Games Games Dark Souls Series Lordran, in the first game, is a world that folds back on itself: you get lost in it, then a shortcut opens and everything connects. Dark Souls III I love the reveal of Anor Londo, but Irithyll moved me even more: after the dark, cramped Catacombs of Carthus, the city opens up in front of you and the relief hits all at once. A series about letting go, and Gael is the proof: two nobodies fighting at the end of the world, for nothing. Monster Hunter Series I've followed it since Freedom Unite Tri 4 Ultimate Generations Ultimate It taught me combat design : proactive fighting, where every swing is a commitment, and monsters you learn until you can read them before they move. Around the fights, builds, materials and time to min-max: an economy that always feeds the next hunt. A tough gym for game design. Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nature and freedom carried by every mechanic: an organic sandbox where the rules do the talking. Landmarks and triangles tell your eye where to go, but the real design is systemic : physics and chemistry you can play with, so you play with the world itself, not just with its elements. The shrines are never trivial and never frustrating, and many can be solved in ways nobody planned. Leaving the cave at the start still gives me chills, and it is the kind of moment I want to build. Outer Wilds The closest a game comes to pure experience. One huge puzzle, every run different, and a story told like an archaeological dig, with no cutscenes: you piece it together yourself and trade theories with friends. Lost, powerless, curious, afraid, and underneath it all a game about journey, acceptance, home and letting go. It taught me to see endings in a kinder light. Super Mario Galaxy 2 Nintendo takes a handful of elements and lets them cascade into dozens of ideas: each galaxy asks a new question and moves on before it wears out. A child can start on it and a hardcore player still sweats through the secret levels. Super Mario 64 Just moving is a toy: the locomotion alone is fun, and you do dashes and jumps that seem useless for no reason other than the joy of it. That spirit was inherited by every Mario that followed. A game made, first of all, to be fun . That playful, colourful attitude is what I want to bring into my own designs. Shadow of the Colossus A game as an experience. You are powerless, a Sisyphus against a Goliath, and the colossi make sure you feel it. The sword strike of Gaius coming down on you. The climb up Phalanx, clinging on with everything you have. A vast, quiet world with no filler, just the journey and the weight of what you are doing. Hollow Knight There's a bench in the City of Tears. Rain on the glass, the city below, that music. I sat there for a long, long time just taking it in, and it's still one of my favourite moments in games. As a teenager I couldn't believe three people had made it. A simple style, heavy with meaning, and it woke something in me: a small team can build a whole world. Silksong wonder , and Hornet is the counterpoint to a Knight who never speaks. Pharloom is a kingdom you climb, where Hallownest is one you sink into.Ball x Pit Far more important to me than it looks: Studfall Arkanoid Stunning system design. A brick breaker evolved with a base you build between runs.Its progression is a perfect example of linear , active and passive layers running in parallel, each one feeding the others. Tunic The instruction manual turned into a game, found one page at a time. What blows my mind is that you could do many things from the very start: you just haven't found the page that explains how. The game plays on this constantly, down to the golden path, a secret hidden in the manual. And it's all handmade , unapologetically indie, and I love that. Animal Well Incredible that one person made it. It plays on surprise , and it wants to be broken: the bubble wand does far more than it seems, even before you unlock its upgrade, if you stop to experiment. Many of its tools are real toys . And the map folds back on you: the first time I walked off the right edge and came back in from the far left, I got goosebumps. It invites you to try things, and it always leaves you surprised. Sekiro The most satisfying combat I've ever felt, controller in hand. When a fight clicks it becomes a conversation of steel: the clang of every deflection, sparks in your face, the enemy's posture starting to crack, then the silence of a deathblow. Even now my fingers itch just thinking about a clean parry. A perfect lesson in what feel can do for combat design. Bloodborne My favourite Souls for its themes : raw, merciless. It speaks of astral planes and the cosmos, yet its deepest themes feel closer to home than they look. Yharnam is a lesson in level design: Central Yharnam, Old Yharnam, the Cathedral Ward and everything they connect to, a Gothic city folded onto itself with loops and shortcuts you learn by heart. What I love most is where the combat went from here. No shield to hide behind, and a regain system that pays you back for hitting back: caution became aggression, and FromSoftware's fights never stood still again. Hades II Hades II Hades What keeps me in is how progress is split: active inside the run, where boons stack into a different build every time, and passive between runs, where the home base makes you