A thread on Otakubooty was asking what your favorite 10 games were, with 3 honorable mentions. You don’t really ask game designers what their favorite games are, just like you don’t ask film school kids what their favorite moves are. But if I had to start with some, I’d start with these.
Herzog Zwei
Shadowrun for the Genesis
Fallout
Bioforge
River City Ransom
Team Fortress 2
Battlefield 2142
Xenophobe
Half Life
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Bloody Roar
Portal
X-Com: UFO Defense
Mario Paint
SSX Tricky
Actraiser
Fantasy Zone
X-Wing
Dune 2
Command and Conquer
Sim City for Super Nintendo
Edit: MASTERS OF MAGIC!
Edit: Duke Nukem 3D
I’ll be adding to this as I can remember them, as well as possibly elaborating on why.
Related posts: