Starflight, I admit I was put off by visuals but then got into it and loved it.

A little indie title, LaserCat. quite fun to complete the map, and little riddles along the way. Recommend but short..

Also, Dungeon Hearts and Sequence, blending Rhythm and RPG. Puzzle Quest children of sort.

McPixel, absurd and seconds fast point & clic, WarioWare style.

And my very favorite of the list, One Finger Death Punch. A Groupees bonus to me, and WOW, 2 button mouse FUN!

Can't say that I enjoyed every second of it, but being shrunk in a kitchen was serious fun. Also the multiplayer house/pad where all your trophies are stored was a very nice touch. Pity that the game/steam randomly decided to completely delete all of my online progress one random Tuesday or something :(

The two first Call of Duty. Didn't expect to enjoy some military shooters (am more a cops-and-robbers guy).

Unepic. Okay, it has this trying-way-too-hard humour, but the gameplay is great.

Magrunner. The universal rip-off, but it rips off well.

Far Cry 2, Creeper World, Divine divinity.

Master of Magic - nothing prepared me to get hooked that much.

Trine exceeded my expectations and it had me smiling throughout.

Recently: DMC the devil may cry reboot was actually really fun but (I can't believe I am saying this) a bit too easy. Sure there are harder difficulties but when I think of devil may cry: I think difficult. BUT extremely fun! I recommend it to anyone who likes these kind of games but Always was afraid to play devil may cry because of it's difficulty.

Black Ops: after hating modern warfare 2 and having a terrible time with world at war (both loaners from a friend), I said no to black ops in the beginning. My friend buys all COD's on xbox360 but only plays multiplayer so when a new one comes out he gives me the older one because he knows I only play the single player. Black Ops was actually surprisingly good. still a post modern warfare COD game, don't get me wrong but it was one I had actually fun with...

I bought Chaser here on GOG a long time ago, not expecting much from it. Reviews painted a picture of a "meh" game, but I thought it was quite fun. The second half of the game (or perhaps the final third) is incredibly difficult and not as fun, but the early parts are, and considering how long the game is, that's saying a lot. The cutscenes are well-done, too, even if the voice-acting isn't always that great. Oh, and the music is pretty good.

But the best example I can think of is the 2008 Alone in the Dark. While reviews for the game were mediocre, the general reaction toward the game was negative. Most derided the game for being buggy and just not fun. I bought the game on a whim, and I don't regret it. It is rough, jagged even, around the edges, and there is at least one bug that makes progress without using the skip function really difficult, but I can't help but enjoy it every time I play it. The gameplay is awkward but unique, and the story is interesting to follow, even if the ending leaves something to be desired. It's not the best game in the world and a lot of criticisms aimed at it are probably justified, but I love every second of the game.

Earlier this week I downloaded UT2004 from my dusty GOG shelf. I thought it'd be ok but, do me a lemon, I'm loving it. It was my first UT experience and I get that "just one more go" impulse - several hours later.....

About recent ones, One Finger Death Punch was a "blastly" surprise.

Luxor Evolved surprised me. Thought the difficulty was in a good spot, graphics made the game play clean. Really good game. Tried playing Luxor 3 and I still like Evolved better. I might have been surprised by FTL or Defender's Quest, but both were recommended by people I trust and they didn't disappoint.

Grim Fandango. I knew it had humor but when I played it, I really laughed out sometimes.
Especially with the new ride of the ''grim reaper''.....

The Cat Lady. The screenshots were really misleading. As was the prologue, up until the moment you wake up in the hospital. Seemed too trippy and artsy-fartsy to be fun. But it got better, and I couldn't stop playing it until the end credits. The game has lots of humour, great characters, dread and excitement after all.

Waking Mars, I didn't know anything about it and didn't expect it to be that special, but it's really unique. Such a great idea and good execution.

Hotline Miami, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I do, and I probably shouldn't. :D

Saints Row The Third, I thought it was just trash, but it's some of the most enjoyable and polished trash I've played. I'm still not too fond of its humor, but the gameplay in the sandbox parts - too much fun.

The book of Unwritten Tales (to clarify, I expected it to be fun... what surprised me is HOW MUCH fun it was, while quickly becoming one the most enjoyable adventure games I've ever played)

I expected a 6/10 experience but was treated to a 10/10 game. Unfortunately, this caused the opposite effect on its sequel, Critter Chronicles. I'm hoping BouT2 is closer to the original.

This :).
And even though I've never managed to survive, Zafehous diaries also surprised me :D