Which computer game influenced you the most?

[KyriakosCH]

For me the most important game i ever played was Another World.
I was obsessed with it when i was 13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1EGP2EyWe0

[dactylopus]

That was a great game.

For me, the most formative game experience would be Hero's Quest / Quest for Glory.

[VampireWombat]

I suppose I'd have to say Clash At Demonhead for the NES. There's nothing too special about it and I never actually owned it or beat it. But the powerups/suits gave me my first inklings of wanting to make games.

[Dualnames]

Monkey Island 2, Another World, Yume Nikki.

[Mandle]

Colossal Cave on the mainframe computer of the company I did work experience at when I was in high school.

It opened my eyes that a computer game could be an entire world to explore instead of just shooting at targets on a screen.

[milkanannan]

Yeah Another World was probably the first game that I had a deep emotional connection to. Other games: Castlevania NES (first game I ever played. Totally blew my little 8yo mind), Space Quest 2 (first text based adventure game I played), Quest for Glory 2 (first game I finished entirely on my own â€"the story actually spawned an early interest in Middle Eastern landscapes and cultures. I've been living in this region (Arabian Gulf) now for almost ten years!)

[KyriakosCH]

Yeah Another World was probably the first game that I had a deep emotional connection to. Other games: Castlevania NES (first game I ever played. Totally blew my little 8yo mind), Space Quest 2 (first text based adventure game I played), Quest for Glory 2 (first game I finished entirely on my own â€"the story actually spawned an early interest in Middle Eastern landscapes and cultures. I've been living in this region (Arabian Gulf) now for almost ten years!)

The first game i played (on my own computer anyway) was Jet Set Willy, on the Amstrad cpc6128. Also very influential for me and atmospheric, and its plot was just insane: some rich person has a party for the local jet set (high society) in his massive mansion. When they all leave he just wants to go sleep, but his wife forces him to first collect all the utensils used by the guests and left in the rooms (lol).
This will mean that for the first time ever he will visit all 100 (or similar number) rooms of his estate. They are apparently filled with monsters.
In one of the lower cellars there is even the head of Satan flying about 



The soundtrack starts with a midi version of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which just amazed me (i was 8 at the time), and of course i thought it was composed for the game

[eri0o]

The Dig and Megaman X I think.

[Blondbraid]

I'd say it was Tomb Raider: Legend for me. I'd played The Sims, ZOO Tycoon and some crappy games with cute animals on the cover before, but it was Tomb Raider that made me feel gaming was a hobby I could get into
due to the fact it was a well-made game with a strong female hero in the lead role. Until then I felt that gaming was just something for stereotypical teenage boys and stuff like Sims and horse games didn't count because
the former was a casual game centered on playing around rather than winning, and the latter were almost always terrible games on a shoestring budget only made as a lazy way to earn money from little girls desperate for
any kind of game about horses so to me, video games felt like a boring choice between either crappy games with no budget or talent, games that had budget and talent but were exclusively about gruff muscle men and/or
zombies, sports or sci-fi battles and a bunch of stuff that didn't interest me and just felt like stuff made for the teenage boy stereotype I previously mentioned.

Tomb Raider: Legend was the first time I got to see a game with a good female lead but also well-crafted gameplay and then cutting-edge graphics, and it opened up my eyes to what games could be other than the stereotypes I'd been raised with,
and it got me to start digging through the bargain-bin for other games with adventure and strong female leads, which eventually led me to discover classics like Dreamfall, The Longest Journey and the Syberia games.

[Retro Wolf]

The Amiga 500 was my first introduction to gaming, not just one game but a bunch of them: Monkey Island, Lemmings, Robocod, Cannon Fodder, Chaos Engine. I used to think a lot about how I would change things in current games, imagine my own ones too.

[Danvzare]

Ah, the game that's influenced me most.
There's a few. The oldest one I can think of is Day of the Tentacle, which is pretty much the entire reason I'm even here on this forum.
There's also Deus Ex that influenced my perceptions on First Person Shooters, and Thief that influenced my perceptions on horror in video games. More recently there's been Dwarf Fortress, which has influenced my perception of the Fantasy Genre, as well as roguelikes, and what a game can be in general.

But I think the one that's influenced me the most, is always a fairly new one. Lakeview Cabin Collection, pretty much began my love of the Slasher genre. Not only that, but I absolutely fell in love with it's gameplay, which is basically a sandbox adventure game with survival horror elements.
When I played that game and completed it, I actually went about trying to figure out how it was coded! Even going so far as to deduce where I could find bugs with which to exploit! That's how much I fell in love with that game!
That was a weird five hours now that I look back on it.

[Jojo_the_monkey]

My favorite game is Monkey Island 2 (obviously). Although the game that influenced me more is the original Prince of Persia. As a kid I played the DOS version and it was a technical marvel. Since then I try to replay it from times to times and I realize how ingenious it is in terms of game design, story development and audio narration. It is not coincidence that the game ported to almost every platform back then. There are also homebrewed versions for the Commodore 64 and the BBC Master.

