Summary
Many games out there take place in different periods of history, from the Old West to the golden age of piracy. One of those periods is the 1930s, an age of history full of as much beauty as there was turmoil, whether it’s the simpler fashion and beautiful cars mixed with World War 2 beginning to brew and the depression still going strong.
The setting of the 1930s has been explored in a multitude of games with varying gameplay styles. Some immerse players via puzzles in exotic locations, while others delve right into the middle of the zeitgeist by allowing the exploration of 1930s cities in America, Europe, and even fictional islands.
Also included are games with significant (but not all) parts of gameplay in the 1930s.
In most cases, a 1930s setting is typically used to give a sense of simplicity and beauty, butRule Of Roseshows the other side of that coin. It was a harsh, dirty, and sorrowful era as well, as shown by the survival horror game in which a young woman is captured and brought aboard a zeppelin flying above London in 1930.
While there are physical threats that can be intimidating,Rule Of Rosetakes inspirationfrom the famousSilent Hillgamesby including psychological horror and disturbing themes. The game was initially controversial for delving into sexual abuse of women, but that only aided the sense of dread that players feel as they try to escape the zealous cult pursuing them.
Like many other LEGO games based on movies,LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventuresis essentially three games in one andone of the bestIndiana Jonesexperiences. As a result, players can have different adventures in 1935, 1936, and 1938, each having Indiana Jones going up against the familiar threats from the movies.
Despite everything being made of bricks,LEGO Indiana Jonesdoes a surprisingly good job capturing the old-school aesthetic of the period, from the Indian jungles to the Nazi-run castle in Austria. As a result,LEGO Indiana Jonesappeals to long-time fans of the movies, children, and adults.
With the player controlling Norah, they explore an island that holds many secrets inCall Of The Sea. This often-overlooked gem feels like a love letter to puzzle games of the past likeMystbut with more direct controlin a first-person puzzle adventureand an art style reminiscent of early 2000s Disney animated movies.
There are no enemies, there are no horrors to experience, it’s simply a story about an intelligent woman doing everything in her power to find her husband on a jungle island in the 1930s. This makes for a more relaxed experience, even when the puzzles get more challenging and the seemingly typical 1930s adventure turns into a fantasy adventure.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, multiple companies attempted to replicate the survivor horror style thatResident Evilhelped revolutionize.Nocturne, for example, features many of the same elements, from fixed camera angles to item management to solving puzzles under stress.
Nocturnefocuses on a mysterious investigator known simply as The Strangeras he takes on vampires, zombies, and more across the world in the 1930s. While theResident Evil-style controls are a bit dated,Nocturneis still considered a classic for many, which would get a sequel as well as spawn a shared game universe withBloodRaynegames.
Peter Jackson’s King Kongis often considered high-tier inthe world of movie-licensed video gamesfor many reasons. In 1933, the player can control Jack Driscoll, who Adrien Brody came back to voice, in a thrilling and sometimes even terrifying first-person shooter adventure across Skull Island to save Anne from the titular ape.
From dinosaurs to giant insects, the Jack Driscoll gameplay never ceases to be engaging due to the lack of a HUD and 1930s weaponry going up against larger-than-life monsters. As a bonus, there are sections where players control Kong in a third-person view, which includes the famous rampage in the 1930s New York City before his ultimate demise at the top of the Empire State Building.
The idea of a fourthBack To The Futuremovie has always seemed taboo to most fans, but Telltale Games shocked the world back in 2010 withBack To The Future: The Game. With Christopher Lloyd reprising his role as Doc Emmett Brown, it tells a story that takes place after the third movie and is the closest thing toBack To The Future Part 4.
In this outing, Marty McFly is yet again on a time-traveling adventure, and he goes back in time to the year 1931 to meet Doc Brown as a young man. While the whole story doesn’t take place there, it is a big part of the story with yet another one of Biff’s ancestors as a mobster villain and Marty trying to help the younger Doc without altering the timeline.
When the belovedMafiatrilogy was remastered, the first game was given more than just a graphical polish but was remade from the ground up with new character models and controls. This allowed the story of Tommy Angelo and his ascent in the Salieri crime family throughout the 1920s and 30s to be retold for fans old and new.
Whether it is the performances of the actors, the music, or the visuals, everything inMafiais designed to help players feel immersed in the era. While it is a romanticized kind of mafia story like inThe Godfather, it still manages to keep gamers feeling like they are truly a mobster, and that continues to be the case with both sequels, which take place in the 1950s and 1960s.
