raccoons4444
2010
Classic indie puzzle-platformer about flipping gravity to explore outer space, beat challenging levels and find your crewmates (plus 20 hidden collectibles!). The game is simple and short, but that brevity as well as its tight controls and various intermissions, make VVVVVV into a well paced and highly replayable gem you should play at least once in your life.
2008
Extremely simple arcade game where you move the d-pad left and right to control a paper airplane's falling angle/speed to avoid crashing into walls. There's a handful of levels to beat and lower your time on, an endless mode to see how far you can get, and my personal favorite, a head-to-head multiplayer mode that me and my brother used to play the shit out of on long car rides.
2005
A fantastic portable Mario Kart entry with dozens of memorable tracks, DS download play that let your friends play without a copy, and an amazing mission mode with novel challenges and even boss fights. However, the sweatiest Nintendo kids remember this game's competitive online; where you sacrificed your left thumb to do a back and forth drifting technique called "snaking" to chain mini-turbos together (which even let you dodge blue shells if you were godlike).
Addictive arcade rhythm game which, while simple on the surface, demands speed and precision once you move from easy/normal difficulties to hard/oni. The standalone package is solid at 74 songs available + a decent online mode + a bunch of rhythm heaven-style multiplayer minigames, but there's about $200 worth of DLC with all manner of songs, from anime music, to remixed classical pieces, to touhou music, to songs from the taiko series' past on offer, and many more (although be aware there's a number of songs only available in the Japanese version).
2009
Phenomenal tower-defense strategy game with a great campaign and excellent replayability thanks to PvZ's dozens of challenge modes/minigames. It's tragic that PopCap got bought out by Consumerist's ranked #1 worst company in America after this one.
2010
Adorable 2d platformer with cute and creative levels centered around its unique arts and crafts theme. Play this one when you're going through a rough patch; Epic Yarn is among the comfiest, most feel-good games ever made.
2003
Among the fastest and most technical racing games ever made, featuring a notoriously brutal story mode known to turn boys to men. Maybe the reason we never got another F-Zero was because they knew they couldn't top this one.
Dunkin' Donuts is what you get if you mixed the combat and dungeon crawling of Darkest Dungeons with the visual aesthetic/story/characters of Persona 5, as well as a prostitution tycoon simulator with copious h-scenes. The gameplay loop is fun & addictive, the story is lighthearted & entertaining, the CGs are stylish, and the soundtrack bangs as hard as your clientele.
2020
A phenomenal Fire Red romhack which simultaneously modernizes Pokémon's formula with countless quality of life/engine improvements & brutal difficulty for veterans, yet parodies the formula with 4chan's brand of irreverent, referential meme humor. It's not for everybody, but the people who are interested will appreciate the unmistakable passion that went into designing the 350+ mons, outstanding OST in the FRLG soundfont (with countless original compositions), 100+ hrs of hours of total playtime, and surprisingly profound story.
A children's party game that accidently became one of the most mechanically complex and challenging competitive fighters ever made. The melee community continues to improve their skills and host events out of love of their game for one simple reason; melee is sick.
A hysterical 4-player sandbox party platformer about strategically placing obstacles to dick over your buddies. Up there with Jackbox and Smash Bros for best games to whip out at a party.