Greatest video game of all time | Jeff Kaplan and Lex Fridman

In this conversation with Lex Fridman, Jeff Kaplan ranks Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as the greatest game ever made, praising its thoughtful design where every aspect—art, design, technology, and Switch integration—works in harmony. He emphasizes how the game succeeds at multiple design pillars simultaneously (narrative, combat, itemization, world interaction) in ways that most games succeed at only one. Kaplan expresses deep admiration for Nintendo's consistent ability to deliver excellence across decades, describing an almost irrational worship of the company's output.

Kaplan also places Red Dead Redemption 2 on a pedestal, respecting it as a pure single-player, narrative-driven experience with Tarantino-level dialogue quality and genuine character development. He distinguishes between games that merely have writing and games that have truly great stories, noting that Red Dead achieves the latter.

More personally, Kaplan reveals that EverQuest and Rust are the most defining games of his career and life, despite admitting he would never recommend Rust to casual players—describing it as a "cult" that calls to you when you're ready. He discusses Rust's extreme learning curve, where 1,000 hours is considered entry-level.

Kaplan discusses how Rust's resetting world mechanic is influencing his current game project (referred to as Legend of California). He explains the design challenge of making world resets exciting rather than frustrating, aiming for monthly resets that allow new players and experienced players to experience content together equally. Crucially, his game will not feature the permanent loss mechanic that Rust is known for, which he acknowledges will disappoint hardcore Rust players who primarily value the PvP/loot-taking aspect.