Only three is a cruel restriction; I grant myself at least a top four.

• Morrowind
• The Neverhood
• Diablo 2
• Hyper Light Drifter

-Minecraff -Generation Zero -Farcry Franchise

Factorio Outer wilds Horizon zero dawn

1. Minecraft - Was my absolute childhood and I met so many good friends and learnt a lot throughout my time playing the game.

2. Skate 2 - The controls are perfect, the vibe is amazing, it's just one of my overall favourites.

3. GTA V - The first R rated game I played. Both this game and Fallout 3 were massive inspirations for me focusing on 3D environments as a Game Dev student.

Honourable mention to Little Big Planet and Rollercoaster Tycoon Deluxe; both of which absolutely shaped my childhood

1. Celeste
2. Outer Wilds
3. Slay The Spire

Much hidden gem.

Factorio of course.

Civilization (the OG dos version)

Planetside 2

Warframe

1. Mirror's Edge
2. Lingo (2?)
3. And Yet It Moves

ME has stuck with me as my favorite game for fifteen years now. I love it visually, the soundtrack is incredible, and the gameplay is fantastic.

Lingo and its sequel are a bizzare, unmatched puzzle experience. I don't know what else to say there.

And Yet It Moves is... something else. An indy platformer from the heyday of Indy platformers. It is an interesting example of how story can influence art style.

1. GTA San Andrays
2. Halo 3
3. AOE 2

These games are rooted in my childhood and connected to memories of simpler times and good friends. I Still play video games but I don't think I could ever experience the same level of joy and excitement that I got from gaming as I did when I was younger. These days I'd rather just go for a nice walk with my dog like the boring old man that I am.

Disco Elysium

Hi-Fi Rush

...third is hard. Maybe Mass Effect Trilogy. Maybe Rogue Trader/Pathfinder WOTR.

1. Portal 2
2. Hollow Knight
3. Minecraft

I'll cheat because picking just 3 is impossible.

1. Nethack / Alundra (PS1) / Sim City 2000 / Transport Tycoon Deluxe / Prey / Doom 2016 / Elite / Dwarf Fortress / Rimworld / International Karate / Paradroid

2. System Shock / Ultima 3-8 / Alpha Centauri / GTA5 / Titanfall 2 / Control / Eye of the Beholder / Sensible Soccer / Star Control 2 / Total Annihilation / Impossible Mission

3. Undertale / Bioshock Infinite / S.O.M.A. / Nemesis the Warlock (entirely because of the title song) / Pirates! / Stardew Valley / Revenge of the Mutant Camels

cyberpunk 2077

eve online

counter strike source

Morrowind
Final Fantasy X
The Last of Us

The first two are interchangeable first and second.

Next two are Final Fantasy VIII and inFamous 2, again interchangeable.

Forever stuck in mid to late 90s JRPGs, if I had to pick 3

Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy Tactics Suikoden II

• Quake
• Minecraft
• Fallout

• Mindustry, it's open source as well, must have sunk close on a thousand hours into it. Incredible Game, has a good modding scene as well.
• Trove, the opposite of Mindustry, in that the game sucks, I do not recommend. However the game had so much potential and it sort of half realized it before becoming a cash grab. Does a good job of releasing LOADS of dopamine for very simple game play. That said I am now looking into Veloren - which appears to try and be a better version of trove, although taking voxel MMORPG in a new direction. It's also open source so, yeah.
• Minecraft - with mods. Nothing quite beats tech mod mania. I hope some day luanti gets to be a real competitor on some level, but till then.

For me it’s always about how much fun I had playing them, so right now and in no order:

• Halo 2
• Starcraft
• Red Dead Redemption

Honorable Mentions:

• Super Mario World
• Super Metroid
• Ocarina of Time
• Fallout: NV
• Assassins Creed: Black Flag
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Hades
• Hollow Knight

• Uncharted (series)
• RDR2
• Minecraft

Honorable mention: No Man’s Sky

Betrayal at Krondor. A huge world for exploring, at a time when that didn't exist.

Chrono Trigger. The replay value is so high.

Wolf 3D or Doom or Doom 2 or Quake 3, for similar reasons.

StarCraft, at a time when BattleNet was small and the ladder rankings and fights were all global.

• Diablo II
• Chrono Trigger
• Halo 3

I don't get to play games much nowadays but I was a rank 50 lone wolf back in the day. Good times.

Factorio, Anno 1602, Civ 3

Easy choices for me, but I don’t know how to order them.

Anno 1800 gets an honourable mention for feeling like a great spiritual successor to 1602, but I have a ton of nostalgia for the first game.

Only 3 choices makes it a tough one since there are many exceptional games...

If I had to erase every experience of all games, the ones I'd keep are (in no particular order): Cyberpunk 2077 Fallout: New Vegas Sunset Overdrive

Elden Ring, Dwarf Fortress, and Disco Elysium.

1. Jagged Alliance 2
2. Unreal Tournament
3. Fistful of Frags

• Left 4 Dead 2 - for the awesome vs teamplay
• The Last of Us (remake) 1+2 - stunningly gorgeous, emotional heavy hitter
• Disco Elysium - art, literature, as a game

edit: I forgot Guitar Hero / Clone Hero was a game not a 'standard hobby', I play e-drums on that daily still..