Gaming Discovery & Resources Clean List
How to Find Games
Rules
- Aim for 100–300 games max. This forces choice. You cannot have everything, and that is the point. A ceiling only exists if you accept a floor.
- Human curation beats databases. Databases expand endlessly. Taste does not. Your list should reflect decisions, not coverage.
- Only keep games that spark a strong sense of joy. Some good games will be excluded. That loss is intentional. Avoid FOMO and impulse adds. If it does not earn its place, it goes.
Backloggd lists
(Synergy): https://bckl.gg/n9V Games Genres list + Gamesense use the genres as your backbone
(Pangburn): https://backloggd.com/u/Pangburn/lists/folder/japanese-jank/ Gamesense
(Scor) https://bckl.gg/h0VH All Webbrowsergames
(zafquiel) https://backloggd.com/u/zafqiel/lists/ Creative Discovery
CritPoints ongoing list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YaiBoh-EH5-NffXdpye5ZhlLXgj3D5DhbO3TKPObaBo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.8cuu303qn7xd
Backlogged Users
(Syn's old games catalogue) https://backloggd.com/u/HighTempo/
Random mulit-console games starter list:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nnEn01JHtEKTcWZ-1MlynDGsX4TNphugBESWEY0BFkY/edit?tab=t.0
Best Games of All Time_Shared
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wbSbkI17A3kFZe50IHy9435MLEGsm0T3/edit?gid=361665074#gid=361665074
Atari Home Consoles - Best of
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xpKQIiRee-Kr_BOwM4rKKKUHO2a3gDIuCHmzp2QMJOc/edit?gid=2029453137#gid=2029453137
Nintendo Home Consoles - Best of
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f_xtOy_Ksv9Q_Rp99eoR6y5ku7HesM9o2dC0n_5VNZ0/edit?gid=0#gid=0
mobile games docx
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/3/d/1bf0OxtVxrboZqyEh01AxJYUUqHm8tEfh-Lx-SugcrzY/htmlview?utm
Indie-Studio & Publisher databases
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IS9pZV9CFTIbKzVidmBDNdv0Y6AiIDXSCemkg8X8qDg/edit?usp=sharing
HG101's Top 47,858 Games of All Time
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/tmA5F_QiM7zVTvKVSdvS3wA/htmlview?pli=1&utm_source
Free games for the broke
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xI5NIYodtNjS_28Nt9sja5mAG1hlH4U5YMcH7XXZ_HA/edit?gid=0#gid=0
YouTube Creators (Discovery / Reviews / Skill Play)
GamerAlexVideos
TheElectricUnderground
Cvit
One Credit Classics
BigDan Gaming
gellot
jchensor
ShmupJunkie
RetroTech
Resonant
Arcadehunters
1 Credit Only
Drae
splattercatgaming
Smraedis Arcade Superplays
Classic Game Room
Get Indie Gaming
shadowofamantv
RetroRGB
Shmuptopia — Meet The Player
Cinemassacre
Combat Overview
Retro Gaming Lore
Avoiding The Puddle
Arcade Heroes
Sajam
Top Hat Gaming Man
FightinCowboy
Shirrako
WoolieVersus
Maximilian Dood
Mortismal Gaming
SomeOrdinaryGamers
Servers / Communities
Electric Mastery
Infinite Backlog
Backloggd
https://lemmyverse.net/communities?query=game
IsThereAnyDeal
Mobygames (obscure games chat)
r/steam
Hardcore Gaming 101
CritPoints
Chem’s Abandonware Game Emporium
ResetEra
Forums
https://videogamegeek.com/
https://discuss.grouvee.com/
https://www.joyfreak.com/
Shmups Forum
https://cdromance.org/
https://www.retrogameboards.com
HowLongToBeat
Hardcore Gaming 101
https://www.prototopia.net/forums/rare-obscure-gaming.12/
NeoGAF
Mobygames
