Like it or not, we're all going to die someday, and all of us will leave behind games that we never got around to playing. It's a morbid way to start this article, but it's true. No matter what, there are games in my backlog I'll never get to play, be they new releases contending for the 2026 GOTYs or all-time classics.

Sometimes, it's just a matter of knowing which classic games to prioritize, and that's what this list aims to help out with. These aren't necessarily the greatest games ever made (although some of them are contenders), but they're all classic games that hold up really well today. If you're wondering about which games from the medium's early days you should play before you die, then add these titles to your list.

Since "classic" is an amorphous term, I'm defining it as anything released before 2006, or games that are over 20 years old.

The oldest game on this list (although not by much), Chrono Trigger holds up so well that it's hard to imagine it ever aging unfavorably in the future. Sure, its visuals may not be cutting-edge, but there's a timeless charm to Akira Toriyama's art and design here that will never fade.

A turn-based RPG on the surface, Chrono Trigger also uses an Active Time Battle system that's as much about timing as it is about choosing the right ability for the right situation. The real star, though, is the branching time-travel narrative. For a game from 1995, it's astounding all the ways your choices branch into new narrative threads, and even unique endings.

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