There’s never been a better time to be a gamer. Today, games aren’t just more accessible than ever but their numbers are also greater than ever before. Each year, tens of thousands of games hit the market, ensuring that there’s always a new game for gamers to sink their teeth into.
Ancient Cultures
The creativity of the video game industry is endless. Still, you’ll find that some themes and imagery pop up time and time again due to their popularity. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at some of the themes which, if you keep your eye out, you’ll notice that you see with plenty of frequency.
You can understand why game developers love basing games on ancient cultures. After all, they’re pretty fascinating. Plus, since they’re not as well documented as the present day, they also provide plenty of creative license. Once you have the right imagery, you can take the story and gameplay wherever you want. Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Greece are three cultures of yesteryear that game developers are all too eager to use as a basis for their titles. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, God of War III, and Age of Mythology are three of the most popular games within this genre.
Candy Land Adventures
You might think that candy rose to prominence in the video game industry following the release of Candy Crush back in 2012, but it actually stretches back much further. Candies have appeared in video games in various forms for decades, most notably in the Super Mario franchise, where consumable candies can restore characters to full health. With that said, the overwhelming success of Candy Crush can definitely be credited with popularizing the theme and encouraging other game developers to incorporate it into their own titles. Sweet Bonanza, a popular slot game, relies on candy (and fruit) imagery to create engaging gameplay and was clearly influenced by Candy Crush. Well, it’s the 6th highest grossing mobile game ever made, so it’s not surprising that it was so influential!
Word Puzzle Games
Technology allows for exceptional games that are more immersive and lifelike than ever before. But there’s still plenty of room for less bombastic games, too. Take word puzzle games, for instance, which are as popular as ever. Wordle is probably the most famous recent word puzzle to hit mainstream popularity. Created in 2013, the game went viral in December 2021 and was eventually bought by the New York Times. Today, some 2 million people play Wordle each day. Scrabble, Words With Friends, and good old crosswords are some of the other most popular mobile word puzzle games, too.
Into the Unknown
As with ancient cultures, game developers are endlessly fascinated by the idea of the ‘unknown.’ Unlike games set in the present day, they don’t have to follow any rules — the future, as well as deeper space, are a mystery. This allows them to create gaming experiences that produce anxiety, fear, kindness, and other intense emotions in the player; in other words, exactly the kind of experiences that gamers look for. Nobody makes it to the end of The Last of Us, Fallout: New Vegas, Gears of War, or Mass Effect 2 without having been on an intense journey.
Replicating Sports
Game developers have long been drawn to replicating sports. Today, the genre is one of the world’s most popular, and also arguably the one that has the broadest mass appeal. Every major sport — and also plenty of minor sports — has its own video game. In fact, gamers usually have several options to choose from. Not that sport-based games are a new phenomenon. Their history goes way back. The very first widely popular game, 1972’s Pong, was based on tennis. Most modern games replicate athleticism in some way, too; for instance, having to swim or run in survival games. Sports play a big role in everyday human life, so it’s inevitable that the theme is widely used in gaming.
