It seems like an over-simplification/generalization to think that people who write software for a living/hobby share video game preferences. People are multifaceted with many different interests. Our professions do not define the rest of us.
I personally enjoy playing sports games (e.g. FIFA, NBA 2K) and action games (e.g. Red Dead Redemption), but I don't think those choices have anything to do with my profession.
I agree. I abhor both of those genres, but I bet we'd get along plenty when it comes to programming(or not, who knows!) As you said, programmers are multifaceted, and video game preference is probably highly unrelated.
Yeah, but games are INSANELY fun. Sports are just meh. It's more of a social activity I guess, and I'm kind of antisocial. I still enjoy hanging out with people and watching a game and especially live games, I just dont bother with the immense waste of time that is following it and playing the crappily made games.
There's some truth to that, but OTOH programmers have a different mindset -- if you write software for a living/hobby, generally you'll have above-average intelligence and enjoy dealing with complex dynamical systems and elegant models of the real world.
This explains why so many suggestions in this thread are strategy games, roguelikes, and deep puzzle games.
Also, the HN demographic skews to a certain age range, so there's a lot of nostalgia for 1993-1999 games. (If this describes you, check out the site formerly known as Good Old Games [1])
I agree with original OP and think you're retrofitting your theory onto the data. Games like civilization 5, starcraft I/II, dota and minecraft are some of the most played games in general.
The fact that you're seeing them pop up here doesn't automatically say something about our demographic.
Starcraft 2 and Civ5 for serious games. Puerto Rico, Agricola, Seven Wonders, Carcassonne, and Dominion for board games. Androminion, Frozen Free Fall (that's basically Disney-branded Candy Crush), 2048, and French/British Wars (that's a real-time strategy game) on the phone.
Deliberately. I think Settlers has too much luck involved - the other games I listed primarily depend on the actions of the other players with only a little bit of randomness added to spice things up, but in Settlers you can easily get screwed even if you build in the best spot because your number never comes up. It's a good gateway-game though.
I still believe that my first understanding of 'conditionals', and other standard programming concepts, came from using the Custom Map Editor for Starcraft. Thanks Blizzard!
I always tell people that Warcraft 3 and Starcraft taught me programming. I definitely wouldn't be a developer if it weren't for the custom trigger editors.
The furthest I've pushed Warcraft 3's visual trigger editor was writing a Genetic Algorithm pathfinder for peasants. They're surprisingly versatile, and being able to interact with a GUI and game universe immediately makes it great for prototyping.
I'm not much of a gamer at all, and my primary taste is in old school first-person shooters (Doom, Quake, Blood, Redneck Rampage, Shadow Warrior, Serious Sam, Unreal Tournament, Duke Nukem 3D, etc.)
That's pretty much the only video game genre I care about. Currently looking forward to Wolfenstein: The New Order and that's about it.
I second kohanz's comment that programmers may not have a common center of interest when it comes to video games.
However, maybe you could start with the assumption that programmers are usually good with logic and problem-solving, and think up a clever concept like Valve's Portal series.
Banished [0], Starcraft [1], Starcraft 2 [2], SPAZ [3], FTL [4], AoE HD [5], TF2 [6], CS:Source [7], Minecraft [8], Kerbal Space Program [9], SpaceChem [10]. I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program are my favorite games that have come out in recent years. Quake Live / Q3Arena is the only FPS I play anymore. Looking forward to the release of Planets³. I'm also still addicted to 2048 and the various forks (current fave is doge2048).
+1 for Quake 3. I've been playing since it went beta in 98 or 99. I would skip school so I could listen to Rage Against the Machine in the Rocket Arena mp3 player. Big instagib player too, and I loved when the mods were popular like the two jail break ones.
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[ 95.4 ms ] story [ 428 ms ] threadI personally enjoy playing sports games (e.g. FIFA, NBA 2K) and action games (e.g. Red Dead Redemption), but I don't think those choices have anything to do with my profession.
This is (and I assume you realize this) merely a personal preference. Like a taste in music or food.
This explains why so many suggestions in this thread are strategy games, roguelikes, and deep puzzle games.
Also, the HN demographic skews to a certain age range, so there's a lot of nostalgia for 1993-1999 games. (If this describes you, check out the site formerly known as Good Old Games [1])
[1] http://gog.com
The fact that you're seeing them pop up here doesn't automatically say something about our demographic.
However, for relaxation, I tend to favor MMOs. They are the right mix of social, achievement orientated, and simple to fill downtime.
SpaceChem is an incredible game but it's as dangerous as "one more turn" of Civilization.
They are all social and usually involve beer.
My significant otter loves board games and has dragged me into Carcasonne. That shit is addictive.
I have a feeling that programmers might be slightly inclined to games of strategy and complexity.
I still believe that my first understanding of 'conditionals', and other standard programming concepts, came from using the Custom Map Editor for Starcraft. Thanks Blizzard!
I always tell people that Warcraft 3 and Starcraft taught me programming. I definitely wouldn't be a developer if it weren't for the custom trigger editors.
The furthest I've pushed Warcraft 3's visual trigger editor was writing a Genetic Algorithm pathfinder for peasants. They're surprisingly versatile, and being able to interact with a GUI and game universe immediately makes it great for prototyping.
That's pretty much the only video game genre I care about. Currently looking forward to Wolfenstein: The New Order and that's about it.
Rogue Legacy
However, maybe you could start with the assumption that programmers are usually good with logic and problem-solving, and think up a clever concept like Valve's Portal series.
My kind of games are the simple and addictive, more often-than-not tetris type.
I'll also whoop your ass on UT99, C&C Mario, and Mortal Kombat, but after that era gaming kind of started to suck.
[0] http://www.shiningrocksoftware.com/game/
[1] http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/sc/
[2] http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/
[3] http://minmax-games.com/SpacePiratesAndZombies/
[4] http://www.ftlgame.com/
[5] http://store.steampowered.com/app/221380/
[6] http://www.teamfortress.com/
[7] http://store.steampowered.com/app/240/
[8] https://minecraft.net/
[9] https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/
[10] http://www.spacechemthegame.com/
EDIT: Added some more