In the wake of the critical success and widespread fan approval of such series as The Last of Us and Fallout, video game adaptations may finally be making an impact on the pop-culture consciousness. In addition to these violent dramas making inroads with modern audiences through their visceral impact, the recent release of A Minecraft Movie — and its barnstorming box office success — has proven there is still plenty of love out there for pure dumb fun.
Given Hollywood’s status as a copycat industry, the rampant success of A Minecraft Movie is likely to inspire other goofy yet enjoyable adaptations of popular video games. Ranging from fun-loving family favorites to old cult classics with plenty of comedic instincts, and even to the odd horror hit that could be adapted with hilarity and hysterics aplenty, these games are ripe for the picking for any film studio hoping to cash in on the modern craze.
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‘Terraria’ (2011)
Developed by Re-Logic; Published by 505 Games
Perhaps the most obvious video game to get A Minecraft Movie-esque film adaptation is Minecraft’s chief competitor, Terraria. The popular sandbox adventure game sees players hone their skills in combat, crafting, mining, and building in a two-dimensional world reminiscent of the 16-bit display of the SNES. As the game expands, players venture into more challenging biomes and can even dig down to hell and build skyscrapers that go up into the clouds.
Given that Terraria and Minecraft have always been compared due to their similar tones and their encouragement of adventure, there is no reason why a Terraria movie couldn’t mimic the frenzied and fantastical fun of A Minecraft Movie. Any adaptation would have to figure out a way to differentiate the movie from what Minecraft did, given that the gameplay differences in the games would be impossible to replicate for a viewing experience. Still, there would certainly be potential to cast an ensemble of lovable stars and whisk audiences away on a sporadic adventure.
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‘Conker’s Bad Fur Day’ (2001)
Developed & Published by Rare
While it would probably need to eschew the kid-friendly rating to be realized in all its glory, Conker’s Bad Fur Day would make for a fantastic video game adaptation that sported the sole desire of showing audiences an absurd good time. Released in 2001, the platform game follows the titular Conker, a hard-drinking red squirrel, as he faces everything from operatic poos to an army of Nazi-like cyborg teddy bears in order to be reunited with his girlfriend before being thrust into a dangerous heist aboard a spaceship that leads to a fight to the death.
To call the game erratic would be an understatement, but it is handled with such a gleeful sense of macabre wickedness that it is as absorbing as it is manically entertaining. A film adaptation—be it an audacious live-action picture or, more likely, a hysterical and bizarre animated movie—could become a unique phenomenon that showcases the hilarious allure of gaming at its most delightfully twisted.
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‘Stardew Valley’ (2016)
Developed & Published by ConcernedApe
Existing in the same mold of peaceful adventure and light-hearted fun as Minecraft, Stardew Valley is a serene farm life simulator game that sees players nurture and develop their farmland while observing the world through a top-down, open-ended window. While it does deliver a quaint charm in the vibrant appeal of the farming experience, Stardew Valley also has plenty of exciting challenges, a wonderful scope for adventure, and a ton of possible interactions and relationships with the other residents of the village.
Needless to say, adapting such a story by filling a film with an ensemble cast and operating with a fun-filled sense of adventure could make for a delightfully enjoyable experience that, if done well, could appeal to older fans of the game as well. Alternatively, the game’s mood and progression could make for an enchanting animated movie as well if studios were more inclined to lean into the more childish aspects of the game with their adaptation.
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‘Rocket League’ (2015)
Developed & Published by Psyonix
It makes perfect sense to focus on story-driven games as properties for adaptations to the big screen, given that the transformation of the IP maintains (in theory, at least) the core plot and central characters to ensure it remains accessible to fans of the game. On the other hand, however, the propulsive energy of four-a-side soccer combined with the sheer propane pizzazz of demolition derby is a spectacle that needs no narrative.
