A pedal to duck behind cover and a light gun; the arcade shooter with a foot pedal.
Eight cars, a stock-car oval and the song about rolling start; the arcade cabinet of the 1990s.
The first 3D fighting game, all polygons and precise timing.
Four players, one screen, and a voice announcing that the Wizard needs food badly.
Faster mazes and moving fruit; the fan hack that became the better game.
A Ferrari, a coast road and a choice of branch at every junction; pick your radio station.
Two dragons trap monsters in bubbles across a hundred screens; the co-op that needs a second player for the real ending.
The Pacific from above, with a loop-the-loop to dodge; Capcom's 1984 shooter.
Hand-animated run-and-gun chaos; the prettiest sprites the arcade ever produced.
Two brothers punch their way across the city for one kidnapped girlfriend.
Haggar, Cody and Guy clean up Metro City; the Capcom beat-em-up everyone fed coins to.
Turn the universe into paperclips; an AI parable as a browser game.
Put out food and toys, wait for cats; the idle game of 2015.
A cat in a cyberpunk city of robots; meow on command.
Tidy shelves and sort objects with a cat interfering; the organising puzzle.
Clean a dirty van until it shines; the most relaxing game on Steam.
Click to build a colourful island town with no goal; Oskar Stalberg's toy.
Lay hexagonal tiles into a landscape; the cosiest strategy game.
Place buildings on small islands for points; ten-minute city-building calm.
Draw subway lines for a growing city until it jams; the minimalist transit puzzle.
Rule a kingdom by swiping each card left or right, keeping four balance meters off the extremes.
A thriller told in text that turns corners on the screen; Simogo's puzzle novel.
A relationship in twenty minutes of touch mini-games; Mountains' small masterpiece.
Sandboard through a desert forever; the calmest endless runner.
A mother and child through impossible architecture; the sequel.
Run from the monkeys forever; the endless runner.
Tap to fly between pipes and die; the 2014 app its creator removed.
Slide tiles to make threes; the small puzzle 2048 cloned.
One five-letter word a day and a grid to share; the New York Times bought it in 2022.
Harvest crops on Facebook and beg friends for nails; the social game that defined 2009.
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