A "Mathematically Derived" Top 500 Games List
A “mathematically derived top 500 games of all time” list has appeared online, mixing together 80 different lists to compile a broad overview of the best games ever to grace the PC. The list should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that it’s still largely a mathematical melding pot of other people’s opinions, but it’s certainly a unique way to compile a ranked list.
The author says that the rankings are “based on 80 top game of all time lists from the past 30 years” and, as implied by the name, that the games have been mathematically worked out to arrive at a final list. While it’s impossible to know exactly what criteria was used, the author does say that each game is “graded on a curve that incentivizes being higher up on those 80 lists” and that there are “minimum data thresholds” in place, though these aren’t explained.
I think I’d be more interested to see this list with the games ranked in alphabetical order rather than in order, which would take some of the weight off the top few and, arguably, the weight put on the games at the bottom of the list. That said, I’m sure it would be a bit more difficult to work out, and it might not look as pretty.
Regardless, I like seeing games I love show up on the list. Portal 2 above Portal surprised me a bit, but seeing HL2 at 5 made me smile (it’s no. 3 on my list). The only thing that would have made me happier is if a Half-Life game would have made the cut, but I guess that’s a personal thing.
I’m also surprised to see so many games from the late ’90s and early ’00s make the cut, but that’s probably vintage games doing well. I imagine that a lot of older games benefit from when there were fewer games and systems, meaning that there’s a lot of overlap between player bases with a lot of people playing the same games and recommending them to each other.
Now, all that in mind, I personally don’t find a top games list like this practical unless I’m doing something like an academic Game Studies type exploration into all of these old games. So many games I liked are on this list but simply wouldn’t entertain me now. I guess I’m not very sentimental about something like Mario 64 when the newer Mario games are more enjoyable (I do still like Mario 64, though).
I get it. Though I do like Mario 64 a lot, even now. Prefer Galaxy though.
Anyway, check out the list below and let us know what you think in the comments:
Actually not a terrible list. Genre defining games normally get lost in these types of list due to recency bias but this list is a fair balance of classics, innovative games; mainstream hits and just fun games. Well done.
List of the Top 500 Games of All Time
A list of the top 500 games of all time has been compiled by a researcher "using a mathematical algorithm".
