What PC Games Did You Play as a Child?
What PC Games Did You Play as a Child?
With all the talk of the PC gaming industry going downhill with the latest AAA releases, I've been thinking about old games. I played a ton of games when I was a child. Not all were amazing masterpieces - most I only remember fondly due to nostalgia googles. Here is as complete a list of the PC games I played as a kid as I can give - this is all that I can remember and I think it's everything: Populous: The Beginning, Caesar III, Age of Empires II, Lego Island, Shockwave Assault, Battleship, Robert E. Lee's Civil War General, The Superman Activity Center, The Batman Activity Center, Fisher Price ABCs, Fisher Price 123s, Fisher Price Great Adventures Pirate Ship, Fisher Price Dream Dollhouse, Reader Rabbit's Kindergarten, Math Blaster in Search of Spot, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Putt-Putt Dog-on-a-Stick, Pajama Sam There's No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside, Pajama Sam Sock Works, Backyard Baseball, Backyard Baseball 2000, The Sims, The Sims Livin' Large, Sim Tower, Sim Town, Sim City, Sim Coaster, Freddie Fish and The Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, Freddi Fish and Luther's Maze Madness, Spy Fox in Dry Cereal, Play-Doh Creations, Chessmaster, Star Wars Dark Forces, The Muppets Treasure Island, Chex Quest, and Hoyle Battling Ships and War All of those are games that I sunk hours into as a child, some way more than others, but all of them I put at least enough time into to remember them distinctly 20+ years later. Does anyone here have some of the more obscure games on this list in common? I'm sure plenty of folks here have played AoE II and The Sims, but what about Shockwave Assault or Play-Doh Creations?
I started gaming with PCs at a youth center that ran Windows 2000 or XP. Spent many hours on classics like Oregon Trail, Pajama Sam, Freddie Fish, Lego Island, Lego Racers, and Backyard Baseball. My old HP laptop with Vista was too slow for Spore after watching a Nat Geo documentary titled "How To Build A Better Being." I also tried Making History, which introduced me to strategy games like Hearts of Iron and Paradox GS. I feel lucky that younger people found these games so appealing, especially now.
In general, from early life up to around age 12? I’m not sure. B-17 Flying Fortress Silent Service II Sim City 2000 Roller Coaster Tycoon Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 (I found it in my dad’s folder), Amnesia Think Quick (this game is frustratingly tough for adults), Reader Rabbit Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Comanche 3 Fighters Anthology F-19 Stealth Fighter Sim Copter, and of course Multi-Player Battletech: Solaris.
I find this amusing, you're 66 so you didn't play much as a child. But when I was older, around 35, I got my first PC and had to install Windows from 10 floppy disks—it took a long time. Then a 56k modem was the highlight. My first real game was Microsoft Flight, which required 25 floppies (I still have some). Now I'm into COD, and yes, I still play Flight, though it used to be a massive 105 gig downloads. If it could have been downloaded once, it would have taken over a month. When someone picked up the phone, I had to start all over again. Lol!
Began with Age of Empires, Stronghold, Conflict Desert Strom, Counter Strike 1.5 & 1.6, Tactical Ops plus some racing titles in the early 2000s. Around 2005 I moved to Battlefield. Initially Vietnam, then Battlefield 2. The most vivid gaming moments I remember still come from those Battlefield LAN sessions.