Shack Chat: What popular game have you never played?

It's time for Shack Chat, our weekly feature where each Friday we’ll ask the Shacknews staff to give their opinion on a particular topic, then open the floor to our dedicated Chatty community to provide a diverse mixture of thoughts on the subject. It’s a great way for us to get to know one another better while inspiring healthy debates with all of you passionate gamers out there. This week, it's all about games we haven't played. 

Question: What popular game have you never played?

Minecraft - Asif Khan, Thinks Notch Is A Jerk

"ERMAHGERD, HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE PLAYED MINECRAFT?" I don’t know, I like good games. I am baffled by so many Shackers who value graphics and gameplay that hold this game up as something that should be revered. It is just boring to me. Maybe I am dead inside?

Fornite - Bill Lavoy, Managing Editor

A bunch of them. Asif would want me to say The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but technically I played that for an hour. I played Pokemon GO once on my 10th floor balcony, but since catching Pokemon required me to go places, that was over quickly. I even played a bit of Minecraft, but I’m in the camp that finds it rather boring. I played Overwatch for two days, Dark Souls 3 for about 50 minutes, and For Honor for about the same. I even dropped out of a plane in PUBG to take a no-HUD screenshot, then quit the game and never played again.

The game I’m going to give as my final answer is Fortnite. I have never played it, installed it, or been tempted to do so. Besides not being a big fan of PvP these days, I’m just not tolerant of the Fortnite culture. Watching a Fortnite stream reminds me of being stuck at a family gathering with 100 teenage nephews and nieces that I just want to shut up and sit still. I’m glad they love the game, I’m glad the game is doing well, and I wish nothing but the best for Fortnite and its players. Just leave me out of it.

BioShock - Blake Morse, Reviews Editor

I tend to not dive into things that I feel have been overhyped. It’s why I’ve never watched The Wire or played BioShock. If enough people tell me I need to do something the contrarian in me just flares up like a Saiyan who’s about to go into super mode and refuses to give people the satisfaction of influencing my tastes.

The way people talked about BioShock when it first came out you’d think Ayn Rand and her ridiculous concepts about how society should function were created just for the game. “But oh, Blake, it deals with all this stuff, and it’s done so well!” Cool. I’ve seen plenty of movies, TV shows, and video games that I’ve loved and no one gave them the time of day no matter how much fervor I encouraged them with to do so. So there’s no way I’m gonna get into their thing if I can’t be done the same courtesy.

I also really just dislike steampunk and the whole aesthetic that goes along with it which was a large part of the BioShock lore. Wearing a monocle and putting some brass in your top hat and tails does not make you Jules Verne! (Ed. note: The original BioShock is more art deco, but you do you.)

World of Warcraft - Kevin S. Tucker, Voice Actor Guide Writer Extraordinaire

For years, when I would tell people that I was a fan of Warcraft, they always assumed I was talking about World of Warcraft. In fact, I have a Warcraft 3 poster hanging in my house (an image of which is featured above), and many times when people see it, they note the Warcraft logo and assume I’m a World of Warcraft player. I’m not.

Given the game’s popularity, I guess most people now directly equate Warcraft with World of Warcraft. And even though I do very much enjoy Blizzard’s strategy-based Warcraft titles, I have never once in my life played WoW. I’m just not an MMO guy, or really even an online game enthusiast in most cases. When World of Warcraft first launched, my computer was nowhere close to the minimum specifications, so I never even tried to run it. By now, I assume I’ve missed the train entirely. Even though my current desktop has more than enough muscle to run the game, there are just so many other titles I could be playing instead. A 14-year-old MMORPG simply isn’t on my to-do list, popular and iconic though it may be.

Clash of Clans - Brittany Vincent, And Probably Never Will

First, Shack Staff, I don’t understand why everyone hates Minecraft. Yes, babies play it, but it’s a nice, peaceful game that I love to play with my dad. He really enjoys it, and I enjoy playing with him, so I’m assuming the vitriol for Minecraft comes from its many annoying fans, much like Fortnite fans make playing the game frustrating. This is true, do not dispute it.

With that said, I have never played Clash of Clans, and I am very thankful for it. Before you assume it’s because I don’t like mobile games, I am the former EIC of Modojo and continually tout mobile gaming as well as a handful of great games on the platform. This just doesn’t look like one, though you bet I’ll write guides about it if it means it’s going to get us some hits.

League of Legends - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Editor

When it comes to MOBAs, outside of Dota 2, there isn't one more popular than League of Legends. Here's the thing, though. I'm not a big MOBA expert or much of a MOBA player. I'm not opposed to the genre at all. I do enjoy simplified takes on this category of games, like Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm. I like games that attempt to implement familiar elements from other types of games, the way Paragon (RIP) attempted to.

