The
connoisseur's
coup
de
cœur
list

♡

Hello, this is my list of demoscene productions from each year that I recommend you to see. This is not a best-of list, but a selection of works with fascinating, rarely encountered qualities. A local maximum of creativity. More…

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Coup de cœur is a French expression roughly similar to "love at first sight" in English. It comes from the Demoscene website pouet.net where it acts as a special honor the users can bestow on Demoscene productions. This lists purpose is to provide coherent selection of such interesting productions.

Indeed the keyword here is interesting ; Demos that in various ways stand out and fascinate and inspire the mind. This is not a quest for technical skill—though such merits are not left overlooked—but to celebrate bold creative decisions and artistic talent. The best technical solutions are such that help reach that goal. These are not the best demoscene productions ever made, but the ones that have given me the most striking impression.

There is no specific criteria to be met. The list is constructed entirely arbitrarily by one person. It includes both the famous and the forgotten, the alauded and the lampooned. I've also consciously decided to exclude my own work from the list, since it's extremely difficult to judge their merits from my own perspective and to pit against others' works. The exception to this is Waillee, which I still years later feel holds up and makes a meaningful enough statement to warrant inclusion (though my mind may change in the future…).

I apologize for the susceptible layout and the extremely dodgy CSS; I am no web developer. The page uses some Javascript to toggle this disclaimer and also to query the screenshot images. Many thanks to Gargaj for help with that feature, and for administrating Pouët and all its data.

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

  • Caero

    Plant & Electromotive Force, MS-DOS/PC

  • x14

    Orange, MS-DOS/PC

1994

1993

  • Arte

    Sanity, OCS/Amiga

1992

1991