We all know about the Deserted Island ice breaker. In this banter, forget food, water, matches, and other silly essential items. If you were stranded on a deserted island, destined to be stuck there for years, and you could only play one video game, which one would you pick?
My knee-jerk reaction would be choosing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; however, I fear the relatively short play time and linearity could make it a less-than-ideal deserted island game choice. I need to be strategic; perhaps, I should pick a game that has massive replay value.
Larger games that I love include Ghost of Tsushima, Hogwarts Legacy, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Baldur’s Gate 3. I am a fan of a few farming sims as well, although I think I would be sick of sim games if I am trying to survive in real life.
After a banger of 2023, my official answer is now Baldur’s Gate 3. Sure, it may sound like a cop-out since it was Game of the Year; however, I would bring that game to a deserted island over my other open-world favorites because of the near-limitless content packed within the software. The above-mentioned favorites ultimately lead to one ending (or slight variations of one ending). Baldur’s Gate 3 has boundless side-quests and several ways to approach your main quest. I feel like I could play this game for years and still find something new.
Also, if we were to go a little deeper here, I feel the heavily fleshed out characters would help me stay sane if I were all by myself. Sure, they are no substitute for real human interaction, but if I were stranded on a desert island, at least I can pretend to have them with Astation, Gale, Shadowheart, and others. If not, that you’d likely find me talking to coconuts! Baldur’s Gate 3 contains a range of the human emotion and portrays them beautifully. This may seem like a stretch, but playing this game may help preserve my humanity in this hypothetical scenario.
My honorable mention is a game I’m currently playing, Animal Well. While I already am through the basic mainline portion, this indie title was intentionally developed for the long haul. Solo dev Billy Basso had mentioned creating several layers to Animal Well, leaving content to be discovered for years to come. With this, and the fact that it is near-flawless in execution, Animal Well is a definite “Desert Island” contender.
What would be the one video game to keep you sane on a deserted island and why? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast About Video Games
The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of The Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, Stephanie Klimov, LeRon Dawkins, and Pat Klein come together with their friends, colleagues, and fellow creators to talk about their week in video games, discuss industry topics, conduct interviews, answer listener questions, and more. New episodes every Monday. Get each episode one week early and more perks over on the Boss Rush Network Patreon page.
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