# 13 Most Influential Video Games of the Past 45 Years

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/13-most-influential-video-games-of-the-past-45-years/
- Published: 2026-09-26T17:23:35+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-26T18:58:35+00:00
- Original publisher: Polygon
- Original article: https://www.polygon.com/most-influential-video-games/
- Topics: Entertainment, Gaming

## Key points

- Simple game mechanics can reshape entire genres and influence decades of development.
- Pac-Man, Rogue, Zork and Wizardry established templates that modern games still follow today.
- Cultural impact matters as much as technical innovation in determining a game's influence.

## Summary

Polygon has compiled a list of 13 of the most influential video games of the past 45 years, examining how seemingly simple games fundamentally shaped the entire medium:

- Pac-Man (1980): Demonstrated the power of mascot characters to attract players and inspire cultural relevance; remains a pop-culture icon across multiple platforms.
- Rogue: Pioneered the roguelike and roguelite genres by introducing permadeath and procedurally generated worlds, fundamentally changing how players approach resource management and risk.
- Zork: A text adventure that gave players unprecedented freedom to explore environments with sophisticated vocabulary and humour, paving the way for modern adventure games.
- Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord: Introduced the first-person RPG with party-based combat and character classes, establishing foundational mechanics for the entire JRPG genre.
- Tetris: Proved that even the simplest game concept—falling blocks—could create a lasting cultural legacy and appeal to a broad audience.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.