Join GameSpot as we celebrate gaming history and give recognition to the most influential games of the 21st century. These aren`t the best games, and they aren`t necessarily games that you need to rush out and play today, but there`s no question that they left an indelible impact on game developers, players, and in some cases, society at large.If anything, the success of Lego should have foretold how popular Minecraft would become. Both Lego and Minecraft are built on the same idea: the joy of creating something extraordinary from many pieces of ordinary blocks. Today, Minecraft has grown beyond this simple premise to become one of the best-selling video games of all time, with nearly a dozen versions existing across PC, console, handhelds, mobile, and VR platforms.Of course, it takes more than popularity to be influential, and we wouldn`t have included Minecraft in this list if all it was known for was being well-known. Minecraft launched into a gaming industry that was mostly devoid of standout successes from solo developers. Months before Jonathan Blow`s 2009 Braid sparked the push for indie games to enter the mainstream limelight, Minecraft released in beta and helped lay the kindling. Many individual indie developers found success in the wake of Minecraft, Braid, Super Meat Boy, and other 2009-2010`s indie game success stories. The popularity of these indie games at the turn of the decade pushed indie gaming into the mainstream and created a new demand that continues to exist alongside the triple-A market. Years later, this push for more indie games would create spaces for major indie titles to thrive, such as Stardew Valley, Undertale, Iconoclasts, Gone Home, and Return of the Obra Dinn--the latter of which is even one of GameSpot`s best games of 2018.But even before indie gaming took off, Minecraft had a more immediate effect on the gaming industry. Though in no way easy (anyone who tells you different has never tried to make a complex redstone circuit), ...
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