Everybody loves lists. They give us all something to bicker about as we joust over whether something is missing or something just does not belong, or if entry #4 should have been entry #3. Cracked LCD exists to please the people, so I am proud to announce that this week’s column will be kicking off a new monthly feature. Here at the office we received a request for a listing of the ten games all gamers should own, so I’ve picked this concept as our first list theme.

Now, as for criteria, I selected games that I felt were foundational, accessible, and currently available. I think every man, woman, and child in the world should own a copy of MAGICAL ATHELETE but it isn’t currently available and it really would be hard to argue for its inclusion at the expense of some of the timeless, immortal games that I’ve selected. DUNE is the best game ever published but it’s not here because as of this writing you’ve got to tussle on eBay to get a copy. SPACE HULK would have made the cut if it weren’t a sold-out limited edition. I wanted these selections to represent the best of hobby gaming that anyone can go out and buy today.

I think these ten games would form the core of a solid, well-rounded collection and I also think they’re games that anyone with even a passing interest in hobby games should play. These are also games with endless replayability and what I believe is great value for the money. So let’s get on with it then: the ten games all gamers should own.

1. RISK

A lot of hobby gamers hate RISK. They’ll cite any number of trumped-up charges against the game. They’ll complain about the dice, the length, or the Australia strategy. But the fact remains that so much of what we do in the hobby today goes back to RISK. If you’ve ever played a game where you roll dice to remove pieces from a board, it goes back to RISK. If you’ve ever played a game that takes place on a map, it goes back to RISK. RISK is the foundation of so much of what is hobby gaming that it’s almost embarrassing that a bunch of sore losers who never got over a table-flipping incident in the 1970s have soured its reputation as one of the most important designs ever published. I think you need to own at least some version of RISK, even if it’s just the excellent STAR WARS: ORIGINAL TRILOGY edition from a couple of years ago or the ultra-swank Onyx edition that came out last year. The 2008 revision did a lot of good for the game, and I think it totally holds up today. No, it’s not as complex or “epic” as TWILIGHT IMPERIUM or as avant-garde as STARCRAFT- two games that owe their existence to RISK- but it’s something that hobby gamers should own even if only out of respect and cognizance of its foundational value.

2. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

Simply stated, there is no hobby game more important and influential than DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. Even though many hobbyists have moved on from weekend-long roleplaying campaigns and scribbling notes in the margin of a character sheet, this is one of the games that created the idea of adventure gaming. Anyone interested in the hobby probably should own at least an old, battered copy of the Player’s Handbook or one of the many introductory sets that have been available over the years. And if you’ve never played- you should, even if just for a small, one-off session. If you’re a hobby gamer that doesn’t own some kind of D&D product- even if it’s just one of the great PC games like NEVERWINTER NIGHTS or hell, even the DVD box set of the cartoons- then you’re kind of like that guy who claims that they’re really into rock music but doesn’t own a copy of "The White Album".