Year: 1984 Platform: BBC Micro, C64, Spectrum Despite being one of the least commercially successful games on this list, Elite is notable as being one of the most stunningly ambitious games of the decade. A space trading simulator, Elite added twitch gameplay to the genre established by 1974's Star Trader. Featuring a procedurally generated universe, Elite was a huge game that players were able to get totally lost in. The physics system was surprisingly complex, while the trading-based gameplay was incredibly addictive, as players explored the galaxy for the most profitable place to offload their goods. One of the first games to feature a truly absorbing open world, Elite set the groundwork for all sandbox games to come.
