What is/was your favorite original game desktop icon? It can be an older game or new game.

One of my favorite icons is Max Payne.

https://media.moddb.com/images/games/1/1/18/icon.gif

Of the old games from when I started PC gaming, it's a tie between the helmet of Age of Empires and the tank of Battlefield 1942, but an image search doesn't reveal them on internet, so I'd have to install them and upload them to Imgur myself to be able to show them.

From the era of modern high resolution icons, my favourite is XCOM Enemy Unknown, but search results reveal several, from DeviantArt and I'm not sure if the original is among them, being from an art-site, I guess they're modified/tweaked/enhanced to artistic tastes.

Given that I use an window management system where the desktop metaphor doesn't exist, I'm going to have to crawl into the file of my memory and search out.

Of old world icons, Vangers is a pretty good one. And Roller Coaster Tycoon is very classic, Pop3D/TB has a very nice icon too.

Of new world icons...Papers, Please & La-Mulana are highlights.

For me it's the helmets from the Age of Empires games, definitely. :)

Ah yea I do like the Age of Empires icons, especially the 2nd game.

The first Diablo game has a really nice desktop icon.

Baldurs Gate scores high as an all time favorite
also the Roman Eagle from Rome II

and with a bit of CA fangirling going on i'm do enjoy the golden horserider with the toolwrench in his hands too