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.

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

[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

[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

[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.

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.

Hmm...

[TodMinuit]

Does Visual Studio count as a game?

No? Fine: Chess.

Re:Hmm...

[Red Flayer]

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

Someone without a compiler?

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.

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

[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".

chi-chi-chip and dale

[Ojuice]

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

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.

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...

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

[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: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.

[Conception]

So... you answer is Donkey Konga?

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.

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.

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.

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

[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.

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.

Ummm...

[killmenow]

Custer's Revenge

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: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: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?

Spy vs. Spy #2

[umeboshi]

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

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.

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

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:Whatever game...

[nomadic]

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

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."

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.

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.

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:X-Com - UFO Defense

[Profound]

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

Re:Heck Yes

[Tim Browse]

I'm a writer myself.

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

D'oh!

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?!