# What were the best uses of your gaming dollars? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 18, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867 "2009-05-18T16:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/1 "2009-05-18T16:08:49Z")
Based on this thread over here: [What were the biggest wastes of your gaming dollars](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=517699)? Myself, I am only slightly ashamed to admit it’s Dungeon Keeper, the first one, on the PC. My SO has joked that if aliens were to invade using Dungeon Keeper-style tactics I’d be the savior of the world. I can play through all of the maps by memory and I can handle any Keeper with ease. I love the game and old as it is I still find myself playing it. I own DK2, but never played it anywhere near as much. A close second would be Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (PS2), which I still load up now and then for shits and giggles. You? ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/2 "2009-05-18T16:25:19Z")
Let me get this one out of the way: TETRIS Ok. Now, more seriously: [Peggle](http://www.popcap.com/games/free/peggle/?icid=peggle_HP_OL_1_8_19_08_en) Hard to explain. Harder to put down. Ode to Joy Thrown in for no apparent reason? An outbreak of Extreme Fever, that has no apparent cause? Pachinko meets Arkanoid? MORE PLEASE! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/3 "2009-05-18T16:27:59Z")
Paradox studio games, despite their persistent bugginess and need for a trillion patches - Europe Universalis II & III and Crusader Kings in particular. Civ II. Some of the Total War games. Diablo and Diablo II. Baldur’s Gate and sequels. Planescape Torment. Masters of Orion I and II. All the above have special places in my gaming heart. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/4 "2009-05-18T16:31:53Z")
On the hardware end of things: Atari 2600 (I never bought one, I Was given my Cousins. - As a rule, the best computer games should only use 4 directions and one button. --Think about the BEST computer games for a second, and tell me I am wrong.) Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast. I can’t really explain it, but for someone reason, I just want to call the 64 Nintendo’s Surreal experiment. [Yes, I own a Virtual Boy, no, it is not the same thing] I mean, the 64 just seems on so many levels to be " What was Nintendo Thinking " – For better and for worse. I don’t think **Ocarina of Time** , or **GoldenEye** would argue with that. I didn’t buy my Dreamcast, but it did go with me to College, in Summer of 01. I just have good memories playing **Tony Hawk** 2 on my SDC, listening to Eifel 65. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/5 "2009-05-18T16:35:06Z")
**Crimson Skies** for the Xbox, I got it used for $5 and have beaten it four times. **Civilization II** is responsible for seasons going by unnoticed in my teenage years. **Curse of the Azure Bonds** for my group of nerds wired on Shasta that game kept us up for entire weekends. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/6 "2009-05-18T16:39:04Z")
Goldeneye. Every Friday night, my brother, two of my friends and I would eat pizza and play this game for hours. We inadvertently memorized the re-spawn order in the Temple. They banned me from using the RC-P90, because I was absolutely unstoppable with it. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/7 "2009-05-18T16:44:22Z")
**Sid Meyer’s Pirates!** for the Xbox also has a ridiculous amount of replay value. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/8 "2009-05-18T16:46:19Z")
My SDMB subscription fee. Kindly Dopers have given me six games in total, _gratis_, which would normally have retailed for $250ish altogether. _Goldeneye_ and _WCW vs. NWO World Tour_ on N64 were definitely up there - both awesome multiplayer games. I’d have to say _Civ 2_ has been the best overall investment, though. I got it in 1996, and I still play it every few months. ETA: **Rysto** , I wasn’t allowed to play in the Facility with proximity mines, because of the fixed spawn points; in a two-player game, I could insta-kill my opponent 10-20 straight times using the mines. It was awesome when we had a new player over, though. “Goldeneye? Oh, yeah, I’ll totally kick you ass.” ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/9 "2009-05-18T16:53:24Z")
\*World Of Goo \*for the Wii. If it wasn’t for these boards, I likely never would have downloaded it, but I’ve got well more than my $10 out of it. Absolutely wonderful soundtrack too. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/10 "2009-05-18T16:58:38Z")
Super Mario Bros. Zelda 1 and 2 Metroid Final Fantasy VII Diablo Diablo II NFL 2k5 NCAA Football 05 Super Smash Bros. Melee Lego Star Wars Castlevania SotN ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/11 "2009-05-18T17:11:02Z")
_Civ II_, but even more so, _Alpha Centauri_. _Europa Universalis_, which had me so addicted, I’m in the top 100 **worldwide** for online multiplay sessions. :eek: On my old Mac platform (originally, I had a IIsi), it would be _SimCity_ for me, but if we included the whole family, _Tetris_ hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/12 "2009-05-18T17:46:14Z")
I probably got more hours for money out of Civ II than anything else, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Pithy\_Moniker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8dc957/32.png) [@Pithy\_Moniker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithy_Moniker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/13 "2009-05-18T17:50:16Z")
**Oblivion** is near the top of the list. I keep reinstalling it at least once or twice a year and replaying it. Which reminds me… **EverQuest** - Even with a monthly fee, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as much bang for my buck as I did with EQ. Not only did it keep me entertained for many hundreds of hours, it controlled my spending on other video games like nothing else could. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/14 "2009-05-18T17:59:05Z")
**The orange box** - for the price of one PC game you get Half life 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Half life 2 and Team Fortress 2 i would have gladly paid full price for as stand alone games, Portal is one of the best games I’ve ever played. **World of Warcraft** - 15 bucks a month doesn’t buy you this much entertainment anywhere else. Even though i don’t play it anymore i spent a huge part of my life there for about four years and met two extremely hot girlfriends from it. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/15 "2009-05-18T18:28:00Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Final Fantasy VII Gah! How could I forget? This was the first game I got with my Playstation. However, even better use of gaming dollars was the memory card I was finally able to get two long weeks later. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/16 "2009-05-18T18:36:38Z")
Hell, anything with a soundtrack by Michael Giacchino, just for the _music_. I’ve got tracks he composed from games I’ve never even played on my iPod. After that…it probably sounds trite, but just about any of the $4 (more or less?) NES game rentals from when I was a kid. They really made a happy memory or two, even the not-great ones. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/17 "2009-05-18T19:03:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > My SDMB subscription fee. Seconded. Oh, and well, I think that The Charter Members get an even better value here. \*Just saying. Don’t shoot the Charter Member messenger here.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/18 "2009-05-18T19:06:45Z")
[Dice Wars](http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/dice/dice.html) Warning: Addicting. There are many variations of this game around, but this was the first one I ever saw. The Free Download here (Even if it is in Japanese) was one of the best things I ever found for free online. There are games I have paid 20 bucks for, that can not hold a candle to this. I have ADD. I can barely stand to play RISK. This fast-forwards all the slow parts of RISK for me. Its free, and it has RANDOM board set ups each time? MORE PLEASE. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/19 "2009-05-18T19:08:03Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Seconded. > > Oh, and well, I think that The Charter Members get an even better value here. > \*Just saying. Don’t shoot the Charter Member messenger here.😃 I am one. I forgot to re-up after my initial subscription and when I got around to it my Chartery goodness was gone ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/20 "2009-05-18T19:11:11Z")
[Boom Blox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_Blox)for Wii Can we say Sleeper Hit? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867.md?page=2)