What is Your Desert Island Game?

1up has a feature today asking games industry heavyweights what their 'desert island game' would be. Games from the Civilization series are backed by the likes of Sony's Phil Harrison, David Jaffe, and Bethesda's Todd Howard, while Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has waiting-for-rescue fans among a number of the list respondents. Bioware CEO Ray Muzyka has an interesting answer to the question while talking about his pick: StarCraft. " It's an unusual choice for me in that I'd normally pick a role-playing game. But StarCraft has a strong campaign editor to make new content (including making either combat-oriented or story-based campaigns), plus you can play both the solid single-player campaign and against the A.I., and -- here's the trick -- you can play on a LAN or WAN (you said no Internet, but didn't mention local or wide area networks...my goal would be to build a WAN -- I'd explain how, but that would be telling -- connecting other folks similarly dropped onto nearby desert islands by other videogame online sites, who are equally eager to play some competitive multiplayer RTS or try out the campaigns I've created to kill time on the long days where there's nothing else to do but collect coconuts and build rafts." So, assuming that you have everything you need to play, what game would you want to take with you into seclusion?

Comments

Tetris DS

[Turn-X Alphonse]

Tetris DS, lots of modes and never gets old.

Re:Tetris DS

[bobo mahoney]

Tetris is good, but something with boobs would be better. My vote is for Dead or Alive Extreme - after you finish your game you have something to do for a couple of minutes and then have a good nap.

Re:Tetris DS

[James_Duncan8181]

Nah, if I have everything I need to play I want something that's online play only. Preferably with Teamspeak. *grins*

Re:Tetris DS

[f00man]

WTF?

My favorite "game" would be bonking the daylights out of the gorgeous blond babe that's stuck there with me. All day. Every day.

If you're gonna fantasize about a desert isle, skip the electricty and tcp/ip and go for the babe.

Stupid geeks.

Heck Yes

[danbert8]

I definitely agree. Starcraft=Best...Game...EVER!

Re:Heck Yes

[Agilus]

I'd have to go with Myth 2 over Starcraft of Warcraft. More combat strategy and tactics, better terrain, physics, better mods because of all this, and no having to worry about the boring duties of gathering resources and building units/buildings.

Re:Heck Yes

[Cornflake917]

To each their own. The gathering resources part of Stracraft is what makes it more interesting, IMO. If you can get a bunch of expansions up qiuck without your opponent doing anything about it, you can overtake him with shear brute force due to your financial advantage. However, this comes at a huge risk because you'll have lower defense early on, and if he manages to take your expansions out, you'll be screwed. Myth is more of a tactics game than a strategy game (although Starcraft requires a fair amount of tactics and micromanagement) as well. I enjoyed the myth games, but I found the variety of units to be lacking, and the multiplayer is quite repetitive compared to stacraft.

Re:Heck Yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Who modded this Insightful? I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Re:Heck Yes

[Trent Hawkins]

Well... Yeah but it's in close competition with X-Com and X-Com 2:TftD.

In fact I'd definitely pick it if there is no multilayer for Star Craft.

Re:Heck Yes

[PFI_Optix]

Four RTS games that are better than StarCraft:

Company of Heroes
Total Annihilation
Supreme Commander
Rome: Total War

Why? Because they don't give you a dumbed down arcade-ish "strategy" game that is full of gimmicks and driven by a rock-paper-scissors unit system. StarCraft is the Counter-Strike of RTS: popular, fun, deeper than it appears at first glance, but FAR from being the best in its genre at anything.

Re:Heck Yes

[freefrag]

You forgot Herzog Zwei.

Re:Heck Yes

[Cornflake917]

Well obviously you prefer "more sophisticated" games (except for TA which has very little depth compared to pretty much any RTS). It doesn't mean they are better. Eve-online is way more "sophisticated" than World of Warcraft (well at least in the respect it is very confusing when you first start out and has an unintuitive GUI), but it's subscriber base is very weak in comparison.

Starcarft may be "dumbed down" (or as I like to say: "not uneccessarily convoluted with a unintuitive controls, features, and options") but as you said, it was fun. I play games to have fun. I guess I'm just dumb, simplistic, neanderthal.

but FAR from being the best in its genre at anything. There's a few dozen magazines, websites, and institutions that disagree with you:

http://www.blizzard.com/inblizz/awards.shtml#sc

Re:Heck Yes

[PFI_Optix]

(except for TA which has very little depth compared to pretty much any RTS)

The unit base was massive but not exactly inspired. What made TA great was the game mechanics. Weapons were no loner 100% accurate. There was no unstoppable weapon (nukes anyone).

[Eve]'s subscriber base is very weak in comparison.

So? Popularity doesn't make a game great. The Sims has outsold StarCraft almost 2 to 1...does that make it a better game?

Starcarft may be "dumbed down" (or as I like to say: "not uneccessarily convoluted with a unintuitive controls, features, and options")

None of the games I listed have any of that.

StarCraft is a clickfest. Watch the Koreans play sometimes; it's just absurd. I've seen fighting games with less potential for wrist trauma. That's not strategy. The game engine itself doesn't exactly promote strategy...the terrain barely has any effect on combat except to make chokepoints for the land units. Air units don't move like they're flying...they just hover there.

You want to talk about intuitive? Intuitive is when I move a marine out of the path of a slow-moving projectile, he doesn't get hit. Intuitive is NOT seeing that projectile strike the ground where he was standing, and still manage to injure him.

Re:Heck Yes

[loganrapp]

I don't know about that, but his reason why is quite sound. The ability to create new content is key.

The problem with me is that I'm a story guy. So really, most of my time would be with - no joke - notepad. I write a lot. It's what I do, it's what I find fun. I could probably get rescued with three scripts and two novel-length manuscripts done by that time.

However, I'd need a game that took my mind off things and allowed infinite replayability without any game feeling the same way twice.

So... it'd have to be something like a Total Annihilation, your Supreme Commander...

Or come to think of it, I think the guys're right with their Civilization choice. It's a game that eats up your time and you don't even realize it. I've had entire days just go missing because I needed to reinvade the city of Labia Majora taken from me, using the town of Urethra as the final staging point.

...what?

Re:Heck Yes

[Cornflake917]

The Sims has outsold StarCraft almost 2 to 1...does that make it a better game? It might. Generally games that are more fun have a better chance of selling then games that suck. Crazy concept isn't it? Yeah there's alot of shitty games out their that ride on the popularity of their previous releases or movies, but if the original title sucks it's probably not going to sell. Have you ever played Sims? Maybe it's really fun.

Looking at subscription numbers for MMO's is actually a good benchmark for judging the game's quality. People have to continue paying money if they want to keep playing it, and generally stop paying for it if they are dissapointed. It's a better benchmark than comparing sheer number of copies sold because even if the buyer thinks the game sucks, he still counts as a person who bought a copy.

StarCraft is a clickfest. Starcarft is a clickfest? Welcome to the realm of RTS's, bud. Actually, once you get good enough you use key binding more than clicking. Regardless, if it's realtime, you are more successful when you produce more units and micromanage them more. Any real time strategy game gives at least a small advantage to people who act faster. If you don't like that aspect of games, go play chess, risk, Civ, or any other turn-based games.

You want to talk about intuitive? Intuitive is when I move a marine out of the path of a slow-moving projectile, he doesn't get hit. Intuitive is NOT seeing that projectile strike the ground where he was standing, and still manage to injure him. I was talking about the intuitiveness of GUI's, you're talking about realism. If you prefer realism that's fine by me. I play games to escape reality. I can point out of lot of unrealistic, nonsensical, aspects in the other games (close combat in CoH? give me a break) but we're talking about games here.

Re:Heck Yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh come on...You two aren't seriously going to start a Debian-vs-Red Hat style debate over Starcraft and Company of Heroes, are you?

What makes a game a great game is how much enjoyment you get out of playing it...meaning it's subjective. If you enjoy realism, obviously your judgement is going to be different from someone who prefers immersion.

Clearly, a lot of people had a lot of fun playing Starcraft. Probably a lot of people have fun playing Company of Heroes, too, but most likely different groups of people.

Re:Heck Yes

[Goldberg's Pants]

Holy crap, another Myth II player.

Yeah, if we're talking RTS, I'd probably choose Myth II, though I do still LOVE Starcraft. Myth II removes the tedious starting resource gathering and building nonsense that plagues every other RTS.

I'd have a VERY hard time choosing my desert island game. I'd probably go with Gran Turismo 4 to be quite honest. So many cars and tracks, and I can think of worse ways of spending my life on an island than taking a Mitsubishi Evo VIII around the Nordschleife.

Re:Heck Yes

[Goldberg's Pants]

But the early minutes of Starcraft are ALWAYS the same. Myth II varies hugely.

And to add something to my earlier post above yours, if I was allowed two games, or had to choose a PC game, I'd choose Championship Manager 01/02. While the current version of Football Manager is very complex and interesting, some of the fun has been removed since the 01/02 version.

Re:Heck Yes

[Goldberg's Pants]

I'm a writer myself. I HATE story modes in games. A game, for me, lives and dies on it's, in RTS games, skirmish mode. I have Dawn of War here. Rather than play the standard campaigns, I went straight the Dark Crusade campaign mode, which let's you battle over territories. No story. If I want story, I'll go play Neverwinter or similar.

My favourite game right now is the race sim rFactor. However, since we're on a desert island, and I assume no internet, that means no mods or tracks to download. The core game, while good, is not worth taking to a desert island if you can't get the mods and tracks for it.

I loved Starcraft, but quit midway through the Zerg campaign as it just got so dull. All my highlights from that game come from online play. In fact I still have my list of griefers somewhere (who if there's any justice have been run over and killed by 18 wheelers by now).

Re:Heck Yes

[BillPosters]

You forgot Dawn of War + expansions.

Re:Heck Yes

[Tim Browse]

I'm a writer myself.

...which let's you battle over territories.

D'oh!

Re:Heck Yes

[TrippTDF]

Starcraft was an excellent game, no doubt. Warhammer 40K was an excellent game along the same lines, and their resource management (taking strategic flags on the board) made gameplay a lot more war-like, in that you really had to start securing parts of the map in order to proceed. Also, units of 6-10 troops act as a single entity, which also change tactics a little.

Re:Heck Yes

[Goldberg's Pants]

Yes... When casually writing, I quite often trip myself up like that. It pays to have a wife with an English degree as my editor for my commercial stuff.

NetHack

[Nerdfest]

I might even be able to beat it without saving eventually ...

Re:NetHack

[Hatta]

Nethack is THE game. Took me 4 years to beat it with one class, even with the spoilers. With a dozen classes to choose from, one could easily be entertained for decades.

Re:NetHack

[Cheapy]

Spoilers or no spoilers?

You might die (in real life that is) before you can ascend with no spoilers!

Re:NetHack

[kinglink]

I was going to say Legend of Zelda Link to the Past because it's a favorite, or one of the Elder scrolls with the editor. But damn if this one doesn't take the cake. Best answer.

Still have yet to ascend. I'm sure when the rescue boat comes I'll turn and wave and shout "Just one more game".

Re:NetHack

[jandrese]

Playing it without spoilers is just crazy though. It takes multiple hours to get to the lower levels of the dungeon, and if you need to know about some trick a mob has or you're screwed, you're just out several hours to learn that trick. Then you get to repeat that (plus some extra time you spend fighting the original mob) to learn the special tricks of the next mob.

Plus, the RNG can be cruel and really screw you from time to time. Falling down a pit that just happens to be exceptionally difficult to detect into a monster room is one of those things that can easily end an otherwise good run in about 1 turn.

Re:NetHack

[Anonymous Coward]

This has been a subject of much discussion on the nethack newsgroup. There's virtually nothing* that spoilers can give you that can't be figured out with observation, deduction, and most importantly, the Oracle's major consultations. After you've hit minetown, there's no use for all that gold anyway. Search for "Ellora the Elven Archer" for a series of posts by an unspoiled player who was all the way to Gehennom. (Unfortunately done in by the dreaded Cattus Keyboardus.)

  The RNG is a deadly foe, true, but the real key to success in nethack is A) minimize risk, and B) PREPARE TO BE SCREWED. To help avoid falling in a pit, try to walk on squares that you know you've walked on, or that you've seen monsters or pets walk on. When you fall into the pit, make sure you have already considered means to escape such a situation. Heck just writing the magic word, as laid out in the guidebook, would probably save you.

  * (magic cancellation might be a bit tricky to figure out, and isn't spelled out in the consultations. However, there is a strong, direct hint of its existence in one of the minor consultations.)

Re:NetHack

[mandelbr0t]

Yep, add me to the NetHackers. I've actually been as close to a desert island as I'll ever be (a month without Internet -- oh noes!) and only NetHack saved my sanity. I could easily while away the worst boredom for months on end staring at the curses-based dungeon (yep, text-based all the way!)

The best part is that I could easily port it to whatever flavour of Linux runs on the solar-powered computer that I'll make out of palm trees, fishing line and a giant piece of plastic :)

Re:NetHack

[beef623]

Definately netHack, or at least a rogue-like of some sort. Granted, Morrowind(yes, Morrowind not Oblivion) would be a close second.

Re:NetHack

[Dadoo]

but the real key to success in nethack is A) minimize risk, and B) PREPARE TO BE SCREWED

But that's the whole problem with NetHack. I used to love it - a lot - but having to start over from scratch, time after time, was just frustrating after a while, especially when you've got a good game going. When I'm playing Quake, or Unreal, and I know I'm getting to a difficult part, I'll save my game. If I get killed, I can pick up from my last save. I'll never understand why that's not possible in NetHack, without hacking the source. I can't stand to redo a level, much less a whole game.