[KyriakosCH]

Ah, the game that's influenced me most.
There's a few. The oldest one I can think of is Day of the Tentacle, which is pretty much the entire reason I'm even here on this forum.
There's also Deus Ex that influenced my perceptions on First Person Shooters, and Thief that influenced my perceptions on horror in video games. More recently there's been Dwarf Fortress, which has influenced my perception of the Fantasy Genre, as well as roguelikes, and what a game can be in general.

But I think the one that's influenced me the most, is always a fairly new one. Lakeview Cabin Collection, pretty much began my love of the Slasher genre. Not only that, but I absolutely fell in love with it's gameplay, which is basically a sandbox adventure game with survival horror elements.
When I played that game and completed it, I actually went about trying to figure out how it was coded! Even going so far as to deduce where I could find bugs with which to exploit! That's how much I fell in love with that game!
That was a weird five hours now that I look back on it.

I saw a playthrough of the Lakeview Cabin. Pretty good idea and way to execute such a game-mechanic

[milkanannan]

Yeah Lakeview Cabin was indeed an awesome title! Had that right pacing about it that drew you in to the story instead of  throwing the slashing around in the first five minutes.

[WHAM]

For me the pivotal moment of gaming was the original Police Quest. At the time it felt so full of detail and things to do, with a driving minigame, tons of things to LOOK at, characters to talk to and rooms to explore. I didn't get very far in the game, since back then I was 7 years old and barely knew english, but the trial and error nature of a Sierra adventure game led me to learn more and more.

That kind of design, with plentiful detail, realistic setting and use of language has stuck with me ever since, and has set the foundation of my own game design ideology. Sometimes having the player do something really mundane can help set a tone of a game, and to make the world the player is exploring feel that little bit more believable.


Beyond that there have been a few other major influences, such as:

The Elder Scrolls Series, inspiring me to try and avoid the kind of story progression they often have, and to avoid the feeling of having the world freeze around you if you don't act (I like to place some time constraints in my games, so the player doesn't feel cheated when the game tells them something is urgent).

JRPG's like Final Fantasy 6-9 and Breath of Fire 3-4, inspiring me to try and craft a background story that exists as a framework for a game. Sometimes I fail at this, or omit this when working on a MAGS game with time constraints, but it is always something I keep in mind when writing game stories.

The Days series of games by Yahtzee, inspiring me to try first out the AGS engine, which has led me to this wonderful community and has allowed me to create so many fun little projects!

[LionOhDay]

But I think the one that's influenced me the most, is always a fairly new one. Lakeview Cabin Collection, pretty much began my love of the Slasher genre. Not only that, but I absolutely fell in love with it's gameplay, which is basically a sandbox adventure game with survival horror elements.
When I played that game and completed it, I actually went about trying to figure out how it was coded! Even going so far as to deduce where I could find bugs with which to exploit! That's how much I fell in love with that game!
That was a weird five hours now that I look back on it.

I played the first Lake View I should get around to trying out the others. : )

As for the computer game that's influenced me the most, well that one's pretty easy.

Baldur's Gate.

I've replayed that game several times thorughout the years and it's fed back into my love of D&D all these years. The magic items in that game are some of my absolute favorite bits of game play.

Mine Craft has also influenced me a bunch, considering it was what let me meet my wife, I'd hope it would influence me.

But that's just the computer stuff getting into consoles is a whole other beast.

( Oh and Stardew Valley, but honestly that game mostly just taught me what I really want in a Harvest Moon like game. )

[javixblack]

Captain Claw, and Ace Ventura adventure game! but Monkey Island 3 is really close to them!

[CrashPL]

The first Journeyman Project, as it was the very first PC game I've ever played - I remember being really impressed by the 'photorealistic graphics' back then. Not to mention it sparked my general interest in adventure games!

Ultima VII was an absolute shock for me, as (an almost) fully open world, highly immersive cRPG was something unheard of back then. And of course I totally loved it, despite playing like crap (hey, I was a little kid...) and getting lost on the large map every now and then.

Croc, MDK and Little Big Adventure 2 left a huge impact on me, as these were the first 3D games I played, and I absolutely loved each one of them. On the other hand, Curse of Monkey Island captured me with its beautiful 2D animation, gorgeous visuals and great writing/humor.

Final Fantasy VII - I played it shorty after it was released in the west, and it blew my little mind away. Also Sonic Adventure, as I was seriously impressed by the 3D hi speed action and cinematic segments (orca chase in Emerald Coast, snowboarding in Ice Cape, running down the building in Speed Highway...)

[Laura Hunt]

I could wax poetic about so many Sinclair ZX Spectrum games such as Tai Pan or RanaRama, or my first experiences with the horror genre playing Doom or Sanitarium or Phantasmagoria, or reminisce about all those sleepless nights playing the original Civilization ("just one more turn!"), or go on a rant about how the games that have marked me the most have been the weirdest of outliers like Deadly Premonition or Pathologic, both of them horribly clunky and buggy but absolutely unique in their ambitions...

