It feels fair to say that creativity is at the core of the human experience. Art is a form of expression, and that in many ways makes the very human act of creating games a work of art in and of itself. Art has many bounds, though games have the unique aspect of requiring your input.
This goes to a decidedly meta layer when the game in question is all about letting you create your own art. It feels almost philosophical, but that toolset has given birth to some of the most wonderful games in existence. Nothing keeps something alive like the ability to make art from it.
8 Breath Of The Wild
With Tears of the Kingdom on everyone's minds, it's hard to imagine a world before its predecessor, Breath of the Wild. It changed the gaming landscape remarkably, let alone the Zelda series itself.
Yet so much of what seems to be at the forefront of Tears of the Kingdom started through player manipulation in Breath of the Wild.
Breath of the Wild wants you to mess with it. The greatest joy in the game is not knowing whether you've done something as intended but it working out anyway.
Case in point, the wild creations people have made in a system that wasn't actually intended for it. Making trees fly with Octoroks, using magnetism and time control to create vehicles and so much more.
7 No Man's Sky
When No Man's Sky was first released it was lonely, though entirely by intent. You explored the universe as it was born, scouring the surfaces of planets on your way to its very centre.
In the years since it has grown into something exponentially larger and different and has given birth to its own great creators beyond the procedural creations the game intended.
First came the ability to make bases. Then came settlements and whole plots of land.
For some, a simple base to call home is enough. For others, they build giant cities that seem impossible to even exist in such a game.
No Man's Sky even has plenty of fan tools that let you modify the game to create wilder and larger creations on a galactic scale.
6 Animal Crossing
The Animal Crossing games have always been about putting your own personal mark on the world. It's not always your world, you share it with plenty of other animals, but you have your own space to carve out.
New Horizons took this a step further, granting you a whole island for your and your villagers.
A major feature of older games that returned in new Horizons is the ability to make your own clothes, with the most whimsical and intricate designs you can imagine. There's the depth of customisation to the village itself, or creating your own village tune.
And of course, with the islands of New Horizons, you can terraform to your heart's content, shaping your island into whatsoever pleases you.
5 Besiege
Besiege was originally released on Steam back in 2015 in Early Access, one of the early adopters of the programme that is now common across the industry. Besiege was and is a simple game by intent, though incredibly deep in the action, where you're put into a map with a simple objective, and progress to the next level after beating it.
The true depth of Besiege comes from the absurd creations you can make. Taking a style akin to medieval Europe, Besiege has you creating siege machines that dark age designers could only dream of.
Flying machines, wheeled and armoured tanks, flamethrowers and cannons and anything else you could envision. Just make sure you don't crush it under its own weight.
4 Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts And Bolts
When you think of Banjo and Kazooie, your first thought is probably the mania surrounding them getting into Smash.
After that though, you probably think about the original platforming games, and how much you want a re-release or new entry in the series. You probably don't think of Nuts And Bolts, the entry all about creating custom vehicles.
Nuts and Bolts was a bold direction for the series, the first new entry in years with a completely different focus. The actual system for creating was surprisingly deep, letting you make a great variety of vehicles without many restrictions, all the while giving you plenty of missions to test them out in.
In hindsight, it may have even been the inspiration for the many player-creation-focused games that came after.
3 Minecraft
It would feel downright unfair to make a list focused on the creative endeavours of individuals in gaming without mentioning Minecraft, which is beyond simply 'a game' as many people would classify it. It is a game, yes, but it is also a tool of education, expression and a cultural phenomenon all on its own.
Minecraft holds the unique position of being both a game whose whole intent is creation within the game, while simultaneously having one of the greatest and most active modding communities in gaming. You can create to your heart's intent in Minecraft, yet should you ever find certain tools or aspects of the game lacking, you can guarantee there's a mod for what you want.
The game is, in many ways, creation personified.
2 Spore
Did you know Spore was genuinely originally developed with the intent of showing evolution in a somewhat genuine way? After seeing the creations that poured out of that game, perhaps it's not the most accurate simulation, but it is a damned fun one.
Spore has you beginning as some of the smallest amoebae, continually evolving as the game progresses. You'll see plenty of other species grow and change too, though you have an unsettling degree of control over your own race.
As a result, you can maybe make some modifications that perhaps natural selection would not have been pleased with. That said, you can upload all your creations so you can definitely say EA wanted to see your funky creatures.
1 Dreams
In a befitting title, Dreams was made up of the kind of stuff one could only think up, yet some truly managed to create. The game was far from a commercial success, likely due to the fact that it was almost more a tool than a game itself, yet it is such an absurdly unique and powerful tool to create games.
Probably the closest the average gamer will ever come to understanding game dev (we hope), Dreams lets you simply create whatever you want. For many games, that's confined by the rules of the game itself.
You can't place perfect circles in Minecraft, but Dreams is just a collection of wonderful tools that lets you truly create anything. It's a shame it's losing support so quickly, though it will always be remembered for the sheer depth of creative power it put at your fingertips.