Re:NetHack

[Anonymous Coward]

but the real key to success in nethack is A) minimize risk, and B) PREPARE TO BE SCREWED

But that's the whole problem with NetHack. I used to love it - a lot - but having to start over from scratch, time after time, was just frustrating after a while, especially when you've got a good game going. When I'm playing Quake, or Unreal, and I know I'm getting to a difficult part, I'll save my game. If I get killed, I can pick up from my last save. I'll never understand why that's not possible in NetHack, without hacking the source. I can't stand to redo a level, much less a whole game. It's not possible because Nethack is like Chess on a grand scale. Mastering it garners you respect and bragging rights, but not if you cheated by undoing moves on the way.
  If you don't want to have to start over, there's always explore mode -- which is the acceptable form of 'cheating' and is encouraged for newbies feeling frustrated. It's all in the guidebook, which every nethack player ought to have read.

  The thing is unlike Quake, you don't want to wait until you're about to be killed to realize that you're in "a difficult part." You can't just fancy-shoot your way out of many nethack dilemmas. This is point (B) above -- you should always be thinking ahead, planning contingencies. Once you get past the early game, a skilled player's characters ought to be essentially unkillable.* An unskilled player will die even if he rigged the dice, gave himself a dozen wishes, and had as many do-overs as he could want. The primary difference between a skilled and unskilled player in Nethack is A) caution and B) planning.

  If you do something and it kills you, don't do that anymore. If you didn't do something and got killed, think about what you could have done to avoid or escape that situation. That "falling into a room filled with monsters" bit? I can think of about eight different ways to get out of that, excluding "run like hell" and "just bash 'em until they're dead" -- the latter of which would probably also work if you're playing a well-equipped Valkyrie, Samurai or Barbarian. A stealthy, invisible character (say a ranger or thief) could probably just waltz out of there, but those are special-case solutions.

* See marvin, who managed to ascend 22 out of 25 games in the 2003 tournament.

Re:NetHack

[fishbowl]

"If you didn't do something and got killed, think about what you could have done to avoid or escape that situation."

It blows their mind when you explain the mistakes they made have compounded beginning 10,000 turns ago.

OP said he "can't stand to re-do a level, much less an entire game", but the thing is with Roguelikes, is that every game is unique.

On the other hand, I've played so many games (Ascended many Elf Rangers, an elf Wiz, and a human Valk, some on public servers, one during a tourney), that the predictable elements of the game are becoming fairly stale. I've tried other roguelike variants, but none really hooks me like Nethack does.

So NH might still be my desert island game, but not without an editor and compiler.

Re:NetHack

[fbjon]

Nethack probably wouldn't be as deep if you didn't have to start over. There's so many things that can happen, that if you breeze through the game it'll register barely as a 'meh'.

Re:NetHack

[StupiderThanYou]

Then you could try a real game ...

Re:NetHack

[hojita]

Nethack also wouldn't be as interesting, especially in the end game. It's partially because that part of the game ramps up the challenge significantly, but it's largely because this character that you've invested time and energy in is on the line and you're so close to the finish line.

Being able to save and reload may keep you from being frustrated, but it also keeps the game from being exciting.

Re:NetHack

[jiipee]

Nethack here too.

Re:NetHack

[fbjon]

Right, it's really the same age-old save/load balancing problem that also crops up in FPS's and the like. Some games solve it with savepoints, and I'm thinking that wouldn't be a bad idea for Nethack either. As it is now, it's like Diablo in hardcore mode, with no other difficulty settings.

Re:NetHack

[Creepy]

Ah, yes - just don't make the mistake I did - in college I made it all the way to the elemental plane of fire as a wizard without dying, then made the mistake of attempting to swap my ring of levitation for a ring of conflict without realizing I was standing over a lava square (and thus died instantly).

Re:NetHack

[Nosklo]

And using this game at a desert island suddenly becomes easier and easier...

the obvious answer

[Anonymous Coward]

A boat - which I could use to get to the mainland. I would then sell the boat and buy all the kick-ass PC, consoles and games I always wanted.

Re:the obvious answer

[eln]

No, the correct answer is any non-FPS networked game, so you could ask the other players for help. The reason an FPS would not work is because no one would believe you...they would just assume you're using the excuse "I'm stranded on a desert island, ping times suck!" for why you have -3 kills and 58 deaths.

Re:the obvious answer

[Floritard]

You wouldn't get the far. 10 sec into the game you'd see:
Kicked by console - god you ping sucks, what are you on a fucking desert island or something?!

Starcraft/Warcraft

[LordBafford]

Yes starcraft sounds like a good pick to me, that or warcraft3. Both would supply you with many maps and campaigns to play and allow you to create your own maps as well.

Re:Starcraft/Warcraft

[Ojuice]

You should try Heroes of Might and Magic III. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_M agic_III

Re:Starcraft/Warcraft

[Goldberg's Pants]

You are aware the AI cheats HORRENDOUSLY in that game, right?

Hmm...

[TodMinuit]

Does Visual Studio count as a game?

No? Fine: Chess.

Re:Hmm...

[MankyD]

What's funny is that I was thinking along the same lines. I much prefer coding. It is quite a stress reliever and, because you can really code whatever you want, it's always changing. Who needs a campaign editor when you have a text editor!

</nerd>

Re:Hmm...

[Red Flayer]

Who needs a campaign editor when you have a text editor!

Someone without a compiler?

Re:Hmm...

[thaneross]

This is my choice as well (although I'd go with Eclipse), but who needs one game when you can write your own? I think the time would pass a lot faster if I had something interesting to work on; I can't imagine any game not getting old after playing it non-stop for over a month.

Re:Hmm...

[TuringTest]

Real Programmers do write their own compilers!

And once you've written yours, then you... er...

Ever heard of bootstrapping?

Tetris for original NES

[Corpuscavernosa]

All day. I've been playing the game for 20 years (on my original system that surprisingly still works) and I plan to play till I die. There are countless versions for countless platforms but nothing beats the music, the controls or the plain feel of the single greatest game of all time.

Re:Tetris for original NES

[Verteiron]

Which Tetris for the NES? The original Tengen version or Nintendo's copy?

Re:Tetris for original NES

[epedersen]

Having Both, I would say then Tengen is a thousand times better then the Nintendo one.

Re:Tetris for original NES

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure Corpus meant the Nintendo version. I found the controls to be pretty terrible on the Tengen version. Clearly a lot of thought went into the block rotation scheme at Nintendo.

Master of Orion II

[jimstapleton]

Yeah, it's from 1995, but it's one of the most fun and addictive strategy games I've ever played.

You don't need uber graphics to make a good game.

Re:Master of Orion II

[Killjoy_NL]

Totally agree on this one, one of the best games ever.
I love it how the other races hate you if you bomb a planet, but blowing it up with a stellar converter doesn't even get a raised eyebrow :D

Re:Master of Orion II

[tibike77]

I was just about to say the same thing... but then again, in single-player mode, it can become annoying, the true "fun" in MoO2 was hotseat multiplayer.

Re:Master of Orion II

[imbaczek]

Try GalCiv 2. It's got this "just another turn... oh shit it's dawn again." feeling; the game's generally good enough to be called "a worthy successor".

Re:Master of Orion II

[Nasarius]

As a huge fan of MOO and MOO2, I tried Galactic Civilizations 2. Honestly, it doesn't do anything for me. I tried with the original, and I tried again when the expansion was released, but I could never get into it. It's sort of flat and lifeless, and there's too much micromanagement.

Re:Master of Orion II

[shotgunsaint]

Hell yes. Until not so many years ago, Master of Orion 2 was the only PC game I ever paid for. I made up for this by burning a copy when mine became so scratched it was unplayable.

Re:Master of Orion II

[An ominous Cow art]

Space Empires IV (SE:4) from Malfador is a fun game along these lines. SE:V came out recently but I haven't been enjoying it as much - the new 3d interface is getting in my way.

Re:Master of Orion II

[Talchas]

Although if GP was complaining about too much micro in galciv2, SE4 is definitely not the game for them. OTOH if you like micro its pretty fun (AI is pretty bad though).

Re:Master of Orion II

[nschubach]

And Carriers and Fighters will win the game for you no questions asked. That's my only problem with it, but I still love everything else about SE4.

Re:Master of Orion II

[kahrytan]

I never played Master of Orion 2 but I have played Master of Orion 3. And it is my number 1 favorite game. If I could have just 1 game, It would be MoO3 with the Moo3Patcher utility. MoO3 can kill hours and hours of time.

Thank God MoO3 works fully with WINE.

Re:Master of Orion II

[fractoid]

findind a perfect wife to get the best possible successor is just an amazing idea in the strategic game :) Pardon me but, spelling errors aside, that sounds remarkably like this game I play called 'real life'...

Re:Master of Orion II

[tedgyz]

Right on dude! Not my #1 choice, but a top contender. I recall looking bleary-eyed up at the clock - 3AM!?!?!? That is the sign of a good game!

M.U.L.E. is a good choice too

Re:Master of Orion II

[jimstapleton]

Get your hands on MooII, Moo3 isn't bad, but 2 is better IMO.

Re:Master of Orion II

[Moxon]

I still like the original Master of Orion better, though none of them were as addictive as the original Civilization.

Re:Master of Orion II

[WuphonsReach]

As a huge fan of MOO and MOO2, I tried Galactic Civilizations 2. Honestly, it doesn't do anything for me. I tried with the original, and I tried again when the expansion was released, but I could never get into it. It's sort of flat and lifeless, and there's too much micromanagement.

GalCiv is still on my to-play list. My understanding was that it's more like the Civilization series rather then a MOO2 clone.

(But I've been a big fan of StarDock since they were one of the few developers who made games for OS/2.)

Thief 2

[grub]

Thief 2. If I have a bonus DVDR of fan missions, even better!

Re:Thief 2

[darkuncle]

ditto ... Thievery UT would be a good one to have along if that inter-island WAN was up and running. :)

chi-chi-chip and dale

[Ojuice]

Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers for NES, because that damn Fat Cat must go down!

Re:chi-chi-chip and dale

[hansamurai]

You'll have to bring a friend along to pick up and throw on the spikes.

Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[Dwedit]

Microprose Magic: The Gathering came out a long time ago. I still play it heavily. The adventure game mode is a huge time sucker.

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[joelkillspeople]

hey, have you ever gotten this to work in WinXP? I have the game still, but can't seem to get it to work outside of 98.

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[Skrynkelberg]

I'm in the same boat as you, never got it working. Eventually I installed it on the computer at my summer place, it dual boots win 98 and xp precisely for games like this. However, the other game modes, beside Shandalar, still works. Draft is quite fun.

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[Dachannien]

http://shalandar.com/installation.html#xp

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[antifoidulus]

You might want to check out MTG forge, they apparently have some AI now, though if you were stuck on a desert island you might have time to implement a better one yourself :P

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[Kaboom13]

That game is fun, but the limited card selection limits the decks you can make, plus it is pretty easy to make a deck that is an almost guaranteed first turn kill (every mox, black lotus, time walk, ancestral recall, time twister, lightning bolt, channel, fireball, regrowth, and some dualies will normally give you infinite turns on turn 1). The AI is pretty dumb also, and manages to kill itself most of the time.

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[Goldberg's Pants]

There is a version on torrent sites that I can confirm works just fine on XP service pack 1.

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[Torvaun]

I've got it working, but only the 1 player stuff. Can't get the multiplayer modes to work, though. My brother and I want to see who'll win, my Timetwisters or his Berserks.

Re:Microprose Magic: The Gathering

[KatchooNJ]

I have it working on my WinXP SP2 laptop. It has been a while, but I remember looking it up online to find out how to make it run on XP and it involved downloading some patches. That got it working for me under XP.

As someone else said on here, look for a torrent. It shouldn't be that hard to scoop up. Otherwise, do what I did and poke around for the proper patches.

Civ

[Anonymous Coward]

Civ. Never has one game kept me so engrossed for so long.

Diablo II

[Explodicle]

Diablo II. Randomized maps and items = infinite replayability.

Re:Diablo II

[MeanderingMind]

Additionally, it's highly modifiable. While it would take time, you could practically remake Diablo 1 or make your own Diablo 3. Granted that would be significant time investment, but we're talking 'desert island' here.

Re:Diablo II

[Saige]

Never mind that with single player, even on a desert island it'll still take a very long time to collect all the most powerful items.

Re:Diablo II

[emilng]

Even better with PlugY mod - Infinite sized shared stash.
http://phrozenkeep.planetdiablo.gamespy.com/forum/ dload.php?action=file&file_id=1335

I would have stopped playing a long time ago without this mod.

Re:Diablo II

[jfodale]

Ugh. Diablo 2 Simulator

Something with a good chat function...

[servoled]

I'd take something with a good chat function so I can get my ass off the island... failing that probably a nice pinball machine.

Re:Something with a good chat function...

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

Medieval Madness!

Trackmania

[igotmybfg]

Unbelievably strong level editor. Endless amusement. In short, it r0x0r.

Re:Trackmania

[Goldberg's Pants]

You're working on the theory that the goddamn fucking Starforce protection didn't fuck your PC beyond repair.

Seems like a pretty big risk to take on a desert island...

ROBOTRON

[Anonymous Coward]

hands down.

Wii

[nlitement]

I'd play Wii, because then I could connect to the other world with WiFi and call for rescue, suckers!

Re:Wii

[Anonymous Coward]

Until you broke your screen while bowling ... it's not like you could get a new one.

