What to Play

I get asked all the time what games I'd recommend and it got to the point where I was rambling nonstop because there's JUST. SO. MANY. GOOD. GAMES. So instead of doing that I'll just send people here. All the games are divided by experience level with games since that seems to be the biggest factor in what I'd recommend you try playing.

All of these games are single player games I personally enjoyed. Obviously there are more good games out there but these are the ones that brought me enough joy to want to encourage others to try.

⭐ - GOAT
🏳️‍🌈 - LGBT Characters
📱 - Recommended for Mobile

Sections
Never Played
Some Experience
Fairly Advanced
Hardcore Gamer
Okay, hear me out...

Never Played

This is where to start if you have never played a single game in your life. They have relatively simple controls and won't expect you to react quickly at any point. (I'd still recommend this to experienced gamers, though, they're all excellent)

Florence 📱

Florence is more of an interactive graphic novel about young love than a game, but if this is your first time ever trying out games, it's my number one pick. The music and animations are lovely and it ends up teaching you a lot of basic gameplay elements you'll see in other games. It plays very well on mobile.

Oxenfree

If you liked the witty banter or paranormal mystery of Stranger Things, this is the right kind of game for you.

Hidden Folks

Untitled Goose Game

Her Story

Donut County 📱

Railbound 📱

Thank Goodness You're Here

TheMonument LastValley Campfire📱

Chants of Sennaar

Secret of Monkey Island

Stardew Valley🏳️‍🌈

ABZU

Some Experience

Okay, you've beaten a few games and know what all the buttons on the controller do. Here's a set of games you can sink your teeth in to.

Outer Wilds ⭐

This is the greatest game of all time. There is so much I want to say about it but anything I tell you will just diminish the magic of this absolute masterpiece. If you can handle games that involve moving through zero gravity space then this is an absolute must-buy. Be sure to get the Archeologist Edition because the DLC is just as incredible as the base game

Sunless Skies🏳️‍🌈

If you're in to surreal paranormal stories (e.g. Welcome to Nightvale), this will be right up your alley. While docked in one of the numerous floating islands, you'll read through beautiful prose of your adventures in this fantasy victorian setting as you collect supplies, crew, and new quests. In between, you'll pilot a flying train as you try to survive the many surreal and cosmic horrors in the fog.

If you're not sure if the writing style is for you, I'd recommend trying out Fallen London. It's free and made by the same creators.

Portal 1 and 2

Strange Horticulture

Animal Well

Slay the Spire 📱

Life is Strange ⭐🏳️‍🌈

Guardians of the Galaxy

What Remains of Edith Finch

Bugsnax 🏳️‍🌈

CONTROL

Marvel's Spiderman

Fairly Advanced

Alright, you have some experience under your belt and are ready for a challenge.

Infra ⭐

INFRA is a game where you play a structural engineer taking photos of crumbling infrastructure. Okay that sounds boring but it's really not. This is one of my all-time favorite games!

The game will have you moving through incredible recreations of abandoned buildings of all kinds and you'll need to solve real-world style puzzles to progress. Think trying to get to the third floor of an office building where the stairs and the elevator have collapsed. It's also set in Finland and you can learn just how seriously they take their saunas.

God of War

Red Dead Redemption 2⭐

Jedi Knight: Fallen Order

Baldur's Gate 3⭐🏳️‍🌈

Subnautica

HITMAN Word of Assassination

Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

Hardcore Gamer

Ready to put yourself to the test and die a lot? These games are for you!

Hollow Knight

Lies of P

Noita

Celeste 🏳️‍🌈

Elden Ring

Enter the Gungeon

Spelunky 1 and 2

Hotline Miami

Okay, hear me out...

These games are definitely an acquired taste. They take a little bit of patience to get in to and may have some jankiness, but you won't regret it if you put in the work and looked past some flaws.

Creaks

The Case of the Golden Idol

Immortality 🏳️‍🌈

Unavowed

Dave Gilbert is known for making some very mature and story-rich point-and-click adventure games of incredibly high quality. Unavowed is easily his best game so far.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Thief Gold: The Black Parade

This is a mod for an old stealth game called Thief: The Dark Project. It adds 10 news levels and is a VAST improvement from the original game. Despite the older engine, Thief still holds up and the use of modern day hardware allows the designers to create some absolutely MASSIVE maps. You can get a copy of Thief here.