website/content/about/games.md
Anthony Wang ac051d0d1d
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Replace recommended libre games list with a list of other nice games
2024-01-04 21:45:24 -06:00

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---
title: "Games I Like"
type: page
---
## Top 10
1. **Antichamber**: This puzzle game is like life. It really challenges you to think differently.
2. **Super Mario 64**: Although this game was released in 1996, it's still a blast to play today. Yes, the camera is incredibly janky, and yes, the low-poly models can't compete with the graphics in modern games, but the excitement and joy of exploring an open-world sandbox is something that doesn't age. But what makes this game a 10/10 for me is how the community has kept it alive and thriving over all these years. The mindblowing fastest known speedrun of the game mixes [computer science, physics, and parallel universes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUt840BUOYA). You can explore the [source code](https://github.com/n64decomp/sm64) due to the meticulous work of reverse-engineers. There are more [ROM hacks](https://sm64romhacks.com/) than you can play in a lifetime. And [pannenkoek2012's amazing videos](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMm211NGh4Ls5SAMZJF7E8A) have made Super Mario 64 analysis more scientific than some real scientific fields!
3. **AAAAXY**: You've probably never heard of AAAAXY before, but it's definitely the best puzzle platformer in existence. Think of it like a libre Antichamber meets VVVVVV, except even better. I initally disliked the level design, since the game often tempts you to try brute-forcing with pure platformer skills, but that's actually the genius of the game. Almost always, there's a slicker solution hiding and plain sight, and all you have to do is step back and use your brain, which is often trickier than you think when you're fixated on grinding a tough jump (Except for the room "The Wide Gap", which is pure evil and took me over 100 tries). And the trolling! The game's website warns you to "beware of a minor amount of trolling", and yeah, that's obviously an understatement. I love this game's sense of humor. There are also some nice math references. My only complaint is that the slippery physics make the platforming too hard, while the puzzles are a bit on the easier side. Since I enjoyed this game so much, I contributed back by translating the game to Chinese. The developer is a really cool guy and great to work with! Anyways, the best thing about this game is definitely the name. Second best thing? The [soundtrack](https://divverent.github.io/aaaaxy/music.html).
4. **Baba Is You**: This puzzle game broke my brain. OK, most of the levels are not difficult, but there are some real stumpers out there. What this game does so well is taking a single, simple concept, and turning it into a world of hundreds of levels that don't get old as you play through the game. Admittedly, many of the later levels are hard simply because there are so many different elements in the puzzle all interacting with each other that you can't keep track of them.
5. **Minecraft**: Yeah, Minecraft peaked in 2012 and gets worse with every new update. Minetest is allegedly pretty good but I haven't played around much with it yet.
6. **Kerbal Space Program**: This game is a real blast! (Pun intended) It's really possible to have fun building rockets and learn a lot about physics and orbital dynamics at the same time! I learned more from playing this game during my high school Aerospace Engineering class than from the class itself. The physics could be more accurate though, such as using proper N-body simulations instead of the patched conic approximation, but it's a good compromise between accuracy and difficulty. There are some pretty freaking crazy things you can build in this game, such as making a helicopter by attaching sideways rocket boosters to the tips of the propellers. Don't try that at home, kids.
7. **SuperTuxKart**: My appreciation for SuperTuxKart over time increases logarithmically. Seriously. For a game completely created by unpaid volunteers, it's absolutely stunning. Since it's a libre game, you can read the source code (it's nicely commented) and see for yourself if the AI is really cheating! SuperTuxKart is also incredibly friendly to modding and contributing. As for simply enjoying the game, it handles local, LAN, and online multiplayer extremely smoothly, so you can get together your friends and have loads of fun. I wasn't paid by SuperTuxKart to write this ad for it. Seriously, they're unpaid volunteers.
8. **Super Mario Maker 2**: I built binary computers with this a long time ago.
9. **The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask**: A game that's very scary yet not scary at the same time. (Play it and you'll know what I mean.) By the way, I'm not much of a Breath of the Wild fan, and don't provoke me to rant about it.
10. **Wii Sports**: A really fun game that pretty much anyone can play. I have way too many memories playing this as a kid...
## Other nice games
- [2048-py](https://codeberg.org/LadueCS/2048) (shameless self-promotion)
- The Powder Toy
- Minetest
- Caph
- Oh My Git!
- Mari0
- Not Tetris 2
- Proof of Equivalence via Explicit Construction of an Ambient-Isotopy