There hasn't been a "favorites" thread for a while so here goes - your 10 favorite games... *by genre*.

So, starting with AGs of course, and in not-so strigent order:

                        Adventure
Riven
Myst
Myst IV Revelation
OutCry
Neverhood
DogDay
SPQR
Last Express
Amber
Zork Nemesis
 close: Barrow Hill, Timelapse, Lighthouse, Darkness Within

                      Action
Halflife 1
Halflife 2
Outlaws
Quake 1
System Shock 2
STALKER 1
STALKER 3
Deady Dozen [1]
WW2 GI

No One Lives Forever

  close: Thief 1, Call of Duty, Traque

                        Other "Fiction" [amalgum of PRG/Strategy/Oddball]
Fallout 1  [giving it to one of the Mass Effects I haven't played..]
Fallout 3
X-Com
Diablo
Machinarium
Limbo
Ultima Underworld 1
Privateer 2
Samarost 2
Mass Effect

                        Motorsports
rFactor
Grand Prix Legends
Grand Prix II
Indycar Racing 2 [Rendition version]
TOCA 1
TOCA 2
NASCAR Racing 1999
NASCAR Racing Season 2003
GT Legends
F1 Challenge
 close: Richard Burns Rally, GTR 2, Superbike 1/2, Super 1 Karting

                        Air Combat Sim
European Air War

Rise of Flight
Mig Alley
A-10 Cuba!
Flying Corps Gold
Aces of the Pacific
Aces Over Europe
IL-2 Cliffs of Dover [fully patched only!] 

Apache vs Havok
Longbow 2
Hind

 close: DCS A-10C, Red Baron 1, WW-2 Fighters

                       War Sim
T-34 vs Tiger
Steel Fury 1942
Close Combat 2
Combat Mission 3
Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy
Achtung Panzer 1943
Seal Team
Silent Hunter 1

Over the Reich

Achtung Spitfire!

Feel free to add/subtract Genres as you please. The idea is to paint the big picture not only of our AG preferences, but all types of games that form our collections... If these posts are too long forget the whole idea!

Edit: Added a missing Air games, corrected a few "misses", added a few "close"

These won't be in any real order, any game listed is good enough to compete for the top spot

Adventure

Riven

The Void

The Longest Journey

Syberia

Myst 4: Revelations

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

Schizm: Mysterious Journey

The Last Express

Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars

RPG

Morrowind

Legend of Grimrock

The Witcher

Ultima 7

Planescape: Torment

Fallout 2

Drakensang: River of Time

Ultima Underworld 2

Gothic

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Strategy

Victoria 2

Crusader Kings 2

Civilization 2 or 4 (can't decide)

Majesty: The fantasy Kingdom Sim

Stars!

Alpha Centauri

Age of Wonders

Settlers 2

Dawn of War

Hearts of Iron 2: Aresnal of Democracy

(this one got pretty Paradox heavy. Well deserved though, Paradox create amazing games)

Action
Thief: The Dark Project

System Shock 2

Alien vs Predator (the one released in 2000, not the bad recent release)

Super Metroid

Ikaruga

Jamestown

Outcast

Cave Story

Magicka (when played with friends)

Super Mario World

Tactics

Jagged Alliance 2

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

X-Com enemy unknown

Elven Legacy

Men of War: Vetnam

Fallout Tactics

Panzer General 2

Warhammer 40 000 Chaos Gate

MechCommander

Advance Wars

Simulators & similar

Freespace 2

IL-2 Sturmovik 

Tachyon: The Fringe

Wing Commander Prophecies 

X3: Terran Conflict

Silent Hunter 2

Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos

X-wing vs Tie Fighter

Freespace

Wing Commander 2

(I really need to play more simulators...)

Originally Posted By Fnord (14 JUL 2012 12:04pm)

These won't be in any real order, any game listed is good enough to compete for the top spot

 

Adventure

Riven

The Void

The Longest Journey

Syberia

Myst 4: Revelations

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

Schizm: Mysterious Journey

The Last Express

Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars

Riven, The Longest Journey, Schizm and Broken Sword in the same top-ten list. Now there's someone with an all-inclusive adventure gaming taste.

Adventure

Broken Sword 1
Day of the Tentacle
Gabriel Knight 2
Grim Fandango
Monkey Island 1

Myst

Riven

Myst 4

Obsidian
Timelapse

RPG (A bit short, I know. I'll add more as I think of them.)

Baldur's Gate 2
Planescape: Torment
Knights of the Old Republic
Morrowind
Fallout 2
Mass Effect

Secret of Mana

Action 

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Psychonauts
Deus Ex
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Half-Life 1

Half-Life 2
Splinter Cell
Thief 1
No One Lives Forever
Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast

okay... we're getting there... a "whole collection" point of view...