Any multi-player....

[Anonymous Coward]

Well if you could have anything you needed to play, then I assume that means I have some way of connected to an online multiplayer game. If that were the case then I could use these multiplayer games to tell people where I am and get me off the island! Desert islands are WAY too sunny for us gamers.

Definitely Oblivion

[Sciros]

Oblivion, as long as I'm allowed to take the Elder Scrolls Construction Set along as well. The fact that you can make your own EVERYTHING with the editor means there's near-infinite gameplay available.

Naturally I'm including Shivering Isles if I'm allowed. Great expansion, and tons of extra assets for the editor.

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[jimstapleton]

...

Sorry, but this just makes me think of what I did in morrowind once.

I took this dinosaur like creature, made it 3x it's normal hight... Made it ultra-powerful, and stuck it in the middle of the starter villiage. (over 2k HP, I think all the stat/skills were in the hundreds, etc. I can't remember though, it's been a couple years)

This villiagers ran away but not fast enough.
The guards ran towards the villiage, and didn't survive long.
It was fun to watch.

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[aichpvee]

People keep saying this as if it has never occured to them that playing your own stuff IS NOT FUN! It could have a million level editors that let you change and create everything and anything you could think of. It still won't be fun to play because you already know what everything is and where it is.

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[Sciros]

That's what's cool about Oblivion -- the Radiant AI is sophisticated enough that you could create scenarios in which you could have numerous outcomes based on how the NPCs choose to respond. And how they respond isn't always easy to predict. So, it's not so much about "finding something in a dungeon" -- I agree that that indeed would be boring (and why I never had any fun with NWN's toolkit) -- as it is about constructing scenarios which can "play themselves out" in interesting ways.

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[Hognoxious]

It still won't be fun to play because you already know what everything is and where it is.

Not if you have Alzhei

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[Venerable Vegetable]

That's only true if you base your level around discovery. I always use game editors to create challenges for myself.

Obviously you will know every detail of how the level is put together; the trick is to work around that fact. Consider chess: you know everything: the layout of the board, what the pieces can do and where they are (even those of the opponent) Yet the game can be fun and challenging for a long time.

Furthermore, a lot of editors support randomizing in some way, so you can make use of that to keep an element of surprise.

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[TranscendentalAnarch]

I dunno, I had a ton of fun playing my FarCry levels that were set up mainly as fun physics and explosion sandboxes. I can only imagine the mayhem to be had with the new crysis engine. Physics sandbox + nukes = fun.

Re:Definitely Oblivion

[WiPEOUT]

I'd pick Oblivion, too, but unless I could take it with me as well, I'd end up spending the first year or three re-creating the various mods that make it enjoyable (OOO, Landmarks, BTmod and unofficial patch at a minimum).

Doom ||

[Otter]

There are a few games I can play infinitely (Angband, Maelstrom, Jewelbox) but given a sufficient set of third-party maps, Doom II probably takes the spot.

Re:Doom ||

[grub]

I was thinking about Doom but Thief won out. Have you tried the Doomsday/Jdoom versions? Full 3D with lighting and modelling options. Pure awesome.

Re:NetHack - source code and compiler

[RichMan]

The nethack source is the real game.

Come on, this one is easy.

[glindsey]

Given that you will find no AC outlets or battery chargers on a desert island, eventually you'll be playing "bang on coconuts with sticks."

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[quakehead3]

What about solar power?

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[glindsey]

Touché.

But eventually your batteries won't take a charge any more, and then you'll be limited to playing games that you can save every time a cloud passes by...

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[Starteck81]

Silly, haven't you every watched MacGyver? All you have to do is salvage the alternator from your crashed plane or boat, find a near by stream or water fall and build a hydro electric dam! It's really quite simple when you think about it. ;-)

Stay tuned for next weeks episode when I build a UHF radio from coconuts and the remaining plane parts.

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[Anonymous Coward]

OLPC computer with hand crank?

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[Conception]

So... you answer is Donkey Konga?

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[Dan Ost]

You're on a desert island. Don't use batteries, use pumped storage or wave generation.

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[SilentBob0727]

If we're taking all that for granted, I'll take the dedicated T1 line for granted and go for any MMORPG. Then I'd find someone in-game and tell them I'm stranded on a desert island and wait for rescue. Assuming I don't get banned for breaking character.

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[gemada]

The only game i want to play on a deserted Island is "bang the girl with big coconuts".

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[ksd1337]

Since this is Slashdot, most people here would probably figure out a way to harness the energy released by photosynthesizing plants.

They have no lives for a purpose, people...

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[Aokubidaikon]

Given that you will find no AC outlets or battery chargers on a desert island, eventually you'll be playing "bang on coconuts with sticks."

Thank you, now excuse me while I go get a cloth to wipe that coffee off my monitor.

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[b1rdy]

Given that you will find no AC outlets or battery chargers on a desert island Damn, if I can't charge the Sony battery in my laptop, how am I going to start a fire in the evening?

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would you need to BUILD a UHF radio when there's almost certainly one in the 'plane already?

Re:Come on, this one is easy.

[sexygirl.jpg.vbs]

So.... Donkey Konga? I kid, it's a great game.

Any of the Civ Games

[Itchyeyes]

I've been playing the Civ games for over a decade now and they have yet to get old. Definitely my pick for a deserted island game.

Re:Any of the Civ Games

[rrhal]

I'd probably take Civ 4 but I would really miss Civ 2.

Re:Any of the Civ Games

[Trent Hawkins]

As a matter of fact it never changes. The first release of Civ is practicly identical to the latest. Well aside for 3d graphics and Spock's voice over.

Re:Any of the Civ Games

[RealBeanDip]

OK - me too.

But nail it down, pick one. Civ II (I is just too basic), CTP, Civ III, Civ IV, or SMAC(X).

For me, it would be Civ IV, because I think it's about as close to perfection as a Civ game has come. From the days of Civ II I have yet to go a couple of weeks without playing a game of Civ. I do believe I will play this series of games forever and ever. I bounce back and forth between Civ IV and SMACX these days, but I always, always have an active game going.

Re:Any of the Civ Games

[Itchyeyes]

I'd go with Civ 4 as well. There are people out there who will claim that the series achieved perfection with either Civ 2 or 3, but I've honestly enjoyed the additions each iteration has added to the series. One of the great things about Civ is just how incredibly deep it is. Game concepts like culture, introduced in Civ 3, and religion, introduced in Civ 4, bring even more depth to the game. As great as every installation is, I find it hard to go back to a previous version after a new one is released.

Re:Any of the Civ Games

[dkf]

The best thing about Civ2 over the later versions was the fun series of advisers. OK, they were cheesy (especially as there really wasn't that many different videos, and only the Anarchy ones were really neat) but I think it's a shame that the concept hasn't been taken forward with modern tech. By comparison, the Civ3 versions (which were effectively just static graphics) were just lame, so much so that Civ4 doing away with them was an improvement.

Now, if we could have that on top of the Civ4 engine playing the SMACX ruleset/situation... I'd have myself a desert island wherever I was as I'd be playing that obsessively for a few years even in the middle of a bustling city! (I suppose it is a good thing for my career that nobody's done this yet...)

Oh, and Civ2 and SMAC had definitely the best wonder videos.

Re:Any of the Civ Games

[N3wsByt3]

If your talking about civ2, I agree.

Civ1 is really too old and has nothing that civ2 doesn't have better. Civ3 sucked. And civ4...well, I never played it yet.

But civ2...that game still rocks, even though it's starting to show its age (graphically). I wish they would make an improved version of civ2. I mean, staying exactly within the same sort of gameplay (not like civ3) but with slight improvements (more tribes, more units, better AI, maybe online possibilities...) and better graphics.

I would still pay 20 bucks for such an upgraded civ2.

Not that I

[wtfbbq]

would really have time to play any games with the whole 'fighting to survive' thing going on, but I can't decide unless I know if multi-player would be allowed or not.

Addictive? Really?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

OK, MOOII was a fun game, but once you discover that a fleet of Titans equipped only with those weapons that can hit all four shields at once ("plasma-somethings?") can pretty much win any game for you, the multi-hour slogs tend to lose some of their appeal. (I hear Galactic Civilizations suffers from a similar problem once you figure how systems cram into a ship.) For a while, I actually used ground troops to break up the monotony, but it's a lot faster (in terms of linear clock time) just to nuke your enemies from orbit...

If mods are allowed

[Lockejaw]

Escape Velocity: Nova, plus a few favorite plugins and the Port Authority mods. Also, throw in ResEdit and the relevant templates in case the regular content gets old.

Re:If mods are allowed

[atezun]

Bah, give me the original EV any day, don't get me wrong, nova's pretty but I just don't get the same sense of accomplishment I got in the original game. Hell I keep around an old powermac around just to keep playing it.

Re:If mods are allowed

[Lockejaw]

That's what the Port Authority stuff is there for -- it's sets of game data files to replace the Nova ones, so you can run original or Override in the Nova engine. There's also a lot of cosmetic tweaking to make it look like it's still the older game.

Re:If mods are allowed

[Phyvo]

Bah on port authority! Someone else made a better version of Override for Nova which is more like the original and has all the bugs fixed.

I don't think someone has done something similar to the EV for Nova one though...

gcc

[Mr. Sketch]

If you want to talk about infinite replayability, gcc is the way to go. You would be able to create as may games as you want! After all, you're on a desert island, so you'll have lots of time on your hands to make these games. You could create any genre/style you needed.

Re:gcc

[Medgur]

I'd ask if I could take OGRE+Blender with me, too.

Re:gcc

[Anonymous Coward]

>After all, you're on a desert island, so you'll have lots
>of time on your hands to make these games.

Yep, and you'll die from hunger and thirst..
Desert island does not mean desert island with hotel nearby providing everything.
That's why those 'desert' questions suck. ;-)

Re:gcc

[ivan256]

I was going to post exactly that, and I'm pleased to find somebody beat me to it.

I'll second gcc, but I'd take perl+Firefox in a pinch.

Re:gcc

[Anonymous Coward]

Without any graphics programs and prior art, all your games would be like this:

You are trapped on a desert island.

Possible Exits: None

> Look

You are trapped on a desert island.

Possible Exits: None

> Hint

There are no hints for this adventure.

> N

You can't go that way!

>

Re:gcc

[Kazparr]

when richard dawkins went on the bbc radio 4 program 'desert island discs' he took a computer as his one luxury item, citing a reason very like this.

Only the BEST game EVER

[aichpvee]

SUPER MARIO WORLD!!!

Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[SadGeekHermit]

Two words: "Skirmish Mode". You can set up an off-the-cuff battle between any combination of races, using any of numerous maps, pick from several races, set different game rules... It's infinitely configurable. You would never run out of weird situations to try.

I'd personally try to get the point where I could own Chaos as Tao under the hardest difficulty level. Of course this is nearly impossible; Chaos is TOUGH. I think it's like this:

The Eldar are the "cool kids" who take Theater and think they're better than everyone else.

The Tao are the nerds. Everyone picks on them, but they've got better technology and can strategize.

The Space Marines are the football team.

The Orcs are the delinquents, smoking cigs out back instead of going to Biology class.

The Imperial Guard are the Young Republicans.

And the Chaos Marines are the psycho satanists smoking cloves and playing Ozzy at top volume in the courtyard; they're planning to sacrifice the dean's cat to Nurgle after Saturday's rave.

It's College, writ large in outer space!

How can you not dig that...

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[DeltaSigma]

No Tyranids, not diggin' it.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Hognoxious]

Or dwarfs. Having had a bit of a life over the past few years, I was disappointed in the extreme to learn they've dropped the Squats.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Chmcginn]

Relic's probably afraid that Tycho actually would kill Gabe this time...

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[SadGeekHermit]

They haven't put the Tyranids in yet... Although, the teaser they put in at the end of the singleplayer campaign hinted that the NEXT Warhammer would not just let you conquer one planet, but several! Maybe there'll be some Tyranids in that one...

Come on, it's fun, even sans Tyranids...

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Anonymous Coward]

What race is the Tao? I know there's the TAU, but I've never played any race called the Tao. Methinks you don't even own the game.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Puff of Logic]

No Tyranids, not diggin' it. My understanding is that they won't do Tyranids because they don't think the engine will be able to do them justice. Hopefully the next gen WH40K games will have an engine that'll do Tyranids nicely. Company of Heroes really opened my eyes as to what was possible in terms of RTS graphics and I'm looking forward to seeing that applied to the WH40K universe.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Barny]

CoH is really a very interesting rts, they took out all the boring bits (resource hunting, "upgrade after upgrade", massive tech trees) to leave you with just the strategy of how to get a bunch of grunts to do what they are best at.

Very happy with the murmurings about the expansion, if the new armies are half of what they are saying, it will be great :)

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[SadGeekHermit]

OH, well excuse me for a typo! I got excited, alright?

Ok, since you doubt me, you nasty man, you, I don't have much luck with the Krootox, so I usually ignore the Kroot tech tree and go with the teachings of Mont'ka; I dig the tanks.

For defense, I go with a few squads of fire warriors and a squad of scouts so I can paint targets. I use broadside battlesuits inside the base, maybe ten or twenty meters behind my fire warriors. I put two squads of Kroot outside my firing line to tie up melee units while my guys blast away at them. And I usually put at least a few devilfish off to the side outside the defensive line for a nice crossfire.

I go after the enemy base with a crowd of devilfish and maybe the two big tanks if I've teched up enough. If I'm feeling mischevious, I'll use a drone harbinger to tie up and confuse their defenses while a bunch of devilfish drive around breaking stuff.