https://vgcollect.com/forum/
https://forum.level1techs.com/ (not gaming focused)
ResetEra (don't go here)
NESDev/SMSpower/AtariAge: 4 homebrew stuff
Patreons
Boghog
The Electric Underground
Top Hat Gaming Man
Cvit
Wikis
PCGamingWiki
StrategyWiki
Websites
https://infinitebacklog.net/
https://searchtoplay.com/
https://www.co-optimus.com/
https://www.grouvee.com/
https://exputer.com/video-game-recommendations/
https://www.ludocene.com/
https://www.50gameslike.com/
https://bitscale.ai/directory/gameopedia
https://culture.vg/
https://glitchwave.com/
HardcoreGaming101.net
Backloggd (follow specialist)
loaded.com
https://www.aurcade.com/games/
https://www.speedrun.com/
LimitedRunGames
https://www.smspower.org/
https://steampeek.hu/
IndieDB.com
Japanese Marketplaces
https://www.dlsite.com/home/?locale=en_US
https://booth.pm/en/browse/Computer%20Games
Other Ways to Find Games
Steam Curators
Steam Groups
Steam Tags/Steamlabs
GOG Tags
twitter/X
Early Access/Patreon Projects
Reddit genre searches; type missing genres in general gaming subreddit communities
Typing game genres in youtube
Epic Games Store Free Games; Weekly rotations often highlight hidden AA titles.
Subreddits (Gaming)
r/4Xgaming
r/adventuregames
r/ARPG
r/arcade
r/BaseBuildingGames
r/BeatEmUps
r/BulletHellMonday
r/castlevania
r/CharacterActionGames
r/DungeonCrawler
r/ElectricUnderground
r/emulation
r/Fighters
r/finalboss
r/gamedesign
r/Gaming4Gamers
r/gamingsuggestions
r/gamernews
r/GameDeals
r/GamePhysics
r/gog
r/GrandStrategy
r/HackAndSlash
r/Indiefightinggames
r/indiegames
r/IndieGaming
r/JRPG
r/MAME
r/metroidbrainia
r/metroidvania
r/mmo
r/MMORPG
r/moba
r/openworldgames
r/patientgamers
r/PhysicsBasedGaming
r/pinball
r/platformer
r/racinggames
r/RealTimeStrategy
r/rhythmgames
r/roguelikes
r/roguelites
r/stealthgames
r/Stepmania
r/StrategyRpg
r/SurvivalGaming
r/survivalhorror
r/TowerDefense
r/truegaming
r/TurnBasedTactical
r/tycoon
r/VRGaming
r/wargame
r/WebGames
r/StopGaming
APIs / Data Sources
TheGamesDB
GameTDB (older project)
Giant Bomb
IGDB
MobyGames (mobyscore is a good filter for older stuff)
RAWG
Steamdb
ScreenScraper.fr
itch.io API — account/key-based; good for your own library/jams.
Game Jolt API — public; mostly game-services, limited catalog search.
GameBanana API — public JSON; great for mods/fangames scraping.
mod.io API — full REST for mods across many games; well-documented.
ModDB API — exists but limited/keyed; coverage overlaps IndieDB.
Free-To-Play Games Database
NEXARDA API
OpenCritic API
Storefronts
Nintendo eShop
PlayStation Store
Steam Store
Xbox / Microsoft Store
Epic Games Store
Additional Discovery:
Steam family share
https://tastedive.com/games
Game Cons
https://www.youtube.com/@xplay/featured
https://www.reddit.com/r/g4tv/comments/1fodkjz/my_list_of_g4techtv_spiritual_successors_that_is/
https://exputer.com/video-game-recommendations/
https://www.uvlist.net/
Apps & Archives
Internet Archive
Flashpoint
https://www.unseen64.net/
https://hiddenpalace.org/
https://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor
LaunchBox
Playnite
AI
https://www.yeschat.ai/gpts-9t557b1A2S9-Game-Suggester
Video game recommender Custom GPT bot outdated
Custom LLMs on datasets
Grok
Don't be weird and not follow someone if you lurk through their content, Creators want support and an audience.