Video games are amazing. They're amazing because of the level that they can affect everyone in a multitude of ways. Where one person can find peace and solitude with a title, another can quell its worth as diminutive and lackluster. Thankfully, the majesty of their impact has been captured in a number of films, most of which are conveniently available on Netflix. So, if you're at a loss on a dreary Sunday afternoon, here are seven titles that you should get viewing if you love video games

Indie Game: The Movie

A touching and revealing documentary, Indie Game: The Movie chronicles the releases of indie game titles Braid, Super Meat Boy & Fez, and how their creators and developers commit their lives to making their art come to life.

This underappreciated gem is full of the personal stories of people like Jonathan Blow (creator of Braid and The Witness) and Phil Fish (the man behind Fez) who give a real emotional insight into how they started on their journey of a kid getting a NES at Christmas to taking on the gigantic task of transplanting the visions in their minds into virtual realities.

The charm of Indie Game is in its honesty. It pulls no punches in letting its audience know the hardships and sacrifices that exist within the video game industry. Isolation, lack of funding, even depression and suicide are all issues candidly discussed by the handful of people involved.

Their emotional tales being reflected in both the media presented to you by the filmmakers and in digital form by the developers who desperately toil day and night to imprint themselves and their emotional psyches on to the computerised canvas of their work.

Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler

A somewhat spiritual successor to King of Kong, Man vs Snake tells the story of classic gaming savant Tim McVey and how he claimed the world record on the obtuse arcade title Nibbler (Snake from the Nokia 3210 before there was a Snake on the Nokia 3210).

The story is a tale of redemption after Tim realises another player broke his record not long after his initial playthrough (although the score wasn't officially recognised by record keepers Twin Galaxies), robbing him of his childhood status as a legendary player.

Tim is portrayed as a vulnerable protagonist, an underdog who fights his corner against other players, seeking to slay the snake and the game itself, which oddly serves as a sadistic rival to Tim, crushing his fragile spirit as he comes within frustrating touching distance to the score that he strives for.

Several other notable names from the world of video games pop up. Walter Day, Billy Mitchell and Dwayne Richard all make an appearance in a much more personal feature than King of Kong. Rather than focusing on the indirect rivalry of Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe, it gives centre stage to Tim's emotional quest to prove himself and earn the respect of his family and friends.

It has a slightly higher production value and lighter tone than its predecessor, mainly thanks to the animated reconstruction scenes and personal footage provided by Tim and his wife. After watching this movie, you too will celebrate Tim McVey Day.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Arguably the most famous documentary with video games as its subject matter, King of Kong showcases the back and forth between Player of the Century Billy Mitchell and ordinary everyman Steve Wiebe and their battle for the Donkey Kong world record.

KoK plays on the age-old adage of the David vs Goliath story, the softly likeable science teacher Steve Wiebe pitting his monkey conquering barrel leaping skills against the titan of Twin Galaxies and their prize fighter Billy Mitchell.

The documentary itself doesn't explicitly set out to create a good guy versus a bad guy scenario (Billy Mitchell materialises in to an antagonist pretty much by himself), but you can't help but develop sympathy for Wiebe as his triumphs are continually upended by Mitchell who, like an arcade version of Emperor Palpatine, manages to stay one step ahead of his retro mastering opponent, all the while painting a crooked self portrait that displays him as, for lack of a better phrase, a bit of a douche.

Fistful of Quarters obviously hands you more if you have a love and passion for video games, but ultimately validates itself as a recording of the emotional journey of an ordinary man vying to prove his worth and overcome an obstacle. That obstacle just happens to be the Donkey Kong world record.

Atari: Game Over

One for those who are fans of urban myths and legends, Atari: Game Over delves in to the rise and fall of Atari and the mysterious burial of the E.T game for the 2600, widely regarded as one of if not the worst game of all time, and the quest to find the elusive landfill which has become their tomb.

Featuring interviews with programmers, fans and screenwriters, all of them weighing in on the rise of the video game industry, how Atari dominated that early market, subsequently pushing too far and triggering its self-destruction, the illusion of its failure so grandiose it almost destroyed an industry before it came to be.

What starts as the filmmaker's personal yearning to discover what became of one of the relics of their childhood slowly morphs into a story about the first generation of developers who sought to use video games to introduce people to the wonder and majesty of the endless capabilities that a computer held.

Quickly the notion that E.T was a cataclysmic failure that started the infamous video game crash of 1983 is set straight. You discover that the poor alien was merely a scapegoat for the culmination of all the missteps that Atari as a company had taken leading to that point.

Short and sweet (only just over an hour in length) this production shows video game developers as a band of creative minds, living a rockstar lifestyle that took having fun so seriously, they got high in the office Jacuzzi (not even making that up), as well as documenting an important piece of video game history that, after watching this, clears up the misnomers about one of the founders of innovation in the entertainment field.

Video Games: The Movie

Essential viewing for any video game historian, VG: TM travels through the lineage of the medium, looking at all the major points of the art. From the very beginning of where video games started up to the present day heavyweights such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V, this documentary takes time to appreciate and teach its viewers all the major points in the timeline of interactive entertainment.

Even at my young age I am able to swim in the sea of nostalgia that ebbs from this fountain of memories. Whatever video games mean to you, somewhere along the bus stops of electronic evolution, you'll find something utterly relatable.

Whether you've been around since the seeds of industry were sown at Atari, been firmly team Playstation your whole life or just play Wii bowling every Christmas, video games will have affected your life in some way. This film explores how the industry has evolved from its primitive form into the intimately crafted works of art.

A love letter to the whole of gaming, Video Games: The Movie gets to grips with how video games started, how they're made and how they've changed our relationship with media forever.