I love the Tau. Now, kiss my grey alien butt.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Goldberg's Pants]

There ARE now dwarves in 40k.

And it's Tau, not Tao.

And yes, great game. Skirmish is insanely good fun. It's also fun to set AI only (you can do it in developer mode with a particular LUA script) and watch them go at it.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Puff of Logic]

CoH is really a very interesting rts, they took out all the boring bits (resource hunting, "upgrade after upgrade", massive tech trees) to leave you with just the strategy of how to get a bunch of grunts to do what they are best at. Indeed. Relic started this new RTS style with Dawn of War and certainly refined it with CoH. My dream is to see this sort of excellence similarly realised in a new Starcraft RTS. I'm a huge fan of CoH and will certainly be purchasing the expansion when it arrives, but the WWII era has really been done to death and I'm hungry for something new. Perhaps Relic will consider a Vietnam-era or modern-day era version of CoH, or maybe even a sci-fi version that would serve in case Blizzard's announcement is a Starcraft MMO instead of an RTS.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Belgand]

Frankly the upgrading and tech trees have always been my favorite parts of most strategy games. Actually building armies and *ugh* fighting someone with them often seemed like a tedious exercise necessary to get to the next level where I'll get to play more SimBase. I don't know what it is, I like the idea of having powerful, interesting, varied, badass troops, I just don't like the idea of ever having any reason to have them.

Needless to say I'm a big, big Civilization fan where I can just tech tree my way to victory.

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Barny]

Problem with modern day versions of any full on "war" style games, western war methods will win so long as overkill is not a problem.

Of course there is no such thing as overkill, only "open fire" and "hold and reload" :)

An older version of this would be nice, say middle ages, hell do a classic ancient Greece version ^_^

Re:Warhammer 40K: Dark Crusade

[Puff of Logic]

Problem with modern day versions of any full on "war" style games, western war methods will win so long as overkill is not a problem.
Your point is well-taken. CoH clearly succeeds because it focuses on infantry-level combat, leaving things like airstrikes and artillery as expensive "call-in" options. The modern game I suggest would have to bear this in mind, keeping things at the infantry level despite our rather more diverse options for modern combat. As we're seeing in Iraq right now, even the most advanced warfighters on the planet still find themselves in tight urban terrain where overkill methods are drastically less effective. I definitely think there's a game there (although, as a veteran, I have to confess that I feel like shit mentioning a game and Iraq in the same thought) and an urban-combat modern CoH would be terrific, IMO.

I agree there's definitely a lot of potential for classical era and perhaps even revolutionary/civil war era games too. The stumbling block here would be the annoying tendency of troops to march in neat formations during those times, which rather defeats the purpose of CoH's wonderful cover system. One might also argue that the Total War series has already covered these eras rather well.

But hell, while we're dreaming, I want Vikings! cheers.

Pax Galaxia

[Barkmullz]

Pax Galaxia is the only game I have yet to get bored with, and I have been playing it longer than any other game I own, or have owned. Even though the game may seem simplistic at first glance, it definately gets my pick.

Re:Pax Galaxia

[Creepy]

in name it reminds me of another game. There was a sequel to that one, too, but I heard it was bad (a quote from moby: "A horrible travesty, both of the space-empire genre in general and of the remarkable, but flawed original Macintosh Pax Imperia") and didn't buy it.

which made me think if I was stuck on an island with a mac (particularly an old one), what would I take? Probably in order:
Spaceward Ho!
Escape Velocity
Pax Imperia (if you limit the size of the star systems it's usually semi-stable)
Civilization (color mac version)

for PC I would probably take Civilization or one of the Total War games - as much as I love replaying Fallout 2, I've gotten to the point where there is nothing new (I've tried extremes such as Int of 1 and Luck 10 and I've pretty much seen/done it all).

Flight Simulator or The Sims

[odhinnsrunes]

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Virtual airplanes = Virtual escape from the island. The Sims: Virtual human vs. real coconuts with faces carved in them.

Candidates...

[SQLGuru]

1. Zero Wing - nothing whiles away the day like laughing at "Engrish"
2. Tropico - training
3. Black & White - a different kind of training

But I would say that Diablo Battle Chest would provide the most replayability and the most depth (if you like RPG types). NetHack would be a close second.

Layne

Re:Candidates...

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

But I would say that Diablo Battle Chest would provide the most replayability and the most depth (if you like RPG types). And once the game gets old you can use the packaging as a raft to get home.

Re:Candidates...

[bigwave111]

omg beer through the nose. Goddamn that was funny.

Second Life

[MattGWU]

Second Life.

Counter Strike is fun, but playing de_dust2 all day isn't going to amass funds to charter a helicopter to come pick you up. Build the next hot weapon or sex toy, and you'll be out of there in time for the weekend.

A chess set, I think.

[jonadab]

Chess never gets old, really.

Oh, you meant a _computer_ game? In that case, probably Scorched Earth, or maybe Descent II, if I can have all the level editing tools and so forth to create fresh content.

obvious classic

[Doctor Crumb]

Nethack, no question. Infinite replayability, tons of playable classes, powerful artifacts, and a level of detail not found in any other game. I might even manage to beat the damned thing if trapped for long enough.

Plus if I would probably have to build a computer out of coconuts, I would want something that I can run in a console.

Re:Addictive? Really?

[jimstapleton]

I could destroy said fleet with 1 ship of the same size class or possibly 1 lower.

Actually there were several 'all shield arc' weapons, none of which was very good, and all of which can be outdone by other weapons.

The best weapon in the game is a phaser at high enough tech level that you can use auto fire, armor piercing and shield piercing, as well as a couple of the beam weapon boosting mods.

Add a time warp facilitator and a phasing cloak, and you have a nice ship. There's a tactic against that as well though.

....Fallout anyone?

[FinnMcGee]

I cant believe the most replayable game ever hasn't been mentioned. I've spent years wandering the wasteland and a desert island would only do that gritty unwashed post apocolyptic feel more justice Vault Dweller's FTW!

Re:....Fallout anyone?

[Frostclaw]

I agree! I've had the urge to revisit Fallout for a while now. Really need to give it another go.

Re:....Fallout anyone?

[Mdentari]

Last month I did after not playing for over 4 years. Man I love the amount of texture and detail put into the game. As a wannabe game designer I try to put this kind of detail into game proposal docs and ref the game for inspiration. I love the computer mainframe concepts they have in the game. The retro future designs are perfect. I hope Bethesda realizes that world building anchored to a moving human story is key to this series. The dark humor is also a great facet to the game and should be included.

Empire

[ebacon]

Typical Empire session ... I'll just finish this turn, then save and quit ...
4 hours later: ....I'll just finish this turn, than save and quit ...

Masturbation

[Nimey]

Reason: it'll never get old.

Downside: do it too often and you'll bleed.

Re:Masturbation

[kalirion]

Plus surviving on a deserted island would be that much more challenging while blind.

Re:Masturbation

[tedgyz]

Reason: it'll never get old.

Downside: do it too often and you'll bleed. You sound like you have some experience in this.

Re:Masturbation

[tigersha]

Yeah, and the hairy paws are going to cause territoriality issues with the local apes

Social Games

[mockidol]

Wouldn't you want a W.O.W. or Second Life-type game? You know, actually try to maintain a social, be it virtual, life.

Re:Social Games

[Sciros]

I believe that we're supposed to pick games to play without an Internet connection... otherwise I'd have chosen something like Guild Wars because I enjoy its PVP, heh

Re:Social Games

[mockidol]

Oh, okay. That would make sense. Tetris DS then.

Re:Social Games

[Torvaun]

Hell, I don't have a social life now.

Give me some Baldur's Gate goodness. Or Planescape: Torment.

easy

[nomadic]

Hunt the Wumpus.

Gran Turismo 2

[nevek]

Due to a bug; it is impossible to get to 100%

Hmmmm ....

[gstoddart]

Does porn count as a game?

If I'm gonna be stuck on a desert island all by myself, I'm gonna need me some porn. :-P

Cheers

Re:Hmmmm ....

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure it's a game but I definitely know how to win.

Moo2

[Shabadage]

Master of orion 2 is the only game I'd need. I can still play tat game for 6-8 hours without realizing how much time has past.

Ummm...

[killmenow]

Custer's Revenge

Planescape: Torment

[Gamefreak99]

PS:T is the way to be!

Re:Planescape: Torment

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

Not sure about the replayability of PS:T. It's a great game with a great story but the focus on the story means that once you've played it through a couple of times you need to wait a long while before you can go back and be pleasantly surprised again.

Re:Planescape: Torment

[Torvaun]

Agreed. Gimme some Baldur's Gate II, + ToB. Hey, look at me and my all Epic Mage party. Everyone can suck it.

Also, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic is the best game that no one else has ever heard of.

If power is going to be an issue, I'll take Go.

Solitary

[Anonymous Coward]

Because soon as you start playing it someone always comes by to tell you what card to play next.

Can I have more than one? ;)

[petrus4]

If so...

1) An open source WoW server emulator. I could do a number of things with that; tweak the AI and make bots for WSG/partying, migrate it to postgresql if that's never been done, (I don't think WoW does run on postgres) and maybe make some new material if I had 3d studio max. Someone else said the Diablo Battle Chest; I'd *maybe* go with D1, but WoW is everything D2 is and more.

2) UT 99 with level editor, and offline copies of this, this, and this site.

3) GTA: San Andreas.

4) Another interesting game-related project if I could learn enough would be a truly decent 3D front end for Nethack. This could possibly serve as a base, but I'd make a lot of graphical alterations.

Re:Can I have more than one? ;)

[NightLamp]

Total yes to #2 (ut99), and I'd add the bunny tracks mod,
damn I could play those forever.

Live to a hundred years? start making your own maps.

Whatever game...

[Rakishi]

Whatever game can teach me to:
1) Survive
2) Build a raft
3) Not die horribly in the middle of the ocean

Re:Whatever game...

[jeffasselin]

Seriously, I love video games, but who gives a sh1t on a desert island about games? Books, I can understand. But a video game?

Re:Whatever game...

[nomadic]

Voyage of the Mimi! You'll need an Apple II on that island though...

Re:Whatever game...

[NightLamp]

Pirates!

You'll need a C64 on that island though...

Your AppleII island is doomed to be pwnd by my C64 island, welcome to the empire!

Re:Whatever game...

[Infe]

> Whatever game can teach me to:
> 1) Survive
> 2) Build a raft
> 3) Not die horribly in the middle of the ocean

Life of Pi - The Movie - The Game!

bonus: you learn how to tame a tiger! Just in case...

Re:Whatever game...

[Anonymous Coward]

The idea is that games are a very good way to beat the inevitable boredom. Even the longest and most complicated book will probably only occupy you for a couple of weeks. I played Advance Wars DS every night for 4 months! That'd be a pretty good way to deal with the long, lonely nights when it's too dark to be looking for food.

Re:Whatever game...

[Belgand]

I never even knew there was a game. I am, however, now subjected to unpleasant flashbacks to seventh grade science class.

Re:Whatever game...

[jeffasselin]

But I don't see HOW the situation is in the least plausible. What kind of situation would bring someone to be lost on a desert island with everything required to play a video game but no means of escape? I mean, I'd grab the shortwave radio before the PS2 to go with the solar generator...

Re:Whatever game...

[geekoid]

Are you being sarcastic, or have you actually failed to relize this is a type of puzzle designed to make you think about something a specific way?

Like:
What is on your 3 foot book shelf?

Suer, you could say "What kind of moron only has a 3 foot book shelf to put books on, but that's not the point now, is it?

If you only had 1 book to read, what would it be?
What kind of moron doesn't have access to more then one book.
Again, that's not the point.

Behave this stupid again and I shall get snarky.

Re:Whatever game...

[nomadic]

Unpleasant?? That show kicked ass! The game was good too.

X-Com - UFO Defense

[Anonymous Coward]

X-Com - UFO Defense. It never gets old.

Starcraft would be pretty great if you were networked, but I don't think its single player mode is as challenging or as replayable as X-Com. I still play at least one X-Com game a year.

Re:X-Com - UFO Defense

[Profound]

I love XCom, also check out Jagged Alliance 2 if you like that kind of game.

Lux

[JoeWalsh]

My desert island game is Lux (http://sillysoft.net/lux/) - it's like Risk, only a ton better, with hundreds of custom maps, clever AI, and online multiplayer capabilities. I've played the game literally thousands of times, but I still go back to it when I'm bored...which I imagine would be quite frequent on a desert island!

Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[joelkillspeople]

Seriously, the game SEEMED to suck, but I'm sure once there was enough time, it would become fun. I still don't understand how they utterly destroyed that game.

I would bring Hacker: Elite with me. Replay value abounds.

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[nutshell42]

With current patches and mods MoO3 *is* fun. It just plays different from MoO2 which is why it never had a chance.

Even if it hadn't been a bugfest at release it still wouldn't have been MoO2 with prettier graphics. And even though everyone says they don't want Game X-1 with prettier graphics, what everyone wants is Game X-1 with prettier graphics.

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[Creepy]

I bought it the day it came out, gave it one 1-hour session, then a 2-hour session and then removed it from my hard drive. I hated it that much. I never gave the patches a chance, even after I heard they helped immensely. The game was boring, tedious, and the most unfun waste of 3 hours I've ever had (well, ok, if you combine the dreadful games People Pong and Times of Lore you might get 3 hours, but only because I wanted Times of Lore to be fun and it wasn't) and I don't know what the fsck the developers were thinking.

