Random Video Game Generator

The Random Video Game Generator pulls one to ten titles from a list of 338 games released between 1972 and 2017. Each result is a card with the cover art, the title with its release year, and a link that runs a web search for the game so you can check reviews, platforms or where to buy it. It's a "what should I play next" picker with a bias toward the back catalog: most of the list is from the 1990s and 2000s, so it's better at surfacing something you missed than at recommending this year's releases.

How it works

Enter a number from 1 to 10 and press the button. The full list is shuffled and the first few are shown, so one batch never repeats a title. There's no filter by platform, genre or year; the list stores only the title, the year and the cover image, so there's nothing to filter on. If you want to narrow it down, generate ten and choose by decade from the year in each title.

What's in the list

The 338 games skew toward PC and console titles that were critically well regarded in their day. By release decade:

• 1970s–1980s: 19 titles, from arcade and early home computer classics such as Marble Madness (1984).
• 1990s: 71 titles, heavy on PC adventure and strategy: Monkey Island 2, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Dune II, Unreal, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee.
• 2000s: 145 titles, the largest group, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Jedi Outcast, Myst III, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, the Brothers in Arms series, Batman: Arkham Asylum and several Need for Speed entries.
• 2010s (to 2017): 103 titles such as StarCraft II, Diablo III, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and The Last Guardian.

Nothing released after 2017 is in the list, so you won't draw Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3 or anything current. Series with long histories tend to appear several times (Need for Speed, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Brothers in Arms), which is a quirk of how the list was compiled rather than a weighting. Cover images are stored with the dataset and match the specific release named in the title.

Ways people use it

• Backlog roulette. Generate ten, pick the one you own but never finished. The 2000s-heavy list lines up well with Steam libraries full of bundle purchases.
• Retro night with friends. Draw three games and vote. The 1990s adventure titles are cheap on GOG and run on anything.
• Streaming and challenge content. "Random game, one hour, no research" works better with a list like this than with a store front page, because the results aren't all the same twenty games.
• Trivia. Show the cover with the title covered and ask for the game and year. The year is in the title so the quizmaster has the answer.
• Game design study. Students working through the history of a genre can draw a title from each decade and play an hour of each.

For a randomizer that stays within one ecosystem, the Random PS4 Games picker is console-specific and the Random Roblox Game Generator covers Roblox experiences. If you're already inside a game and want a random objective instead, the Random Things to Build in Minecraft list, the Random Fortnite Skin Generator and the Random Pokémon Generator each do that for their game. The full set is under all game and anime generators.