I sure am glad that the list was increased to twenty picks from the previous fifteen in 2006. Coming up with thirty games would of been very easy. I wish I could of added more new games but the only two new games that I listed this year were Ankh and Dreamfall. Have many new games did you add this year? Did you list what you consider to be the best twenty games of all time or did you leave off older classic games with inferior graphics and go with newer titles? The list always gives me a few hidden gems each year to checkout that I missed on my own.

I'm still working on my list, but I list my favorites of all time regardless on age.

Ana

Well me basically i didn't have a pc of my own when more classic games were out. I am only 22 now and most of the older classic games i haven't had the chance to really play as i find it difficult to get my hands on them. But i am sure that if i had they would have been on my list.

I had a really tough time with my list, as there were another twenty or so games I would have listed that were on a par, or close to it, with my posted list. A few of the games I listed were rare and/or not easy to get running, either, but with Virtual PC and DOSBox available, they are doable on Windows XP. For myself I have found that motivation was everything in terms of finding them and then getting them to run, i.e., how badly did I want to play them? And the answer was, very much so!

At any rate, I made my choices the same way that Ana is doing.

I left out some and kept some that I thought posed various problems in either finding them (master of dimensions or Gene Machine for example) or getting them to run on XP without tweaking (the Zorks), or that had a difficult sequence that I've seen a lot of hair pulling over (Sherlock Holmes: Rose Tattoo). Like Marian, the ones I left out were on par with others I did include = more or less a flip of the coin on maybe five of them.

Oh, and a question for you, Space Quest - you didn't pick any Space Quest games?

This is the first time I made a list, I thought it would be easy to put down the games I liked the most It was not!I went by the ones that I really enjoyed,and that they we're no problems to run on XP!

I could of listed 40 games.

I like to choose games that people can buy easily (if a game is available, new, at an online store I count that as easy).

I also like to choose games whose developers are still creating games for us. It's a small thing, but I think of a vote as a form of encouragement for active developers.

I have my list down to 25, and I'm playing some of the games I started and liked but never finished to see which of the five I have to eliminate.

I should probably eliminate sleep in the month of June.

I could have picked at least 50 games. I can't believe no one else liked nine. I guess because it was one of my first games I played and was very hard in some parts.Even though the reviews were not good I really enjoyed the game. Thanks for all the hard work to putting the recommendations together. I for one really look forward to this each year. Diane

Diane, I will give Nine another go at some point. I loaded it up and it was certainly visually arresting! Then I started reading about the difficulty of the rat shoot and some other parts of the game and it all sounded so overwhelming that I shelved it, figuring I could never manage it. But I will give it another try at some point, as I am curious.

If you managed to play and finish the game, I do believe congratulations are in order, as it's certainly no cake walk (based on what I have read).

I did finish the game but I had alot of help from the makers of the game. It was before I had found the wonderfull GameBoomers and I drove the makers crazy with e-mails. I really did enjoy the game. Give it another try when you have time and patients. I remember it took me a very long time to play it. Good luck Diane

That's cool that the game makers responded to your pleas for help. I always thought that the people in the game and also the fact that it was produced by Tribeca (belonging to Robert DeNiro?) gave the game great interest just based on that alone, and I'm very glad to have it in my collection---but I will try to make it useful as well as ornamental this year--sounds like a plan!

I don't consider my list to be of "best games of all time" or I'd have more LucasArts adventures on my list. Instead it's more a sampling of what I think are the best of various types. I have some humorous games, some puzzle-oriented, some on the easy side, some for those who like tough puzzles, and some because they have some unusual feature of gameplay. e.g. - I wouldn't say Return to Mysterious Island was one of the best games of all time, but it was unusual because you could combine inventory items to create an object to solve a puzzle, disassemble the object, and then recombine the components with different inventory items to produce a new item to solve a different puzzle. It's the first game I know of to do this, and did it better IMO than Destination Treasure Island or Voyage. Most games are far more restrictive in how you can use inventory, or how you can solve a puzzle (Return to Mysterious Island allowed different solutions to problems).

I limited my number of older titles so I could include the newer titles I thought a gaming newbie might enjoy. But I still ended up with 13 older ones and 7 newer ("older" meaning pre-year-2000 for purposes of my list). So you could say newer games got preferential treatment. But I also eliminated TLJ, Riven, and Syberia to make space because other people were sure to vote for them, and two of those were what I'm calling "newer." And I eliminated Atlantis 5 from the "newer" list, though I think it's one of the better newer games. I just couldn't stand to prune my "older" list down any further.

I didn't let ease of getting the game to work come into my choices, though I have on past Twisty lists. It's become too hard to predict whether a game will work on someone's computer without knowing more about their computer, what with video card requirements and restrictions imposed by SP2.

I didn't consider availability at all. Hence the presence of Obsidian. And I thought it was important to include a few old classics. So I have GK1, Secret of Monkey Island, and Myst on my list.

I described some of my other considerations for choosing games along with my list. It's at the bottom of the 3rd page ***here*** if anyone is interested.

Very interesting Jenny. I still think the best puzzles ever in a game were in the old Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. I would love to see that game in todays graphic standards.

Hi

20 doesn't anywhere near cover the number of games I would like to list - but we have to bear in mind flotsam's relationship with his wife - so I just listed some of the games I have very much enjoyed playing to date.

[And sometimes several times ]

Cheers.

Mad

LOL Mad. Loved the flotsam comment. flotsam is just another example of why this is the friendliest site on the web.

Hi

Ahhhhh, yes !! flotsam is certainly one of our GEMS

Cheers.

