

Next up is the art and, oh, my god, just look at all of those gorgeous paintings. An excellent soundtrack if you have been in too many battles or dealing with the stress of the more overbearing and threatening Inferno or Necropolis towns. My favorite is the Rampart theme - it is basically the elves and ents from Lord of the Rings with a beautiful and calming melody. It has among the best music in all of gaming, with impressively pompous themes to rival Baba Yetu from Civilization. It is these social experiences that make it one of my most memorable games and the reputation the game holds to this day suggests the same is true for many others.

I played Heroes 3 in precisely this way at my best friend's place, not owning the game myself until many years later. The anticipation grows as you wait impatiently for your turn and then try to figure out what your friend did during their turn and how you are going to respond. But it is also a perfect game for young children that only have one computer, because you can basically play it like hot-seat chess. Its blend of world exploration and turn-based combat finds depth in a satisfying leveling system and a multitude of different tactical arcs. Heroes 3 presents a magical world full of intriguing conflicts. (I will refer to Heroes of Might and Magic 3 as Heroes 3 from now on.) Heroes 3's factions were visual and mechanical diversity (image from HD re-release) In the case of Heroes of Might and Magic 3, a game that I love, both of these things are true. When we say that we love a game, that usually means one of two things: that the game in question is a masterpiece, or we feel especially connected to it for nostalgic reasons. This entry was contributed by Per Fornander, CEO at Carry Castle, developer of the side-scrolling dark action roguelite Source of Madness published by Thunderful Games on Steam Early Access and releasing this week on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. Why I Love is a series of guest editorials on intended to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate each other's work.
