The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design

Hey! This is not what I normally do on GMTK, but to celebrate the 10th year of doing this channel I thought it would be fun to do something a bit different. I'm now working on Mind Over Magnet with the aim of releasing the game before the year is out - so expect more Developing updates throughout 2024!

I'm glad it's such a nice round number in base 10. Imagine if you had been taught game design after only 97 games or something.

I love the lengths Mark goes to in order to not say “they’re not selling it anymore, so just pirate it.”

Great subtitles/closed captions support, as always. Your channel pretty much sets a standard with your constant great quality of CC. I have the deepest appreciation for this. Thank you.

This kinda feels like some sort of endorsement for gaming as a whole. The way you explain everything so succinctly makes this video feel like a celebration of video games and their design, which I really love

2:41 - Space Invaders 3:48 - Pac-Man 5:10 - Rogue 6:27 - Super Mario Bros. 7:46 - The Legend Of Zelda 8:56 - Mega Man 9:53 - Tetris 11:18 - Doom 12:32 - Super Metroid 14:00 - Pokemon Blue 15:28 - Tomb Raider 16:37 - Resident Evil 18:00 - Half-Life 19:13 - Thief: The Dark Project 20:34 - Crazy Taxi 21:55 - Deus Ex 23:05 - Diablo II 24:45 - The Sims 25:47 - Grand Theft Auto III 27:37 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 29:06 - Ico 30:23 - Rez 31:19 - Silent Hill 2 33:03 - Animal Crossing 34:20 - Warioware, Inc.: Mega Microgames! 35:36 - September 12th: A Toy World 36:32 - Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time 37:37 - Katamari Damacy 38:47 - Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 39:50 - Resident Evil 4 41:46 - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 43:08 - Dead Rising 44:27 - Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 45:59 - Portal 47:32 - Mass Effect 49:03 - Skate 50:23 - Team Fortress 2 51:14 - Bioshock 53:00 - Burnout Paradise 54:05 - Far Cry 2 55:28 - Left 4 Dead 57:25 - Spelunky 58:50 - Dead Space 59:46 - Batman: Arkham Asylum 1:00:52 - Plants Vs. Zombies 1:02:41 - Fruit Ninja 1:03:28 - Amnesia: The Dark Descent 1:04:19 - Fallout: New Vegas 1:05:10 - Sid Meier's Civilization V 1:06:44 - Dark Souls 1:08:08 - Minecraft 1:09:20 - Spacechem 1:10:26 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 1:11:28 - Journey 1:12:53 - Mark Of The Ninja 1:14:39 - The Walking Dead 1:16:00 - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward 1:17:17 - Xcom: Enemy Unknown 1:18:46 - Spec Ops: The Line 1:20:11 - Spaceteam 1:20:57 - Dishonored 1:22:20 - The Stanley Parable 1:23:23 - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons 1:25:33 - Cookie Clicker 1:26:17 - Gone Home 1:27:37 - Papers, Please 1:28:50 - Steamworld Dig 1:30:29 - Alien: Isolation 1:31:39 - Mario Kart 8 1:33:29 - 80 Days 1:34:31 - Her Story 1:36:15 - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 1:37:55 - Undertale 1:39:05 - Downwell 1:40:19 - Yakuza 0 1:41:40 - Kerbal Space Program 1:42:55 - Super Mario Maker 1:43:47 - Doom (2016) 1:44:51 - Factorio 1:45:47 - Persona 5 1:47:02 - Hitman (2016) 1:48:39 - Overcooked! 1:49:54 - Furi 1:51:19 - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 1:52:34 - Fortnite 1:53:57 - Getting Over It With Bennet Foddy 1:54:54 - Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War 1:56:21 - Among Us 1:57:23 - Celeste 1:58:51 - Rimworld 1:59:43 - Florence 2:01:15 - Into The Breach 2:02:01 - Slay The Spire 2:03:25 - Disco Elysium 2:04:44 - Outer Wilds 2:06:08 - Half-Life: Alyx 2:07:00 - Inscryption 2:08:18 - Vampire Survivors 2:09:08 - Tunic 2:10:21 - Shadows Of Doubt

This is truly the Dark Souls of GMTK videos

I feel like Before your Eyes is "one that you forgot" mostly because of how it pushes the boundaries of game controls, and in a way that matches the story ("blink and you miss it") instead of just being a really cool and original gimmick.

I kind of love the fact that you recommend the Sims 3 instead of the latest Sims 4.

You really missed the opportunity with Doom to say "It's playable on everything"

The fact that Doom's source code is also public domain is worth mentioning, I think. Even with its age, it still has lots of techniques about efficient and simple programming that has been neglected by us younger generations of programmers.

1:54:54 Shadow of War had a good mechanic you don't see elsewhere because they patented it and nobody can use it until 2035, like the direction arrow in racing games in the 90s was similarly patented.

Remember. Piracy isn’t stealing if there isn’t a way to pay for it. It’s just art.

Well, this title explains why the video lasts for 2 hours

How did it take me THIS long to realise that "Roguelike" comes from the game Rogue 😭😭

Mark, I just wanna commend you on your wonderful editing. Not only is your script writing super thoughtful, engaging, and funny, but the fact that you could keep it that way for a full two hours is just a testament to your skills. The details -- like at 34:40 where you say "in the blink of an eye" and show a clip of the game where you're giving a man eyedrops -- are so subtle, but really appreciated. I just love hearing you talk and explain, and you're pretty damn good at it!

