From Gears of War to Uno: the 15 most important Xbox 360 games

"Originally featured as a minigame in Project Gotham, this 80s-style twin-stick shooter was rebuilt as a standalone digital-only release, attracting a huge new fanbase. Fast, frenetic and super stylish, with lovely vector visuals, it was the game that first showed the potential of Xbox Live Arcade. Fast, frenetic and super stylish Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Photograph: Microsoft A time-sink of epic proportions The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (screenshot from the 2025 remake) Photograph: Bethesda Softworks"

"Tens of millions must have been spent in this foundational text of open-world role-playing games one of the first video games where you really could go where you wanted and do pretty much as you pleased. Riding around Cyrodiil on horseback, taking in its gleaming city and backwater towns, it was so easy to get drawn into unexpected shenanigans that closing the story's threatening hell-gates became a distant second priority."

"Uno (2006) The most addictive version of the classic card game Uno on Xbox 360 Photograph: Carbonated Games/Microsoft Look don't @ us Uno was one of the most important Xbox 360 games. It was the first game that many people ever played on webcam (for better or for worse), letting you see the expression on an opponent's face when you played a wild draw four. It was one of the first downloadable multiplayer games that console players could enjoy. It was astonishingly moreish."

Geometry Wars was transformed from a Project Gotham minigame into a standalone, digital-only twin-stick shooter with fast, frenetic gameplay and striking vector visuals that showcased Xbox Live Arcade's potential. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion offered an open-world role-playing experience that encouraged exploration, horseback travel and unexpected side activities that often eclipsed the main quest. Uno on Xbox 360 became an addictive downloadable multiplayer hit and one of the first webcam-enabled console games, driving late-night rounds and social play. Viva Pinata combined garden-building with surprising Darwinian creature interactions that proved deeply compulsive and charming.

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