I love video games. I’ve played video games for years. I’ve played them on computers, home consoles, hand-held consoles, phones and more. I’ve also played a ton of different genres from side scrollers to first person shooters to adventure games and point and click and more. I think that video games are such a unique media avenue that can tell such amazing stories. Of course, video games don’t have to tell stories, they can be for pure entertainment value and I’m definitely no stranger to those. But today, I’m here to talk about a few of my favorites and some of my recommendations.
Peggle Deluxe and Nights are two classic Popcap games that I’ve been playing since they released back in 2007 and 2008 respectively. These games are simple. It’s a casual adventure puzzle game. You aim, shoot and try to clear all the pegs on the board. I’ve sunk tons of time into these games. We used to own the physical discs for these games but have since lost them and I recently purchased them on steam. They’re easy to play, have little to no story so you’re not investing tons of time into some weird complicated lore. I like Peggle because despite the minimal story, they have cool and unique characters with motivations and backstories. Peggle Deluxe and Nights are a lot of fun and you can replay them a hundred times. I definitely prefer Nights to Deluxe. The level designs are better, all the characters return from the first game with all new themes, it’s a really complete game experience and it’s great for casual play. You can find these games on steam for $4.99 CAD each or you can buy a bundle pack for $7.48
Noita is chaotic. But a good kind of chaotic. My favorite kind of chaotic. It’s described as an action-adventure roguelite game. It uses procedurally generated areas where every pixel is physically simulated as you play which means that every single time you play. You play as Minä or Noita, a purple clad wizard. You start with a single wand and a single potion and are left to explore the caves ahead of you. You explore through 8 different main biomes and from there, there are also secret areas for you to explore. Noita is by no means an easy game. You will die a million different times and a million different ways to the enemies named after Finnish mythological creatures and even to yourself. I found this game from just browsing youtube and having it jump out at me. I like that this game is unforgiving and it’s difficult. It’s really fun to go in blind with zero knowledge of what you’re actually doing. I’ve managed to rack up 278 hours in this game over the course of the past year and with good reason. This game is awesome and has tons of replayability. With each game being randomly generated, you’ll never experience the same scenario twice. You’ll start with different wands, different potions and the landscape will be totally different. It’s currently sold on steam for $22.79 CAD but it’s worth every penny.
Taiko No Tatsujin is one of my favorite rhythm games. It’s a taiko drum inspired rhythm game with simple controls and catchy songs. You have two inputs, Don which are red notes and Ka which are blue notes. You hit these in sequence as you play a variety of songs. I love rhythm games. I love the music and how as you play, you climb difficulty levels and from there, your skill level increases. What I absolutely love about Taiko No Tatsujin is how deceptive it can be. While some rhythm games are difficult and you have a ton of notes to hit, Taiko No Tatsujin has two notes! It’s easy! Wrong. Taiko No Tatsujin is hard, borderline impossible in the harder difficulties. You will be given six notes, stacked on top of each other and you have to hit them in quick succession. This game is hard and I love it. It’s a ton of fun and it’s super satisfying. When you’ve been playing the same level for three hours and you finally get that full combo, it feels awesome. This game is available for $64.99 on Nintendo Switch.
Super Metroid is by far my favorite game on this list. It’s a classic platformer from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. After the first two Metroid games, Super Metroid came out and did it all better. Super Metroid has minimal story, you don’t need the prior games to understand the story of Super Metroid. It’s a pretty easy game to just get dropped into. The controls are easy and pretty standard for the platforming genre. You play as Samus Aran, Space Bounty Hunter and your mission is to travel across planet Zebes, killing enemies, bosses and anyone that stands in your way. Throughout this game you have four major bosses and one final boss to beat. This game has tons of value. You can play it a ton of different ways. You can beat the bosses in any order at any pace you want. Depending on how long it takes you to beat it, you’ll get different ending screens. You can even choose how many items to pick up depending on how easy or hard you want your mission to be. What I love about this game is, well, everything. The music, the design, the gameplay, the action. I’ve played this game a handful of times and while when I play, I like to explore every inch of the map and take my sweet time playing, speedrunners have figured out how to beat this game in as little as 40 minutes! Super Metroid is a classic game that’s held up even today! If you’re going to play any game on this list, Super Metroid is the one to play. You can find this game through SNES Online through Nintendo Switch for $4.99 a month.
Despite my variety of taste in games and the fact that some of them are a bit more difficult than others, I hope you can find one that fits your liking!