Game list with timestamps (I've only played 68 of these 100, not bad considering the diversity!): 1-10: 01. 0:02:39 Space Invaders 02. 0:03:47 Pac-Man 03. 0:04:53 Rogue 04. 0:06:05 Super Mario Bros 05. 0:07:28 The Legend of Zelda 06. 0:08:38 Mega Man 07. 0:09:52 Tetris 08. 0:11:12 Doom 09. 0:12:24 Super Metroid 10. 0:13:48 Pokemon: Blue Version 11-20: 11. 0:15:18 Tomb Raider 12. 0:16:33 Resident Evil 13. 0:17:59 Half-Life 14. 0:19:11 Thief: The Dark Project 15. 0:20:10 Crazy Taxi 16. 0:21:23 Deus Ex 17. 0:22:56 Diablo II 18. 0:24:30 The Sims 19. 0:25:44 Grand Theft Auto III 20. 0:27:09 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 21-30: 21. 0:28:33 Ico 22. 0:30:03 Rez 23. 0:31:04 Silent Hill 2 24. 0:32:45 Animal Crossing 25. 0:34:11 Warioware Inc.: Mega Micro Games! 26. 0:35:19 September 12th: A Toy World 27. 0:36:18 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 28. 0:37:33 Katamari Damacy 29. 0:38:30 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 30. 0:39:45 Resident Evil 4 31-40 31. 0:41:15 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 32. 0:42:59 Dead Rising 33. 0:44:23 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 34. 0:45:58 Portal 35. 0:47:29 Mass Effect 36. 0:48:53 Skate 37. 0:50:10 Team Fortress 2 38. 0:51:10 Bioshock 39. 0:52:37 Burnout Paradise 40. 0:54:03 Far Cry 2 41-50 41. 0:55:26 Left 4 Dead 42. 0:57:01 Spelunky 43. 0:58:39 Dead Space 44. 0:59:35 Batman: Arkham Asylum 45. 1:00:37 Plants Vs. Zombies 46. 1:02:06 Fruit Ninja 47. 1:03:14 Amnesia: The Dark Descent 48. 1:04:15 Fallout: New Vegas 49. 1:05:08 Sid Meier's Civilization V 50. 1:06:40 Dark Souls 51-60 51. 1:08:06 Minecraft 52. 1:09:19 Spacehem 53. 1:10:24 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 54. 1:11:27 Journey 55. 1:12:49 Mark of the Ninja 56. 1:14:15 The Walking Dead 57. 1:15:58 Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward 58. 1:17:13 Xcom: Enemy Unknown 59. 1:18:44 Spec Ops: The Line 60. 1:19:54 Spaceteam 61-70 61. 1:20:54 Dishonored 62. 1:22:12 The Stanley Parable 63. 1:23:20 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 64. 1:24:38 Cookie Clicker 65. 1:26:14 Gone Home 66. 1:27:35 Papers, Please 67. 1:28:46 Steamworld Dig 68. 1:30:14 Alien: Isolation 69. 1:31:36 Mario Kart 8 70. 1:32:55 80 Days 71-80 71. 1:34:29 Her Story 72. 1:35:55 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 73. 1:37:37 Undertale 74. 1:39:03 Downwell 75. 1:40:08 Yakuza 0 76. 1:41:34 Kerbal Space Program 77. 1:42:35 Super Mario Maker 78. 1:43:34 Doom (2016) 79. 1:44:48 Factorio 80. 1:45:45 Persona 5 81-90 81. 1:47:00 Hitman (2016) 82. 1:48:37 Overcooked 83. 1:49:53 Furi 84. 1:50:58 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 85. 1:52:32 Fortnite 86. 1:53:38 Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy 87. 1:54:53 Middle Earth: Shadow of War 88. 1:56:19 Among Us 89. 1:57:22 Celeste 90. 1:58:49 Rimworld 91-100 91. 1:59:42 Florence 92. 2:00:55 Into the Breach 93. 2:01:59 Slay the Spire 94. 2:03:07 Disco Elysium 95. 2:04:30 Outer Wilds 96. 2:05:41 Half-Life: Alyx 97. 2:06:58 Inscryption 98. 2:07:55 Vampire Survivors 99. 2:09:07 Tunic 100. 2:10:09 Shadows of Doubt [Edit] I made this during the livestream and then rewatched a second time to get exact timestamps... Which means I TOTALLY missed the comment that there would be a link to the list later on lol. Oh well, at least I gave the video 2 full views for the YouTube algorithm gods, gotta build that retention or whatever the lingo is. :face-red-heart-shape: As for my own personal opinion of this list... I like it! Each game presented had enough of a purpose to keep me from thinking it wasn't necessary. I love making and sorting game lists in general and believe there is a lot you can tell by a person who shows their favorite/influential games like this. Keep up the good work! :yougotthis:

Surprised Baba Is You wasn't on here with how the level selection screens turn into levels themselves

This is an amazing resource! So many good ideas all in one place.

Others mentioned The Witness, I'll add Braid. While you listed Prince of Persia for weaving the time rewind into the narrative, gameplay wise like you said it's essentially a quick save/ quick load. Braid explores time rewind as a game mechanic building interesting puzzles around it. And along with The Witness it shows how a game can explore a mechanic approaching it from many angles. In my mind this is very Jonathan Blow at this point, and he is doing the same in his newest reimagining of Sokoban, while the original game focused on the simplest form of pushing things, The Witness' designer explores pushing, stacking, teleports, etc, while the game still feels like being ultimately about pushing blocks around.