Shack Chat: Which video game would you draft number one overall?

The NFL Draft went down this week in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and teams around the league selected players in hopes of turning their franchises around or sustaining success. We've decided to give it a video game spin and ponder what games would be worthy of going number one overall in a hypothetical video game draft.

Question: These are the games we'd build our entire franchise around.

Hearthstone - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Card Shark

Few games have the staying power of Hearthstone, a game that has challenged me in terms of basic card-battling principles and also in terms of minion-battling via Battlegrounds. You might say it can play both sides of the proverbial ball. It's one of those games that's at its best when it sticks to its fundamentals, both in terms of Standard play and Battlegrounds. It can try and experiment with stuff like Battlegrounds Duos, but ultimately, it can't be beat when it stays with what brought it to the dance, which is why it's going on strong at 10 years and counting. Gears of War 3 - TJ Denzer, Senior News Editor If I want a game that’s damn good on offense, damn good on defense, and ready to play the full four quarters, I need Gears of War 3. Offense? This is probably one of the most grisly third-person shooters ever made, complete with tight gunplay, great reload mechanics, and chainsaws and explosives a plenty. Defense? The Hoard mode was boosted to allow you to fortify your grounds and fight off aggressive enemies en masse. And in Gears of War 3 we also have star power. Sure, it has Cole Train, the best athlete turned soldier ever put in a game, but it also has freaking Ice-T (as the voice of Aaron Griffin). This draft pick is the full package, and I think I could build a dynasty around it. If only The Coalition knew how to do the same.

Star Fox 64 - Asif Khan, CEO/EIC/EIEIO

After a ton of arguing in my draft war room, my team has selected Star Fox 64 with our first pick. It’s the perfect video game featuring amazing gameplay mechanics, a banging soundtrack, and one of the best endings in the history of Nintendo games. We look forward to doing a barrel roll all the way to the championship on the back of this blue chip pick.

The Long Dark - Bill Lavoy, Shackmaps Overlord

If I’m drafting a video game I’m going back to my most used answer in Shack Chat. The Long Dark is going first overall. If we want to draw comparisons between games and athletes, The Long Dark receives frequent updates to ensure it’s always improving and ironing out the kinks, just like an athlete has to develop their skills and take care of their body. The game has been out for like 11 years, which is a longer career than the average professional athlete. It comes with a hype video so you can see all of its wicked new moves. The Long Dark is also Canadian, and as a Canadian GM drafting a video game for a fake team, I’m drafting a Canadian first overall. My logic is irrefutable and that’s all I’ll hear on the topic.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered - Sam Chandler, Plant Nerd

Look, it might not be everyone’s favorite Elder Scrolls game, that’s fine. It might not be everyone’s favorite Bethesda game, that’s understandable! But it’s one of my favorite games that has graced this precious hobby we call gaming. Oblivion ushered in a new world of RPG goodness. It was a HD game! We were finally playing something on screens that weren’t blurry (or at least they were less blurry). It has an incredible soundtrack that I still listen to on rainy days, delightful potion making and flora picking (Plant Nerd Life!), and - oh my goodness - the sidequests. If there was one game that did it all, albeit not perfectly, it’d be Oblivion. I don’t need the game with the best storyline in my draft pick, I need a game that can slot in and solve any problem that crops up.

Bloodborne - Dennis White Jr., Deleted Bloodborne NPC

I’m drafting Bloodborne because I think it pushed things for FromSoftware in a way that only a stud player would be able to do. The game was a massive success but also a console exclusive and is still (unfortunately) the biggest exclusive on the PS4. I was going to originally say Elden Ring because it elevated the genre as far as where Dark Souls started to fully open world combat in amazing new ways. But I’m looking at things differently now because Bloodborne was a risk that paid off and helped show what was possible for the studio in so many new ways. Like an absolute top notch skill player, Bloodborne stands tall 10 years after its release with characters and story elements that expand way beyond the source material. The game is speedy and gets your blood pumping, it’s flashy, immersive, and the game sold plenty of souls players on picking up that console. It also had an excellent DLC that added tons of lore and newly beloved characters and boss fights. Whether the PC version of the game eventually comes or not, a first time run on Bloodborne hit in a way that reminds me of your favorite team drafting your QB of the future.

Minecraft

There is a solid argument to be made that Minecraft is the greatest game ever made. At the very least, Steve's blocky head deserves a place on gaming's Mt. Rushmore. As a #1 draft pick, Minecraft is going to solve every issue I could possibly have. It's an endless survival, building, and exploration game that never plays the same way twice. You could spend 2000 hours in a world and only see a fraction of what the game has to offer. Sure, my desire to play it comes and goes just as it does with any other title, but when Minecraft is good, it's a divine feeling. I'm taking Minecraft at the top of the draft and I won't lose a single minute of sleep over it.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Steve Tyminski, First overall folks!

What video game would I draft first overall? What does a team look for with that first overall pick? A once in a lifetime talent that alters history for a franchise. Here at The Stevetendo franchise, we could take this in quite a few directions. We were able to swing a deal to move up to the top pick in the draft and have our pick of the litter. Super Mario 3 was a franchise altering game and helped solidify what the Mario Brothers are today. However, I think I have to go with one of my all-time favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for this one. In a Link to the Past, Link starts at the bottom and makes his way to the top. After trying to save Princess Zelda and failing, Link becomes the only option to send into the Dark World and save her and the seven other maidens. A Link to the past set the bar high in what the Legend of Zelda should always strive to be. Oh and Link knows how to handle himself around monster linebackers, defensive linemen, and mutant pigmen/demons so he is battle tested! Our draft board had Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time very high on it but Ocarina of Time is 3D Link to the Past and you can’t go wrong either way.

Those are the games we're taking with the number one pick in the draft. Which game is at the top of your board? Let us know in the Chatty!

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_