15 Most Important Video Games Of The Decade (So Far)

11. Gone Home

Like Telltale's The Walking Dead, Gone Home would inadvertently herald in a smattering of narrative-driven games, all with minimal (if any) mechanics, and all aiming to tell a particularly weighty tale. Cult-smash Slender Man definitely played a part in the whole 'first-person exploration' genre's proliferation, but it was the mature themes and storytelling elements on display here that really elevated it above the rest. Being many critics' Game of the Year for 2013, you're cast as one Kaitlin Greenbriar, a returning gap year student who approaches her new home, only to find her family missing and a note pinned to the front door from her sister. What follows is a brilliantly introspective look at how we explore video game worlds, the assumptions we have when a certain genre label is attached or assumed, and ultimately, it's an experiment with how video game stories can be told - one that pays off in every respect. You have Gone Home to thank (or blame) for the likes of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, The Stanley Parable, Ether One and Firewatch - even to some extent, the next game on this list...