Underserved Fantasy Works that Deserve Gaming Worlds

We live in the era of the reboot, sequel, and remaster. It’s simply a fact. Of course, you can find no end of interesting fantasy adventure games on platforms like this, but many of the AAA releases seem to go back to the same well again and again. Right now, you can be fairly sure that someone is pitching another video game set in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth or Martin’s Westeros. 

Choosing a world for your game to inhabit is important. We have seen a lot of games based on Greek and Norse myths of late, including the God of War series. Also, you can find plenty of titles with a focus on Arthurian legend, ranging from Knight’s Tale to titles like Avalon the Lost Kingdom, which you can play at Hello Millions online. Yet, experiencing characters in new worlds has always been one of the most exciting parts of adventure gaming. 

Many great fantasy authors remain underserved, both on-screen and in terms of gaming platforms. Below, we present five who have created works that would be perfect for gaming crossovers, providing fantastic action, scope, ideas, and world-building.

1. 
   

   Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Series 

   
   

Two RPG video games – Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor – were released in the 1990s, so gamers have had some introduction to Feist’s Midkemia. But in truth, this is only a small part of Feist’s huge fantasy world (the action spans different worlds, in fact). The main focus is on Midkemia, a world of elves, dragons, dwarves, humans, and powerful magic. Feist himself was a big RPG fan, and Midkemia grew out of Dungeons & Dragons fandom. Feist’s huge canon of work spanned around 30 books, covering 100s of years of events. It seems strange that no games developer has taken the leap to bring Midkemia to the gaming world in a serious fashion. It would be brilliant to see a games developer take a chance on bringing Feist’s mighty Valheru – a race of dragon riders strong enough to challenge the gods – to a gaming platform. 

1. 
   

   Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth Series

   
   

Goodkind’s fantasy land is unnamed throughout the series, although he does split the world into two parts, the Old World and the New World. We follow the exploits of Richard Rahl – War Wizard and Seeker – and his companion, the Mother Confessor, Kahlan. Goodkind is sometimes criticized for being too preachy, but he is certainly inventive, and the Sword of Truth series will feel fresh in terms of its ideas, especially when it comes to magic. It feels perfect for an RPG adventure game. An attempt was made to bring it to the screen – Legend of the Seeker (2008-2010), which was fairly terrible. But Goodkind’s world deserves to be explored. 

1. 
   

   Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings 

   
   

It is somewhat surprising that no serious attempt has been made to bring Robin Hobb’s work to gaming platforms, particularly as her most successful novels – the Farseer Trilogy – have the kind of “structured quest” elements that are so compatible with fantasy gameplay. Some high fantasy novels can leave a muddled blueprint for game developers to follow, but Hobb’s adventures with Fitz would be easy to extract and plant into a gaming adventure. 

1. 
   

   Cecilla Dart-Thornton’s Bitterbynde 

   
   

The first three names on this list were responsible for fantasy blockbusters, selling millions of copies. Australian writer Cecilla Dart-Thornton is much more low-key, and you will be hard-pressed to find copies of the Bitterbynde trilogy. However, Dart-Thornton’s work is unique, following the Lady Rohain as she travels through different lands to learn about her past. Dart Thornton delves into Celtic myth (itself underexplored in modern gaming), providing characters with rules and hexes to navigate, as well as all manner of strange creatures. An underrated trilogy that would be perfect for players tired of the same old fantasy gaming tropes. 

1. 
   

   Maggie Furey – Artefacts of Power 

   
   

On the face of it, Maggie Furey’s work follows the typical fantasy quest for objects, in this case, the Artefacts of Power – the Cauldron of Rebirth, Staff of Earth, Harp of Winds, Sword of Flame. While such quests are hardly ground-breaking, the structures of the four books are compatible with gaming. Moreover, in Aurian – the titular character of the first book and series protagonist – Furey created a character quite unlike most fantasy heroines. Aurian is grounded, flawed, and, most of all, interesting.