Gaming has been a big part of my life for almost 30 years. Recently I was asked what my favourite game was, and I couldn’t think of an answer – there were far too many to choose from!

Rather than make that choice, I’ve come up with 50 (I’ve cheated a little by combining multiple entries in a series), divided by eras. To make the task more worthwhile for me, I’ve decided to share it. To make it worth something to you, I’ve added a little giveaway train!

The Apple IIe era

Ah, the green & black screens of my first gaming experiences. My memory is a bit hazy – I remember Tonk in the Land of Buddy-bots, but can’t honestly assess whether it was a good game. However, I must mention…

• Raft Away River. Co-op survival with crafting long before it was cool. Many primary school lunchtimes were spent on this, though I don’t think my class ever beat it.

The Sega Master System era

My first and only console.

• Populous. A huge concept for such a limited console.

• Road Rash. Looked great for its day, and I still recall some of the music. None of the attempts to remake it in modern days have had the same magic.

• Speedball 2. My first experience with sports management, which became my favourite genre. Oddly, the thing I remember most clearly is the pseudo save system – a long string of characters which you had to write down to restore your progress at the end of a season. So often I lost saves by getting something wrong!

The Mac era

We progressed to good old System 6 & 7 Macs later in my primary schooling, and I finally got one of my own – a Performa 580CD – in 1995. That led to many of my favourite gaming memories, including…

• Castles: Siege and Conquest. Feels remarkably like the Total War games which came many years later, with a plot and FMV added in. Building castles was a real highlight. It even came with little documentaries.

• Conquest of the New World. I never had a Civ game as a kid, but this was just as good. Being able to name geographical features you found while exploring was particularly satisfying.

• Harpoon. The legendarily complex milsim. I only had a six-mission demo, but those six missions are etched in my mind.

• MacCricket. I still regard this as the best cricket game of all time. I spent goodness knows how many hours on it; I still have hundreds of hand-written scorecards from my matches. This was an obsession for years.

• Realmz. Another game I only had in demo form, but I spent hundreds of hours in it. It was a remarkably customisable RPG, split into various episodes with persistent party characters which you could build and swap in and out at will.

• SimCity 2000. I’ve tried other city builders over the years, but none have captured the magic of this classic.

• Spaceward Ho! My first space 4X game, later one of my favourite genres. It had a good sense of humour and plenty of customisation, while not being overburdened with unnecessary details.

• Star Trek: 25th Anniversary & Star Trek: Judgment Rites. Felt like extended seasons of The Original Series, fully voiced by the cast. They were insanely frustrating at times – this was before I had internet access, so no walkthroughs! – but I got through eventually.

• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. Probably a reverse of most gamers; this is the only entry in the Warcraft universe I’ve played. Looked great for its time, and it was my first real RTS game.

The PC disc era

Games dried up for Macs in the late ‘90s, and I moved on to PCs. That, and the rise of dedicated GPUs and increased storage, gave me access to many more great games.

• Baldurs’ Gate 1 & 2. Not much more which can be said about these RPG legends.

• Borderlands Amusing writing, a distinctive atmosphere and well-structured levelling combine to make this an enjoyable romp. The sequels never quite hit the same high notes for me.

• Championship Manager 00/01. I played several games in this series, but this was the pinnacle of the CM era.

• Deus Ex. I’m not really one for shooters, but this game transcends its genre.

• Dragon Age: Origins. Streamlined Baldur’s Gate, with an interesting original world. I liked 2 more than most people but not nearly as much as the original, and Inquisition was a disappointment.

• Fallout & Fallout 2. Can’t really split them; the former offered a tighter and darker experience, while the latter had so much more content and variety. I completed Fallout 2 half a dozen times, trying different character builds and options, and even played it again in recent years thanks to the Restoration Pack.

• Football Manager 2007. While later instalments have added more and more features, the simple joy of ripping through season after season while building a dynasty was never as good as it was with this version. My playtime is embarrassingly high – suffice to say that my diary of one save game is over 400,000 words long.

• No One Lives Forever 2. Genuinely funny throughout, with solidly enjoyable gameplay.

• Planescape: Torment. I must ashamedly admit that I never finished this, thanks to a cracked disc, but it was a great experience. I will go back to it one day…

• Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. Much as I love Civ, this game had so much imagination and thought put into it. The manual – which I often find is a good indicator of the effort and thought put into a game - is remarkable.

