100. Diablo (Blizzard Entertainment, 1997)
Warcraft and Lost Vikings were fairly popular games in their time, but Diablo is the game that really put Blizzard on the map. Taking the core concept of randomly generated dungeon crawlers like Rogue, adding an action bent and dousing the whole thing in a heavy grim atmosphere, it definitely awed people at a glance. It only became more immersive thanks to its fantastic soundtrack and a surprisingly good story with some high quality voiceover, and the fact that you got a random shuffle of quests, items and spells each time you played lent it quite a bit of replay value. It had an official (though non-canon) expansion in Hellfire as well, adding in several new quests and three new playable classes (though you do have to do some file-editing to make them all accessible). While largely overshadowed by its sequel these days, Diablo is a historic game that is not to be missed.
99. The Oregon Trail (MECC, 1985)
If you're of a certain age you probably remember playing this one in your school days, mostly because it's one of those rare educational games that was actually fun. In fact, it was actually rather like a roguelike in many respects - you picked one of three career paths (determining your starting money and score multiplier at the end), dealt with a lot of randomized hazards and splitting paths, and tried to reach Oregon with as many resources intact and people still alive as you could. There were legions of updates, remakes and rereleases over the years (still continuing to this day), but the fact that this game still remains popular despite having iterations going all the way back to 1971 speaks to its timeless charm. It it's got tons of challenge and a simple yet addictive gameplay loop, and that's enough to make it an immortal classic.
98. MDK (Shiny Entertainment, 1997)
A downright manic shooter-platformer-puzzler hybrid that could only have come to us from the company that created Earthworm Jim. The Giger-esque visuals and story about enormous alien mobile cities strip-mining the planet make it sound pretty grim and nightmarish on paper, but the quirky humor throughout adds plenty of levity, with shooting galleries of aliens that childishly taunt the player, clever moments like having to disguise yourself as a robot to sneak through a heavily guarded corridor, and hilarious powerups and weapons like "the World's Most Interesting Bomb" and "the Very Large Hamster Hammer". It is pretty short at only six stages, but it's a trip while it lasts.
97. Simcity (Maxis, 1989)
The story of Simcity is a famous one - Will Wright developed the top-down shooter "Raid on Bungeling Bay" for the Commodore 64, but had more fun designing maps and upgrading the editor than playing the game itself. Said maps were surprisingly intricate and realistically designed - there are plane runways and seaports, networks of roads and buildings, rivers and inlets, radar dishes tracking your movement and even boats ferrying supplies between the islands, so it made the game world feel more dynamic and alive than most top-down shooters. Eventually he expanded that idea into a full-fledged city planning and building simulation, and the end result was SimCity. It doesn't sound like a particularly fun game on paper - constructing your metropolis while managing crime, pollution, traffic, sim health, entertainment and land value - but its addictive design and random disastrous events like fires, floods, tornadoes and monster attacks kept it fresh and engaging. It has also since been made open-source (albeit under the name "Micropolis" due to copyright concerns) and ported to just about every platform imaginable, so you have no excuse not to check it out in some form
!
96. Out of This World (Delphine Software, 1991)
Also known as "Another World", this was a game created from the get-go to be a Dragon's Lair-esque cinematic action adventure on a much lower budget. Utilizing vector graphics instead of drawn cels, the game's visual design had relatively little detail but very smooth animation, giving it a nice cinematic flair regardless. The end result was certainly distinctive and memorable, adding a grim yet beautiful aesthetic to the game and its many, many death scenes. The gameplay was also quite solid, if heavily trial-and-error based, as you tried to solve puzzles, evade enemies and figure out the correct sequence of events in order to survive another melee with aliens and see your way to the end of this strange tale.
95. Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo's Curse (Viacom New Media, 1994)
A tie-in to the Nickelodeon horror anthology show, which plays out much like an episode of it, even featuring the Midnight Society for the framing device around the story (with the player telling the Tale of Orpheo's Curse in hopes of becoming a member). The game itself is also a surprisingly good point-and-click adventure, with environments rendered from still photos and CGI, a lot of bizarre sights to see and some eerie music making for a creepy and tense experience. Even the acting in-game is surprisingly good and the puzzles actually make sense, so it's a good experience despite being a horror themed title for kids. Sadly it hasn't resurfaced on any digital platforms owing to licensing issues, but if you can find a copy it's a pretty fun adventure.
94. Kingsway (Andrew Morrish, 2017)
Roguelikes are definitely a hallmark of PC gaming, bringing a unique brand of challenge and staggering replayability that few other genres can even hope to match. I'm not the biggest fan, that said - they generally have to have a pretty unique hook to hold my attention for very long, otherwise it's just monster bashing with 8000% more cheap deaths mixed in. Kingsway is one that certainly has a unique presentation, putting you at the helm of a Windows-95-esque operating system to travel about the world, manage your inventory and stats, accept quests (via a messaging app) and even play background music on a Winamp look-alike. Combat similarly has enemies pop up in windows that constantly move about the screen, with you having to hit buttons to attack, defend and use abilities, as well as evade their attacks (in the form of a popup that flies across the screen or arcs, simulating things like firing arrows or thrown bombs). A clever idea that's executed well, and the end result is some good tongue-in-cheek entertainment.
93. Horizon's Gate (Rad Codex, 2020)
A
game that has been described by many as "Final Fantasy Tactics by way
of Uncharted Waters", and upon playing it, I can confirm that is indeed
the case. You build a character, take part in turn-based battles both
on foot and by sea, unlock new classes as the game progresses, and can
basically explore, trade or become a privateer at your leisure, taking
part in ship battles or legitimate business to earn loot for later
upgrades. Inventory management and item manipulation is simple as can
be too, using a keyboard-and-mouse interface that reminds me a bit of
the classic Ultimas. It's certainly not the deepest example of anything
it attempts to be, but it is a lot of fun, and really, that's what I
come to a game for anyway. Sacrilege, I know.
92. Worms: Armageddon (Team-17, 1999)
Just one game in the long-running Worms turn-based warfare strategy series, and the one widely regarded as the best in the franchise. Unlike many of its sequels, it gives players the option to have teams larger than four worms (six or eight, depending on the number of players in the game), allows for custom team voices and terrain to be imported and has just the right blend of weapons, gadgets and options to make for lengthy, yet engaging online battles - from airstrikes to poisonous skunks to flamethrowers to Street Fighter style martial arts, you won't be wanting for ways to lay down the pain. Not to mention that it's always more fun dropping a concrete donkey on a bigger group than a smaller one, of course. A standout in the turn-based artillery combat genre.
91. Organ Trail (The Men Who Wear Many Hats, 2010)
A game which is very clearly a parody of/tribute to the classic "The Oregon Trail", though it does much to set itself apart too and become a fine title in its own right. Visually it resembles its predecessor with its low-color visuals and hatched graphics to simulate shading, but gameplay-wise it's a very different beast. Instead of a wagon you drive a beaten-up car, and you'll frequently have to choose between different routes, fend off attacking bikers or hordes of zombies, and occasionally shoot it out with bandits. Radiation, infection and vehicle breakdowns are constant threats, and scavenging enough supplies to make it to the end is an endeavor in itself. A game that melds humor, grim atmosphere and a constant sense of unease and uncertainty together in perfect fashion, Organ Trail is a fine homophonic homage.
