Minecraft

Markus Persson (Notch) had been tinkering with a game about stacking blocks in 3D. In his own words: "It was meant to be a lightweight Dwarf Fortress. Kind of like the offspring of Dwarf Fortress and RollerCoaster Tycoon." Then Zach Barth's Infiniminer appeared (spring 2009). Of the moment he saw it, he wrote: "My god, I realized that that was the game I wanted to do." He's equally direct about his other influences: "Dwarf Fortress, and roguelikes in general, are probably the biggest inspiration for Minecraft's gameplay. Toady One is a real hero." And the game's first title was Cave Game — at that point, caves hadn't even been implemented yet. In 2014, Mojang was bought by Microsoft for 2.5 billion dollars, and Notch left. His own explanation was short: "It's not about the money. It's about my sanity." Sales are reported to have passed 300 million copies (reporting based on Mojang's own annual figures; the primary source has not been confirmed).