this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025

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Which Video Game was most influential on you as a child, and why? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by tiramichu@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

74 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I saw this Lemmy post, but a huge list of games with no discussion isn't very interesting! Let's talk about why the games that influenced us had such a big impact - how they affected us as people.

For me, it was the PC game Creatures. It's a life simulation game featuring cute little beings called 'Norns' which you raise and teach.

You can almost think of it like a much cuter predecessor to The Sims, but which claimed to actually "simulate" their brains.

As a thirteen-year-old it was the first game that made me want to go online and seek out more info. What I discovered was a community of similar-interest nerds hanging out on IRC chat, and it felt like for the first time in my life I had "found my people" - others who weren't just friends, but whom I really resonated with.

I learned web development (PHP at the time!) so I could make a site for the game, which became the foundation for my job in software engineering.

And through that group I also discovered the Furry community, which was a wild ride in itself.

So yeah, Creatures. Without that game, I think I'd have become quite a different person.

(page 2) 25 comments

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[–] Eril@feddit.org 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

First the settlers 2 and Caesar 3, a bit later and with a lot more impact Guild Wars (1).

[–] HexagonSun@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago

The Settlers II… what a game.

I’m still desperate to find a port of the Mac version, the DOS intro just doesn’t hit the same.

[–] Tudsamfa@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The edutainment games presented by Germany's beloved children's show host Peter Lustig, published by Terzio.

The tie-in video games to both his TV series Löwenzahn as well as the Swedish Gary Gadget (Mulle Meck) books were elevated by his voice clips and I still quote them regularly. They really put a lot more effort into these games than anything I've ever experienced, there was fucking free DLC for Gary Gadget if you visited their website and had your father put some files in the right folder.

The worlds themselves both star an excentric man tinkering on inventions, but while sometimes fantastical they are more grounded that the world of Peterson and Findus. They teach children about community and physics, similar to the book "the way things work" - guess who presented its animated show of the same name in Germany?

[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Star Control II & Secret of Mana

They both set my expectations for how much fun a game can be.

Secret of Mana as a template for what kind of world I want to live in (minus the monsters and whatnot)
and Star Control II as a template for how to write a fun adventure.

[–] dil@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 weeks ago

Falling sand is why I like/crave physics interactions in games

[–] Wojwo@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 weeks ago

Did you read the books? They're not bad.

[–] Beagle@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 weeks ago

Clash Roayle, wasted too much life time with it.

(was very popular back then)

[–] Soggy@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Most influential... it might be Castle Adventure on MSDOS or something like Alleyway on the Gameboy simply because they were the first games I remember playing. Or an old Mac program like Factory or Maelstrom or Power Pete with which I wiled away many hours. Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament was the first time I messed around with modding and that computer literacy and problem solving certainly had an impact.

I didn't go into any computer-related fields, I just really like video games and they've been both a solo hobby and social catalyst for my entire conscious life. Maybe Super Smash Bros Melee or Star Wars Battlefront 2 or Halo because the early 2000s cemented some of my longest friendships and those were at the forefront.

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