Two white bars, a bouncing square, and an entire industry starting right there.

On gut feeling, the community puts Pong ahead of 20% of games, which is already a kind of respect given what it faces. The detail is merciless. The soundtrack sits at the very bottom, ahead of 0% of titles, and that is hardly unfair: there is no soundtrack, there is a beep. Desert island ahead of 1% of games, attachment ahead of 4%, controller feel ahead of 5%, art style ahead of 6%. Two lines keep their head above water, fun ahead of 18% and rediscovery ahead of 22%, as if part of the voters still sense that this thing, played two-player, works. On three to five duels per criterion, so go gently.

Let us be plain: the questions asked here are built for attachment, emotion, aesthetics. Pong, in 1972, has none of that and never claimed to. Atari shipped a rule, a ball, a bounce angle, and that was enough to found a trade. What makes it great simply is not what these criteria measure.

So, who is it for? For you if you love the history of the medium, bare mechanics, a two-player duel on a couch that needs no explaining. Much less so if you want a game to tell you something, show you something, or stay with you.