Popular Historical Time Periods Represented in Gaming

Gaming may be a modern form of entertainment, but many titles in the industry feature old lands and ancient settings

The gaming industry is growing at a rapid rate, with new players joining from around the world each and every day. No matter the technological medium they choose to engage with, whether that be a PC, tablet, or smartphone dedicated to gaming, there are loads of opportunities to get connected to this appealing entertainment experience. However, how does the industry manage to keep players constantly interested in their new game releases? Well, over the years, games have come to employ certain themes and settings that transport their players to universes outside their own reality, often times to past places, and historical spaces. These settings are influential in promoting levels of game engagement since their narratives are genuine and immersive.

Here we explore some of the most famous time periods that are frequently represented in different gaming genres.

Ancient Greece and Rome

Antiquated settings are commonplace in gaming, with some of the most popular selections detailing these past worlds in their graphics, sounds, and gameplay. Gaming companies and developers are using Ancient Greece in particular more and more, dropping players straight into environments full of archeological ruins, mythical characters, and expansive natural beauty all set between 700 and 480 B.C. Ancient Rome is also heavily utilized as a backdrop in contemporary gaming titles, with many players engaging in strategy-style series where the main objective is to conquer the world through Spartan-like combat. These time periods create compelling narrative hooks that keep players enthralled through the longest of gaming sessions.

Viking Age

The fascinating time of Vikings is also consistently displayed across gaming titles, featuring seafaring Norseman and their unique marine vessels known as longships. These are some of the best-selling games to date, with titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla selling more units in its very first week of release over every other installment in the famous series. However, it isn’t just console and PC games that are stepping aboard the Scandinavian trend. The online casino industry features themed slot selections that recreate the authentic Viking experience with epic soundtracks and symbols on the reels which display the rugged characters commonly associated with Viking society. Across genres, there are many games which aim to accurately represent this interesting portion of the Medieval Period.

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Wild West

Jumping forwards quite a bit to the era of the Wild West, also known as the American frontier, this historical wave spanned a time period of roughly 30 years (1865-1895) but included a variety of formative events before and after as well. Here, outlaws and bandits occupied dusty saloons in wide open plains with cowboys roaming the fields from sunup to sundown. Most people worked physically demanding jobs in mining and would spend their leisurely time playing games with other laborers who also called the dense rural setting home.

These old-timey scenes and more are depicted in modern games, with many popular Western-style titles being swept off the shelves by enthusiastic players looking to dive into the one-of-a-kind atmosphere of the American frontier. Although there are many to choose from, here are some of the best Western-themed productions that feature highly entertaining, ruff n’ tuff cowboy gameplay.

Prehistoric

Last but certainly not least, gaming developers are journeying far back in time to prehistoric lands, studying the features of this time period in order to implement them in today’s games. With bold aesthetics that depict other earthly settings full of huge dinosaurs, mammoths, and pterodactyls, the content of these games plunge players straight back to the Stone Age where they can discover fossils and run with the earliest of Earth’s reptiles. There are few other ways to enter immersive prehistoric settings than with games like these, as their storylines and themes are set in spaces even before the dawn of man.

So, there you have it — four popular time periods that today’s games present to modern players. Only one question remains — which world do you fancy to explore most?  

 

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