The 2010s (Part 1)

Written by Cameron G.

Over the past decade it is impossible to reconcile how many games have influenced both media and the industry’s standards in the 2010s. An exciting decade of innovation, design, and standard creation. When we describe or talk about games that are the most influential this can be construed as either entirely negative or positive.

Throughout games media the largest titanic games of the past ten years we can probably name given ample amount of time. But for the moment I will write a short list, what they did, why they are special, and my thoughts on the game! Join with me in celebration of the games of this decade, the art they have shared and which has created the standards of game design for the next decade to come.

Amnesia the Dark Descent 2010

Amnesia The Dark Descent is a horror game released at the beginning of the decade, that gained popularity through a new breed of marketing, let’s players. Due to this new form of unintended-marketing Amnesia the Dark Descent to the game audiences. A critically acclaimed game that focused on what are now considered to be the most important part of a visual horror experience : Sound and visuals. Making the player fear opening the next door and forging into the darkness.

Fractional Games would become extremely popular due to their revolutionary title, forming a relationship with players that helped their brand develop overall as Masters of Horror. Amnesia the Dark Descent was one of the first horror games of the decade. One to bring back the horror elements that many players felt were missing and inspired many other games with dark atmosphere and occult themes.

Metro Series 2010 - 2019

Metro originally came out March 16, 2010, Metros is one of the most atmospheric games to come out in the early 2010s. It is a First Person Shooter (FPS) game with a centralized story about saving the russian underground of the post-apocalyptic world following a nuclear disaster. You, Artyom must travel to Central (The sort of capital of the Underground), to save his hometown, and to bring peace to the underground. It is a deeply cynical game with punishing mechanics that only add to narrative, the details placed into the game are extremely thoughtful, from environments to character design.

The 2010s are characterized by many which dub it the ‘brown age’ for its coloring and game developer’s obsession for the ultra realistic. Metro was a stand out in an era of Call of Duty and Battlefield. While a deeply flawed game, it has influenced many, and inspiring people to read the fantastic book series that the games are based on.

Metro’s sequel Last Light, continued to awe and inspire audiences, but caused controversy with its DLC. This is one of the earliest examples of audiences calling out developers and publishers for their practices, that would later become standardized in subsequent releases of other games.

Minecraft 2011

While originally releasing in 2009 in an alpha patch, Minecraft was officially released in November 18, 2011. One can describe Minecraft as ‘Digital Lego Sets’ where players can customize and build their own worlds given ample collection of resources. Minecraft continues to live on as one of the few games of the decade, that I believe defines it in terms of innovation, creating a new genre, and also building upon what came before to this new digital age.

Notch and the creators behind Minecraft took much inspiration from the Life Simulation and ‘Having Fun’ game, Dwarf Fortress. The game success came at an optimal time, where people were unsure of the decade and set the tone for things to come. Minecraft burst to the world stage to such high marketability that is used throughout media for wide arrayed purposes.

Minecraft was revolutionary and continues to be an influence on modern developers, gamers, and the industry alike in terms of how simplistic it is but how complicated the game can become based on users. It is a true sandbox game, where players are given a variety of tools, and objects to help them build whatever creations they have. From redstone to building to minigames, to many other creations that some games strive for. I know from personal experience that along with a few other games on this list inspired me to pursue game design as a degree.

In terms of my own experiences, I played Minecraft after its initial beta phases in 2010, and joined a server in 2011 that I've been apart of ever since. Its incredible how much has changed since its release. It remains an example of great iterative design can do to a game's base and how building on a core experience can only strengthen the game.

Dark Souls 2011 - 2015

“Wait where’s dark souls?!” Of course it is on the list! Dark Souls has had a profound effect on gamer culture, designers, artists, programmers, and filmmakers. To talk about it without delving too deeply, the design of the game is masterful yet deeply flawed, from its forward thinking level design and its narrative that was communicated to the player through item descriptions.

It invented an entirely new genre and mechanics that are intrinsic to helping build narrative design and gameplay design. Throughout this decade alone many games have tried to emulate and repeat the success of Dark Souls creating the Genre of Souls-Like. While also creating a culture where many journalists and gamers to compare almost every game with any similar mechanics to Dark Souls.

I officially played Dark Souls in my first year in college, I had no idea what world I was getting into other than the recommendations of my peers. It flabbergasted me at how brutal the experience was but how mesmerizing detailed the world building and level design is just perfectly detailed. Each level in dark souls (Or area) was specifically designed and uniquely built for specific areas and bosses themed to those areas. It is a flawed piece of art that is gorgeous to behold and one that would go one to strengthen the games industry and then to inspire an entire generation of developers in their craft.

Candy Crush 2012

Coming out April 12, 2012, was a game that many would not predict to be the most successful mobile puzzle game to date. What is Candy Crush? Maybe you have heard of it but never played it, candy crush was and is a match three puzzle game, where players select objects on a screen with progressively more difficult puzzles that must be completed in a certain amount of time. This gimmick and mechanic is deeply satisfying for many casual players and which lead it to its success.

