13 Most Influential Video Games of the Past 45 Years
Polygon has released a list of the 13 most influential video games of the past 45 years, examining games that have fundamentally shaped the gaming industry’s landscape. The publication notes that while many developers focus on providing entertainment and escapism rather than creating industry-defining works, some games inadvertently become trailblazers that influence entire genres and subsequent generations of development.
The list begins with Pac-Man (1980), which achieved such widespread cultural impact that it inspired a popular song called “Pac-Man Fever” by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia in 1981. The article emphasizes that true influence extends beyond commercial success or scale—games don’t need to be as massive as Grand Theft Auto 6 to leave a lasting mark on the medium. Rather, influential titles establish templates and mechanics that other developers draw from, creating ripple effects throughout the industry.
Polygon’s curation reflects an effort to identify the games that function as foundational touchstones for their respective subgenres and for gaming culture broadly. The selection criteria appears to focus on games whose innovations, design philosophy, or mechanics became standardized practice, rather than simply the most commercially successful titles.