The Gamer's Bucket List: The 50 Video Games to Play Before You Die

by Chris Watters, Craig Skistimas (Foreword)

From pixelated pioneer adventures to stunning space odysseys, the boundaries of the video game world are expanding every day. Grand epics and gritty mysteries. Fierce competition and friendly cooperation. Powerful emotions and uproarious laughter. Video games are fantastically diverse and wonderfully creative, but not all games are created equal. With so many games out there on so many different consoles, computers, and devices, how do you decide which games are worth playing? Backed by years of writing about games professionally and decades spent playing them, Chris Watters lays out a list of 50 games to entertain and enlighten you. Whether you're trying to learn more about the world of gaming or strengthening your claim to true gaming fluency, these are the games you'll want to play, and why you'll want to play them.

Genres: Video Games, Nonfiction, Reference

140 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2015

Reviews

[Fernando Gamero · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking into this book for some games to try out, then I would only recommend it if you're someone who doesn't really play games. If you're a gamer, you should probably know just about all of these games, except maybe a few gems like Her Story or Nidhog, or games that were past your time like The Secret of Monkey Island or Half Life 2. If you don't play games, then I think this is a pretty good selection of games to choose from, though I have some problems as to how the writer explains each game.

The descriptions for every game are very plain and can be applied to many different games with similar mechanics. I read through the first 5 games and felt like I knew what the other 45 were going to be. All the descriptions feel like they're taken straight out of the back of the game's cover. It doesn't really get you excited for the other games, none of them try to immerse you in the game's world, or story, or even give you any reason to play that particular game. Every description could basically be simplified into 'It's about horror in space, and it's pretty scary'. I would rather read about what makes the game scary or exciting than just hearing what it is.

For example, the first game listed in the book is Spelunky, which the author claims to be his favorite. He talks about the game as if there is an unlimited amount of replay value, claiming that a death might stop your immediate progress but will simultaneously teach you about the trap or monster that killed you, and are therefore better prepared for your next encounter. This is great and all, but nowhere is it mentioned that Spelunky's genre is Roguelike.

Roguelikes are games in which the player is expected to play through a dungeon of some sort with little to no knowledge of the dangers inside, only to die because of their lack of knowledge, and then respawn at the beginning of the dungeon only to enter it again. These kinds of games re-start the dungeon after every death, so it's not like Spelunky's application of an ever changing cave is any different. What's stated about Spelunky could easily be applied to The Binding of Isaac or Rogue Legacy, except in those games death LITERALLY equals progress, since death unlocks new content or give you a new way to play as well as the knowledge of how to handle the situation you were in.

[Rasheta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read, and while I agreed with some, Witcher 3 and Skyrim play them now! I found it hard to agree with some of it. A good example is when this author is talking about Uncharted "Of all the high -flying action movie heroes that Video games have produced, Nathen Drake is the best." *sigh* no, it would have been nice if there was some acknowledgement of the influence of the Tomb raider series on this series of games since Drake is a carbon copy of Laura Croft gender, not withstanding. That aside Tomb Raider didn't even make the list, which was shocking to me. Most female protagonists or female anything were excluded. I was a little disappointed in that. The times they were mentioned I felt like it was more "here ladies have a mention" rather then actually being something to be happy about.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for a hot minute, this was a nostalgic look at many video games I have played and a few I have not. It led me to recall why I liked some of the games, loved others, and don't want to waste another minute playing anything like a few of them.

The format is very short form, almost a collection of middle school essays on each of the games on the list. Fun I am sure, but not really very deep or engaging. A nice distraction, but as deep as an afternoon rain puddle.

[Dario Delfino · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is exactly what you expect it to be. A collection of 50 short (well-written) reviews of 50 great video games. Nothing less, nothing more. Well, to be honest as an extra there is also a brief history of video games, but you got the point. This short book has its specific niche, you probably know if you are in it or not.

[Danalli Calhoun · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, some of the games I agreed with, others not so much. Also if you are a hardcore gamer, than most of these games you have already heard of or played. I think this is more aimed at people that don't play video games as much.

[Adeel Tausif · Rating 5 out of 5]

50 games that 100% deserve to be in this list. Each had a unique impact on gaming taking the entertainment form to new amazing heights.

[Mike Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Great selections! I feel fortunate to be reading this 2015 holiday season, as I'm picking up a large percentage of the PC titles on Steam during a phenomenal holiday sale!