The Monkey Island games by LucasArts are some of the most iconic point-and-click adventure games of my childhood. The series debuted in 1990 with The Secret of Monkey Island and have since been released on a multitude of platforms with various degrees of sound and graphics quality. I remember playing through it on an Amiga 500 before getting it on PC. Back then, the Amiga was a powerhouse compared to most PCs and both the audio and graphics were far superior.

Playing as wannabe-pirate GuyBrush Threepwood and trying to prove myself worthy of becoming a pirate was hilarious. And when the ghost pirate LeChuck appeared I couldn't stop playing. To be honest, I think the game had me sold as soon as the intro music started playing after booting up the game. I still find myself whistling the tune from time to time.

For some reason I only played through the first two installments of the game. Perhaps it was because of the completely overhauled graphics of The Curse of Monkey Island in 1997 which went from pixelated to a more modern cel animation style. Or maybe I had simply outgrown the genre by then, after having already played through LucasArts' amazing Indiana Jones-series as well as earlier Sierra On-Line titles such as the King's Quest- , Space Quest- and Leisure Suit Larry-series.

// MAGISTER WERNER

Dune, Frank Herbert's science fiction novel from 1965, has inspired several movie adaptations as well as games over the years. The adventure strategy game developed by Cryo Interactive was such a thrill to play through! Dealing with the spice, Melange, and learning more about the secrets of the Fremen native to Arrakis was so exciting.

Westwood Studios' take on Dune was called Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty, but it can hardly be considered a sequel to the first. In fact, both games were published the very same year by publisher Virgin Interactive. This was way back in 1992.

Dune II is often referred to as the first modern real-time strategy game and it was certainly my first. You get to play as one of three factions in a planetary war against eachother over control of Arrakis and the coveted Melange. Choose wisely between houses Atreides, Harkonnen and Ordos in a battle for survival. But don't forget about the sandworms, as they can sometimes swallow entire units in one bite, especially your resource-gathering harvesters.

There can be no doubt that Dune II was a genre-defining game. In fact, in 1995 Westwood Studios released Command & Conquer, a real-time strategy game that was heavily influenced by Dune II. These games, along with Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft from 1996, held my attention for years.

// MAGISTER WERNER

The Diablo games by Blizzard have had a tremendous impact on me ever since I started playing the first game on PC way back in 1997. Right from the start I was hooked on everything from the controls to the art style to the music. Apart from the lore and the magic that is Diablo I also fell in love with random loot drops, procedurally generated dungeons and the sheer amount of possible character builds.

The sound of Deckard Cain's voice has stuck with me ever since. After all, who wouldn't want to "Stay awhile and listen"? I have fond memories of fighting my way deep into the dungeons below the cathedral of Tristram and finally defeating Diablo himself. Naturally I bought Diablo II the moment it was released back in 2000 and I even convinced my girlfriend to play it with me for awhile, despite her not really being into those types of games.

A lot of people have voiced their distaste for Diablo 3 since its release back in 2012. Personally however, I absolutely loved the game! The pacing of the game is simply amazing and the choice to remove potions in favor of health globes was a game changer for me. In fact, at the time of this writing, ten years after its official release, I still find myself enjoying the game.

After having followed the Diablo-games for twenty five years I have come to the realization that not only have they come to influence the ARPG-genre as a whole, but they have come to define it! I am eagerly awaiting both Diablo Immortal and Diablo IV respectively. And Blizzard was right about one thing, I do have a phone.

// MAGISTER WERNER