Faye
Arguably the best implementation of the formula. I would argue there's reasons to go back, and obviously there's reasons to go forward... But if you want a comfy starting point, New Leaf is what I'd recommend.
A great entry in the series, but with the way these games tend to go, you're better off playing New Leaf.
2001
There's a mysterious, vaguely uncanny vibe to this one that later games never quite emulated. I like it, and it sticks in my mind long past the lifespan of newer, and arguably better, Animal Crossing games.
2013
Don't spoil yourself. Give it a go.
2018
Beautiful. The "gameplay" is not very interesting, mind, but the themes... the vibes... it's wonderful.
2014
The best incremental game ever made. There's layers upon layers upon layers of mechanics, but it never bombards you with them. In some ways this resembles a strategy game, but it does also represent its idle roots when it needs to. I've played both the mobile and desktop versions - they are equally good in my opinion.
2017
One of the idle games ever. It's cute but that's about all I can say.
1991
My first Castlevania (sorta) and I had a great time with it. The whip mechanics are surprisingly complex. There's some cheeky sections but I do think it's worth playing if you want to give the platformer-style Castlevanias a shot.
2022
It's Vampire Survivors. What more do I need to say? The replay value in this game is insane for the cost. If you have even a tiny amount of interest in "Bullet Heaven" games, give this one a shot.
2017
Fun, and quite short, but it has decent replay value.
This was my first roguelike and honestly, it's one of the best. There's such a comfortable sense of adventure and whimsy to it. I love giving it a run and seeing what'll happen, and even the failures don't sting that much.
2019
It's a Riichi Mahjong client with a gacha tacked on. I tend to score gacha games very low, but the fact that this game's gacha is entirely cosmetic means that you can ignore it and focus on learning and playing Mahjong. Besides, you start with the best character anyway.
2015
The translations are laughable, the systems are sometimes confusing, and the gameplay is janky... But it's fun. It's a genuinely fun time. I don't know what endgame is like and I don't care. Charm sits in the cracks between every brick that was laid to create this game, and I intend to absorb all of it.
Though the story is somewhat simplistic, there's a charming journey to it all and it has some genuinely fascinating twists. The environment designs are fantastic, and I quite enjoy a lot of the OST. Somehow, this game manages to capture the childlike wonder of playing an MMO for the first time, and I didn't even grow up with it so I know that's not nostalgia talking.
I'll follow Pelulu to the ends of the earth... and beyond, as luck would have it.
Though the story is somewhat simplistic, there's a charming journey to it all and it has some genuinely fascinating twists. The environment designs are fantastic, and I quite enjoy a lot of the OST. Somehow, this game manages to capture the childlike wonder of playing an MMO for the first time, and I didn't even grow up with it so I know that's not nostalgia talking.
I'll follow Pelulu to the ends of the earth... and beyond, as luck would have it.
2011
Quit many years ago -- I think around when they added "ghost" versions of the main dragons. I had every dragon for a while, but there are just too many features and things to upkeep. Park designing was pretty fun, though.
2015
This game has long since shut down, but I did manage to collect all of the dragons while it was out as a free player. Fine enough as service games go, I suppose.