And of course they even enable us to venture not just into fictional worlds, but into our favourite worlds from TV and film, allowing us to re-enact iconic moments and sometimes even explore beyond what’s seen on screen.
But while games developers often amaze and delight, sometimes they come up with ideas which are just odd, as shown by the list below:
The Zoo Race
This Christian themed video game is set after the Great Flood and starts off with a modern-day librarian mocking a friend for believing in the biblical legend.
Later that day she dreams that she and her pals have morphed into animals and must take part in a race organised by the sons of Noah to celebrate their salvation.
For reasons that are never entirely clear, as well as building racetracks on which the animals they’ve just saved from obliteration must now race, Noah’s offspring liven up the race by chucking exploding barrels and firing rocket launchers and flamethrowers at the participants.
Day of the Tentacle
Also known as Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle, this 1993 point-and-click adventure game was a follow-up to LucasArts’ mega-hit Maniac Mansion and followed lead character Bernard Bernoulli and friends Hoagie and Laverne as they battle to stop world from being taken over by a sentient, disembodied tentacle.
The game is notable for being one of the first titles to be released simultaneously on floppy disk and CD-ROM, then the cutting edge of computer and gaming technology, with players opting for the new format benefitting from the inclusion of audible dialog as well as being spared the monotony of having to keep inserting six floppies.
So enduring is the game’s popularity that a remastered version was released in 2016 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows and Mac OS X.
Casino RPG
Yes, an actual RPG based around the world of casinos! First launched in 2014, this free to play Vegas-themed MMORPG brings together a number of popular gaming themes, including tycoon and city-building.
In this browser-based game, as in real life, there are always new casinos online in which the player can accumulate cash by playing slots, poker, blackjack or roulette in order to fund their rise from janitor to casino mogul.
Tongue Of The Fatman
Back in the 80s when sideways scrolling fighting games were still a big thing, Activision came up with this bizarrely entitled effort in which characters include an Amazonian warrior whose mohawk doubles as a whip, a combatant who farts a fireball into his enemy’s face and of then there’s the titular Fatman whose belly opens to reveal a huge tongue which jabs his enemy.
Seaman
This virtual pet game for the Sega Dreamcast makes the player responsible for the care of a fish. But of course it’s not just a normal fish. It’s a fish with a human face.
The manual included a long, rambling backstory for the creature’s existence which added little to the overall experience.
It’s actually hard to describe how unsettlingly weird this game was, but luckily its full oddity is neatly demonstrated by the original advert which has been saved for all time on YouTube:
What the video doesn’t reveal is that Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy served as the English language version’s in-game narrator, providing handy tips on how to keep the weird mutant creature alive.
Personally, we prefer his work on Civilization IV.