In no particular order, here are some games I’ve enjoyed most in the past decade or so (and found most interesting to shill to my friends):

• The Roottrees are Dead (online sleuthing game, with a cool but slightly campy story, wears its Obra Dinn influence on its sleeve a bit too obviously for some people)
• Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic (Cities Skylines for people who understand economics are more than just dollar signs and tweets, it’s more like Factorio than SimCity)
• Hacknet (Learn basic command line stuff in a game about hacking)
• Duskers (atmospherically amazing game about controlling distant drones in hostile environments. Genuinely chilling)
• Chants of Senaar (language deciphering game)
• Outer Wilds (le le le dae hidden gem for a reason)
• Dyson Sphere Project (more Factorio)
• Satisfactory (you guessed it, more Factorio, but very different environment than most of these games)
• Factorio
• Shapez (minimalistic Factorio, with a less minimalistic sequel)
• Nomifactory (Minecraft modpack that was formerly known as Omnifactory. It’s more Factorio.)
• Curse of the Golden Idol (finally a good retro adventure mystery thing)
• Return of the Obra Dinn (immaculate game.)
• CHR$143 (Zachlike-ish)
• Kerbal Space Program (my next obsession)
• INFRA (one of my favorite games of all time, I’ve written about this extensively, a sort of urbex walking simulator with incredible atmosphere, deep deep lore, amazing world building, and light puzzles, that goes on for about 40 more hours than you expect it to)
• Hexcells Trilogy (puzzles)
• Hexologic (similar puzzles)
• Baba Is You (puzzles that make you think you’re an idiot)
• NaissancE (I don’t know how to describe this, I think it’s free)
• Manifold Garden (you dreamed about this game when you were 8 years old, decades before it existed)
• The Big Con (be gay do crime 90s)
• Death Stranding (this game is so boring, I played it for 200 hours and got every achievement, I love it, it sucks)
• The Forgotten City (this started its life as a Skyrim mod and still has that baggage)
• Mostly Intense Monster Defense (PvZ homage)
• The Witcher (1) (CRPG with a cool world. Needs a few mods to cut down on tedium. Pretty different from its sequels but it has a special place in my heart)
• Binary Domain (absolute schlock, but from a previous era of gaming. Not necessarily a good game, but cool to see from a historical perspective.)
• Cultist Simulator (needs an eternity of patience but I promise there is something in there)
• SLUDGE LIFE (SLUDGE LIFE)
• What Remains of Edith Finch (I fucking love walking simulators with good writing and cool art)
• Promesa (obscure walking simulator, it’s barely a game, I love it)
• CUCCCHI (check above description, same guy. Artistic showcase of a painter called Enzo Cuccchi. I’m not a modern art guy, but seeing these works contorted into worlds to walk through… a unique and interesting experience. Soundtrack is someone’s once-lost old experimental tracks and it absolutely slaps)
• Please Touch the Artwork 1 and 2 (one of them is free, funded by the Belgian public art fund. Weird and cool)
• Betrayal at Club Low (part of a series of games by Cosmo D, this one is different from the previous few. The first, Off Peak, is free, but it’s also the least polished. Astonishingly excellent music, there’s some cool lore in this series. The art style is a bit out there but this guy’s stuff is gold)
• Engare and Tandis (mathematical patterns puzzlers, I promise they’re so cool)
• What the Golf? (An actually good mobile game. I mostly played it with a controller on my TV lol)
• Cities Skylines (my beloved)