• Star Trek: A Final Unity. Much like 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites, this truly feels like an extension of the show – in this case, The Next Generation rather than TOS.

• Star Trek: Birth of the Federation. One of my favourite genres – space 4X – combined with my favourite TV series. Naturally, I loved it.

• Wing Commander: Prophecy. I completed this at least 33 times – and I have the stats for each run to prove it! I rented it countless times before somebody stole it from the library; I then finally tracked down a copy for sale and travelled for hours to get it. The FMV was better than the actual Wing Commander movie, and the ship combat was always fun.

The Digital Era

I joined Steam in 2008 and embraced the age of digital distribution. It is a mixed blessing; while I now have more games than I could have imagined as a kid, I have less time to play them and feel compelled to move on from each quickly in order to make some impact on my backlog. Still, it has brought many great experiences, including some I would never have had if not for games which I only obtained as an afterthought through bundles.

• Bastion. Gorgeous presentation and quite moving at times. Great soundtrack too.

• Batman: Arkham Asylum & Arkham City. I can’t fairly split them – the former is a much tighter and carefully orchestrated experience while the latter has much more content and freedom. Both are great.

• Bioshock trilogy. It takes something pretty special for me to really enjoy a shooter, but these games managed it.

• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Remarkably touching, and well-designed – I get easily frustrated by puzzles, but these were satisfying.

• Cook, Serve, Delicious!. Strangely compelling; I didn’t expect to like this at all, but it kept pulling me back in.

• Defender’s Quest: Valley of the Forgotten. Very well written and possibly my favourite tower defence game – without any towers at all!

• Life is Strange. It had its flaws – I’m still bitter over the fifth episode – but it hit such emotional highs that it definitely ranks as one of my favourites.

• Mass Effect 2. Truly epic, and enjoyable throughout. It smoothed over the rough edges of the original and was more engrossing than its sequel. The suicide mission was a remarkably intense and memorable experience.

• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. I loved the Arkham games, and having their combat in an open-world LotR setting was amazing.

• NBA 2K17. Much as I dislike the cynical monetisation involved, the presentation is absolutely stellar, and the gameplay kept me engrossed for hundreds of hours.

• Oxenfree. I did not expect to like this at all, but adored it. It’s one of the few recent games which I’ve played through a second time, thanks to an NG+ mode which adds a lot to the original story.

• Portal & Portal 2. Hilarious and remarkably satisfying. I disliked 2 for a while, even uninstalling it in frustration at one point. However, on a second attempt (with the help of a guide at times), I finally got through the part where I was stuck and experienced the full glory of the game.

• Psychonauts. Incredibly imaginative, funny and occasionally quite touching. I have very little experience with or tolerance for platformers – and the infamous Meat Circus nearly soured the experience – but it was great overall.

• Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale. Another game I never expected to really like. It was surprisingly well-written, and the gameplay was remarkably engrossing.

• Saints Row III & IV. Got better and better as it truly embraced silliness. The only downside is that the incredible freedom of IV has ruined other open-world games for me – it’s so tedious plodding around at a walking pace when I’m used to flying across a city and leaping over buildings!

• Sid Meier’s Civilization IV. The peak of the series as far as I’m concerned, though I’ve not yet got around to playing VI.

• Shadowrun trilogy. An interesting world, with great writing and multiple solutions to situations. Unlike many modern RPGs, your character build really makes a difference.

• South Park: The Stick of Truth. I stopped watching the show long ago, but this felt like an extended episode from its prime years. Funny and surprisingly good as an RPG.

• Steamworld Heist. Characterful, challenging and highly enjoyable.

• The Magic Circle. Clever without being overbearing or pretentious. Story-rich without becoming a "walking simulator". Engrossing and unique.

• To the Moon & A Bird Story. Truly beautiful tales, moving and uplifting, and reminiscent of Bill Watterson’s best work. Among the few games for which I bought the soundtracks.

• The Stanley Parable. A wonderful subversion of game tropes, albeit not for everyone (my partner hates it!). The broom closet ending was, of course, my favourite.

• The Wolf Among Us/The Walking Dead season 1. Remarkably entertaining and compelling tales, even though I have no prior experience with either world. TWD’s later instalments haven’t been quite as impactful for me, but the original remains a fond memory.

• The Sexy Brutale. I’m not a fan of puzzle games, but the writing, music and novel concept combined to make this a great experience.

Thanks for surviving the wall of text (or skipping to the end). As promised - hop on board!