Too bad MOO2 doesn't play on my current computers well (either the PC version or the mac version - I've got both). Maybe I need an emulator.

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[ShadowsHawk]

Any chance you can reference a site? I picked up MoO3 for $20 thinking it would be a decent game for that price. I was so very wrong..

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[n1ckml007]

MOO III is an awful sequel; it makes StarWars Episode I look brilliant.

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[joelkillspeople]

Flpxjing signed

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[nutshell42]

Weeellll:

• You'll want the official patch 1.2.5
• And a mod. I recommend either tropical or strawberry (warning: I haven't played either in its latest incarnation, but I've only heard good things about them -- why do I recommend them? I'm playing a mod that's similiar to tropical but no longer available, and I've been to lazy to install tropical =). Another mod I haven't tried but you should try is the 1024x768 mod =P
• IMPORTANT: Do not micromanage. Trying to micromanage MoO3 will make the game slow, tedious and very, very unfun. It's not meant to be played that way, and the fact that it is possible, if you want to, is perhaps the games biggest problem.

  If you have played Europa Universalis II, play MoO like that game. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and buy it for $5 =). Both games aren't like Civ. I've heard Civ players new to EU2 complain, that there's much less to do in Eu2, but that's not the way you play it. If you're bored you simply increase the speed (it's a kind of turn-based/real-time hybrid). MoO3 OTOH doesn't stop you from playing it like Civ with the result that you're bogged down in micromanagement hell. =/

• A few things:
  • Start building the cheapest kind of spy the very first turn and never stop building them. Spies that aren't assigned a mission work as defensive spies. Two are worth one step on the oppressometer.
  • the first game don't waste points at race creation on whether you're in the senate or not, just reload the game until you are. Unless you're a warmonger, being in the senate makes stuff easier. Also disable all victories but sole survivor. Even if you're not a warmonger, this gives you the ability to end the game when you want to, not when you have to win before somebody else does =)
  • In the early and mid game zone your best planets by hand. E.g. if you colonize a very mineral rich planet with many mountains, set 1 or 2 industry DEAs, and lots of mineral DEAs. Same for bioharvesting (in the mid game you'll have a bio+mineral problem. Both population and mineral use by industry DEAs grows faster in the beginning. Later on the tech for bio+mineral catches up). You can also build lots of research DEAs on crappy planets. A government and military DEA on bigger planets is also useful, and recreation on newly conquered planets. Leave a bunch of planets (and some regions on most planets) empty, so the viceroy can zone whatever is needed. Of course this all depends on whether you want to maximize production points+test tubes in the long run, or if you need them *now* (e.g. in a war)
  • Your viceroys are quite good. You'll never have to adjust planetary tax levels by hand, and with the exception of a few defensive buildings now and then, you won't have to touch the planetary build queue either
  • In the beginning micromanage the military build queue of your homeplanet. You'll want as many scouts as you need (depending on starlanes) and lots of colony ships. Only colonize green+yellow1 planets in the beginning. Worse planets later on, when your cash flow's better.
  • You need a few system defense ships in all systems to stop piracy.
  • The budget sliders are extremely important. The three values you want to maximize in MoO3 in the long run are production points (to, well, produce stuff), test tubes (to invent the stuff you want to produce) and population (to gain a majority of the senate). In a war you want to maximize your military strength. Production points are money (from the slider or from the planets themselves) * industrial capacity. Test tubes = money * research capacity. And the money to the military is distributed over the different military build queues.

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[ShadowsHawk]

Wow. I will definitely look into this over the weekend. It sounds like it might actually shape up to be a decent game. I appreciate the info.

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[nutshell42]

It started as a short reply and grew from there. My worst fear was that I'd get something like "yeah, fsck you too, asshole" =)

If you have any further questions feel free to ask (here or you can hijack another /. post by me once this thread's locked). But I'm not the most experienced player; it'd probably make more sense if you asked in one of the moo3 forums I linked to (i.e. moo3.at or atari's).

I'm not a member of either because I'm a passionate lurker, I'd have a five figure /.-id had I registered earlier. =(

Re:Newer is better AMIRITE?!? MOO III

[WuphonsReach]

Interesting... I really wanted to enjoy MOO3 (I loved MOO2 but felt the game got too one-dimensional towards the end due to infinite range on fleets). MOO3 interested me due to using bottlenecks and key systems and the expanded gameplay. (My only contribution to MOO3 was figuring out settings to create odd-shaped and more interesting galaxy formations.)

I'll have to look into that once I finish Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. And the half other dozen projects on my list... Thanks for the info that there are mods and people still working on the game.

Robinson's Requiem

[Hydrogenoid]

At least I'll learn how to fight dinos!

Strip poker with the mermaids

[Timesprout]

Just to pass the time you understand.

Re:Addictive? Really?

[kailoran]

the time warp/phasing cloak thing is more of a bug exploit than a proper design. It's a tad bit overpowered, even in the 1.40 patch.

I would like...

[mabba18]

...a Volleyball.

Fallout 2

[zullnero]

I'd say the original, but if I'm stranded on a desert island, the larger number of fake "black screen fade out" sex will keep me sane longer.

Re:Fallout 2

[zullnero]

I mean, sorry to double post, but the larger variety of black screen fade out virtual sex options. Darn slashdot switching the preview and submit buttons order around on me.

Not sure, depends!

[GoNINzo]

There are a couple games I can play for a long long time. Right now, I think I'd go with Eve Online. I think any under development, active MMO would be more fun long term than most other static single player games. But here are some other candidates.

• Nethack: Because the dev team has thought of everything. Lots of variety, lots of challenges, and can run on nearly anything.
• Star Control 2: There's so much going on in the different systems. If there wasn't the 4 year limitation, I would most likely make the effort to mine every planet. (and is very similar to Eve. heh)
• Pokemon: Sadly enough, Pokemon is addicting. Though without being able to trade them with other losers who play it, I would never catch them all.
• Neverwinter Nights: The mod community stepped up, made the game interesting for everyone. Plus, it runs on any sort of machine you could ask for. heh
• Armada: (If I had friends on the island) This is a console game that is a lot of fun with friends.
• Quake II CTF: This was THE multiplayer game for me. This would be great if I only had an internet connection. (And people still played it. heh)

Re:Not sure, depends!

[tedgyz]

Quake II CTF: This was THE multiplayer game for me. This would be great if I only had an internet connection. (And people still played it. heh) I was thinking Q3 FFA, but realized if I had an internet connection, I wouldn't be playing Q3. I'd be spamming for help.

Rogue or Hack

[eyenot]

Whichever I could get my hands on first. Challenge and slight differences from game to game are important.

Re:Rogue or Hack

[Anonymous Coward]

Rogue. No doubt.
I've been playing it (DOS version) for 20 years, on average a few weeks per year, sometimes obsessively. I've never won it without resorting to save-game cheating. I'm bound to finish it eventually on a desert island with nothing better to do. : )

The obvious...

[Anonymous Coward]

Solitaire. Either computerized or with a deck of playing cards.

It's not that I particularly like playing it, but after the second game or so, someone would wander by to tell me to put the red jack on the black queen (anyone who's ever played solitaire is familiar with this phenomenon).

I'd be off that island faster than the oldest woman on Survivor.

I guess I'm a masochist...

[Randolpho]

... because I'd pick Pirates!

Spy vs. Spy #2

[umeboshi]

It was the first thing that came to mind by reading the article title, and not reading the summary.

Daggerfall

[Dishwasha]

The levels are autogenerated even when you leave the dungeon to go back to town in the middle of your quest. Although everybody looks the same, ever person you meet is different. Oh, and did I mention the built-in nudity?

I'll go when...

[the grace of R'hllor]

I want to take Duke Nukem Forever. Tell me when it's done, and I'm off to the island.

Go

[MagicM]

Go

No, not really. I just wanted to look like a nerd.

Re:Go

[gstoddart]

Probably the only game that is simple enough to be taugth it in 5 minutes and still take a lifetime to master. Even better, the handicap system is trivial, just give the weakest player a few extra stones to begin with.

Unless you're gonna be playing Go with a soccer ball named Wilson, you're probably not going to enjoy it that much. :-P

Cheers

Settlers III by Bluebyte Software

[chitselb]

I'm probably the only guy left in the world who still plays this game a lot, but I really like it and it kills time like no other game can

Re:Settlers III by Bluebyte Software

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually you're not! Although I kind of prefer Settlers II, but they're both really good.

Fortunately for all, Settlers 2, 10th anniversary edition is coming out next month for PC and DS!

Re:Settlers III by Bluebyte Software

[Goldberg's Pants]

I invested hundreds of hours into the original Amiga version of Settlers. Hoping the DS can replicate the experience.

Settlers was the first (only?) game on the Amiga I believe that had two player by the player plugging another mouse into the other gameport.

Internet access on my desert island

[Akaihiryuu]

WOW, as soon as I figure out how to get the aforementioned internet access there. Barring that, probably Zelda: Twilight Princess (due to all of the stuff to find).

MMO or not?

[Murrdox]

If I was allowed to take an online game with me... Final Fantasy XI. I've been playing that game for going on 3 years now, and my character still has a massive amount of things that I can do. If I'm not allowed to take any MMO game with me... Galactic Civilizations 2 would be tempting, as would Sim City 4, The Sims 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Heroes of Might and Magic 3... I can't decide. I think I might go with Heroes of Might and Magic 3 in the end. You can play that game forever, and it can still be very new. I think in general an RPG would be a bad choice. As much as I love RPGs, once you know the story, it would get old after a few years.

Subjects are for sissies

[Raynor]

Just get Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set. After you spend your first year or two fully playing through Oblivion you'd open up the construction set and start recreating the island you are on and make an adventure out of your life (adding in cool stuff like aliens and mythical beasts which you have slain with your bear hands while stranded). You'll be posthumously awarded the best game designer of the 21st Century! (Which they will then go back in time to save you from the island and you will live your your years in luxury in the 23rd Century (Maybe even meet Capt. Picard)

Re:Subjects are for sissies

[Puff of Logic]

Just get Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set. You'll be posthumously awarded the best game designer of the 21st Century! (Which they will then go back in time to save you from the island and you will live your your years in luxury in the 23rd Century (Maybe even meet Capt. Picard) Yes, because maybe by then we'll be able to run the damned thing at a decent framerate. :P

Re:Subjects are for sissies

[WuphonsReach]

Yes, because maybe by then we'll be able to run the damned thing at a decent framerate. :P

Sad but true... even with a pair of GeForce 7950 in SLI mode at 1280x720, it's tough to get reasonable framerates. Maybe once those super-fast 8800s drop in price next year I'll upgrade and try again.

Re:Subjects are for sissies

[Puff of Logic]

Sad but true... even with a pair of GeForce 7950 in SLI mode at 1280x720, it's tough to get reasonable framerates. Maybe once those super-fast 8800s drop in price next year I'll upgrade and try again. Yes, that's pretty much the boat I'm in. I've got a nice rig with a dual-core E6600, 2 gigs of RAM, SATA raid and the whole lot. The only weak spot is the 7600GT which still gives pretty solid service. Then I decided to finally upgrade to a flat-screen (to reduce eye strain) and splurged on a 22" widescreen with 1920x1080 native resolution. Oblivion, which had previously been reasonably playable at 1024x768 is now a damned slideshow in the outdoors area. Since half the point of playing Oblivion is enjoying the beautiful world, I'm not keen on turning down the graphical settings. Guess I'll be right there in line with you for the next-gen stuff once it becomes a little more reasonably priced!

Re:Subjects are for sissies

[WuphonsReach]

I have a 22" 1680x1050 (16:10). One option for running Oblivion that may work better for you then me is to run at 1280x720 (16:9) and let the monitor scale it up to 1920x1050 (also 16:9). If I were to do that, everything gets slightly stretched vertically.

From what I've read, a single 8800 is equivalent in performance to a dual-7950 setup. So there's hope... It's just that I setup this SLI rig (Athlon64 X2 5000+, 2GB RAM, pair of 7950s) only 6 months ago and I want to wait until at least next summer to upgrade the video cards again.

Now I just get to wait for the 8800 speed demon cards to drop below $200... (where's my time machine?).

If there really was no way off the island...

[Akvum]

Russian Roulette.

Re:Addictive? Really?

[Chmcginn]

The phasing cloak is the problem here, especially considering that the AI won't use it.

Re:Whatever game... Robinson's Requiem of course.

[pruneau]

That's going to teach you how to survives, if no other game can.
It's the only survival game I know that really modifies the display if someone pokes on of your eyes: beware of that eagle's beak when you are fighting for food.

Go

[YGingras]

Probably the only game that is simple enough to be taugth it in 5 minutes and still take a lifetime to master. Even better, the handicap system is trivial, just give the weakest player a few extra stones to begin with. With handicap, almost anyone can have fun and be challenged when they play together. In fact, to master Go, you probably need to isolate yourself on a desert island for a few years.

MAME...

[Richard Steiner]

Why take one when 1000+ will do? :-)

Re:Addictive? Really?

[Astarica]

By the time you can get shield piercing phasers the enemy should have Hard Shields if they kept up with you. Plasma Cannon is the only practical 'hit all 4 shield arc' weapon unless you consider fusion beam or laser as a valid weapon (they won't even penetrate a high class shield at all). Plasma Torpedoes can be made into enveloping but that requires future techs, and even then the damage isn't really that great when you consider Lightning Shield still works on torpedoes.

