Games and their developers are always searching for the next big thing. Yet it is rare that anything truly unique comes along. Many games try to put new spins on tried and tested formulas, using them to attract fans of the genre while being careful not to tread the same over-worn paths. Below, we look at some of the most popular themes used in online gaming.
Sport
As long as there have been video games, developers have tried to emulate sports in pixel form. One of the earliest video games created was a sports simulator. Developed in 1958 by William Higinbotham, it was named Tennis for Two and involved angling a racket to deliver a ball to the opponent by using an oscilloscope. This tennis theme would provide the basis for Pong, the first majorly successful arcade video game.
Sports games have come a long way since then and can be broadly split into two camps. The first are games that try to encapsulate the nuances of the sports in as much detail as possible. The second type takes the sports and adds fantasy elements to it, to enhance the experience and provide a more casual style of play.
Even these games can have subgenres. For example, sports management simulators are extremely popular which involve buying and selling players who then compete in matches. Some games involve multiple sports in one title, such as the interactive Wii Sports that came with the Nintendo Wii console.
Mythology and ancient Egypt
Mythology is huge in gaming, from ancient Greece to Norse mythology. Some games even combine lore, such as the popular God of War title. Yet of all these, ancient Egypt is arguably the most used. This is for good reason. The Egyptians left behind a huge legacy, of which we are still just working out. These mysteries provide a fantastic narrative crux for modern games. With their pantheon of gods and characters, they also provide a visual feast for developers.
The modern fascination with Egypt began in the Victorian era. As the long-lost tombs of the Pharaohs were discovered, the media and pulp fiction went crazy for its tales of mummies and curses. This has seldom waned, and movies such as The Mummy have only added to its place in popular culture.
Finally, the pyramids were filled to the brim with gold and treasure. This also makes them an attractive trope. One area that has used this a lot is the online slot arena. Well known slot games such as Book of Dead have attracted huge numbers of players by tying into the iconography of Egypt. Adding bonuses and multipliers that use the symbolism has resulted in several follow-ups, with more guaranteed to come.
One of the first majorly successful console creators, Atari, has several games focused on Ancient Egypt. They made a text-based adventure named Sands of Egypt, where you played the part of a lost explorer. Riddle of the Sphinx was a note more adventurous game, where you were a Prince of Egypt who traveled the land throwing rocks at Scorpions and Snakes.
Horror
Horror games have had quite the journey to get to the point where they are actually what they need to be, ie scary. Graphical capabilities in the past just didn’t allow games to be that fearsome. The first videogame console, the Magnavox Odyssey, had a horror game that involved a television overlay to help set the ambiance. However, it wasn’t scary at all.
The eighties saw plenty of text-based adventures such as Mystery House and the Lurking Horror, that provided a more literary experience. Even the glut of movie tie-ins, ranging from Texas Chainsaw Massacre games to Friday the 13th failed to capture the public imagination. In the early nineties, consoles opted for shock value to sell games, more so than anything that would have you on the edge of your seat.
The real breakthrough came with Capcom’s 1996 hit Resident Evil. This game invented the term survival horror, where the protagonist’s main aim is to stay alive. It used plenty of cinematic tropes to induce a feeling of unease, that genuinely scared those who played it.
Science Fiction
One of the most commercially successful games in history was Space Invaders. This simple game involved firing from your spacecraft, and taking out alien invaders that came closer to Earth as time ran down. Since then, the theme of science fiction has fused with video games as if they are almost the same thing. This was only exasperated with the release of the Star Wars movie trilogy, which spawned tie-ins galore.
Looking at the trajectory of Star Wars games is a good indication of how far Sci-Fi titles have come. Early games involved geometric, first-person viewpoints. Now, games are open-world epics that involve multiple characters, choices, and locations from across the Star Wars movie and television franchise. Of course, many games have tread the same path. Some, such as Dead Space, even combine sci-fi with horror genres for maximum impact.
Crime
Crime games of the past were quite one-dimensional. They involved the player being the hero, often a police officer or detective, who must take on the foul criminal underworld or spoil their plans. They also dipped into other genres. For example, you may have found a racing game that involved cops and robbers, or a similar trope set in a science fiction future.
In the early days, it was a given that players would be the good guys in this scenario. With so much pressure on video games regarding how they impacted the social development of children, having a game where you could be a villain was unthinkable. That was until Rockstar Games unveiled their Grand Theft Auto series. At first a top-down crime simulator, it later turned into a free-roaming sandbox adventure where you became the criminal mastermind. From London in the Sixties to Miami in the Eighties and modern era New York, it has changed settings but never its core idea. It is a firm favorite today and still manages to raise eyebrows with every release.
There are many other popular themes, from driving to city builders. Games will always try to find new avenues to test. All you can do is try as many as possible and see which ones you like. You may just even find your new favorite genre.