Some Games Follow—Others Rewrote History
Do you know where your favorite game mechanics really came from? Every big leap in gaming started with one strange, risky idea that almost nobody trusted at first. Some felt like a challenge, others felt impossible, but each one changed how you solve problems and experience the game. Here's a list of 20 games that tore up the rulebook and built something new.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch Presentation Trailer by Nintendo UK
1. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (2017)
Exploration became survival inside Breath of the Wild. Every climb drained your strength, and every glide felt like a breath held too long. The weather changed your plans, and shrines asked for clever solutions that often came from experimenting instead of following a path.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch Presentation Trailer by Nintendo UK
2. Minecraft (2011)
Diamond tools didn’t come easily. In a world without instructions, Minecraft lets you shape your own shelter and learn survival by trial and error as the sun sets and monsters crawl out. It turned every quiet morning into a chance to rebuild something a little stronger than before.
Minecraft: 2011 - Going Big! by SynthwaveMan
3. Portal (2007)
Nothing stayed normal after you fired the first portal: walls turned into doorways and falling became part of solving. Portal kept twisting space and logic while GLaDOS filled each room with jokes that felt more like warnings. Every puzzle pulled you deeper without giving you time to rest.
Portal (2007) is my 35th favorite video game of all time! by Exothermic Plays Games
4. Half-Life 2 (2004)
Half-Life 2 erased the boundary between the game and the player. City 17 didn’t wait for cutscenes. Vortigaunts, Striders, and Combine soldiers told the story mid-firefight. The gravity weaponry redefined interactivity, turning saw blades and toilets into weapons. Environmental storytelling lived in resistance and locked doors. It was truly something to experience.
Half-Life 2 - E3 2004 Trailer by Combine OverWiki
5. Shadow Of The Colossus (2005)
Wide fields stretched with no music and no markers, just endless space. Reaching each giant in Shadow of the Colossus felt more like finding a sleeping god than starting a fight. Climbing stone limbs while the ground shook below left your hands trembling long after it ended.
Longplay of Shadow of the Colossus (2005) (HD) by LongplayArchive
6. Metal Gear Solid (1998)
Metal Gear Solid also blurred the line between player and character, using codec calls and cardboard boxes to shape each mission. Fighting Psycho Mantis by switching controller ports broke every rule you thought games followed, and the strange mechanics felt like a secret waiting to be uncovered.
Metal Gear Solid (1998) - PC Gameplay / Win 10 by FirstPlays HD
7. Tetris (1984)
Falling blocks didn’t pause for second guesses, and inside Tetris, each rotation carried more pressure than the last. Without instructions or dialogue, the game taught timing and pattern recognition with nothing but speed and gravity. Clearing lines became both a reflex and a personal victory.
8. The Sims (2000)
The Sims flipped gaming on its head by letting you control daily life and existential dread. More than a simulator, it became a social sandbox where players told their own stories. With no rules, it was pure self-expression—a love affair with AI-driven life began right here.
Maxis Software - The Sims - 2000 by Nap'n'Retrogaming
9. Journey (2012)
You walked through silence where you met a stranger and felt a connection without a single word. Journey used sound and motion to evoke emotion deeper than dialogue. There was no HUD. There was no voice chat either. Just presence. It proved that beauty and emotion could be gameplay's strongest mechanics.
PS4 - Journey Launch Trailer by GameNews PlayStation
10. Super Mario 64 (1996)
The analog stick changed everything. It became a playground where wall kicks and Lakitu’s floating camera let you move like never before. Super Mario 64 got 3D, and mastering moving through space became second nature.
⭐ Super Mario 64 - Super Mario 64 from Jan. 1996 Part 1 by Unreal SM64
11. Undertale (2015)
Undertale tracked every decision and reshaped endings based on mercy. Combat opened with kindness, and patterns dodged like arcade games. Each encounter played like a conversation where your choices shaped the story. Plus, simple RPG mechanics made every decision feel personal.
Undertale (2015) is my NINETEENTH favorite video game of ALL TIME! by Exothermic Plays Games
12. Dark Souls (2011)
No game punished mistakes or rewarded patience like Dark Souls. Every wrong step became its own lesson. Watching enemy patterns and moving carefully mattered more than charging ahead in this game, where surviving felt like earning a quiet kind of mastery.
★ Dark Souls - PC Gameplay "First 7 Minutes" 1080p HD by shadowzack
13. Papers, Please (2013)
Who knew stamping passports would turn into a moral crisis? Papers, Please made you feel the weight of power in a gray world of rules and survival. The gameplay was minimal, but the choices cut deep—your desk became an ethical battlefield of how far you'd go to protect your family.
Papers, Please - Games of 2013 - Eurogamer by Eurogamer
14. Braid (2008)
Braid played like a platformer and read like a poem. You rewound time but couldn't undo the truth. The mechanics carried a metaphor, and each puzzle unfolded a narrative. It asked for patience and emotional investment, and it was peak indie brilliance before it became timeless.
Braid (2008/2009) (PC/Xbox 360) (Jonathan Blow) by Demiath
15. Doom (1993)
Say hello to Doom: a game where you blasted demons through corridors of pixelated carnage. This game didn't just define first-person shooters, it cracked open modding culture, all with LAN parties and 3D design hacks that felt like sorcery. Its impact lives in nearly every FPS today.
Doom 1 - Mission 1 Gameplay by iPhantom3D
16. Outer Wilds (2019)
Curiosity was your only map in this one, leading you through shifting planets and collapsing stars. The sun kept creeping toward destruction, and the only way forward came from knowledge earned one fragile loop at a time. Every discovery rewrote your understanding of time and space, and it changed how we saw gameplay.
OUTER WILDS Gameplay Trailer (2019) by ONE Media +
17. Pokémon Red And Blue (1996/1998)
Long before online leaderboards, bragging rights lived on playground benches. Catching a Pikachu was like winning the lottery, especially when friends huddled around, trading secrets on link cables. The battles stayed simple, but strategy grew fast as you memorized types and routes.
Pokemon Red & Blue (1996) Gameplay: Exploring Kanto in 4K | Classic RPG by Lazy Nostalgia
18. Katamari Damacy (2004)
Joy never needed words when you played this game. The first paperclip stuck without warning, and then everything else followed. You rolled through bedrooms and sidewalks while cheerful nonsense music pushed you faster. Size kept growing until clouds and buildings clung like toys.
Katamari Damacy (Sony Playstation 2) [2004] Longplay by Good Boy - mobile, computer and video games.
19. Resident Evil 4 (2005)
The village was attacked with no warning, pushing enemies closer until every shot felt rushed. Darkness filled narrow hallways and made each step heavier than the last. In Resident Evil 4, survival horror shifted fast and stayed tense from the very first moment.
resident evil 4 (2005) Gameplay | Part 1 by The Scarlet Seeker
20. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
Radio chatter drifted from passing cars. You hijacked cabs, triggered mafia turf wars, and mapped Liberty City by memory. All this to say: Grand Theft Auto III used missions like no other. AI schedules and open-world systems made the city feel sentient, and it was a game built on chaos.
Grand Theft Auto III (2001) Gameplay (4K 60FPS) by Grayson Gameplays