Plasma Cannons are the undisputed king of damage for the space they require. Their only drawback is the double disspation penalty, but this is easily negated with tractor beams. In theory you could keep your distance and have the Plasma Cannons miss, but in practical terms it is too easy to close in to point blank range and fire away with Plasma Cannons, easier still if you actually use tractor beams.

But of course, if you want to talk cheap, Plasma Cannon is not the cheapiest tactics in the game. Ion Pulse Cannons probably takes the prize, as all the damage goes directly to structural so it only takes about 100 points of damage to blow out the engine of a Doom Star and have it self destruct. Class X shields + Hard Shields can sometimes stop the Ion Pulse Cannons due to its low damage range, but you shouldn't need the highest shielding technology to negate a low end weapon. It is also capable of the Continuous + Autofire combo like the Phasers.

Who has time?

[markbt73]

Between running from polar bears and smoke-monsters, and rescuing people kidnapped by the "others," who has time to play a game? Besides, Sawyer took all the GameBoys for himself.

Re:Addictive? Really?

[Shabadage]

I use large ships with an assload of Gyro Destabilizers myself. Whatever the class below Doomstar is, I load them up with as many Gyro Des. as I can. A fleet of about 12 of these has NO problem taking down the Guardian very early in the game. If you're fast enough, you can usually clear out about half the galaxy with this type of fleet before their ships start getting too strong for this tactic to work. It gives you a nice advantage as the ships are relatively cheap, so you can focus on getting your research up to par with the cheating computer. It's completely useless against the Antareans though.

The real answer

[Anonymous Coward]

it would have to be spank the monkey.

Re:NetHack - source code and compiler

[Ford Prefect]

The nethack source is the real game.

Somewhat higher-tech, but with a vaguely similar spirit - my choice would be Half-Life 2, and the Source SDK. I've already had hundreds of hours of fun out of it, and could have great fun working on MINERVA without any external distractions.

Although Steam's offline mode would be guaranteed to arse up within a week, demanding an internet connection to continue...

I would take Gran Turismo 4

[Ynsats]

Granted, it's not the ever popular strategy or multi-player online game that Slashdotters like so much. However, there is an economy and while with unlimited time, the game could be beaten fairly quickly, it does have merits. For one thing, the game does not stop being fun after it has been beaten. There are plenty of challenges and cars to choose from and if you happen to be stranded with Player 2, you would have a good deal of options there too.

The other options I would take are Civilization II or even SimCity. I have a game called Cossacks that is immensely fun and no matter how many times I play it, it doesn't get old. It ends up eating away hours of my life and usually makes me late for work the next day due to lack of sleep. First person shooters and multi-player games though, I don't think they would cut it. AI is only so good and without the online links, those games get old, quick.

So easy.

[kaleco]

Monkey Island.

Lost online would be cool

[mozkill]

I would like to see a Lost online game, where every online game has a 108 character limit and lets you assume one of the game characters . the only problem is how do you deal with Desmonds time travel ability? Oh , when people sign into the game, they get a random character from the show and randomly you can get Desmond and if you use desmonds character to time travel, then everyones time line in the game changes.

lol

Re:Lost online would be cool

[corky842]

I prefer the tabletop rpg.

Ultima VII

[IL-CSIXTY4]

In all these years, I still haven't beaten it. But I still have fun wandering the landscape and interacting with the locals.

Re:Ultima VII

[roguegramma]

Why not finished, are you stuck or did you loose track of the red thread somewhere?
It helps to put down all your info on paper, thats how I kept some track.

Earthbound!

[mathletics]

With all that spare time, I might finally have a chance at scoring a Gutsy Bat for Ness.

RTS: Age of Mythology

[allenw]

Age of Mythology is five years old, yet I'm still playing several games of it a week. I was a bit disappointed that they decided to do AoE III instead of a follow-on to AoM. I love the fact that it has Norse and Egyptian mythologies in addition to your studied-to-death-in-American-schools Greek. Hopefully an AoM II will appear and have Sumerian or American Indian or Chinese or some other non-typical pantheons.

A three hour instance, A three hour instance..

[richdun]

I'd take WoW, then when I'm bored of running endgame instances, I'd just spam "RESCUE ME PLZ" in the major cities chat and someone would come find me!

Re:A three hour instance, A three hour instance..

[Goldberg's Pants]

Rescue? I think not... /ignore most likely:)

Re:A three hour instance, A three hour instance..

[fractoid]

Dude, if you gave me a computer with WoW, food/drinks, and a desert island, the
last thing I'd want is to be rescued. :P

Master of Magic

[mac1235]

Runs under Dosbox! http://sourceforge.net/projects/dosbox

EQ

[Jerry Rivers]

Everquest for Mac. I simply love this game and its first class community. I hope it lasts forever.

Re:EQ

[jidar]

And lets be honest, as a Mac gamer it's not like you've got a lot of choices.

Re:EQ

[Jerry Rivers]

You seem like someone who doesn't really know and is just repeating someone else's uninformed opinion.

There are plenty of choices. More than enough that it would impossible to play them all.

http://www.insidemacgames.com/

Re:EQ

[jfodale]

Yea... except that there aren't.

QQ?

Re:EQ

[Jerry Rivers]

"except that there aren't."

Huh? Aren't what?

TotalWar

[viSage]

Of all the games I've ever played, The TotalWar series of games (by Creative Assembly) have had the most replayability for me. These include Shogun:TotalWar, Medieval:TotalWar, Rome:TotalWar, and Medieval2:TotalWar. These games are similar to the Civ series, but I believe they are superior. If I were stuck on a desert island and had the ability to play computer games, Medieval2:TotalWar would entertain me forever.

Re:TotalWar

[Sobrique]

I got a lot of milage out of Medieval 2: Total War. And still am. Between different races, units and starting positions, there's a hell of a lot of replayability. Still reckon the English get it good though, with their island position, and longbows ;)

World of Warcraft, no question

[edremy]

/g "Hey guys, I'm stuck on a desert island in RL. Could someone please send a rescue party?"

Sadly, this would probably be followed by

/g "No, my hearthstone is not set for Virginia"
/g "No, I *don't* have my flying mount with me. This is real life. Please send a rescue party ASAP (and some beer)"
/g "Damnit, no, I can't cast Underwater Breathing on me and swim out. I'm not a warlock in real life guys."

Re:World of Warcraft, no question

[aafuss]

Second Life would be a game I play on my island.

Re:World of Warcraft, no question

[ajs]

/g "Hey guys, I'm stuck on a desert island in RL. Could someone please send a rescue party?" What you want is to contact customer service:

Taphonomy: Good evening, I'm a customer service representative. Do you have a minute to discuss your concern?
Mycharacter: Hi! Oh good! I'm stuck on a desert island. Can yo alert the authorities?
Taphonomy: You can use the /unstick command to escape from world geometry problems.
Mycharacter: No, I'm actually stuck on a real desert island. I need someone to get me out of here!
Taphonomy: I can't provide in-game hints at this time.
Mycharacter: What?! Oh, no it's not a quest. I am somewhere in the south seas.
Taphonomy: That's working as intended.
Mycharacter: What?!
Taphonomy: Thank you for contacting customer service. Is there anything else I can do for you today?
Mycharacter: Look you @!%&er, I just need a rescue plane!
Taphonomy: The use of such language is not allowed. Your account will be banned until such time as you contact our account dispute resolution team.
Mycharacter: Nooo! This is my only acce....

Then again, maybe I'd bring tetris ;-)

Re:World of Warcraft, no question

[Phyvo]

Besides, underwater breathing doesn't prevent fatigue in the deep sea!

Sokoban

[tsa]

I like pushing boxes around!

Re:Sokoban

[SuiteSisterMary]

I like pushing boxes around!

Jurassic Park: Trespasser?

Daikatana

[Remus Shepherd]

Daikatana. That way I'll get sick of it quickly, and I'll be able to play the 'how do I get off this damn island' game.

Alternately, I'll take Duke Nukem Forever to a desert island. And you can put me on the island just as soon as the game is released.

My pick

[3on3]

Advance Wars: Dual Strike. My most played game ever.

A New World of Crappy Fighting

[Anonymous Coward]

If I had any of the games they mentioned, I'd never get home. What you really need is something to motivate you to build that raft, make that coconut radio, or do whatever it takes to get you off that island.

Which is why my desert island game is Shaq-Fu

Furcadia

[Anonymous Coward]

Because, when you're all alone in a desert island, the adult area is even more interesting...

Duke Nukem Forever!

[chuckymonkey]

The name says it all.

The game was already installed on the island...

[Man On Pink Corner]

... and it turns out the copy-protection key is 04 08 0F 10 17 2A.

Downside is that you have to enter it every 108 minutes or the game crashes. :( Anybody got the tech-support number handy?

My Desert Island Game:

[Landshark17]

Deus Ex

StarWars Galaxies

[Anonymous Coward]

Even without a network connection it would play the same. Empty, empty, empty.

Plus, playing will all the "new" enchancements would cause me to stop playing and rip the machine apart and attempt to build something that could help get me found.

Speaking of which...

[Aggrav8d]

So I'm stuck on a desert island. I'm probably spending 75% of my awake time just trying to stay alive and the rest figuring out how to get off the island. (also possibly fighting 'others'.) If I take any game it'll be something that improves my quality of life. Which brings me to my reason for posting: Why aren't there more games that teach something useful while still being entertaining? I mean, if i play rally game i'll gain (at least) theorhetical knowledge of how to drift, and if i play a sailing game i get the concept of how to use the wind to my advantage and how not to capsize. So why not something slightly more practical? There must be a way to turn a wilderness survival guide into a game.

Deus Ex

[edawstwin]

The original Deus Ex was the perfect blend of FPS, RPG, and story. You could play several different styles and still win. My only complaint was that the endings were a bit lame. Still, I replay it at least once a year all the way through. Too bad the sequel was so dumbed down. Consoles have really changed these types of games.

DOA: Extreme Beach Volleyball.

[trdrstv]

Because a guy would get lonely on a deserted island...

This may however be trumped by SNK's Witch touching Game later this year.

Nintendogs.

[trdrstv]

I don't even own Nintendogs, but under the premise I have 1 game and I'm straded on a desert island (and the DS has a Solar power pannel on the lid to keep it perpetually charged) I would have to go with Nintendogs, for the simple reason of companionship.

I understand this isn't the question they are asking, they are really asking 'What game would you play if you could only choose 1.' but by putting me 'stranded on a desert island' I can't help but think of 'Wilson' in Cast Away.

Something like Nintendogs could seriously be the crutch that keeps me from going mad due to lonelyness.

Erm... Elite?

[Half-pint HAL]

Blimey, you young whippersnappers. What about the greatest game ever written, Bell & Braben's Elite?

Look I so old to young eyes?

HAL.

Re:Erm... Elite?

[Plekto]

I was going to say this, but one other game ties it in my mind. Angband.

www.thangorodrim.net

Despite the lack of graphics, it's incredibly difficult and has AI and a random number generator that is bulletproof. It truly is infinitely replayable.

Third place would be... X-Com. Beautiful game as well and very good time-waster.

Re:Erm... Elite?

[Goldberg's Pants]

Elite = Fantastic choice!

Make it the Amiga version so you've got filled in 3D... Perfick.

Re:Erm... Elite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you tried Oolite? Open source, OpenGL, Mac/Linux space trading & combat.
And fully extensible so you can add your own ships and missions to the game.

It's the puppy's privates.

Re:Erm... Elite?

[Sobrique]

Sadly whilst I loved Elite, and Elite II (and then it started to fizzle) a friend got me addicted to EVE. And so Elite is no longer my major gaming habit. Unfortunately if the desert island has no netlink, then I will have to start swimming once my skill train finishes.

Re:Erm... Elite?

[KatchooNJ]

There is also "Elite: The New Kind", which is out there on the web for download if you poke around a bit. (I think the guy who made it had to remove it at the request of one of the creators.) It is a great remake of the game that works perfectly under XP. A definite winner!

Strat or RPG..?

[wanax]

That's the question. For strategy, I'd definitely go for Europa Universalis III (which is a much deeper game than the total war series, you can play hundreds of countries etc.) The lack of map flexibility isn't such a big deal when all the game scenarios are text-editable. Other possibilities would be Civ4 and GalCiv2.. The older games of either of those types have such easy AIs, replay-ability is compromised in my opinion.

For RPG, I'd probably take Angband, over Nethack by a small margin. Honor role would include Escape Velocity: Nova, NWN and Oblivion.

Of course, this is assuming no internet connection. With one, no question it'd be an MMORPG. I haven't played the most recent generation, so I'm not sure which I'd pick.

Power

[BlueCollarCamel]

Well, is their a source of electricity on this island?

Close Combat II

[Pinckney]

Close Combat II is decently pretty, has near infinite replayability, and can be edited with Gimp, notepad, and a few other tools. Even better, if it takes over my dreams, I'll be able to lead the natives on a campaign of world conquest, instead of just stacking odd looking colored rocks over and over and over.

SPORE

[ObiWanStevobi]

Well, if they are going to set me up on a desert island that presumably has a power source, internet connection, and is stocked with Mt. Dew and twinkies, my guess is they could also pull off an advance copy of SPORE.

Re:SPORE

[eboot]

But imagine what it would be like if the whole thing turned out to be hype. It could be like playing Daikatana forever

Easy

[OriginalArlen]

Emacs (a full source distribution with all the docs.) I've wanted to learn e-lisp for ages, and I only finished the first 10% or so of the built-in tutorial.

Halo, Halo 2, or any other Xbox exclusive.

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

What other console could I hollow out into a boat and use it to raft myself to safety?

