Some books are so engaging you feel like you are part of the story and living it, but what if you could become part of the story by playing through it in the form of a videogame? Here are a few books that could use a video game adaptation.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency: Douglas Adams’ lesser-known book series after Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which did get its own videogame adaption) Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and its sequel Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul follows the titular Dirk Gently and his rather unique way of solving crimes. It was adapted a couple of times for T.V., including one a few years ago, but a funny detective game based on the books wouldn’t be too far-fetched.
Artemis Fowl: While it got an ill-received straight-to- Disney plus movie adaption in 2020, there is much more potential for Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series. A straight-up game adaption of the first book may be good, but maybe a spin-off that allows you to play as a member of Leprecon with their magic abilities and advanced technology, a heist game starring the dwarf Mulch Diggums. Or even a game starring bodyguard extraordinaire Butler.
High Fire: Another book by Eoin Colfer, soon to be adapted for Amazon and starring Nicolas Cage, which features a dragon as its main character, which I think is enough said because who wouldn’t want to control a dragon?
The Supernaturalist: The final Eoin Colfer book that is almost like a futuristic version of Ghostbusters with a team of teenagers tracking down ghostly parasites who supposedly live of human life force. A sequel was never released, but maybe we could get a video game that continues the story.
The Bartimaeus Sequence: The Bartimaeus Sequence is a trilogy of books and one prequel book that follows the titular Bartimaeus, a magical djinni forced into the service of various magicians who use him and his kind to fight their wars. While the trilogy was mainly set in an alternate version of England, the opportunity to expand the world is there. There are plenty more of Bartimaeus’s adventures to explore or even a different djinni in the same world. There is also the potential to play as one of the human magicians summoning and commanding djinni in a Pokemon-esque game.
The Pendragon Adventure: With numerous settings, including 1930s New York, a medieval world, and a planet completely covered in water, a videogame adaption of the 10-book series The Pendragon Adventure by D.J. Mchale would have lots of variety in terms of gameplay and perhaps even playable characters. While a straight-up action game adaption of the series would be fun, an MMORPG that lets you explore all 10 Territories or worlds featured in the book would also be great.
Star Wars Jedi Apprentice: There have been numerous Star Wars games, and Jedi: Survivor coming out later this year, offers a decent Jedi fix an adaption of the Jedi Apprentice books series would offer the opportunity to explore an overlooked time period in the Star Wars timeline, right before Episode 1, when the Jedi were at their peak power. The books basically told the origins of Qui-gon Jinn and Obi-wan Kenobi and their missions before The Phantom Menace. With the strong possibility for co-op and perhaps a few missions featuring other famous Jedi like Yoda and Mace Windu, this could be a spiritual successor to Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles. There was even a follow-up series called Jedi Quest that dealt with Obi-wan and Anakin during the ten years between Episodes 1 and 2, which could serve as inspiration for a game as well.
Paradise Lost: There was an attempt in 2010 to adapt a classic piece of literature into videogame form with the mostly forgotten Dante’s Inferno game, but a game portraying Lucifer’s fall from grace and his war with heaven could be epic.
Dr. Seuss: While there have been many adaptions of Dr. Seuss’s works and videogame tie-ins of some of them, I think an open-world Dr. Seuss game featuring cameos from most of his well-known characters who be a splendid idea.
B. F.G.: Like High Fire, this book features a fun, playable character in the form of a giant, and like Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl created tons of characters that would lend themselves well to an open-world game.
