The Victorian era takes place from June 20, 1837 to January 22, 1901 in the United Kingdom. It got its namesake from the ruler at the time, Queen Victoria. The era is long gone, but modern imagination is fascinated by these particular times. It was the era of Jack the Ripper, the first Industrial Revolution, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and much more.
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Modern imagination integrating with the bygone era often produces works of fiction and even fantasy. Video games love to combine the Victorian era with stories of eldritch horrors, werewolves, and vampires in combination with the commonalities of famine, murder, and plague. In fact, most games that take place in the Victorian era tend to be dark.
While most Victoria era games can have a dark edge to them, there is variety in terms of genre, style, and the story they tell.
Updated on August 6, 2021, by Allison Stalberg: Like literature and art, there are far more video games that take place in the Victorian times than first meets the eye. Unsure times call for the greatest stories in various genres, whether those genres delve into the horrors of monsters or a witty comedy about frivolous love. The closest one can come to living in the Victorian era is to explore the era through art, and that art includes video games. A lot of research is put into these video games to reflect Victorian language, architecture, weapons, fashion, fears, and culture.
15 The Order: 1886
Released in 2015, The Order: 1886 is a third-person game that sits in the action-adventure genre. The setting is in 1886, but its not exactly the same Victorian era as ours. It takes place in an alternate history that gives London a far more steampunk-oriented style. The player takes the role of Sir Galahad, a member of the Knights of the Round Table whose job is to protect London from vampire and werewolf half-breeds as well as any government rebels.
The game got mixed reviews, but many loved its Victorian atmosphere and creative touches to the alternate history. The gameplay is a little lacking, sometimes feeling more like a walking simulator than an action-adventure.
14 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
The Assassin's Creed series has a love for setting its games in different times in human history. The times explored include the Third Crusade, 15th century Florence, colonization of the United States, the 18th century, the Seven Years War, the French Revolution, the Peloponnesian War, and of course the Victorian era.
Syndicate takes place in London and follows twin assassins taking back the city from Templar control. It was released for the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows in 2015. It was not known to be the best Assassin's Creed game, but it still got higher than average reviews.
13 Alice: Madness Returns
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published by Lewis Carroll right in the middle of the Victorian era, and its both a product of its time as well as timeless in terms of playing with the logic of conformity and being a proper lady in a proper society through the eyes of a little girl. The famous children's story has gone through many adaptations, and that is certainly true in the video game world as well.
Arguably the best of them is Alice: Madness Returns. This dark twist has an older Alice in a psych ward after a fire killed her family. Due to her horrific experiences, Wonderland becomes a horrific and twisted place. The game is quite action-oriented with Alice having to combat her way through Wonderland to discover the truth of her trauma.
12 The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
This game is Ace Attorney but in the Victorian era. Players take on the role of Phoenix Wright's ancestor named Ryunosuke Naruhodo. Ryunosuke travels to study law in England and befriends the famous detective Herlock Sholmes.
The game drew some controversial attention for how it portrayed racism against the Japanese characters in the game. Some believed it was a raw portrayal of the Victorian era and how people thought in those times while others saw it as tone-deaf and upsetting. Due to this, the localization of the game has had some censorship.
11 Victoria: An Empire Under The Sun And Victoria II
Not all games have to be action-adventure. For those who prefer strategy and numbers, Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun and Victoria II are there. The first title was released in 2003 and the second in 2010. The base game covers every year of the Victorian era.
However, the game is definitely not for everyone. It got mixed reviews for its steep learning curve. Players who are not used to strategy games can get overwhelmed by balancing the various resources, materials, profits, diplomatic relations, and the world market.
10 Fallen London
Fallen London is another alternative Victorian era game, but it has a strong focus on narrative with minimalist designs. The lore is rich with subtle but fascinating horrors in the dark alleys. It is one of those games that cannot be won, but there are ways to lose. The game came out in 2009 but got a major update in 2018.
Due to the praise for its world-building, Fallen London's popularity spawned other loved titles like Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. While those are titles in stores, Fallen London is actually free to play online.