The of Life

[popeye44]

I mean, Hey you could make up custom rules for what to do in case you are stranded on an island with only one game to take with you. etc

No contest

[Reducer2001]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. That's the only game that still gets me excited just THINKING about it. Spent many butt-numbing 20 hours sessions playing through it. Love it.

Re:No contest

[RealBeanDip]

Props for that choice. I love SMAC(X).

However I'd still take Civ IV... but I do love SMAC!

Hunt the Wumpus

[mypalmike]

You gotta eat something on a desert island.

Where is the old school?

[OrangeTide]

Why not 1942? That game is pretty hard (I'm talking about the arcade version). 1943 Kai would be another choice, it's even harder but there is more cool stuff. I'm pretty sure almost everyone here has played 1942, and only a tiny handful of you had the time and quarters to actually beat the thing.

Re:NetHack - source code and compiler

[26199]

Hmm, the fact that the source is available is the only reason I was able to beat it :)

Yeah, so I cheated. And it was *still* hard...

Not a bad desert island choice, then.

King's Quest 5

[r_jensen11]

Nothing like a game that tells you how to get off a desert island, than a game where you have to get off a desert island.

Any game that involves coding.

[harry666t]

Any game that involves writing code. Let it even be assembly.

Corewars, droidbattles...

Since I discovered C64 at the age of 6, I can't live without coding.

Oblivion

[enochweedy]

I had put off playing it for some time as I am one of those obstinate people who shy away from heavily recommended films, games, music, books, etc. (too many bad experiences). I picked it up about a week ago. I am now averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night. I am so worn out from playing that game that I actually looked at my alarm clock this morning and thought "7. 3. 0. What does that MEAN?" That being said, I would probably die rather quickly as I would not be able to forage for food or build an adequate shelter. Or figure out how I have electricity, but was not supplied with shelter or food.

That's easy...

[Minstrel Boy]

Geocaching. :)

KeS

Re:That's easy...

[Nazlfrag]

Flashmobbing would be a fun one too :)

Oxyd

[josecanuc]

Oxyd, Oxyd Magnum, etc.

A great puzzle game.

I would mod you up

[tknd]

If I had mod points.

For people that don't understand, Tetris DS is quite a different game than Tetris for old school gameboy. The reason being due to several small changes:

1. Shadow block - A shadow of where the block will fall is always shown. Sounds cheesy, but helps a lot given some of the other changes...
2. Hard drop - The block will instantly drop to the shadow if you press the up button.
3. Limited / Infinite spin - In certain modes (Wifi) there is limited spin which allows you to rotate the block for a short amount of time to keep it from sticking in place even though it touches other blocks. In other modes (non-multiplayer) there's infinite spin which has no time limit.
4. Hold block - You can place the current block into the hold queue by pushing the L or R buttons, the block that was previously in the queue will be swapped out--you can't swap out a block from the hold queue if you just placed it there. This is highly useful and allows you to do some pretty nasty things.
5. Shows next 6 blocks - You can see the next 6 blocks (in order) that you will receive.
6. T-spins - The game recognizes t-block spinning which can be used to put garbage blocks on your opponent similar or worse than a tetris.
7. Back-to-back tetris or t-spin - A bonus garbage row is sent to your opponent if you perform multiple tetris or t-spins with no other line clears in between.

Because of this, Tetris DS plays nothing like the original. The concept is the same - stack blocks and when a line completes it clears, but because of all the changes, the game is much more flexible and has a greater depth to it that doesn't involve just blocks falling faster and faster. For example, try mastering setups to perform double and triple T-spins, it's pretty tough and forces you to read your 6-piece queue ahead of time to determine how to construct the setup.

Re:I would mod you up

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't even need a DS to play Tetris with most of these features:

zone.tetris.com

Re:I would mod you up

[atezun]

These features have been around since Tetris worlds was released for the previous gen consoles.

Re:I would mod you up

[badspyro]

For the most, I find those 'small changes' detract from the original cleanness of the game, the storage of blocks makes it easier to get rid of difficult pieces, the showing of the next six blocks reduces the risk and the shadowing reduces the skill needed to place a block quickly. Never mind my comments on the 'infinite spin' around since the game was available on the GBA.
I have been playing the game since the age of 5 (roughly), from the basic gameboy up to the GBA, web based and not, on far too many different platforms (its the first thing I install on any phone I get), and I still think that the original, maybe with a splash of colour is the best (for one thing, the music ROCKS).
I may only be 19, but it seems I'm old fashioned already... Just think, I want to enter the games industry... (sighs)

Re:I would mod you up

[ajs]

"Shadow" has been around since very early implementations of the game. "Hard drop" is an original game feature.

Seeing the next 6 blocks is just expanding on the original game's one-block lookahead. Nothing shocking there.

Other than that, the other features are just multi-player play. Nothing too different from the original other than multi-player.

Supaplex!

[Noiser]

Supaplex!

Re:Supaplex!

[Anonymous Coward]

OMB yeah!! You might actually finish all 111 levels on that island. By which time you'll have a 5 meter beard (and lost the last remains of your sanity.)

tossup

[tanda333]

tossup between total anihilation and Oblivion. oblivion if i have access to only one user (ie: no WAN or LAN) and total anihilation if LAN or WAN access. also, i wouldnt complain if there was battlefield 1942 DC final on a LAN.

Hey does it have to be a computer game!

[kaizokuace]

If you are stranded with a few buddies you can make coconut beer or something and then play some good ol' fashioned D&D!

Unreal Tournament

[andr0meda]

UT Forever.

Re:Unreal Tournament

[NightLamp]

rgr,
"That had to hurt!",
"Try a bigger gun"

Duke Nukem Forever

[AlgorithMan]

Duke Nukem Forever
because I'll have plenty of time to enjoy my life before I strand...

PANDA-IGS

[grikdog]

But if there's no WiFi, probably PANDA-glGo with GNU Go 3.7.10, which seems to play at around 5 kyu (unheard of five years ago, even.)

Re:PANDA-IGS

[Brome]

I'm more of a KGS guy, but I'd choose Go too, anyway, whatever the client.

Transport Tycoon Deluxe

[default luser]

I wasted so many hours with this game. I picked up a copy of PC Gamer with the demo floppy for Transport Tycoon, and when I finally upgraded to enough ram to run the game, I was amazed. I got so much play out of the deluxe CD version, it was practically the only game I played for an entire year. I still pick it up to dust it off, and of course, get my friends hooked whenever possible.

Two-player TTD was amazingly fun over my college IPX network, especially since you could save the game and pick it up later.

Although, I think I'd take a copy of OpenTTD with me and try out the new features recently added.

Re:Transport Tycoon Deluxe

[Archon-X]

I'm with you on this one.
A friend and I have banned ourselves and each other from playing TTD, simply because It's Too Much Fun, and It Takes Up Too Much Time - until we both retire.

Here's hoping OpenTTD and computers of some description are around in a few decades.

Master of Orion II

[Anonymous Coward]

Most likely I would go with Master of Orion II - game is 12 years old but I still
play it from time to time.

Possible alternatives would be:

Kohan Ahriman's Gift ( I think it is better than Kohan II)

Crusader Kings

MOII and KAG are very playable - random maps and nice balance of different
aspects of the game - minimal micromanagement - just fun

CK are absolutly unique - you breed your own characters ... findind a perfect wife
to get the best possible successor is just an amazing idea in the strategic game :)

GTA, MGS, MML

[FoXDie]

I would probably go with one of the Grand Theft Auto games because they are huge and there is so much to do besides just the missions. I think San Andreas is the biggest so far, so I'd go with that. Some days I can play the story missions, and then on days when I'm bleeding because I stabbed myself in the foot trying to catch fish I can just go run over some pedestrians. I chose that for long playability, but I'd like to have a Metal Gear Solid game, since I love the gameplay and the storyline and I think it could get me through some days stranded on an island. Another choice would be Megaman Legends (1 or 2). The games are huge, fun, fairly open, and the story is pretty interesting.

Dominions 3

[Ygorl]

Without a doubt. This game (and its predecessor) have been entertaining me almost daily for the last several years. There's no deeper or more extensible turn-based strategy game that I've ever seen.

Future Cop: LAPD

[Goldarn]

I'm already bummed that my next Mac will not play it. It's one of the better little 3-D games I've played. Nice gameplay on the levels, good one-on-one, good co-op, etc., etc. Yeah, it would keep me entertained for a long time, I think.

My favorite multiplayer game

[Neat_Manatee]

Age of Empires II

Re:My favorite multiplayer game

[try_anything]

Seconded. There are so many ways to set up differently paced and differently balanced games. If I still played games, I would be looking for worthy successors to AoE2. I love the large-scale aspect of the game, but last time i checked it seemed that most gamers prefer to closely manage smaller-scale battles rather than spread their attention thinly over a larger board :-/

SimCity

[Anonymous Coward]

Specifically, SimCity 4. At least then I could pretend I lived among others ;). Plus, since there is no set objective for SimCity I would imagine there to be unlimited scenarios possible (including ever-changing terrain, buildings, etc).

And the music in the game is nothing to scoff at either. I am not aware of many games that have the sound track of SimCity 3/4.

Re:SimCity

[Archon-X]

Grim Fandango - best soundtrack... ever.
It almost goes down as my favourite album ever as well.

They released it free, check w/ google.

Re:SimCity

[geekoid]

Based on your post, I went and listened to a couple of tracks. You are absolutly correct. The sounds track is killer.

Freeciv beats SMAC by a nose

[JonMartin]

It's Freeciv for me, even though Alpha Centauri is technically superior (unit workshop RULES). Alpha Centauri's story, while excellent, prevents it from having the sandbox replayability that Freeciv has.

Unless there is a way to turn off the story that I don't know about?

FPS/Strategy vote

[darkuncle]

Half-Life (plus mission packs, sequels, etc.) equates to an awful lot of playing time. I'm partial to FPS, but also to a good story ... Thief/Thief II and Deus Ex (the original, not the lame sequel) would also be good medium-length options. For really killing time, the whole Final Fantasy series (and the consoles required to run them all) would be the ultimate, I'd think. :)

my own WoW (TBC) server / client

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

I could live forever and not finish all those damn quests.

But if I did, I'd have 1 uber decked out char for transfer!

Seriously though, The comments about WC3 and SC are well regarded, but did anyone say anything about UNREAL Tournament?

I'd take that in a heartbeat because UED would at least let me escape into any world I could imagine.

It's a sweet, easy to use level designer, and it's a common platform. In fact, it'd be SWEET I could replicate the island, so when I am discovered, I'd could copyright the map to it. or I could recreate places I had been before. Maybe make my house, complete with a wandering cat that does nothing but piss on my stuff and meow louder than every other ambient noise.

RFC1149

[jwiegley]

I'd explain how, but that would be telling

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1149.txt "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers"

Oxyd.

[jpellino]

This island has a generator, right?

My Desert island game?

[Dieppe]

I'd have to go with an MMORPG of some sort, such as World of Warcraft so I can get on and yell..

"Somebody HELP! I'm on a deserted island! Call the Coast Guard for me or something! Please! Anybody!?"

Wizardry

[Anonymous Coward]

1995 is new school. One of the interviewees mentioned Wizardry was on his list of considered games. I think that game is almost as old as I am (and having beat it earned me a special WERDNA endorsement on my geek card).

That said, I don't think it has as much replayability as some other games, but it sure as heck takes a long time to beat.

Civilization

[Professor Fate]

Love em all. Railroad Tycoon too.

nethack

[suraklin]

This game has caused me to waste more time than I care to admit. Any time I see a new version has been released I get sucked in all over again.

Not a hard choice.

[danilo.moret]

Civilization. The most recent available. I just wouldn't play any island scenario. --- In old Soviet Russia, games take YOU to desert islands! And you become a funny screen saver to western capitalists...

Arac / Spiderbot for the C64

[Airconditioning]

So I can finally figure out how to finish that damn game...

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 for PS1

[nitsew]

I love that game... still play it all the time. My second choice would be Unreal Tournament G.O.T.Y edition.

Wii Sports

[mike3k]

I need to stay in shape and it can help.

This answer is like the ultimate nerd wish

[Anonymous Coward]

If asked what would your one wish be, only a nerd would ask for an infinite number of wishes.

Although technically acceptible, it misses the entire point.

Re:This answer is like the ultimate nerd wish

[nacturation]

If asked what would your one wish be, only a nerd would ask for an infinite number of wishes. "Oh clever nerd, I hereby grant your wish. I will fulfill every last wish you ask for, once you've filled up this infinitely long scroll."

Um, well, to be honest...

[Anonymous Coward]

Assuming I'm going to be alone on this island, and even though I have never owned or played this game, it would have to be Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball. Cuz, ... well... I have needs, and, you know, "she kicks high".

Who needs a desert island?

[Anonymous Coward]

Right now I could step out my front door and find almost any kind of entertainment (including multiple hookers) but I still choose to play Diablo 2 once in a while.

Definitely my first choice as well!

Age of Empires I (+ Rise of Rome expansion)

[moeinvt]

No doubt.

I limit myself to playing for a few hours maybe a couple of times a month, and it never seems to get old. My favorite way to play is on "Hardest" difficulty level, with 3 AI players, one ally and two enemies. It's not easy. I'd say that I win less than 20% of the time with that setup. My nephew looked up a cheat once so that we could spy on other civilizations. We found out that part of the "hardest" setting is that the AI players start off with vastly superior resources. So, they're sometimes throwing bronze age and iron age military units against you when you're still one generation back. I typically use the "Coastal" or "Narrows" terrain because at least there are some natural barriers. With all of the different civlizations, randomly generated landscapes and a setting where you can't always kick ass, it doesn't lose much luster.

