Three of the Best Victorian Gothic-Inspired Games
When it comes to the world of games, we like themes that excite our imagination. We want a strong aesthetic, unforgettable characters, and gorgeous graphics and imagery. One genre that fits this bill above and beyond all others is Victorian gothic.
Encompassing a sumptuous wardrobe of black crepe dresses, waistcoats, and top hats, along with scenes of cobbled alleys and curlicued streetlamps, it has the ability to transport us back in time – to take us somewhere different and exciting for the duration of the game.
Here are three titles that know exactly how to tap into this often spine-chilling theme.
Alice: Madness Returns
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Based on Lewis Carroll’s eccentric cast of characters, the innovative Alice: Madness Returns by Spicy Horse and Electronic Arts sees the titular Alice’s Victorian dream world brought to life – with a little added darkness to up the ante. Inducing an oddly trippy feeling in players, it challenges you to battle your way through five immersive levels, each of them with its own unique theme. Ranging from ‘hell’ through to ‘orientalism’, perhaps the best of these is ‘steampunk’, which is rendered through the weird and wacky eyes of the Mad Hatter. Forcing you to jump, float, and fight your way through his lava-filled factories, the aim of the game is to retrieve his lost limbs and put him back together. It’s odd, engaging, and has the most wonderful Victorian gothic aesthetic for you to enjoy.
A Dark Matter
Offering something a little different to the other titles included in this list, our second pick is a Victorian-themed slot game from Regal Wins Casino. Combining horror and mystery in its beautifully animated gameplay, this is a title whose eerie aesthetic will instantly transport you to another time and place. Available to play from as little as five pence as well as a demo version for free, it can be enjoyed in a number of different ways thanks to its incredible versatility. This means that whether you’re bored during your commute or sitting at your desktop and in need of some distraction, the wonders of this gothic world are never more than a few clicks away.
Bloodborne
Last but not least, we’d very much recommend that fans of this genre check out Bloodborne. An action roleplaying game, it follows protagonist Hunter through the dimly-lit, Victorian-inspired streets of a city known as Yharnam. There, players discover that the citizens have been infected with a strange, blood-borne disease. Inspired in part by the works of Bram Stoker and H.P. Lovecraft, the game has a gorgeously gothic aesthetic – one that will transport you in an instant from your everyday world to this intricately depicted realm, where you’ll be forced to fight beasts and find the source of the plague. It’s gripping, gritty, and does the most wonderful job of bringing to life this unique and fascinating era.
Dark, chilling, and immersive, the Victorian era that features in these three gorgeously illustrated games is more than just a setting – it’s a character in and of itself, one that adds a unique flavor to the gripping stories that are told. Which of these titles are you tempted to try first?
Three of the Best Victorian Gothic-Inspired Games,
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