Not the best, but the most important: My 6 video games I always return to
Today isn’t about the big new releases or any news. No, it’s about favorite games. I’ve been sitting in front of the PC since I was just four years old, starting back then with playful chess-learning software, but over time, more and new games like Minecraft and many others were added.
Today isn’t about the best games of all time, but about the games that hold the greatest emotional value for me, that have shaped me, and are the ones I always return to. But of course, I’ll also touch on their gameplay and what makes them so special. My name is Kilian or Tux1243, and here are my top 6 video games of all time.
1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – My Childhood Dream
To start things off, it’s clearly The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for me. This game is an open-world RPG with a medieval/fantasy setting. The game offers a wonderful world with different races, dragons, magic, and so much more. Phrases like “Hey You, You’re Finally Awake” immediately tell every Skyrim fan, here we go again.
With the new DLCs, a lot of new content was always added, so it never got boring. And that’s still true today. Yes, Skyrim has been re-released about 10 times, and you can think what you want about that, but the game is great. It offers an incredible amount of content on its own, but as soon as you discover what mods are, this RPG offers endless possibilities.
I played this game for hours on end during my childhood at my brother-in-law’s place. I explored this huge open world, where I kept finding new missions and NPCs. Of course, I was already a stealth-archer back then, and once you start with that, it’s really hard to ever play the game differently. Skyrim was my first RPG and immediately made me a huge fan. Even if Skyrim gave me a nightmare or two back in the day. I could never get enough of this game.
2. League of Legends: My Love-Hate Relationship
Yes, unfortunately, League of Legends is also on this list. This game is a MOBA from Riot Games. In the game, it’s a classic 5 vs 5, with players fighting against each other on three different lanes, and the goal is to destroy the enemy base. LoL offers more than 170 playable characters, all of which have four different abilities and a passive, with a few exceptions. The game offers exciting fights and also has a large tactical layer, how you manage your lane, how you handle gold, and which global advantages you gain are all part of the big picture and everything is important for winning the game.
I first played League of Legends in 2016 and had no idea what I was doing. I played it with some former friends I had met through Overwatch. Over time, I made new friendships through League, some of which continue to this day. You always meet new people, and through the game, friendships or even more can develop. But unfortunately, this game quickly becomes addictive and, in many cases, unsatisfying, which is why I often take long breaks from it. League is definitely the game where I have the most hours after some idle games, but it’s by no means my number 1.
3. Minecraft: The Canvas of Infinite Creativity
Next up, we have probably one of the most famous games of all time, Minecraft. A game where you can let your creativity run wild and replicate almost any object with blocks. Whether alone, on a server with friends, or in PvP, Minecraft is always fun. But it’s most beautiful together with friends as a group, building something together. But even if you want magic or extremely technical machines in your game, that’s possible, because there are thousands of mod packs that bring extreme content into the game.
Minecraft was my first “real” game that I played back then. It started at my brother-in-law’s place via a LAN connection over Hamachi—does anyone else remember that? Together we had our survival world, where we built our little house in the jungle. Later, I played the game with many friends from school, and we were on servers and competed in PvP. But Minecraft is a game that always comes back; every two years, you have your two-week phase where you open a Minecraft server with your friends again and just have fun. That’s what makes Minecraft so special to me, and this game certainly never gets boring.
4. Europa Universalis 4 (EU4): A Masterpiece of Grand Strategy
Now we come to what I consider the best strategy game. In the game, you can freely choose one of the many nations and then write your own history. You can wage wars, form alliances, trade, expand your infrastructure, and much more. Even after more than 500 hours, I was far from having learned all the mechanics in the game. Now the successor Europa Universalis 5 has been released, which will require even more time to learn. But this franchise is definitely worth sinking hundreds of hours into. Because there is so much to do and discover.
I got this game from my brother-in-law as well, and he spent hours teaching it to me. After that, I taught it to other friends, and soon we had a large multiplayer group. Even after many years, I still meet up with him online from time to time to play a session for several hours, and now I’m trying to get into the newest installment.
5. The Metro Series: The Russian Apocalypse
Next up, we have the entire Metro series, which includes Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, and Metro Exodus. The Metro series is a post-apocalyptic FPS series based on a book. The game offers a suffocating atmosphere with scarce resources in the subway tunnels of the Moscow Metro after a nuclear war. You are constantly on edge, and the scarce resources make every bullet important. You fight against other humans like bandits or the Reds (Fascists) and monsters created by the radiation.
I first discovered Metro 2033 through a Free to Keep event on Epic Games. When I tried it out a few weeks later, I loved it and played it through in just a few days. After that, the second part followed immediately. And then, finally, Metro Exodus arrived as an excellent game. After playing the games, I also bought the book series by Dmitry Glukhovsky, but unfortunately, I haven’t finished reading it yet. But that’s supposed to change sometime next year.
6. Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord: The Hybrid Warlord Fantasy
The last game on this list is Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord. In this game, you take on the role of a knight and can move freely on the map. You can recruit troops in villages and cities and fight with them. Over time and with higher levels, your armies grow larger, and you can defeat stronger opponents. You can also join a kingdom or found your own, thereby recruiting new clans. The game also offers a complex economy and strategic first-/third-person battles. A few days ago, the game was expanded with the new War Sails DLC, which brings ships and naval battles into the game.
I played the predecessor early on. I invested many hours in it, but not nearly as many as in the newest installment, Mount and Blade 2 Bannerlord. I started many campaigns and was always a merchant at first, earning an incredible amount of money. Then I took on a few quests, which raised my Charm skill, and with this combo, I was later able to lure many lords into my own kingdom. I loved my archers, and every loss was painful; I associate many fond memories with this game.
Honorable Mention
There are three more games that unfortunately didn’t make this list but are still important to me. First up is the idle game Melvor Idle, which is inspired by Runescape and is a game where I constantly get lost in its complexity and depth.
Other games I find incredibly good are Elden Ring / Soulslikes in general, and Clair Obscur Expedition 33, my Game of the Year 2025. Both of these games are incredibly amazing, both graphically and gameplay-wise. However, they have less emotional value, which is why they didn’t make this list, even though these games are objectively better than most of the others. And that brings us directly to the conclusion.
Conclusion: Defining Our Digital Happiness
Everyone has different reasons why games mean something to them, be it because of old memories or other reasons. Everyone has their own favorite games that give them comfort and to which they always return. That’s why it’s important to always remember these games and keep them playable, as many of the old games are no longer playable on new platforms, making games almost unplayable in some cases.
Hey, I’m Kilian, but online you’ll probably know me as “Tux1243.” I've been part of the team for almost two years now, always trying to keep you in the loop with the latest and coolest gaming news. I also have a huge passion for doing deep dives and detailed analyses of entire game series and franchises. I love getting to the bottom of things and exploring the little details and backstories that make game worlds so fascinating.
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