Based on this
https://www.backloggd.com/u/Pangburn/list/ss-master-list/
None of these are exactly my favorite in each of their genres, but I'd say these are all the games you'd need to play to get a rudimentary understanding of the industry and all the kinds of games you can find in today's market. I think all of these are great experiences for first timers with their genre and serve as good jumping off points for bigger and better games.