But I won't do that. I will just say that if I had the ability, the vision, the imagination and the talent to make exactly the game I want, it would be Kentucky Route Zero.









I guess that's why my games tend to be more on the walking/conversation simulator side than puzzle- or riddle-based...

[Laura Hunt]

its plot was just insane: some rich person has a party for the local jet set (high society) in his massive mansion. When they all leave he just wants to go sleep, but his wife forces him to first collect all the utensils used by the guests and left in the rooms (lol).

It was actually his maid, not his wife. And her name was Maria for some reason

[KyriakosCH]

His maid? Now that's entirely unrealistic 

[Laura Hunt]

His maid? Now that's entirely unrealistic 

Why? Everybody's entitled to their "I don't get paid enough for this shit" moments

[Creamy]

Baldur's Gate.

I've replayed that game several times thorughout the years and it's fed back into my love of D&D all these years. The magic items in that game are some of my absolute favorite bits of game play.

I didn't play many RPG but I got completely drawn into Baldur's Gate I and II. It made me quit Diablo II  

[KyriakosCH]

His maid? Now that's entirely unrealistic 

Why? Everybody's entitled to their "I don't get paid enough for this shit" moments

What I don't get is how the monsters got there. Or were they supposed to be the guests? In the rooms around/near the bedroom there is barely any antagonist.

[Arcangel]

Umm , I think Space Quest III, then play all Space quest saga. King Quest, Quest for Glory, (But adventure games, Space Quest)

RPG (Eye of the Beholder)
Simulator( Wing Commander)

[dactylopus]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero (1989) was my most formative game experience, and that is still true.  It set me on a path away from console gaming into becoming much more interested in the PC (for gaming, and in general).  It was instrumental in sparking my desire to develop games of my own, which I began to do at a relatively young age using QBASIC (1991).

The question, however, asks about influence.  That's a more nuanced question.  I have many influences and can't list just one (although I do list only one of each game series).  So here's a sampling of the list (in chronological order):

Choplifter (1982)
Lode Runner (1983)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (1985)
Fun House (1989)
Prince of Persia (1989)
Quest for Glory II: Trial By Fire (1990)
Scorched Earth (1991)
SkiFree (1991)
Civilization (1991)
Another World (1992)
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1992)
Sim City 2000 (1993)
Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! (1993)
Riven (1997)
Star Wars: Galaxies (2003)
Zoo Tycoon 2 (2004)

(Some of these games I did not play until much later than their release dates.)

A good mix of different game genres.  My early favorites were all from Brøderbund, which essentially introduced me to video gaming in general.  1989 - 1993 were the years that really had a lasting impact, even more so with the Gameboy coming out in 1989, and the SNES in 1991.

The question asks specifically about computer games.  If I added in console, handheld, and arcade games, the list would expand greatly (mostly into platforming, action adventure, fighting, sports, and racing games).  For example, my experiences with Maniac Mansion were on the NES.

It's been fun reading about how others were inspired by games, a lot of them the same or similar to the ones I have listed.  It's great to be part of a community based around common experiences.

[Mandarinas45]

For me it was Skyrim . Now now, do not boo me off the stage. It was the first RPG I've ever played, there was a lot of hype around it and I gave in. Loved every second of it, eventually even tried the ES MMO, but nothing stuck quite so much. (There's also a chance that Skyrim ruined me for other rps as well, so it's a double-edged sword since now I search for the next great thing and can't find it!) 

[Radiant]

I'm going to say Ultima VI. And possibly Ultima V and VII, but I played those later.

[NickyNyce]

Monkey island
The original Doom
The original Metroid

[Marcin K.]

Maniac Mansion on Commodore 64 was the first game that made want to create own game. There was also Rocket Ranger - I fell in love with this cheesy retro-sf with rockets and nazis.
I loved both Turricans and Rainbow Island too.

In PC era Day of the Tentacle blew my mind with its graphic, Deus Ex with storytelling (all that crazy conspiracy theories put in one game), Pirates! (OK, I played on C64 too), Warcraft 2, Monkey Island series. Betrayal At Krondor was my beloved one at some point.

[Gurok]

Going to give my standard answers here.

Limbo of the Lost
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
Bad Rats
Ninjabread Man

[Gilbert]

Gurok, you have great taste. 

To me, it's Dragon Quest IV, the besterest evar game in the world. Period.

[milkanannan]

Is that the same thing as Dragon Warrior IV? If it is, yeah that game was so amazing!

[Gilbert]

Yeah. The DQs were called DW overseas.
DQ4 was the 1st game that got me really hooked up with computer RPGs(those on PCs were too complicated to me at the time). I borrowed the DQ4 cart from a friend(who preordered the game imported) and ended up completing it 6 times before returning the cart, even though I couldn't read Japanese.

[cyber]

Broken Sword - Shadow of the templars of course.. I was absolutely in love with that game when i was 12

[KyriakosCH]

Broken Sword - Shadow of the templars of course.. I was absolutely in love with that game when i was 12

It was indeed an awesome game.