Mad

He is that! And so appreciated for taking on this job year after year, always with good humor!

Careful, all that praise will go to my head
I am glad the move to 20 was appreciated. I think too many games makes the lsit a tad meaningless - even with 20 there will be over 200 games listed in all likelihood. But 15 was too hard as more and more games are about, especially if the oldies still feature.
Actually, when we started 8 years ago it was only 10
I suspect I will sample across the genre this year, else it will be too full of RHEM and Myst type games. And there are certainly a lot of great games outisde that little category that it would be a shame to miss.
This is a good thread SQF - it will be interesting to see the rationale of others.

I pick games that have stuck in my mind so that when it comes to the list I just start writing them down until I come to twnety. I figure that's the way I would recommend games to a person who asked me anyway--first thought--so that's the way I do it. And it tends to come down to a combination of old and new, first person and thrid person, etc. Just what I consider a good game that someone else might enjoy playing. Although, I always start out with what I consider the best 4 or 5 games ever because those are the ones I would recommend to someone totally new to gaming. But you nmever can tell--I didn;t recommend NiBuRu to my in-laws because I figured they wouldn;t like it. Then someone else gave it to them and they loved it. Go fig.

WW

I just listed my all time favorites old and new.

I tried to pick games that I really enjoyed playing but at the same time ones that I thought would be good choices for anyone who doesn't appreciate too many timed puzzles & too much action.
I also thought this year that it was important to have a good conclusion! Also I thought they should play easily on XP without too many headaches - I know there may be a few exceptions to this on the ones I have included, but on my general basis I left out Dreamfall, Paradise, Broken Sword 4 & Daemonica. I would also liked to have included Intrigue at Oakhaven Plantation but I would have had to drop another game for it.

Considering how many adventure games there are out there - hint, hint! I think even if you had a top 50, this gives a good idea of what to look out for! eg I have procured a lot of games since last year based on how many times they have been mentioned in the Twisty List!

It's a great idea - thank you again flotsam for doing it!

I can't wait to pluck out all the hidden gems that I have missed once the list is complete. It also is a big help to me looking at other peoples picks who have listed the same games as I did to see if I can find one that I have missed. I seem to enjoy the third person puzzle games with lots of humor the most.

I also wanted to ask everyone their opinion about Runaway 2 and Ankh 2. I loved the first games and I was planning on purchasing the second games but I noticed in looking over the recommendation list that only one person had mentioned either game. Should I give them a try or do I hold out until Black Mirror 2, Simon 4, or Tony Tough 2 come out? Thanks!

I enjoyed Ankh 2 more than the first Ankh. But I didn't think it was released worldwide yet.
I didn't enjoy Runaway 2 as much as the first Runaway. The majority at GB don't seem to share my opinion though. There's a thread in the Gameboomer reviews forum that I posted some of my reasons in.


I think you'll be waiting a long time for those three. Why not play one of the other two in the meantime?

If you liked the first in either series, you will probably like the second one as well - very similar. I liked Ankh 2 better than the first one also.

I would say you should buy both Runaway#2 and Ankh#2. They are both good games.

I enjoyed both Runaway 2 and Ankh 2. If you enjoyed the first, I think you would have fun with the second. in whatever you choose.

Thanks for the push. You know I really wanted to purchase Ankh 2 and Runaway 2. I hate to think how much flotsam's new list is going to cost me The top thirty games are a must have for all of us suffering from baags.

looney- I love your tag line. Dogs are so cool. My dog was gone this weekend and I can't tell you just how empty my house felt.

Space Quest Fan,

I know what you mean. Ankh 2 is hilarious!

I totally Enjoyed Runaway 2....
Ankh 2 I am waiting on a trade from Boomers...But from what I read...Ankh 2 is a great One also....Ankh 1 & Runaway 1 also were on my Great List...

Get Them All !!!!! You won't be Sorry

I love the get them all suggestion

Once you've done that, the new challenge is finding time to play so many great games!

On my own list, I chose a number of games because I felt they would best represent their series to somebody new. I love Return to Zork best of the graphic adventure Zorks, but most new players would appreciate Zork:GI better (or maybe Zork: N if they like a touch of horror). Gave the Myst series more than one slot, but then I really love Myst

Mostly I chose games a newer gamer could reasonably hope to find. Celtica wouldn't be fair to list when its hardly available anywhere. I probably shouldn't list Starship Titanic for the same reason, for example, but I really did enjoy it that much! Maybe the new person will see it at a 2ndhand store or something. It does happen!

Mostly chose the first of two games when original & sequel are just about as good (Syberia, Darkfall, RotS, Broken Sword, etc). I figure if they love the first one, they can find about about the 2nd one afterward.

Nancy Drew was the hardest choice. It would have been a serious omission not to have named at least one of the games in a series I have enjoyed so much, but it really was very hard to pick just one.

Susan

Thanks Space Quest Fan. I hope your pup is home now and the house feels right. I don't think my day would go right unless I was stepping over a few bodies prone on the floor

Thanks looney4labs. My doggie is back and nothing beats the feeling I get from watching a wagging tail. Dogs really do give us their absolute all and unconditional love. Do you ever think about what a good person your dog would make?

I have no doubt that my dogs would be career criminals.

Selected for their risk-taking ability and brash attitude?

And their uncanny reflection of my bad habits, like laughing at their creativity.

Space quest, glad you're pups are back.

I think my dogs would make great people. Solo would want to help everyone do everything, Keoki would want to play, and play, and play, and Seagan would watch the world from behind the drapes.

That could be a great discussion question

I'm with nickie. My dog steals so much food it would be a criminal for sure.