I was ready to compile my own list, but for everything you want to do, there already is a Wikipedia List! Since posting only a link would not suffice, I am writing some few words alongside those pretty pictures.
My personal highlights:
Red Baron
It all started with Red Baron on the ATARI. Monochrome Vector Graphics! NVRAM! Battlezone style 3D (-ish) action! Amazing how old it is by now and how old I AM! You probably only know "Snoopy and the Red Baron"?
The Last Express
You haven't played The Last Express? Thankfully it is available (again) on Steam. It is a marvelous Point and Click Adventure, from a time, when Point & Click Adventures were still popular. Game developers quote this game as an influence in 2016. Just read the Steam reviews, if you are still not convinced.
Darkest of Days
A horrible FPS. I only mention it here, because Jeff Gerstmann and the immortal Ryan Davis (RIP, my brother) made a hilarious QUICK LOOK about the game. Still worth laughing about. Apparently, the game developers saw this Quick Look and said "it was fair". They themselves knew, they didn't re-invent the FPS wheel.
VICTORIA II
Yes. Aaahh, those Paradox "Interactive"(sic!) gameses ... if you are of the "One percent", suffer the Stockholm Syndrome, you 'play' and 'enjoy' Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, etc and think, those people who don't love these games are stupid idiots, you will think of Victoria and Victoria II as superb examples of grand strategy war games.
If you grew up in Kansas, you will only see an impenetrable wall of data dumps. 1990 style MS Excel 1.0 spreadsheets, disguised as video game data.
Have fun. I am not judging you. I am judging all of us!
Honorary mentions: Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game and Victoria II Heart of Darkness.
Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol
Not the kind of WWI game, one would think of making, this is a nice little gem of a game. Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol has nice game mechanics and is very playable. Everyone can play it right away. A Sid Meier signature. Also, nothing really 'historic' about this game. Another Sid Meier signature.
Rise of Flight United
Staying in the air, the Russian 777 Studios made Rise of Flight a good while ago. Unlike the majority of Steam customers, I think, this game is really great! No other WWI or any other hardcore flight sim (yes, I play them all), does fragile WWI aircrafts in turbulent air so convincing. The campaign is overly dramatic and looks awful (3D characters are not the game engines main purpose), but the flight model and the overall look and feel make up for it. I just love it!
The biggest 'plus' of this game are the 1 on 1 dogfights. You feel like you are totally IN IT - like you are INSIDE YOUR FAVORITE WWI AIR BATTLE MOVIE! I highly recommend either a full HOTAS setup, or - if you don't want to sit all day at your desk, with TrackIR on your head, you can map your XBOX 360 GAMEPAD (or Steam gamepad, or ANY gamepad, to the controls!) I use the right analog stick to look around, because you ALWAYS HAVE TO LOOK AROUND! You follow the enemy with your eyes (no 'tracking icons' in this game: WWI - remember?).
Video above: GIANTBOMB FLIGHT CLUB! feat. Drew, Vinny & Dave! Also TrackIR! Video below: me, testing me 360 controls.
Verdun
For the history books: before Battlefield 1, there always was Verdun. Verdun was first. Got it? I am too lazy to write a long review of what I like and what is wrong (and still buggy) with this game. I was following the game development of this game via developer blog updates on Steam. These developers got excited when they could share gifs of their accurate animation, reloading your ancient musket for 90 seconds ... unless you got killed (never do this while standing up! What's wrong with you?!). They also re-wrote the game for a new Unity engine (which is quite impressive). Sadly a lot of bugs are still in this game, since they focused to release the game on PS4 this summer (aah, the long shadow of EA/DICE. Cash in while you can). I hope, they will 'finish' their game, since it has interesting gameplay, if you can find like-minded players (I am the guy who stops at red lights in driving games. ... what?!)
It is basically Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad made in "World War One". It became famous outside the loyal player base, when the players and devs decided to hold a trench truce during Christmas, just like the real soldiers did in the real war. Unlike many game reviewers - and some players - you don't run around like chickens and shoot everything you think you see. This is NOT Battlefield ... or Call of Duty ... or whatever else.
Methodically, and preferably with team players, you defend your trenches against enemies. You MAKE A PLAN on how and where and when to attack. Always remember, one shot can kill you. There are no icons (did I mention that?). Enemies and Allies look the same!
All this writing makes me hot for the upcoming RISING STORM 2. I have to stop now...
To End All Wars (not that Kiefer Sutherland movie)
On the other end of the Paradox Interactive, Victoria, Hearts of Iron grand strategy war games spectrum, lies the abyss of the serious wargamer. The Matrix Games forum subscribers, the AGEOD engine intelligenzia. Those are mostly old people. Grown men, with long beards, who grew up in the Cold War, playing tabletop games, or actually participating in wars, like that nasty Vietnam one.
Yes. As you can see, this is looking almost exactly as the Paradox games would look like (not for the trained eye though). The major difference is, this is turn-based! You have all the time in the world to decide what to do, where and how. And it helps! You will need a lot of time to move all your units, create new ones, figure out enemy 'fog-of-war' movement, check your economy, plan and execute attacks, supply lines(!), etc, etc, etc ...
Though it can seem overwhelming in the beginning, I surprisingly find myself 'digging' this game from the start. It is well designed and - with a little experience with so-called "4X games", you can figure it out too. To End All Wars comes with a bunch of distinct scenarios, based on real events during "The Great War" (which WWI was called. Nobody said "World War One". People had no clue, someone would start a "second World War" (most people didn't).
I still have to play more, but need to find the time. If only I would stop writing random blog posts on Gamespot, nobody will ever read. There's a hint...
... and many more.
Honorary mention: Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, Commander: The Great War, Valiant Hearts: The Great War.
Post Mortem: I am certain there are many more WWI video games out there. Wikipedia entry only has the commonly known. MobyGames may have more? It would take a research team of the Washington Post or Boston Globe (of old "Spotlight" days), to find them all. Amiga. SpectrumZX. Commodore, etc, etc. Dig your own trench and you will find them?
Also, if you are a reader - of course, you are! You are still reading THIS! - I highly recommend the diaries, letters and novels of the Great War era. They are most interesting and gripping. The novels of that time, by eye-witnesses and soldiers of the war, are among the best literature of the 20th century!! If you can handle history books, browse Amazon (or whatever you like) and you will find great examples of formidable texts, too. Of course, history books should always be read with a grain of salt - they are too often interpretations of facts. Writers, having agendas. For every 'good book', you have to sit through five bad ones. Good lists can help you with that. These days, we have this thing, the kids call "Internet". Many good lists and reviews available.
Thanks for wasting your time, reading THIS thing. Mea culpa. Sincere apologies.
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