stronger forever, so even a bad run moves something forward. And the variety of approaches: no two ways of playing feel the same. Neon White Discovered it this year and devoured it. It takes the idea of the speedrun and turns it into a real game: every level is a sprint you replay until the route sings, and it invites you to play it. Its look is pure Y2K and synthwave, with levels built from big volumes that always guide you: a lesson in guidance and UX. Levels I wish I'd designed. Zelda: Ocarina of Time My first Zelda, and pure poetry. The music left me speechless then, and it still does. What stays with me is the wonder : getting lost in the Kokiri Forest, climbing the volcano, unlocking tools a child could play with. Not the bombs, maybe, but even those are playful in their own way. Its dungeons are the standard I measure others against. Skyward Sword wonder and tools that feel like toys, in a Zelda that is less fairy-tale and more mature .A Short Hike A tiny, intimate, cute experience. A handful of mechanics are enough to make the little climb deeper. I love its subtle irony , which plays with the dialogue tropes of classic video games. What Remains of Edith Finch A house full of stories, each one played in a different way. One sequence stays with me above all: a moment of alienation you feel through nothing but the controls. I won't spoil it. Dredge What I remember is sailing in open sea, and how smartly the game plays with traversing . In the distance, a boat just like yours, almost a mirage. Curiosity turns into fear as soon as you see it, then you find out the unpleasant truth. Management and exploration, with a dark nuance underneath. Cairn It embraces frustration and taking your time, and steps away from fast-paced trends: every move has weight . A stunning game about ambition, and about finding your own peak. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 An RPG that takes the best of the genre and reworks it in its own way, with an art direction I adore. The story is deeply human : death, time, trauma, mature themes. From the first notes in Lumière it touches delicate chords. Bad Piggies Playing with physics is wonderful. It brings back building a car out of bricks as a kid, and watching strange structures fly. Minecraft The perfect playground : it stimulates creativity, exploration and socialising. A milestone for kids of my generation.
Beyond games Beyond games Berserk A journey inward too: recovering from trauma and finding your own light in a dark, corrupt world. The Golden Age and the Eclipse are raw , visceral, carnal: they reach something deep inside. Made in Abyss The perfect metaphor for a journey into the unknown , where you discover the territory and, along the way, yourself. Raw, visceral, and again about finding light in the dark. Solaris The novel. A philosophy of escapism and of not accepting ourselves: travelling to another world so you don't have to look at yourself, using the journey outside to avoid the one inside. Goodnight Punpun Heavy and full of meaning. A boy fighting his way past his traumas to grow up: a generational story with plenty of social critique. It lets you immerse yourself completely: you feel what the characters feel, and you're moved, surprised or scared right alongside them. Cowboy Bebop A look and a mood all of its own: a rusty sci-fi setting, and protagonists with many facets, each stunning in their own way. Poetic. The Climber A visual masterpiece, even when the story dips. Every panel is pregnant with meaning: faces, landscapes, every detail says something. Some pages make more noise than many films. In the avalanche spread, whole buildings shatter and fall from the sky, and it shakes you like the avalanche itself: you feel the danger, the noise and the fear on paper. Neon Genesis Evangelion It explores the psychology of its characters, and it can be appreciated at every age. Growing up and coming back to it, I keep finding deeper nuances. At heart it's about human beings and their frailty. Monster A thriller, at times psychological, that makes you see things from many sides, with real history in the background. I love how it talks about consequentialism and politics. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya A masterpiece of animation. I love her escape, drawn like scratches and brushstrokes torn across the film, carrying all her anger with her. Slam Dunk The dynamism of its drawings: in the most frenetic moments every panel puts you on the court, and some pages move more than many modern anime. A mix of emotions that moves you like cheering with them from the stands. Friendship, teamwork, and strays looking for their place in the world. The Wind Rises Love, choices and ambition: the weight of having it, and above all the responsibility that comes with it. Chainsaw Man Fujimoto's panels are dynamic and alive: pure kinetic energy. It knows when to take itself seriously and when to fall into irony, or into the crude. A great example of an uncomplicated work done really well. The Boy and the Heron About journeys, creativity, inheritance and what to do with art. Taxi Driver A moral and cultural tale. Loneliness in a city full of people. 20th Century Boys A thriller with exciting moments. Childhood games and a secret symbol come back, decades later, as a nightmare. Perfect Blue Psychological horror, and a sharp study of manipulation.
