Steampunk Summer #4: Games Powered By Imagination, Electricity and Steam
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For the last two installations of Steampunk summer, we presented to you books and movies/shows. This time, we’re going for something less passive. Video and board games, for those who like something interactive. We’ll cover all platforms, from all generations. Atari, Play Station 1,2, 3 and nods to 4, Xbox 360, PC, Amiga and many others, we cover them all. Luckily, board games are their own hardware, so you won’t need any emulators if you decide to play those. But let’s start with video games.
Adaptations? Again!?
Unlike books and seventh art, video gaming has no predecessors that date all the way to the early 20th century. Reason is simple: there were no gaming consoles, thus no video games. Of course, a lot of games are inspired directly or indirectly by works from other media. Some are licensed, like Hellboy: The science of Evil or previously skipped movie with game Van Helsing. Usually, those games have mixed or bad reviews and, as it is in most cases with adaptations and usually don’t stand the test of time.
However, there are some rare exceptions. Award winning, run and gun The Chaos Engine has a lot of similarities with Gibson and Sterling novel The Difference Engine. Published in 1993, it spawned a sequel in 1996 that was also praised by critics. Since you probably don’t have Amiga or other old school console, good news are that The Chaos Engine was remade for PC, Linux and Mac in 2013.
The Originals, But Not The Upcoming CW Show…
If you want something original with several sequels, first thing that you should pick is Thief series. In this first-person sneaker you are master thief Garret in a fantasy/steampunk world that is somewhere between middle ages and Victorian era. This series even survived the doom of it’s original studio. However Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura was not that lucky since studio filled for dissolution and sequel never came to be.
One serialized title that stands on his own is Final Fantasy VI from 1994. Second industrial revolution is mixed with fantasy, and let’s just say that there is a boss fight against a steam-engine. While we’re in the retro area, mentioning The Gene Machine from 1996 is obligatory, because it basically Jules Verne: The Game. Today, Sine Mora is giving a nod to the retro. Side-scrolling shoot’em up frenzy with huge steampunk bosses and Hungarian voice-overs it’s a thrill to new and old gamers.
And Steampunk Video Games Today?
Last year, Dishonored claimed several awards, like the title of the best action game and one of the best games of the year. To say that this game, where you play an assassin, killed the rest of the competition, is understatement. This year, BioShock Infinite is, so far, praised as the best game of the year but it also sparked controversy with politics, religion and violence. Next year, and exclusive for next-gen PS4 The Order: 1886 has stirred quite a buzz, but what is going to become of it, is yet to be seen.
However, there are more games that are not quite entirely steampunk, but go for that Victorian-esque vibe with unusual technology and weaponry. Syberia is adventure with one sequel and third in making. Entire six part Myst series was well received by gamers and critics. First sequel became the top-selling PC game of all time, at least for that time being. American McGee’s Alice and sequel Alice: Madness Returns are for the lovers of supernatural horror stories.
If you are into massive multiplayer online games, unfortunately, there is no steampunk themed one. However, a lot of them incorporate elements of it, like Guild Wars 2, where entire race called Charr, lives in a steampunk capital known as Black Citadel. Skyrim and it’s add-ons, from The Elder Scrolls series, incorporate steampunk elements in underground cities of the vanished Dwemer. World of Warcraft has race of Gnomes that are skilled with arcane and mechanical crafts and are the most steampunk thing there.
I Am On-Line, Going On Off-Line
But if you don’t have internet connection, or electricity at all, board games (with light of candles) are your pick. Sky Galleons of Mars is the oldest steampunk tabletop game and it is settled in Victorian era where major nations are expanding on Mars and Venus. It directly inspired Space: 1889 that has quite similar setting. One of the most popular pop-culture referenced board games is Warmachine, that is famous for it’s miniatures that you play with. It also spawned fast-paced and tactical Grind.
Castle Falkenstein is one of the more popular titles, but it uses playing cards, not dice, and each player is required to keep in-character diary instead of a character sheet. Deadlands combines Western, horror and steampunk elements and it won eight Origins award and provided us with numerous spin-offs. And last but not least I will mention DragonMech, in case you wanted more giant steam powered mech machines.
And there you have it, a lot of steampunk video games, that are not that common but are high quality, and a bit less in numbers but equal in diversity awesome tabletop games. Play them alone or play them with friends, online or offline does not matter. The main thing is that you – have fun.