9 Dance Of Death: Du Lac & Fey
Set in 1888 London, this adventure game was released in 2019. It takes real famous figures from history/legends such as Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, and Mary Jane Kelly and follows them on the hunt for the infamous Jack the Ripper. In terms of mechanics, it is a point-and-click game from the third-person perspective. The three main characters are playable and can be switched in and out to use their different abilities.
The game puts some stock in the choices the player makes and as a storyline with various branches and consequences. Also, each of the three characters offers a unique perspective since they come from different classes of Victorian society.
8 Koudelka
Part of the Shadow Hearts series, Koudelka is an RPG released in 1999 in Japan and in 2000 for other regions. The story takes place in 1898 in Wales. The protagonists are in a haunted monastery and uncover its secrets by exploring, solving puzzles, and doing some turn-based battles.
The producer, composer, writer, and director of the game was one man, Hiroki Kikuta. He was inspired by books of the British Victorian era such as ones written by Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft, and William Hope Hodgson.
7 The Sherlock Holmes Series
Like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the stories of Sherlock Holmes are a major staple of Victorian-era stories. Its most major video game series has eight titles so far, and they all stick to the Victorian era. The first title of the series, The Mystery of the Mummy, was released in 2002 and its most recent title, The Devil's Daughter, came out in 2016. There is also a future game in the works called Chapter One, which will work as Sherlock's origin story.
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Depending on the game, players do not just explore London. Some of the titles have Sherlock take trips to New Orleans, Scotland, and Switzerland.
6 Bloodborne
Bloodborne is not strictly during the Victorian era, as it does not have an exact date. However, it is described to be set in a Victorian era (with influences of gothic and steampunk styles). The fashion, architecture, and monsters do all match the various imaginative tropes the human mind has tied to Victorian fantasy, horror, and fiction. Part of the game were inspired by the written works H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker, who lived through the Victorian era.
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As for the game itself, it is action and role-playing. Like Dark Souls, it is known to be difficult and requires a patient player to slowly climb to new heights.
5 *Aviary Attorney
This game is not officially part of the Ace Attorney games, but it was incredibly inspired by the series. The game is set if Victorian-era Paris and all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. The player takes the role of a defense lawyer, Jayjay Falcon.
Aviary Attorney was released in 2015 and was beloved by players for its humor and art style. The game is full of bird puns, contains four chapters, three endings, and real-life Paris landmarks.
4 The Dishonored Series
This series begins in the year 1837, which is known to be the beginning of the Victorian era. The first-person stealth game is certainly rooted in the era, but takes a lot of creative initiative in the politics and social classes its fictional city of Dunwall. There are supernatural elements as well.
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Most gamers already know about this famous series, as it got overwhelmingly positive reviews from publications. It won awards for Environmental Design, Art Direction, Game Direction, Best Game, Best Narrative, and so on.
3 Return Of The Obra Dinn
Released in 2018, this game is about a ship called the Obra Dinn that was lost at sea in 1803. In 1807 though, it drifted into a port with no crew on board. The player is an insurance investigator for the East India Company's London Office. They are dispatched to assess the damages on the ship.
In terms of genre, Return of the Obra Dinn is a first-person mystery adventure game. The game's Steam reviews give it a lot of love for its interesting story, amazing soundtrack, and its multi-dimensional logic puzzles.
2 Thief
Like Dishonored, Thief is a stealth game set in Victorian times. However, it got mixed reviews. In fact, many made comparisons between the two games with Thief being the lesser game in terms of story and poor layout design for the city. Players take the role of a master thief named Garrett in a city ravaged by plague and the authoritarian rule of a man called the Baron.
The game is actually a part of a series and its previous titles were vastly superior in reviews. However, the previous titles combined the Middle Ages and the Victorian, making it less of a Victorian era title.
1 The Amnesia Series: The Dark Descent
Set in 1839, this famous survival horror game is known by many. Either its been played, heard of, or witnessed. It won many awards for being the best out there in the horror game genre.
The first-person game has the player exploring a creepy castle, avoiding monsters, and solving puzzles while trying to escape and also figure out what is actually going on. As the title quickly explains, the protagonist has amnesia.
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