32. "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"

Release date: November 11, 2011

Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Buy it here.

Bethesda Game Studios launched the first "Elder Scrolls" game in 1994, but the franchise didn't take the world by storm until almost two decades later, with "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." It's the biggest action role-playing game Bethesda has ever created (that's saying something), and it's also one of the richest in terms of looks and gameplay.

Unlike past games, everything you do in the game, from mixing herbs to fighting to shooting arrows and using magic, helps you improve those skills simply by performing them more often. It's also deeply rewarding in terms of a storyline: You are the Dragonborn, the human who is prophesized to destroy a dragon that wants to eat the world. And with a living world and so many powerful abilities to choose from, no two journeys in "Skyrim" are ever the same.