Candy Crush is one of the most successful video games to date making around 633,000$ a day (AppAdvice 2013). The large part of its success is its timing, with facebook apps : farmville and other successful puzzle games, the largest market untapped by the majority of the games industry was the mobile market. Candy Crush was also one of the first free-to-play games to recieve wide market appeal and to be built around entirely casual audiences and ‘whales’. For those who don’t know…

Whales in free-to-play models are people who spend more per person than anyone that plays the game, they purchase things at large amounts to further themselves in the game (Wong 2018). By and large most free-to-play systems are propped up by these users which allows developers to create more content and also to create more devices to get users to buy into their product more.

Spec Ops : The Line 2013

Spec Ops came at a time where Hollywood and blockbuster video games came out trying to be movies, and all about ‘modern’ war. Spec Ops came out to little reception many thoughts as I did that it was a poor call of duty or battlefield clone. We could not be more wrong.

Spec Ops : The Line is a story driven narrative with exciting twists and turns, and a commentary to the game industry at the time. While games of this era explored the weapons, the bombastic Hollywood side of fighting, Spec Ops explored the psychological and the deeply flawed view games had. This is one of the few games that came out this decade that became a presence among, journalists, developers, and gamers. It haunted people and harrowed them ever since.

It was a haunting experience that criticized the way the games at the time were made for entertainment. It was even self aware enough where it points to the audience and shows the inherent desensitization that players experience with the ‘modern shooter’ by giving those people you kill in game stories, personal stakes for why they are trying to stop you, and how much their family misses them. The main antagonists of this game are American Soldiers who are trying desperately to save the people of Dubai. With all the games that came out that year, Spec Ops did something that games at the time struggled to do, it was unique, and still stands out to this day.

In a year of great games, Spec Ops : The Line is one that stands out for being different and for being another third person story driven game starring Nolan North that came out that year.

The Last of Us 2013

Nolan North stars in a movie-game called the Last of Us, in one of the few games on this list I did not enjoy. The Last of Us is one of the best storytelling games in the last decade. Among everyone who loves games, the Last of Us is a discussion point and a bar that people strive for in storytelling.

While I could rant on about its gameplay, yet that wasn’t the focus of the game. It was the narrative story and the struggles the main characters go through. Many people can identify with both characters and because of this game specifically it created a bar that every game now has to compare to. Though wildly unfair, the narrative strengths of The Last of Us can be felt throughout the industry and among designer circles as a game to remember for the next twenty years.

Gone Home 2013

Another game that came out and surprised everyone, Gone Home is a Horror puzzle game where you control katie as you go through a house and interact with objects. Some have thoughtfully talked about whether or not it can be even be considered a ‘game’ but some liken it to a walking simulator.

I would argue because it is an interactive and you have to solve things within the medium I would classify it as a game. What Gone Home did was create a narrative and a space where the player is stuck in, did I mention this game was a horror game? Yes the game centers around a horrifying aspect that is the house, it plays with you and learn more about the story around the characters and the family history.

You learn so much about these characters, but for everything Gone Home does well there are many shortcomings. It was also an extremely divisive game and continues to be controversial among players and critiques.

Outlast 2013

Some would say horror went through a period of forgetfulness, saying it lost the spark that we saw in games like Silent Hill and the first Dead Space. Very few if any games were released that were truly horrifying or a really horror game about dis-empowerment. Horror is all about players feeling like they are the victims like the monsters are out to get them specifically.

Outlast and its subsequent DLC proved that having non-combative mechanics and dis-empowerment fantasies in a horror game can be extremely gripping. While also adding to the atmosphere and create unnerving moments of tension. This due to the lack of player defense, players felt immersed in a world where they are just a normal guy in crazy circumstances where they are being actively hunted for.

This was later exemplified with the Xenomorph of Alien Isolation, taking cues from outlast, that the monster shouldn’t be able to be killed. It is different in that you the player can’t really fight anyone, it's an instant game over in most cases if you try to face the monster. Adding to a sense of panic as you don’t want to lose your progress. Outlast has had an effect on the horror genre that many attribute to Amnesia the Dark Descent, but I would say it was exemplary in the DLC of outlast Whistleblower.

Which was shorter, and to the point, with central antagonistic force that scared most players. This as my professors would say “Games are at their best when it is a curated experience”, a short 4 hr game can be more gripping than a 20 hr adventure. It is very interesting a DLC was far more refined and laid out and gripping than the Release and Outlasts Sequel. This helped game helped create a new genre within survival horror, revitalizing the very core of horror: The Disempowerment Fantasy. A new mechanic and theme many had not thought of before or that had been designed until this games wide success.

Thats the end for 2010 - 2013 Games! Read Part 2!