Have you picked games based on their cover?

[Antimatter]

Has anyone else used to pick games based on their cover as a kid?

 

[Antimatter]

Yep. I just started to learn history in school at that point. I was hooked by Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. Basically, that picture was my way into that game and many others... And now many years later, I still love history but I'm also a fan of strategy games.

Btw, Age of Empires didn't disappoint, it always had a big emphasis on historical campaigns. You can learn so many details just by playing it. The game has been remastered recently and is still very much good.

As for the Might & Magic cover, at that point another interest of mine was fantasy. Basically, I liked history and started to get into fantasy as well. So a dragon and a party of adventurers who had weapons and armour I liked from my history addiction...

I didn't read game magazines much at that time, so a cover (and a game description on the backside of the disc case) was the main factor.

 

[shmity72]

I played the heck out of the mandate of heaven.
I was on a budget in my youth. it was baldur's gate ii or this fancy looking cover named deus ex.

I went with deus ex

 

[BelgarathMTH]

If you're into ancient Greece and Egypt, you'd probably enjoy Titan Quest, for the art, scenery, and music if nothing else. They use instruments from those regions in the soundtrack, and there are graphics of the art, geography, and culture of the ancient Mediterranean and Asian regions all over the place.

If you didn't know, Titan Quest is a Diablo-style game, and another one of my favorites along with Sacred.

 

[Chronicler]

I don't think I ever did, but if I'd seen that Mandate of Heaven cover I certainly might've.

 

[Skatan]

As a kid, me and the brother saved all our money for month after month until we could afford a new NES game. Before internet there wasn't that much choice to read reviews or get inspiration which means we went to the local toy store and chose there. I still rememeber one of the most agonizing moments where we chose between World Cup and another game.. But I don't remember which that other game was now, because we ended up choosing this one! And we had a ton of fun with it too.

I really don't remember ever choosing based on package/pics alone after that since we then started to buy the local Nintendo magazines and when moving to Amiga, had a subscription on a magazine for that too.