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.

  • Wojwo@lemmy.ml
    7·
    1 day ago

    Myst, I wanted to write books that linked to worlds. Figured the closest thing was programming.

    Civilization 1, patients, economics, frustration.

    Doom, was just a shit ton of fun and got me into networking so we could play against each other.

    • Kyle@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      I was obsessed with Myst, I loved the whole series, except maybe Myst 5. I so wanted Uru to turn into something.

      When my dad gave me Myst, I had no idea what CD-ROMs were, so I put it in the cd player. Then he showed me the fancy new family Compaq computer and it’s amazing CD ROM drive.

    • tiramichu@sh.itjust.worksOP
      2·
      1 day ago

      I have a soft spot for Myst too, so I totally understand this. I own the “big box” PC versions of all the Myst games up until V (Revelations) which are the only big box games I still kept. It was magical to me at the time, Riven especially which I used to play together with my mother so there’s fond memories there.