Genres and games are listed in real order.

the AG genre used to be N°1, until they invented the open world concept 

                      RPG

Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 2

Skyrim

Fallout 3

The Witcher 2

Fallout New Vegas

Deus Ex: HR

Alpha Protocol

Gothic 3 

Darkstone

                      Action

Just Cause 2

Far Cry 2

Assassin's Creed II

Bioshock

GTA IV

Bioshock 2

Halflife 1

Frontlines: Fuel of war

Freelancer

Unreal

                      Adventure

Broken Sword 2

King's Quest VII

Myst III Exile

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

Machinarium

Myst IV Revelation

Sanitarium

Runaway 2

The Lost Crown

Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit

                      Puzzle

Lemmings 3D

Lemmings

Portal 2

World of Goo

Crazy Machines 2

Portal

Crazy Machines Elements

Full Pipe

Safecracker

Azada

                        Simulator

Sim City IV

Noctis VI

Rollercoaster Tycoon III

Theme Hospital

                       Realtime/Turn Based Strategy

The settlers 2: 10th anniversary edition

The settlers 7

Civilization 2

Command & Conquer Red Alert

Command & Conquer

Warlords III

Heroes of Might & Magic III

...

The actual top 10:

1 Mass Effect 3

2 Mass Effect 2

3 Skyrim

4 Fallout 3

5 Just Cause 2

6 Far Cry 2

7 Broken Sword 2

8 Lemmings 3D

9 Fallout New Vegas

10 King's Quest VII

I'll bite, and go with Adventure as a category, defined rather broadly, as you'll see: (top 10, not ranked in order):

INDIGO PROPHECY

BLADE RUNNER

PROFESSOR LAYTON (DS): CURIOUS VILLAGE and the series

L.A. NOIRE (played on XBox360)

GRIM FANDANGO

BROKEN SWORD TEMPLARS

PORTAL 2 (played on XBox360)

SYBERIA 2

EAST SIDE STORY (and others in the series)

SHERLOCK HOLMES: AWAKENED (revised version) and others in the series

There are so many, many other fine games. My list tomorrow may look a bit different. A couple of indies I really loved were: RHIANNON: CURSE OF THE FOUR BRANCHES and DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH, a grim game that haunted me for months afterwards.

Originally Posted By Dave Fisher (15 JUL 2012 6:02am)

I'll bite, and go with Adventure as a category, defined rather broadly, as you'll see: (top 10, not ranked in order):

 

INDIGO PROPHECY

BLADE RUNNER

PROFESSOR LAYTON (DS): CURIOUS VILLAGE and the series

L.A. NOIRE (played on XBox360)

GRIM FANDANGO

BROKEN SWORD TEMPLARS

PORTAL 2 (played on XBox360)

SYBERIA 2

EAST SIDE STORY (and others in the series)

SHERLOCK HOLMES: AWAKENED (revised version) and others in the series

 

There are so many, many other fine games. My list tomorrow may look a bit different. A couple of indies I really loved were: RHIANNON: CURSE OF THE FOUR BRANCHES and DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH, a grim game that haunted me for months afterwards.

I believe that you have played  many more computer games than I have and CERTAINLY a much more varied assortment of genres.
There are several on your list I have never played !!

You probably don't know that I alpha & beta tested that game and afterwards 'published' a walkthrough.
I was flabbergasted when I saw that at the opening of the game it was dedicated to me !!
Such a thing had never happened before or since and I'm sure will never happen again!
It was extremely nice of Alkis to do that – he is a wonderful guy. It was IMO undeserved & unwarranted but appreciated nevertheless.

Incidentally, I have had the most marvelous relationships with **every one** of the couple of dozen or so Developers I have had the privilege & pleasure of being associated with (except maybe *one ONLY* who will remain unnamed !!).
I have remained close personal friends with several !!

I dislike SLOPPY statements !
But I think that it's failure 'Broke Alk's heart" It is a very great pity since he is an enormously talented guy and he has had to abandon the field.

He was one of the regulars of the 'old' JA and I think posted a very little on the new JA but I'm not certain about that.

A great pity and loss to the Quest/Adventure genre !!

I purchased Diamonds in the Rough directly from Alkis when he dissolved his company and let go of his remaining inventory at a reduced price. As I recall and supported by a quick check online, the game in fact received overall good reviews with most of what was negative having to do with the limited graphics. But the story, puzzles, voice-acting and overall production otherwise were very well thought of, given the limitations of a one-man indie operation.

My memory is that Alkis' biggest concern had to do with the realities of such a limited return for the effort required in creating a game such as DitR and particularly the down-side of marketing, distribution and dealing with publishers in general.

