Games you should play

If you were going to become a painter or composer, you'd want make sure you knew about classics, interesting works, and their creators. I think video games have influential artists and games that should similarly be studied. Here's a list of the game creators and specific games that I would recommend anyone interested in making games check out, in no particular order.

Stephen Lavelle

• Home Probably the best example of an art game ever. Clearly presents a message through the game mechanics more than even Passage or Braid.

Derek Yu

• Spelunky

Jason Rohrer

• Passage

Jonathan Blow

• Raspberry
• Braid

Shigeru Miyamoto

• Donkey Kong
• Super Mario Bros.
• The Legend of Zelda
• Pikmin

Jenova Chen

• Flower

Greg Costikyan

(More for things he has written than for his games)

• Death to the Games Industry Long Live Games part 1
• Death to the Games Industry Long Live Games part 2

Anonymous

(probably Costikyan again)

• Scratchware Manifesto