Having spoken in my last post about the most overused tropes in horror games, I wanted to look at things from a different perspective today and talk about settings that hold such potential yet never seem to get any attention. 

Story is so crucial when it comes to video games. Even bad gameplay can be saved if the story and the setting are compelling. It draws you in and creates that full-bodied immersion. You are not just a player controlling a character, but you are in the game. It is as if you were living it, breathing it. 

From the next-gen consoles to high-spec gaming PCs, the gaming experience is becoming more and more immersive, with lifelike graphics and such beautifully rendered settings. They are as close to a real-life experience we can get, and that isn’t even talking about VR. Yet, despite having such graphical capabilities at their fingertips, and with such a wide and vivid world to inspire us, so many digital storytellers stick to the same handful of settings and premises. 

How often do we need to find ourselves trapped in a mansion or out in the woods before every game starts to look the same?

Yes, you can make an original and good game inside a mansion, because there are lots of directions you could take the story. But why stick to something that has been done time and time again? Video game players deserve better. They deserve games that show the passion of the team that built it, and a willingness to be creative and think beyond the safety of setting-based mediocrity. 

Imagine picking up a new game and finding yourself thrown into any one of the following settings.

A Day at the Zoo

When you think about it, the zoo makes a great setting for so many different genres of games. From horror to point and click a zoo gives you lots of options and scope for storytelling. From exploring different biomes to caring for animals or trying to avoid raging beasts as you engage in a desperate fight for survival. 

Not only that, but why does your zoo have to be on earth? You could combine it with other sci-fi elements and suddenly there’s a whole new range of stories. What if we were the creatures being exhibited?

With such a rich range of options, it is surprising that not more games take place in a setting such as this. 

Stuck at the Office

Office workers are often disgruntled and that alone can lead to boundary-pushing stories that could go quite dark. Beyond that though, if you are willing to think a little outside the box and get a little creative, there are so many levels to working in an office that you could create a lot of engaging stories to keep gaming fans happy for a long time. 

There is no shortage of ideas for a setting like this. Anything from working in different departments, working your way up the corporate ladder, solving office politics along the way to cracking embezzlement schemes, managing hostage situations and puzzle games. The constant duality of being the company man or the rebel, the passive or the aggressive approach to problem-solving present so many branching pathways you would have thought game writers would be chomping at the bit. 

Cruise Ships

Over the years there have been some games based on ships or using ships for a particular level, but there is such scope when it comes to the entirety of a ship that makes it a perfect setting for a video game. Naturally, thoughts turn to either horror or adventure games, but even there, a creative storyteller will find no shortage of storylines that are all vastly different to one another. 

From shootouts in the engine room to exploring cabins and the galleys to navigational challenges and general exploration of the different decks and areas. Then of course you have other ships, such as yachts or large freighters such as cargo ships or oil tankers. There are a plethora of possibilities that could have gamers salivating at the prospect.

Trains

Much like boats, trains are an interesting setting and storytelling device. With different carriages, cabins and classes, there are so many options for a creative storytelling mind to play with. Whether you go with the Snowpiercer concept or something far more mundane, a game set on a moving train is chock full of potential. 

From time trials between stations, or the more traditional and vanilla, get to the engine room quest, to more espionage and adventure-based. Of course, horror is never ruled out. A train is both large in terms of area to explore but claustrophobic when it comes to room size. That makes for an atmospheric survival horror story. 

Different Time Periods

This doesn’t mean the 80’s or the 50’s, but rather, looking at either time gone by or times in the distant future. Some of the more memorable game settings in recent years have been Senua’s Sacrifice and A Plague Tale. Not to mention the recent Assassin’s Creed games. It’s not because the gameplay was anything spectacular or ground-breaking but because the settings were different. They were not the same standard fare rehashed with a new shade or a noir filter. 

Just think about how old the world is. The different eras it has seen and experienced. There is so much out there that can be taken and used in creative ways. Even mash-ups could work if we expand our horizons beyond the present. 

Not only storytellers but designers and artists would surely get a kick out of exploring different periods and settings. Allowing them to get truly creative and unleash the power of their collective imagination to whisk us away to parts unknown and take us on a real adventure.

A Change of Scenery Can Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

It is true that a story cannot survive on setting alone. It is equally true that there are only so many loot laden toilets or killers chasing us through bedrooms that we can handle before we get numb to it. No amount of realism or attention to detail is going to hold our attention. 

By taking a different route when it comes to setting, game studios put themselves in a position to stand out from the rest of the crowd. You don’t need to be outrageous or edgy. You don’t need to even cross the line into shock or offence when choosing a location. You just need the courage as a storyteller to go somewhere different.