Ahead of the 21st Bafta games awards this April, the institution is running a public survey asking people to nominate the most influential video game of all time. As the survey points out, this is an open-ended question: early, groundbreaking titles such as Space Invaders and Pong regularly crop up as answers because they helped write the rules of the form, but on a personal level, the right game at the right time can be exceptionally influential, too. For players, its often the games that made us feel differently about what games could do that feel the most influential. For a game designer, a film director, a writer or a musician, one particular game might inspire a whole creative era.Inspired by Baftas survey, we asked people from across games and culture for their most influential game and not one name cropped up twice.Mike Bithell, game designer and head of Bithell GamesRevision evasion Metal Gear Solid 2. Photograph: KonamiMetal Gear Solid 2 (2001) hit me at the perfect moment. I was trying to power through my GCSEs, and here came this perfect thing that pointed to a future of games that took me seriously as a player. (I nearly failed my last maths test after staying up for those final few cutscenes.) It engaged with sci-fi tropes and stylish storytelling in a way that felt generations ahead of its peers. Shenmue was the game that convinced me I wanted to make games, but MGS2 showed me the kind of games I wanted to make. One day Ill get there.Louise Blain, creative lead at Blumhouse GamesFresh fear PT. Photograph: Kojima Productions/KonamiHelpfully, the constantly evolving nature of the horror genre means that a new game can arrive and instantly unlock a fresh fear. Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toros shortform horror game PT (2014) holds a special place in my heart, and its all the more bittersweet for the fact that it is now unavailable and its full-length successor, Silent Hills, never saw the light of (foggy) day. Taking the lead from Amnesia: The Dark Descents oppressive first person experience, the simplicity of PTs looping corridor is its masterstroke. All you really need to do is push forward and peer into its darkest corners, making this a frankly agonising haunted house taken entirely at your own pace. The game has spawned an infinite number of spiritual successors in atmospheric horror over the last decade, but even the recent trend for anomaly horror has a distinct PT flavour, as we enter the same spaces over and over again, on edge for the frightening differences.Keza MacDonald, Guardian video games editorBeyond fun The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Photograph: NintendoAs Grand Theft Autos Dan Houser once said: Anyone who makes 3D games who says theyve not borrowed something from Mario or Zelda is lying. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) set an example for explorable 3D game worlds that is still followed today everything, from Links movement to the sword combat to the little fairy who acts as a guide to what was then a new way of controlling games, was designed from scratch and with little precedent. But its the mood of this game that I think was especially influential, not just on me but a generation of children who played it. Ocarina of Time is exciting, but also scary and a little sad. With its child hero, who hurtles forward in time against his will, it depicts a loss of innocence; it trusted young players to overcome their nervousness and get to grips not just with a new type of video game, but with all the threatening creatures, malevolent forces and hidden secrets that might be out there in its world. I think its the first video game I played that felt like it wasnt just for fun.Ellie Gibson, comedianGirls own adventure Tomb Raider. Photograph: ReutersThe obvious and only correct answer is Tomb Raider (1996). It introduced the idea that a female video game character could be the star, rather than sidekick or hostage. It was the first game I played that wasnt just about collecting shiny things or killing baddies (and its a great shame the series lost its way down these rabbit holes in later years). It was about adventure, exploration and clever puzzles that made you feel like a genius when you finally solved them. Tomb Raider went on to inspire a raft of successful action adventure titles, such as the Uncharted games, and its influence is still present in the Assassins Creed series. Its a shame this influence didnt extend to inspiring a raft of strong female characters, but patriarchy gonna patriarchy, innit. On a personal note, Lara Croft was such a huge influence on me personally that in 2002 I visited Angkor Wat wearing a tight vest and attempted to climb up a temple via some overhanging vines. I got shouted at by a security guard and ran away.Nina Freeman, game designerPhysical humour QWOP. Photograph: Foddy.netThe most influential game for me must be QWOP (2008), by Bennett Foddy. It sort of brings me back to my roots when I play it. Ive always been drawn to small, experimental games, and QWOP is a timeless example of that. At one of the first game jams I ever did, my friends and I made how do you Do It?, which was heavily inspired by the physical humour of QWOP. Bennett, whom I hadnt yet met, was a judge at the jam! We showed him the game, chatted a bunch, and kept in touch after that. Bennett ended up becoming one of my biggest mentors at this early stage of my career, so his work in general has had a big impact on me.Brenda Romero, game designerFather of FPS Doom. Photograph: id SoftwareLook, I admit a bias here, but even if I were not married to John [Romero], my answer would still be the same: Doom (1993). I actually tried to think of something else, but nothing compared to its impact. Doom defined the first person shooter and set the stage for what is gamings most popular genre. At the same time, it introduced deathmatch and online multiplayer to a wide audience. All FPS games truly owe their DNA to Doom.Doom was created to be moddable, and that decision is part of the reason why the community is still active almost 32 years later. I dont know of a single game developer who was not taken aback when Doom hit. It was mind blowing and a cultural shift for both games and game culture. At the time, consoles really dominated, and Doom sold the PC hard.From a design perspective, Doom