Having said that, Dota 2 didn't draw me in, partly because of the overly complex rules and partly because of the unfriendly community. And with most of my Dota 2 experiences soured, I haven't bothered with League of Legends to this day. I know this will come to the chagrin of my old Yahoo Esports colleagues, but when it comes to competitive games, I'll stick to fighting games, thank you very much.

(Also, Hearthstone. Hey, did you guys know I hit Legend again?)

Minecraft - Charles Singletary, News Editor

The idea of Minecraft intrigues me, but the art direction just isn’t my flavor at all. It’s probably wild to imagine that such a thing has entirely kept me from playing a game, but it has. I’ve been willing to give nearly every super popular game a shot, but Minecraft is gonna be a no from me, dawg.

Pokemon - Chris Jarrard, Loser

Everyone is always hyped for more Pokemon. I never understood the appeal and never bothered to try any of the various GameBoy releases or the ocean of spinoff titles across the various Nintendo platforms.

I don’t actually know what the Pokemon games are about, but I’ve heard the people trap animals and force them to fight just like Michael Vick did with his innocent pit bulls. It sounds like a really classy way to spend your free time. Sure, these Poke-mals aren’t real, but it doesn’t make these dirtbag virtual fight promoters any less scummy. You’d think that a company like Nintendo, who always acts like they are exhibiting a family-friendly vibe, would go along with this. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised after the company put profits over values when they began making the Smash Bros. games that glorify violence against company mascots.

Minecraft - Greg Burke, The Video Jerk

Minecraft. I just never had any interest in the game. The barrage of YouTubers and streamers that overreacted to everything in the game at the peak of its popularity didn’t help its case either. It made terrible human beings popular, like Toby Turner and PewDiePie. Yes, there are creeps in the game, no need to scream when you see one in free play mode. Yes, there’s lava, no need to freak out and slam your keyboard.

The “Creative” aspect didn't grab me either. If I’m going to endlessly build something, I’d rather purchase a Lego set of some kind. It just never caught my attention, and the cringe comps from Minefaire are just awful. It’s a good thing it’s been replaced by Fortnite. Or has it?

RuneScape - Sam Chandler, Guides Editor

Everyone’s first experience with playing a massive multiplayer online game seems to be RuneScape, but not for me. While I had friends in school that would talk about all their RuneScape happenings, I was happily playing something else, likely my Nintendo 64 or PS1. It probably didn’t help that my family didn’t have a computer until I was already ending the single-digit era of my childhood.

I so didn’t play RuneScape to the point that I couldn’t tell you want any artwork looks like, what it’s about, any storyline elements – heck, I couldn’t even tell you want the website looks like. However, I have seen some in-game screenshots of people’s characters (I assume it’s their characters) used for memes.

RuneScape seems like one of those games everyone has played at one point or another in their videogame careers. Though I feel like I’ve missed out on some memories and lessons, I think I’ll survive.

Clash of Clans, David Craddock, Long Reads Editor

I’m with Brittany on this one. Every time I visit my mom and stepdad, my stepdad proudly shows me his city, where he houses his army, and talks about how many cities he’s invaded and destroyed, and how he’s never spent a dime in the game and how it’s taken him years to reach the lofty heights he’s reached.

More power to him. The idea of having to choose between paying to advance in a game or waiting days--sometimes weeks--for cooldown timers to expire and let me perform actions again seems antithetical to the concept of fun.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go die over and over in Dark Souls again. (It’s fun. You’ll just have to trust me.)

The Last of Us - Donovan Erskine, Retired Xbox Fanboy

For a solid 12 years, my console gaming was done exclusively on Xbox. My loyalty to microsoft's gaming platform spanned generations. I had nothing against PlayStation, it’s just that my circle of friends were always on Xbox, so that’s what I gravitated towards. Due to this, I missed out entirely on a plethora of PS3 and PS4 exclusives. The most notable of the bunch has to be The Last of Us. A game that hasn’t exited the headspace of gamers since its launch in 2013. I don’t doubt its greatness, I’m sure TLOU is the excellent hallmark in gaming that people talk it up to be, I just never had the opportunity to get my hands on it.

Now that I finally own a PS4, and with the much awaited sequel continuing the story of Joel and Ellie coming within the next year or so, I plan on finally sitting down and playing through The Last of Us pretty soon. I’m just hoping it lives up to the hype.

Disagree with our picks? Think we're a bunch of clowns? Let us know in the Chatty below.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.