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There comes a time in every nerd’s life where they are obligated to host a LAN party. They also have to come up with a list of games that ought to be played at said party. In my opinion, there are three factors that should be considered when ranking games for LAN party awesomeness: depth, playability, and compatibility.

Depth: Depth is easy to judge for a RTS, and there are several easy questions to ask to understand how deep the game is. I’m going to pick three.
1. Does the game always require a variety of units to win?
2. Could the game be played for years, and still have new learning opportunities?
3. Is the game free of any obvious imbalances?

I have a separate set of questions for judging the depth FPS games, because the level of depth is vastly different than an RTS.
1. Does the game have diverse maps, with different playstyles?
2. Are there different weapons for different situations?
3. Is the game free of obviously cheap tactics?

Playability: Playability is a little harder to describe, but it encompasses the controls of the game, the learning curve, and how immersive the game is. The questions are the same for all genres.
1. Is the game fun for both new and experienced players?
2. Is it possible to understand how to play the game within 5 minutes?
3. Is the game free of any control elements that severly obstruct playing?

Compatibility: A game should be easy to install, and it should smoothly on everyone’s computer. Again, the questions are the same for all genres.
1. Would I want other manufacturers to produce games that require this install process?
2. Is it possible to have the game installed and running in 5 minutes?
3. Does the game play smoothly on all the systems at the LAN party?

So, how do the games match up? Some of these questions are subjective, so your assessment may vary. Here is mine:

Depth

Playability

Compatibility

Total Scores

If you ever wanted to have a numerical ranking of games, there you go.