introduced the abstract level design philosophy, the style for which John Romero is still known. As a designer, the non-linear and non-standard level design was a big break from the way things were done at the time. I have heard others say that everything about those early levels was a masterclass in game design. Not a week goes by where a well-known game developer doesnt credit Doom for inspiring them and starting their career. And its still going, now playable on everything from pianos to ATMs and pregnancy tests.Iain Cook, musician, producer and composerMile melter A Nintendo 64 with a Mario Kart 64 cartridge. Photograph: Sam Stephenson/AlamyI had mostly kicked my video game addiction for the only period in my life between 1997 and 1999, but fell off the wagon hard when the PlayStation 2 was released. The next-gen allure of Metal Gear Solid 2, Silent Hill 2 and Gran Turismo 3 convinced me that I was missing out on something revolutionary. But in 2001 I was suddenly in the recording studio and on tour in Europe and America with my first proper band, Aereogramme, and there was a lot of downtime to fill. Eight-hour driving days in the back of a smokey van; endless post-soundcheck afternoons, waiting anxiously to go on stage. Not that I didnt succumb to other vices, but video games made the hours melt away. Advance Wars was a huge hit with me and my bandmates; the pass-and-play turn-based strategy really worked to engage the brain in between service station piss stops and weed-induced naps. But it was Mario Kart (1992-present) that really got the heart pounding.In time trials on 2001s Super Circuit I would spend an hour or more trying to shave a tenth of a second off the previous best three laps laid down by the fastest racer in the band. Once wed dialled in on a new course, identified the shortcuts and mapped out the best racing line, you had to stitch all of those things perfectly together in a single run. Mess up and theres no point in continuing. Restart. Deep breath. Palms sweating. You needed total focus as well as muscle memory. The mounting anxiety explodes in expletive-filled euphoria when you cross the line. This game has brought me together with some amazing people. Im now part of a WhatsApp group where my friends and I compete with other bands and video game industry people, setting a new course every couple of weeks, posting screenshots to validate authenticity. I know for sure that when Mario Kart 9 drops, my productivity is going to drop sharply again.Sam Barlow, game designer and founder of Half MermaidWay to go Super Mario Bros. Photograph: NintendoSuper Mario Bros (1985). What more to say? You move a character he looks like a human, and a characterful human. There is a world: the one in the background, evocative landscapes and skies; and the one in the foreground that you run and jump over. The imagery! Natural landscapes mashed up with Alice in Wonderland. The physics and the controls allow expression you can go fast, slow, cautious, bold its the way in which we exist as a primal level as a biped that walks through the world, condensed down into a game. Challenge, exploration, expression. We go left to right, and there are levels and goals and bosses and secrets! This game laid down the structures and the ideas that weve been using ever since but also showed that masterful execution is the heart of a video game.Shuhei Yoshida, former head of PlayStation StudiosSentimental Journey. Photograph: SonyMy most influential game of all time is Journey (2012). Journey moved players deeply; they had tears in their eyes at the end. It was proof that a game, like movies and novels, could affect people emotionally.This game, which was developed by a small team of 18 people and could be played in three to four hours, swept most of the industrys highest game of the year honours, competing against AAA blockbuster titles. I believe it was the first time that had happened in the industry.Meghna Jayanth, writer and narrative designerSim sensation Princess Maker 2 Refine. Photograph: CFK Co/Bliss BrainThe Princess Maker series (1991-2007). You are tasked with raising a fairy princess disguised as an ordinary human girl, managing her time between learning important skills, pursuing her interests, adventuring and dating. This early social simulation game is surprisingly crunchy and punishing; its extremely possible for your daughter to die or be exiled during the various social and political trials that mark her coming-of-age. Each instalment varies, but its not uncommon to have 50+ endings as well as branching dialogue and narrative events conditional on your princesss particular stats and attributes. As a narrative designer this game was a revelation, and apart from in my own work, I think you can see its influence in everything from the wildly successful Persona games to last years intriguing indie meditation on capitalism Final Profit to any of Hanako Games niche but satisfying offerings. In fact, I see a genre through-line all the way to the ambitious and genuinely brilliant design of indie game Closer the Distance, one of this years Independent games festival narrative nominees. Oh, and it was unashamedly marketed to and interested in girls. I wish more publishers and executives would pay attention. This is a game that I wish was even more influential.Keith Stuart, Guardian video game correspondentWeirdly therapeutic Paperboy Photograph: AtariIn the early 1980s, most of the games I played were extremely abstract: you were a space ship fighting aliens, or you were a hungry yellow circle being chased by ghosts. But in 1985 Atari released Paperboy, a game in which you were a boy delivering papers. Not only was this arcade classic revolutionary in that it featured a real-life job, it also presented a world that was absolutely full of detail and experimentation, in which players were actively rewarded for messing about. What if you threw a paper at a window or a passerby? You got feedback. You got feedback whatever you did. As a schoolboy with an actual paper round it felt weirdly therapeutic to do the job badly, but in game design terms it also taught a generation of designers that the everyday world is an exciting, amusing and challenging place to set a video game. It was also a game that let you mess about, it rewarded mischief. It was GTA a dozen years early.