Hmm, a generic “go-to game” is too broad for me. I need additional context in order to figure out what game would work.
So… I’ll provide some more context.
For me, my go-to games for one shot no prep stuff (like a convention slot) are Dialect or For the Queen. I can run both of those games with about 5 minutes of prep.
I’m similar, since one-shots are kind of the norm during COVID especially.
Mine are:
OSR-ish
Story Games
PbtA
This game is so great but I have such a hard time finding people to play it with me (excluding the actual linguists I know).
One of my favorite RPG
Interesting, I have never had a problem finding players for it when I offered to run it. Though I do admit to only offering to run it in venues where it will likely be well received.
It’s one of the most beautiful books I own, which certainly helps.
I really want to run this I think it’s so fun!
I am always down to run Lasers and Feelings hacks. It’s my favorite pickup game. In the last one I ran it was Cyber/Punk and a sentient 3D printer declared its love for a sexbot assassin and then the 3D printer was thrown to blow up the pursuers.
I need to play Fiasco I never have.
It’s great - you can introduce it as a party game. There even VTT playsets now! The card game version is pretty wonderful, too.
Indeed,
Everyone I ever played Fiasco with has had fun. Indeed, it’s easy to propose it to a non-rpg audience because it is a story game that works like a boardgame.
And there are plenty of playbooks fro free (i.e. settings with lists of consequences and possible roles to play): from WWII to the stereotypical rural US town or a colony on Mars. Every place or time in which things can go wrong could be a playbook for Fiasco.
That’s great I didn’t know it was available VTT now
I don’t think I have a “go-to” game I run as-is, but my go-to game to hack when I want to run something new is Into the Odd (and Electric Bastionland). It’s just so easy to adapt and to other settings, and really fun to run.
Right now, it’s my own Adventure Hour! 
Run a lot of Maze Rats, Electric Bastionland, Blades in the Dark, and Cairn too.
I’ve actually never run Into the Odd straight, oddly enough.
My storygame of choice is Follow from designer Ben Robbins.
If I want to play OSRish stuff my go-to is Knave. I love the “stuff” based characters and the rules work well with any module I have on my shelf.
For Narrative-ish stuff my go to is Fate. I love the flexibility compared to PbtA, I can generate a setting, characters, everything I need in a 20 min conversation.
If I want to play a story game it’s usually Microscope but Fiasco too if I’m feeling goofy and the group seems up to doing improv theater.
I don’t have one specific go-to game but I end up running lots of games for people new (or new-ish) to RPGs.
If people want to try “dungeons and dragons” I’ve had good success running dungeon crawls with Knave, so that’s probably my go-to (although I love many other lightweight dungeon games too). I think one thing that’s nice about Knave is there are no classes (any character can try any action), which removes some choice paralysis for new players and means anything they find in a dungeon is potentially useful.
My other go-to games right now are probably Monster of the Week (easy to make it episodic, relatively quick start, most people connect with the theme) and Troika (super fast character creation, lightweight rules, very evocative setting).
It’s Cairn and Whitehack for me right now, but I will pull out Dungeon World or Homebrew World if the players want to be epic heroes.
For scenarios, I go to Fever Swamp, In One Bite or a Trilemma adventure location.
Troika has been a major draw for me since it came out. I love the Fighting Fantasy chassis. On some level it doesn’t feel like it should work, but it does. I haven’t plaid nearly enough of it though to talk in-depth (other than some analysis I did on damage runs and monster stat ranges). Want to talk about Troika more in-depth here or elsewhere on the fora? You too @d_m
1974 OD&D using only the first 3LBBs house ruled for usability with modified classes.
Have you read Delving Deeper @GusL? It’s my favorite cleanup/retroclone of Oe 3LBBs (and certainly the most accurate).