1. MGS3
2. Metal Gear 4: Peace Walker
3. MGSV

Honourable mentions: Metal gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid, MGSV: Ground Zeroes and Sons of Liberty

In no particular order, and without adjusting for recency bias:

Single player

• Hollow Knight
• Undertale
• Outer Wilds

Multiplayer

• The Finals
• Awesomenauts*
• YOMI Hustle

* Right now the game is in a weird state where the original company who owned it went backrupt, and the game is in the process of being revived by a different company. In the meantime, the already low player count got lower. On top of that, there's two versions of the game: an old version that used Steam matchmaking (as the matchmaking server went down when the game original closed); and what had been the current patch, being accessible on a beta branch, which currently has issues making it hard to actaully play a match.

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

Fallout 2/New Vegas

Terraria

Pillars of Eternity 1-2

But please ask me in a hour and probably will give you 3 new favs.

1. Portal
2. Disco Elysium
3. Drone Perspective

Ultima IV
Phantasy Star Online
Destiny (not Destiny 2)

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

Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy Tactics Suikoden II

Going by favourite as "Left the most lasting impression on me" it would have to be:

1. Monster Hunter World

2. Crosscode

3. Outer Wilds

Top 3 is hard. I'll start with the first three that came to mind, in no particular order:

• Witcher 3

• Star Control 2

• Monkey Island 2

But there are so many that I could have listed instead.

The Commander Keen games are amongst the first I remember playing, I loved those and played through them so many times.

Baldurs Gate 3 was such a masterpiece, it probably could bump W3 off that list.

Although, Ultima 7 was the first RPG I played where I became properly immersed in the story. The world, the characters, the way the mystery of the main story unfolds. And it is actually a really good jump-in point for the series as it's set a couple centuries after number 6.

Fallout 1 also could easily make the list. I loved the way such a small and intimate quest for your vault unfolds into something bigger.

Nier Automata Deus Ex GOTY (and Human Revolution) Red Dead redemption 2

Outer Wilds

Mario Galaxy 2

UFO Enemy Unknown

Factorio of course.

Control, the horizon games and stardew valley.

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

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

1. Earthbound. I replay it every few years for nostalgia and just a feel good game.
2. Xenogears. Hands down one of the best stories for an RPG.
3. SOMA. The dark, post apocalyptic world is so gritty, I just love it. The ending really left me speechless.

• 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.

• Quake
• Minecraft
• Fallout

Really hard to narrow it down, but I think this would be it:

1. Elden Ring. Before the DLC this would’ve been a toss up for where on the list to put it, but SotE made me confidently place it as my favourite game of all time. I’ll avoid any other Souls games in this list for the sake of diversity but Dark Souls 1 & 3 and Sekiro were all in contention for first place before the DLC. They’d make up spots 2-4 on my list, but I’ll omit them for this one. Elden Ring renewed my love of video games, at a time where I was getting a bit burnt out from playing them. When the DLC came out I played it day one, which I never do for anything, and it completely blew me away, even more so than the base game. The world design of SotE is incredible, the views are breathtaking, and the bosses are the best in the whole series. I cannot fully express just how much I love this game when you take into account the DLC. I’m not sure anything will ever take its place on the throne, but then again I would’ve said the same of Skyrim before I played any Souls games, so only time will tell.
2. Skyrim. Probably a boring or predictable choice, but with over 5k hours it’s kinda hard to not include it. I’d probably add Oblivion immediately after this one, but again, I want to make the list interesting so I’ll avoid it here. Skyrim also helped me through the darkest point in my life, so I’ll always hold the game close to my heart, even if new games come along to displace it on my list. I’ve spent so much time modding this game, and it’s one of the things that first brought me and my wife together when we started dating. It might not be my top spot anymore, but it definitely had the biggest impact on my life.
3. Hitman: World of Assassination. This spot was hard to fill honestly. When I think of my favourite games, I usually just think of the Souls series and Skyrim/Oblivion. There’s lots more games I love, but the top spots are all well above the rest. It’s kind of like movies. I have four movies I absolutely adore, and they’re on the highest pedestal. There’s lots more movies I love too, but they don’t compare. Ask me for my top four, that’s an easy answer. Top five? Near impossible. Same deal here, so I just went with playtime and Hitman is my highest remaining game at around 1500 ish hours. It feels weird to call it my third favourite game ever (or I guess seventh because of the other games I’m omitting from this list but you get the point), but so does any other game I considered for here, so I’ll include some honourable mentions below. But back to this game, I feel Hitman is the perfect game for what it is. It can be serious for sure, you’re a hitman taking on contracts, but it can also be completely ridiculous too. One minute you’re tinkering with a race car to make it violently explode on the track to kill your target without anyone suspecting foul play, the next minute you’re dressed as a flamingo exiting the mission by literally flapping your wings and flying from a helipad. 47’s permanent seriousness in the most ludicrous scenarios is peak comedy honestly. Going to a high society Parisian fashion show dressed as a children’s clown and punching out the CEO is a totally normal thing you can do in this game, it’s amazing. And if you don’t like that vibe, you can be a total badass and do a full blown shootout, or a stealthy assassin and eliminate your targets from the shadows with none the wiser. It’s the ultimate hitman/assassin sandbox game.

