35 – The Sims
For some people it might be difficult to believe, but The Sims is one of the most revolutionary games ever. First of all, with it contributed largely to create the distinction between casual and hardcore gamers: it wasn’t the first successful casual game, but it was one of the first games which was considered “not a real game” by a group of gamers that saw how something so different from the traditional tropes of the medium had become the most popular game of the moment.
But, market issues aside (the enormous success of the game expansions probably paved the way to the DLC proliferation), the game was revolutionary for its concept: the game didn’t have a goal, nor required any ability by the player, it wasn’t even set in a futuristic or fantastic ambient and it didn’t have any kind of action or story. The player just takes control of a family and just does whatever s/he wants (even money constraints, the only challenge offered by the game, can be easily avoided thanks to cheats). 16 years later that kind of proposal for a game are still very marginal and usually found in the indie scene (with some exceptions).
Also, the game was terribly addictive.
