was actually initially out on it because I didn’t believe this simple looking game could be everything folk were saying it was… but I eventually caved and I’m so glad I did.

A unique battle system, engaging & entertaining characters every single step of the way, puzzles, one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard… this game has it all.

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SimCity 2000 Special Edition
Developer: Maxis
Year: 1995
Platform: PC

The granddaddy of all "recent" sim building games, I fell in love with this the moment I started playing. As an engineer by trade, this game speaks to my desire for order, organization, efficiency, and "watching something I made just work".

While I've never played this particular version (only the "basic" version of the game), if I am stuck on an island I definitely want to have the extra content to play around with (SimCity Urban Renewal Kit (SCURK), Scenarios Vol. I: Great Disasters, and bonus cities and artwork).

So, any time I get tired of shooting things (or shooting holes in things to jump through), I can sit down with this and build something cool instead.

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@Löwenherz - go!
 
This draft has been strange for me. I assume that the games I and my friends play and love are the same as everyone else's (more like the movie drafts, for instance). Then we start and other than a few selections (Tetris and Super Mario Bros in particular) my list is still fairly intact. But I also don't know if the next few games are "safe" or if they might go quickly. I have no idea how "deep" some other lists are before there will be more overlap. Hard to get a handle on what happens next....
 
All right everyone, I had a plan here: A modern, technically spectacular, immersive experience ready to go OR a legendary classic originally slated as a back-up to Hollow Knight that I did not expect to make it back to me in the fifth round. I would have been ecstatic for either here and up until an hour ago, the debate still raged in my mind whether I should just go with my initial strategy.

But that of course was predicated on this title being long gone before this point.

I swear I’m not being swayed
By the people’s demand for accessible nostalgia. Even though this game was such a juggernaut in the golden era, an entire crappy 80s “kids on bikes-ish” movie staring the Wonder Years’ Fred Savage and a young Christen Slater stormed American theaters purely to promote it - quite possibly the most hyped video game in history to that point.

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Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES) - 1990

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More to come in the morning.

@whitechocolate
 

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Kenshi - PC, 2018

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Kenshi is a wonderful, bug filled, giant sandbox where the player is tasked with overcoming adversity to achieve their goals. Those goals are up to the player to decide. Players can overthrow theocracy, end slavery, be a slave trader, become a drug kingpin, acquire the rarest strongest weapons in the land, become a farmer and buy property in towns to set up shop counters for selling food, become a bounty hunter, lead a clan of cannibals, and more. What illuminates the game's greatness, is that the player will find themself naturally inspired to come up with goals and pursue them. While doing so, choices and events come together to create tales within tales special to each play through.

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The world is as unforgiving as it is vast. New players with no knowledge of the land will often find themselves getting their food stolen, limbs hacked off, put into slavery, and eaten alive. Characters start out weak, but the world opens up as strength is gained. Dozens of NPCs can be recruited to help players achieve their ends, all under player control. Each NPC can be assigned jobs that can be prioritized, automated, and toggled on and off. Players can build self sustaining outposts with buildings and infrastructure. Outpost locations become a personal choice. There are no perfect locations. There are dangerous factions, beasts, lack of resources, dangerous climates, lack of fertility, regulations. But there are also nice views.

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