He's selling remaining stock on ebay - just picked up a copy $11 ppd BIN, and he'll sign it for you. The comments here have me intruiged...

I have a signed copy as well. While playing the game I had no complaints whatsoever. The 'thoughts' interface was quite interesting and I thought it worked well in progressing the game. While what SirDave suggests is probably correct, I have to add that the game ends on a theme with certain basic premises that can't be discussed in any forum that forbids said discussions of politics and religion. To this date I'm still not sure if it was the right way to go for an indie developer. In my opinion that pretty much put a black mark on the game. As much as I'm tempted to spurt out the specifics I won't. To all those who haven't played it, grab it while you can and let it be known what you think. 

Originally Posted By tincup2 (15 JUL 2012 8:56pm)

He's selling remaining stock on ebay - just picked up a copy $11 ppd BIN, and he'll sign it for you. The comments here have me intruiged...

I don't usually try to inflence folk - but in this case GRAB IT !!

It has a story completely different from *ANY OTHER* Quest/Adventure and a novel additional "Thought Inventory: which is certainly unique.

Please tkae into consideration that it was made several years back and on an Indie-limited budget and by *ONE* individual alone..  The voice acting alone is professional - and I know that that and studio etc. were expensive.

The story is completely original and possibly controversial - but certainly unique.

PLEASE  GIVE  US  A  REVIEW  (even if only a short one)  WHEN  YOU  HAVE  FINISHED !!!

Hello all. It's been ages since I visited this forum. Thank you very much for remembering my game and for your kind words, it is always flattering when it gets a mention among so many quality titles.

Just to set the record straight, most DITR reviews were actually very good and that includes the one from Just Adventure that isn't online any longer. You can see some of them here. Furthermore, the game was not a financial flop at all, if anything it broke even which is more than many indie developers can say as I'm sure you know. I had to give up because I failed to find an investor for my next project, despite receiving a lot of false promises. I eventually needed to focus on a line of business that would give me a steady income.

Anyway, it's good to see some familiar nicknames.

Originally Posted By SirDave (14 JUL 2012 12:16pm)

Riven, The Longest Journey, Schizm and Broken Sword in the same top-ten list. Now there's someone with an all-inclusive adventure gaming taste.

As long as the puzzles don't end up being of the trial & error or unfair pixel-hunting kind, and the story is compelling, I can enjoy most adventure games. Myst has these wonderfully beautiful environments & logical puzzles, but The Longest Journey has a lot of interesting characters & well written dialogue. Very different games, but both are great.

Though I now wish I would have put The Dig on the list... And Scratches... So many good games, so little space on the list

And I was supposed to continue the list, but ended up playing Avernum instead yesterday

Originally Posted By Dave Fisher (15 JUL 2012 6:02am)

There are so many, many other fine games. My list tomorrow may look a bit different.

That is always the problem. There are so many great games out there that it feels impossible to limit a list to just 10 or 20 or 50...

@ Alkis21... cool!

Originally Posted By Fnord (16 JUL 2012 6:44am)
And I was supposed to continue the list, but ended up playing Avernum instead yesterday

Playing trumps Ranking... you're off the hook..

Originally Posted By alkis21 (16 JUL 2012 6:41am)

Hello all. It's been ages since I visited this forum. Thank you very much for remembering my game and for your kind words, it is always flattering when it gets a mention among so many quality titles.

 

Just to set the record straight, most DITR reviews were actually very good and that includes the one from Just Adventure that isn't online any longer. You can see some of them here. Furthermore, the game was not a financial flop at all, if anything it broke even which is more than many indie developers can say as I'm sure you know. I had to give up because I failed to find an investor for my next project, despite receiving a lot of false promises. I eventually needed to focus on a line of business that would give me a steady income.

 

Anyway, it's good to see some familiar nicknames.

I will try to visit more often!

Good to see you here again !
I'm usually *VERY* accurate - but we ALL make mistakes from time to time - wouldn't be human otherwise.

These aren't in any order. But man was it tough to choose from some of these categories.

