The following list are video games that are each considered by multiple sources to be influential on the subsequent history of video game development. These are games may have individually directly informed a genre or numerous other games, may have introduced gameplay or technology elements that have been frequently incorporated into other games, or otherwise have had an influence on the video game industry.
| Year of release | Title | Developer/Creator | Genre | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Colossal Cave Adventure | William Crowther and Don Woods | Adventure game | Considered the first adventure game, it is also the first text adventure game (and thus interactive fiction) by incorporating an early form of natural language processing. The game directly inspired Zork and the creation of Infocom, Mystery House and the creation of Sierra On-Line, Adventureland and other Scott Adams' games, and Adventure for the Atari 2600. Colossal Cave Adventure also served as a basis for the formation of text-based online multi-user dungeons and the basis of Rogue. |