Why I Love
How Astroneer creates an enjoyably unsafe space
Why I Love: Student game developer Aden Webb explores the mood-building design decisions of System Era's survival sandbox
Diablo III's devilish appeal is in the details
Why I Love: Kopla Games CEO Mika Kuusisto explains why his career has been intertwined with Blizzard's hit from the very start
Courtship Under a Killing Moon
Why I Love: D'Avekki Studios' Tim Cowles knew he'd found a keeper thanks to those three little words: Full Motion Video
Inside made you feel like an unwelcome guest
Why I Love: Lilly Devon goes into the stripped down genius of Playdead's alienating platformer
The timeless magic of Shadow of the Colossus
Why I Love: In Vitro Games founder Ricardo Verdugo Ortiz goes in-depth on Team ICO's masterpiece and Bluepoint's worthy remaster and remake
Deux Ex: The game you can't win
Why I Love: Bow to Blood developer Matthew Hoesterey says the immersive sim was everything he hoped for, but not what he expected
Unraveling Undertale
Why I Love: Just Add Water's Oliver William Walker examines the charm of a surprising, unusual, and thoughtful RPG
Gratitude for the Miracle Man
Why I Love: Pumped BMX developer Adam Hunt pays heartfelt homage to a magazine disc demo of Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
Persona 5 and the merger of style and substance
Why I Love: Marketer Michal Napora was sold by the Atlus RPG's flashy exterior, but hooked by its substantial heart
The sweet science of Armadillo Run
Why I Love: Hugecalf Studios' Andy Metcalfe explains how the 2008 indie effort got the ball rolling on his love of physics-based puzzlers
The head games of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Why I Love: Jakub Kasztalski explains why Troika Games' undead immersive sim never gets old
How Odama tilted the playing field
Why I Love: Pig Eat Ball's Nathan Fouts reminisces about Yoot Saito's bizarre pinball-meets-RTS GameCube exclusive
Rez and the power of owning your own experience
Why I Love: Friend & Foe's Ivar Dahlberg examines the Tetsuya Mizuguchi classic and how it influences his own very different work
Old ways can still be the best ways
Why I Love: YoYo Games' Mike Dailly explains how tech from the 1988 Commodore 64 shooter Armalyte is still used today
Striking the balance of autonomy and narrative
Why I Love: Auroch Digital's Nina Collins digs into the guided open-world of Sucker Punch's Infamous
Assassins Creed: An ancient world with a modern mood
Why I Love: KeokeN Interactive founder Koen Deetman shares how Ubisoft's open-world adventure captured his imagination
Brevity is the soul of Minit
Why I Love: Size Five Games' Dan Marshall explains why the 60-second adventure game represents "streamlining at its best"
Diddy Kong was my Dark Souls
Sumo Digital's Jamie Smith says Rare's N64 kart racer left the competition in the dust
Appreciating annelid annihilation in Worms: Armageddon
Why I Love: Perfectly Paranormal's Ozan Drøsdal reminisces on Team17's classic, from its absurd aesthetic to its amenable online community
Metal Gear Solid was ahead of its time
Why I Love: Sumo Digital designer Emily Knox explores how the PSone classic shaped and inspired her childhood self
Homeworld: Sideswiped by a Story
Why I Love: Snowcastle Games' Thomas French reflects on how Relic's deep space RTS provided a strong narrative through mechanics
Portal was a classic from out of nowhere
Why I Love: YoYo Games' Russell Kay remembers how The Orange Box toss-in stole the whole Half-Life show
The Darkness, or "How I learned to leave the Sun and Love the Nordics"
3rd Eye Studios' Gregory Louden finds inspiration in Starbreeze's first-person shooter that lets players inhabit the protagonist for quiet moments as well as firefights
Coming full circle with Halo
Why I Love: The TrailerFarm's Tony Porter shares how Bungie's shooter completed a journey he'd begun as a child playing hooky with his father
Uncharted 4's commitment to making every moment matter
Why I Love: The TrailerFarm's Dan Porter says every aspect of Naughty Dog's blockbuster is evidence of an ambitious dev team fully invested in the project