Adventure

Syberia

Sanitarium

Gabriel Knight (honestly, the whole trilogy... too bad it was never concluded)

Kings Quest

Quest for Glory

Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit

Grim Fandango

Monkey Island

Discworld Noir

Blade Runner

( What can I say? I was a huge fan of the old sierra adventure games )

RPG

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

Phantasy Star 2

Star Wars KOTOR

Chronotrigger

Planescape: Torment

Fallout 2

Baldurs Gate 2

Ultima VI

Mass Effect

Sword of Vermillion

Strategy

Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Command and Conquer 2

Shining Force (wasn't sure if I should put it in RPG or strategy, but I think it was more strategy)

Starflight

Populous 2

Civilization V

Overlord (xbox 360/ps3)

Warcraft 3

Jagged Alliance 2

X-Com

Action

Gears of War

Halo 3

Resident Evil 4

Silent Hill 2

Uncharted 2

Red Dead Redemption

Sonic the Hedgehog

Flashback: the quest for identity

System Shock 2

Deus Ex 1

Sports & Simulations

NHL 2012

WWE 11

Dirt 2

Ace Combat 6

The Sims 3 (only AFTER they released the pets expansion)

Madden 2005

Driver San Francisco

Trials Evolution

Road Rash 3 Tour de Force (only motorcycle game I ever enjoyed)

Pinball FX 2 (love me some pinball)

Honorable Mentions

Secret of Mana

Final Fantasy VII & XII

Super mario 2

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Guild Wars

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura

Bioshock

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Eye of the Beholder 2

Ultima IX

(These were soooo close to making the list, but still hold a special spot in my heart/collection anyway)

Tincup:  Surprised to not see Machinarium on your Adventure list.  By any definition, it's an Adventure game.  I'm intrigued by Outlaws, though, wasn't familiar with that one!

Adventure:

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars

The Dark Eye

Sanitarium

Azrael's Tear

Morpheus

Riven

Machinarium

Portal/Portal 2

Syberia

The Longest Journey

The Neverhood

Zork Nemesis

Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon

RPG:

Anachronox

Baldur's Gate

Arx Fatalis

Wizardry 8

Gothic 2

Planescape: Torment

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

Might and Magic VII

Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny

Fallout 3

JRPG:

Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy X

Dragon Quest VIII

Chrono Trigger

Final Fantasy IX

Dark Cloud 2

Strategy / Strategy RPG

Heroes of Might and Magic III

Heroes of Might and Magic IV

Fire Emblem series

Final Fantasy Tactics series

Tactics Ogre series

Jeanne d'Arc

Gladius

Hard-to-Define Hybrids

Thief Series

Deus Ex Series

System Shock Series

Realms of the Haunting

Action/Adventure

Uncharted Series

Outcast

Ratchet & Clank Series

Far Cry

Enslaved

Resident Evil IV

Psychonauts

Game I've Spent the Most Time Playing By A Long Shot, So I Might as Well Call it My Favorite

World of Warcraft

I don't play strategy, RPG's or hidden object games, I am a total Adventure game lover.  My list for all-time favorite games:

1. Simon the Sorcerer 1

2. Broken Sword 1

3. book of unwritten tales

4. Lost Horizon

5. Grim Fandango

6. Broken Sword 2

7. Gabriel Knight 1

8. Gabriel Knight 2

9. Day of the Tentacle

10. Discworld Noir.

I guess I shouldn't say that I never play RPG's, as I have played Lands of Lore, Throne of Chaos many many times. If you put the monsters to wimpy, it is more like an adventure game than a RPG.  I didn't like Lands of Lore 2, as that had keyboard control and I really detest keyboard.  Grim Fandango would have been such a good game if it had been mouse driven. And, Simon the Sorcerer 3 is one of my most favorite games, but, hate the controls.  I sure wish they would have stuck with the old 2D formula.

Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis

The Day of the Tentacle

The whole Kings Quest series

The whole Police Quest series

The whole Monkey Island series

Shivers

The whole Gabriel Knight series

The whole Tex Murphy series

Titanic - Adventure out of Time

Syberia

The last Express

The Secret files series

Runaway (1)

Neverhood

The Longest Journey

Uru

Originally Posted By Ray (16 JUL 2012 1:25pm)

Tincup:  Surprised to not see Machinarium on your Adventure list.  By any definition, it's an Adventure game.  I'm intrigued by Outlaws, though, wasn't familiar with that one!

Good one! But for me pride of place goes to 1st person point n click so even though Machinarium had to have a spot Neverhood got the nod at 3rd person and so Machinarium went in the Others column.

I drew up my list very quickly - stream of consciousness style, so it has both the avantages and disadvantages of a broad stroke take on my gaming preferences..

Outlaws may actually be my favorite shooter - I don't often replay games but I've gone through this one several times and even built retro rigs so that I could play it and other old Glide games... Hey Lawman!....

Here is my adventure games Top 10:

10. Leisure Suit Larry 3
9. The Whispered World
8. Discworld Noir
7. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
6. Temujin
5. Gabriel Knight 1
4. The Longest Journey
3. Monkey Island 1
2. Grim Fandango
1. Monkey Island 2

If you are interested in the entire Top 50, you may find it here.

Updated my list a bit further. I've simply played too few racing & management-style games to create a list for those