Az has a neat little question about, what games would you bring with you to prison.

First

The first one was this: you’re going to jail for ten years, but it’s a minimum security prison that will allow you to take one offline game (any DLC included) with you. But that will be the only game you get for those ten years. Which game do you pick?

I’d want something with a lot of replay and depth.  It’d be a tossup between Civilization 4 and XCOM (the first one from the 90s).  I have quite literally put in hundreds of hours into each of them and could easily do so again.  Mind you, Crusader Kings 2 is probably up there.

I do like Rohan’s bit on Neverwinter Nights, or at least some game that provides the option to mod away with in-game tools.

Second

The second scenario is similar, but this time it’s life in prison. For some insane reason, the Warden will allow you to take any three games and allow an internet connection. The parameters did not specify whether future DLC or microtransactions will be free for you, but let’s assume you can make enough money stamping licence plates to cover, say, $30/month. Which games do you pick?

I know this sounds corny, but cribbage, scrabble or chess.  You can play these games at a table, certainly, but the online aspect gets you the world to play with.  These are games that at 50+ years old and given my age, I’d need them to last another 60-70.  There isn’t a game today that would come close to lasting that long.

I realize it’s a hypothetical situation, more about paring down what we consider quality over quantity.  It’s still a rigged question though, since video games themselves have only been around for 30 years, online for about 15.  Still a fun question to ponder about.