Honourable mentions: Portal 1 & 2, Pokémon SoulSilver, Hollow Knight, Dishonored, Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2, Batman Arkham Asylum and City, Inside, Gunpoint, any Forza game before the most recent one (haven’t played it), all the Bungie Halo games, and many more. I just love video games I think.

Disco Elysium

Hi-Fi Rush

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

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.

My top 3 are based on "for their time".

Morrowind

Portal

Halo 2

cyberpunk 2077

eve online

counter strike source

Factorio Minecraft And 3rd is split between rimworld and baldur's gate 3

No one is going to agree with me, but here I go:

• Counter Strike (all versions): the perfect shooter.
• Terraria: the progression is amazing, but what never ceases to amaze me is how, despite the game's huge content, it is never overwhelming or intimidating. Just a lot of fun.
• Transport Fever 2: by far my favorite world-builder type game, and it still gets updates!

Going to have to go with the three that had the biggest impact on me.

1: Doom / Doom 2. In addition to being two of the most influential and important FPS games of all time, they got me into modding, programming, the internet, 3D graphics, shaping my entire future career path.

2: Kerbal space program. No moment in all of gaming had me leap out of my chair and whoop the way landing in the Mun for the first time did. Now that I understand orbital mechanics, I get annoyed at almost all depictions of space flight in movies.

3: Factorio. Got to this one late, on Switch about 6 months ago. I can't think of any game which has rewired my brain as much. As a programmer, I come away from each play through with entire new methods of solving problems at work. May be the single most in depth and addictive game I've ever played.

In no particular order ( mostly cos i think ranking beyond a certain degree of precision hurts the art involved ):

• NieR Automata
• NieR Replicant (ver 1.22.. , realistically)
• The Talos Principle ( one of the most suprisingly brilliant games that too many people haven't played)

then i suppose one tier below, not consequent of any particular shortcomings, but rather just not being at the same "transendent" level as the above:

• Crosscode
• Citizen sleeper
• What Remains Of Edith Finch
• Portal & 2

NieR automata literally changed my life, so it kinda deserves it's own top spot, but placed as is in spirit of the question.

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

Minecraft Borderlands 2 Bioshock

honourable mention for Zelda on N64

but the top 3 are based on replayability and just how easy it is to spend time playing them

Copy Kitty

Anno 1800

Satisfactory

1. World of Warcraft
2. TES V: Skyrim
3. Minecraft

• Uncharted (series)
• RDR2
• Minecraft

Honorable mention: No Man’s Sky

Elden Ring, Dwarf Fortress, and Disco Elysium.

• 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.

1. Oldschool Runescape
2. Halo 2
3. GoldenEye 007

• Oldschool RuneScape
• Factorio
• Baldur's gate 3

• 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..