The Hobbit (Melbourne House, 1983, C64) – one of the first graphic adventures on the C64. Places took ages to load and the text parser challenged my rudimentary english back then. Still a very fond memory.
Archon (Free Fall Associates, 1983, C64) – Chess reloaded.
Space Taxi (Muse Software, 1984, C64) – simulates a flying taxi controlled by thrusters. Pretty difficult to master, but a lot of fun.
Asylum (MedSystems, 1985, C64) – William F. Denman Jr.'s take on a mental (or not?) person trying to leave an asylum. Although mostly a text+graphic adventure, it sports slick navigation using the cursor keys.
Day of the Tentacle (LucasArts, 1993, DOS) – Tim Schäfer at his peak. A point-and-click adventure with interesting plot twists involving time travel.
Fort Apocalypse (Synapse Software, 1983, C64) – a 2D multi-directional scroller by Steve Hales. The player navigates an underground prison in a helicopter, destroying or avoiding enemies and rescuing prisoners. It had a pretty finicky collision detection, but was great fun for many hours.
The Institute (MedSystems, 1983, C64) – Jyym and Robyn Pearson make you playing an insane person escaping from an asylum. Pretty wicked story, great atmosphere.
Lucifer's Realm (MedSystems, 1983, C64) – Jyym and Robyn Pearson send you down to hell, where you find Lucifer himself has a set of his own problems.
The Mercenary (Novagen, 1985, C64) – An impressive action adventure featuring wire-frame 3D graphics (Yes, in 1985).
Katakis (Factor 5, 1988, AMIGA) – a great shoot-em-up side scroller in the tradition of R-Type.
Kickoff 2 (Anco, 1990, AMIGA) – Dino Dini's variant of soccer. Great physics and mechanics. Inspired a lot of soccer games to come.
Xenon 2: Megablast (Bitmap Brothers, 1989, AMIGA) – A great shoot-em-up with a nice soundtrack by Bomb the Bass.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Bitmap Brothers, 1990, AMIGA) – a modern take on soccer.
The Dig (LucasArts, 1995, DOS) – A SciFi point-and-click adventure with a great story. As a cooperation with Steven Spielberg, the plot was originally intended for a (later cancelled due to budget problems) film.
Rayman (Ubisoft, throughout the years on many platforms) – my favorite platformer, incredibly detailed and great control. I especially love Jungle Run and Fiesta Run on iOS as well as Legends on the PS4.
Leo's Fortune (Senri, 2014, iOS) – a beautiful platformer, you're playing a flurry fluff ball. Incredible physics and great story telling.
Limbo (Playdead, 2010, PS4) – first title from danish indie developer Playdead, somewhat similar to "Inside". Film noir aesthetics with great mood, great control, and tough riddles.
The Silent Age (House On Fire, 2016, tvOS) – a point-and-click adventure involving the story of an anti-hero being dragged into a twisted plot involing time travel. A great revival of the good 'ole adventure games.
Inside (Playdead, 2016, tvOS) – this is one of the most impressive games I have ever played in my career. The atmosphere, the graphics, the sound, the physics, the mysterious story – this is a work of art on so many levels. It could easily serve as a film. The only drop of bitterness it shares with many story-laden games: Once you have mastered it, there is little incentive to play it again.
Oddmar (Senri, 2018, iOS) – the next platform hit from the makers of Leo's Fortune. Again a great story, nice graphics and gameplay, but (in my opinion) a less sympathetic character. Still a great title to play.
Badland) (Frogmind Games, 2013, iOS) – the player flies around a little black creature called Clony (and his clones) through the woods of the game. This is a next-level physics engine game. I had tons of fun with it. A game for all ages. Go and play!
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios, 2021, PS5) – a beautiful, heart-warming coop-only 3D game where you're trying to save a broken relationship. Extremely high value for the money. Being grown up with 2D and 2.5D, this was the first 3D game that I actually loved. I still don't like 1st person games though.
Stray (BlueTwelve Studio, 2022, PS5) – you're playing a stray cat(!) solving the mistery of a cyberpunk town in the far future. This has to win the award of the most interesting characters ever found in a video game. Even if you do not like adorable tiny animals, it's a must for SciFi story lovers.
Little Nightmares I & II (Tarsier Studios, 2017 and 2021, PS5) – 3D 3rd person horror adventures where you're steering kids through a nightmare world. This is the first game for ages that really has managed to scare me – which is quite an achievement. It is THAT good.