Master of Magic

[eharvill]

Anyone? Similar vein of Civilization, but with a fantasy theme. I played it for months on end. No fancy editors and whatnot, but definitely a good game.

Another good answer.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you were to bring either Starcraft II, or Lineage III, your rescue would be guaranteed. The Koreans would track you down and find you.

no question--

[Anonymous Coward]

pocket pool.

I'll go with...

[VendettaMF]

Luxury trans-oceanic power-boat racers.

(No, the summary never once mentioned PC or console or video....

Oblivion

[jonwil]

Defiantly Oblivion (with the expansion pack).
Even when you beat the game you can go back and replay it again as a totally different character.

Something with a bit more variability perhaps?

[Turey]

I'd take FreeSpace Open. It's the most moddable game I know. Having the ability to change almost anything gives me infinite replay value.

Rome - Total War

[Kittenman]

Out of the three so far, this still the best (I think). Graphics are excellent - not perfect but good enough and the flick between the strategy map and tactical battles means life's too short.

Omega Race

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes! What a better way to waste time on an island then to defeat all those Droid Forces! :-)

(Of course it'd be set to free play! Do you think I'd be stuck out there with an infinite amount of quarters?)

Q2: Weapons Factory

[VGfort]

If I had internet access and was guaranteed a server full with humans, I'd probably pick Weapons Factory for Quake 2. Sure it was spammy, but there was some good variety with the classes and their abilities.

a board game

[vonFinkelstien]

Chess, Arkham Horror (with all expansions), Munchkin Cthulhu, or Illuminati would all be better than any computer game.

my desert island game

[jameseyjamesey]

Mario Kart 64 is my favorite game ever, so I could master that, but not showing off to anyone would drive me crazy. The same goes for any sports game. Tetris Attack is my favorite puzzle game, but it's the most fun with someone else. I used to have evil dreams about this game, which wouldn't be good if I'm by myself on an island. So, I think if loneliness is going to be a problem, I should pick a game where it feels like someone else is playing. Therefore, I choose Gyromite with Rob the Robot from the NES

M.U.L.E.

[tedgyz]

'nuff said

Hello Kitty!

[Aerinoch]

The obvious choice would have to be Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

Oldie

[professorfalcon]

How about The Adventures of Gilligan's Island?

It will be funny for about 10 seconds...

Re:Oldie

[Orlockian]

And of course we'd have to have Johnny Castaway for a screen-saver... brilliant days of desert joy!

Super Robot Taisen

[Anonymous Coward]

It took me hundreds of hours to clear all 78 or so rounds of SRWF and SRWFF. And I'm sure it'll take at least several more games before having every round memorized. Maybe my Japanese will get better by then and I'll know what the dialog is all about too.

G BA something

[SL Baur]

I've never played games on a desert island, but I have played games on a tropical island without electricity. GameBoy Advance and I think the game was Greatest Nine (NPB Japanese baseball simulator). (And yes, I did it so that I could write about it years later on forums like this one, my wife wasn't very happy, but oh well).

Robotron

[telengard]

It's all you'll need...

ADOM

[Anonymous Coward]

ADOM - Ancient Domains of Mystery

http://www.adom.de/

You would not believe how much detail can go into a rogue-like game. I've been playing this for years and still haven't gotten more than 25% through. And that's *with* the online spoilers.

Ultima

[Khyber]

4-6 were truly awesome games. Having to learn to read another language (which I can now read and write without thinking about it after 19+ years of playing) made it so much more fun to play.

My first choice would be too depressing.

[uwjames]

"Pirates! Gold" is my favorite game of all time, hands down. Unfortunately the depression would be too much for me to bear. No, not the sad irony of sailing the seas, or being deserted and rescued on a daily basis. I'm talking about never being able to consumate my marriage to the governors daughter.

Soo.. "Battle for Wesnoth" get's the nod over other contenders because of open source and scenario editing.

As low-tech as you can get

[ebbe11]

Kalaha. It can be played using stones and holes in the ground. After all, you can't be sure your desert island has electricity...

WC3 > SC

[Gryll]

I loved StarCraft/BroodWar. I played all of the solo content and heaps of LAN and B.Net play. For it's day, and for a good while after, it was the best RTS out there. But I'm always confused how people like it more then Warcraft3/Frozen Throne which I feel even today is the best RTS game. In my view WC3/FT does almost everything SC did but better.

I still play WC3/FT, and one of the best mods DotA, quite often. That said I'm not sure I would take an RTS game on a desert island as I wouldn't be able to play other humans. The computer AI does not hold any long term enjoyment.

Perhaps solitaire, tetris or core wars.

Can I choose to wait until Spore is released to become stranded?

Supreme Commander or Total Annihilation or Spring

[thygrrr]

Supreme Commander, TA, or TA:Spring. One of these three will suffice; I prefer Supreme Commander, though.

Re:RFC1149 flaw

[maroberts]

Latency on World of Warcraft might be a bit of a problem

One for each sort of boredom

[Fross]

I'm seeing a lot of games here that have one enduring factor - and very few games have more than one. So I have a choice of a few for each sort of entertainment I'd want.

Half-life, with CS/TFC - Action. The best AI, the best ever multiplayer mods (with bots if no internet access). I'd be tempted to go for HL2 for the improved physics and obviously graphics, but I'll wait to see whether TF2 is any good first.

Tribes 2 - Action. For the most sublime CTF style gameplay ever.

Sid Meier's Pirates - Adventure. In particular, I like games where it isn't possible to complete the whole thing in one go, and you have to pick and choose your route. This has everything though, from strategy and management to arcade-style action and exploration/discovery in an ever-changing world. And even RPG style elements! I'd actually take this over Civilisation, as while less deep, it covers more ground and feels more complete to me as a result.

Kick Off 2, with my old Quickshot II Turbo joystick on the Amiga.

If online play is a possibility, it'd have to be World of Warcraft. It's possible to spend so much time in that you may as well be on a desert island anyway! It's unparallelled in MMORPG stakes, with the perfect learning curve (so much so that it's actually worth playing other classes up), variation in play between roles, the most enormous world to explore, many different routes through the game, both PvE and PvP.

mame

[Anonymous Coward]

Does a full mame collection (of course the newest version) also comply with this description, as it is one program with its datasets running? :)

That would be my choice over every other game currently existing

On the other hand, games like The Guild (die gilde), if bugfree (which is neither the first nor the second part), or alternatively Vermeer would be my clear choice

Command & Conquer

[[Marvin]]

Yes. The one from '95...played from DOS. From God to Cain to Seth.

I'd run through the story lines once in a while, and when I feel like fooling around, I'd try weird combinations with the ccedit util.

I always thought the humvees were cool, but underpowered...so I usually gave them either missiles(from the NOD bike) or laser...oh, and sometimes gave them cloaking ability and made them hideously fast - turning most fights into a rout :-p

Red Alert would equally well I think...

wipeout 2097

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the only game that I couild play indefinitely, though maybe RC Stuntcopter would do at a pinch.

Master of Magic.

[splutty]

It's bloody ancient, but I actually *still* play that game. So that'd be a definite pick for me :)

Neverwinter Nights

[AP31R0N]

This game would be perfect for a desert island. Highly replayable, you can write your own campaigns, play campaigns made by other, mod the rules, add your own items and critters.

Championship Manager 3

[jambox]

Frankly I can't believe nobody has mentioned this!

I did almost nothing else but play this game, the sequels, updates and special editions, between the ages of 16 and 21.

I know it's a football sim and Slashdotters tend not to like sports so much (apologies for rank generalisation) but you never actually got to SEE any sports - just buy and sell the stars, set the tactics, pick the team and watch the text commentary.

The tension when you get Colchester United to the Champions League final and it's 3-3 after 80 minutes against Milan, is unmatched by any other game I've ever played.

Not scary tension like Half-Life but a sort of engrossing, professional tension. You WANT your team to win, for that £250k striker you bought to bang in that far-post header in extra time and become a hero. You can almost smell the money, success and fame. The career progression on offer is amazing as well - start off with a bottom-rung band of English donkeys, turn them into a decent team, then take a job somewhere like Brazil or Japan, make your name there, then to Serie B for a couple of years, then perhaps if you win a cup you could go to a top-flight outfit like Eintracht Frankfurt, then back to England to take charge at Palace to fight relegation, then if you stay up.... I could go on. Absolutely unique.

Re:Addictive? Really?

[jimstapleton]

12?????

Geez, I usually use 2 or 3... Of course they are dedicated guardian-busters, and have only the gyro destabilizers and augmented engines...

flightgear

[BACbKA]

Definitely flightgear, with a nice set of yokes/pedals/radio stacks/... (With world terrain and source code, as well as all the development docs). Hopefully, this would also bring some new features into it when they finally rescue me :-)

The answer for me is simple

[Wookietim]

Civilization III - the single greatest game I have ever had the pleasure to play.

Could you really get off the island?

[Infe]

Given say, a pc with internet access and excluding contacting your friends and family, could someone actually get off a desert island just using the web? I mean come on, who's gonna believe you, much less go to the trouble of looking for you. And assuming you don't know where you're at, you'd have to figure that out...I guess by mapping the stars. I just have an image in my head of someone posting on Slashdot "help, I'm stuck on an island" and it getting modded down as off topic :)

puzzle quest

[cmorgan47]

right now, i'm hooked. it's pretty damn good. check it out if you haven't yet....i think there's even a windows demo.

get practical

[chanceH]

SimBoat, builders edition.

anything online

[Anonymous Coward]

Like wow. Then I could use the chat window to find someone to get me off the damn island.

Civ IV or SMAX....

[KnuthKonrad]

...would be #1 on my list.

But Steel Panthers was also a game I played intensively.

That old DOS game had a feature I've not seen elsewhere in strategy games: Hitting an enemy's tank often enough without destroying it (like German Pz III vs. Soviet T34) made the crew leave their tank. They "paniced" away for a few rounds with you unable to control them, but once they've overcome their state of fear, you could actually move them back to their tank and enter it again if the tank wasn't destroyed meanwhile.

Definitely WOW. Duh.

[Anonymous Coward]

Action: Hack, slash, kill.
In-game Texting: Oh by the way, I'm stuck on this island. Could someone let the Coast Guard know, please?

Virtual Valerie

[zero_offset]

Christ, kids, you're ALONE out there.

easy

[geekoid]

Duke Nukem forever.

Then, when word gets out that I actually have a working copy, these people will definiatly be searching for me: http://www.3drealms.com/duke4/

Cause, they'd like to see a finished product to.

hey, mcFly!

[geekoid]

Take a video game, if you can't use it you can still play your game. .. Plus you might be able to use parts of the machine needed to run said game as tools.

X com

[eronysis]

I still want to see a new version!!!

Dungeon Keeper II, seriously

[Dr. Spork]

I know that game is ancient and I'd love to see it modernized, but even as it is, it really offers the most replay value of any game I've ever owned. With the map editor you can create challenges for yourself that require some serious strategic thinking, and the variety of gameplay situations is basically limitless. Designing a map doesn't take very long compared to playing it, which is an important advantage over a game like NWN where this ratio is turned on its head.

What's great about DKII is also the option to play it like a god sim game, where you design something with the objective of establishing a more perfect harmony rather than just winning. That's a very interesting architectural challenge given the population of stange folks that you need to cater to, and all the different ways they can be made unhappy.

I long for a Dungeon Keeper game that's updated for the 21st century, one where I can write my own, more complex AI for the creatures in the game. DKII's AI is really quite good and makes things fun, but that's one thing that could really be beefed up for today's stronger computers.

If there were an OSS project to remake Dungeon Keeper with one of the modern free 3D engines, I would absolutely love to participate. I write pretty good AI code. I would never finish my dissertation, but whatever, it would be worth it! And yes, I would do this on a desert island or in jail, if I had to.

I also have many ideas about what could be added to the game to make it fun. Some of the things: Creatures would respond to their surroundings by decorating their space, getting into fights with creatures they hate, make a mess, clean up the mess of others, cooperate while fighting, etc. With a few improvements, this could become the greatest game ever made. I'm serious!

Fallout

[HappySmileMan]

I'd pick Fallout, brilliant storyline and kickass gameplay.

Graphics are also good (considering it's from 1997, obviously crap compared to what you're used to) and it works well, can install onto any of main 3 OSes (released for Windows and Mac, and works on Linux with WINE) and only requires 90Mhz minimum processor and 16MB RAM

Wikipedia

[GustoGaiden]

Does Wikipedia count as a game?

What kind of mentally retarded..

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of mentally retarded question is this? You can build a WAN - and play any game you want with other people for the rest of eternity - do i really need to spell out the obvious answer for you all?

It begins with Ever, and ends with Quest - and is so addictive most players who began playing it in 1999 have lived at their computer like an island since then. The few of us who escaped are tormented by the memories of EverQuest to this day. You know why God and the angels and even Lucifer and the demons neglect earth? They all started playing EQ and dont have time to wage an eternal war for our souls anymore - they need to grind 75 levels and more than 3000 alternate levels and play 8 hours raids 7 days a week to have a hope at seeing end game content that expands faster than light (reverse black hole!).

Re:RFC1149 flaw

[jwiegley]

What else do you have to do with your time??

Alot of people are saying gcc

[wellingj]

but why not take Debian? seems like a more versatile approach to me....but I don't think it quite fits with the theme of the article.....

Sid Meier

[Anonymous Coward]

Covert Action