Granted, any potential film adaptation of Rocket League should strive to incorporate something of a storyline, but it would be ridiculous to let it get in the way of the explosive entertainment of all the carnage, chaos, and, of course, all the “What a Save!” taunts. It is doubtful that a Rocket League movie would result in a dramatic masterpiece, nor even a highlight of sports cinema. However, if it could funnel the energy and intensity of the popular e-sport into a moviegoing experience, then it would be an enjoyable triumph nonetheless.
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‘Phasmophobia’ (2020)
Developed & Published by Kinetic Games
Anyone who has played even a single round of Phasmophobia with their friends has surely conceived the idea of the experience being a movie. The four-player horror game—which can be enjoyed via virtual reality—is effectively a series of ghost-hunting adventures, with players tasked with entering haunted premises and identifying the type of spirit lingering in the area before it can kill them.
Atmospheric, richly suspenseful, and always on the cusp of descending into utter chaos, Phasmophobia could make for a deliriously silly yet hysterical horror-comedy, especially if it were to be realized with the right cast. Furthermore, an adaptation of the game could be done in any number of ways, be it as a family horror, as silly as it is spooky, or as a more mature and murderous ghost story that blends some genuine chills with its fun-loving nature.
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‘Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy’ (2017)
Developed by Bennett Foddy
Anyone who has spent more than about 10 minutes playing (or raging at) Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy knows exactly what kind of movie it would be were it to get a big-screen adaptation. The 2017 platform game sees the player control the arms of a man stuck in a cauldron of sorts as he uses a sledgehammer to scale higher and higher, traversing past rocky mountains, piles of rubbish, and even springing over chasms. One fall, however, typically sees the player tumble down to where they began their journey.
The game is famous for being a frustrating, finicky experience, and many who have played it would likely relish the opportunity to enjoy someone else’s misery as they helplessly try to climb ever higher, only to stumble at the most menial obstacles. Were it to find the right leading star and maintain Bennett Foddy’s painstaking and patronizing narration with every fall, then Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy could make for not only a delightfully slapstick and silly movie, but a rather cathartic one as well.
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‘The Sims’ Series (2000-)
Developed by Maxis; Published by Electronic Arts
Standing as one of the most famous and universally beloved video game brands in the history of the medium, The Sims is a goofy yet engaging life simulation that sees the player reside in a near-limitless sandbox society. Each game tasks players with creating virtual people—the “Sims”—placing them in houses, and watching over them, giving them instructions that not only govern what they do, but can impact their moods and needs.
There is plenty of fun to be had with a film adaptation of The Sims, simply by what it would be presented as at surface level. However, even in keeping with their peculiar dialect and governing lifestyles, a Sims movie could potentially pry even deeper than the games do, analyzing concepts of free will and fate with the controlling “player” being a separate character detached from the audience. Were it able to do this while maintaining the game series’ sense of effervescent fun, it could well be a masterpiece of observational comedy.
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‘Portal’ (2007)
Developed & Published by Valve
A true classic of the puzzle-solving genre, Portal has endured as a timeless masterpiece, with the game seeing the player use a teleportation gun to maneuver through complex levels and to move objects to different areas. Such is the game’s brilliance, it is perhaps unedifying to suggest that a film adaptation should resort to amplifying the sillier aspects of the game. After all, not only does it feature a story that builds its tension incredibly well, but it also features one of the greatest villains in gaming history: GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence that guides the player through the levels while concealing a sinister ulterior motive.
Part of the reason why Portal can be likened to A Minecraft Movie in terms of possible adaptations is the game’s relatively tame T-rating, which would be equivalent to a PG-13 film rating. There would be no need to add in more explicit material because the game, as it is, is already rife with suspense and intrigue aplenty. Maintaining an appeal to most younger viewers by focusing on the puzzle-solving aspect and the growing animosity of GLaDOS could see Portal produce not only a brilliant video game adaptation, but a uniquely compelling viewing experience as well.
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‘Grounded’ (2022)
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment; Published by Xbox Game Studios
Perhaps the best fit for a true A Minecraft Movie-style adaptation is the hilarious 2022 survival game Grounded. It follows four protagonists who, after being drastically shrunk in size during a science experiment, find themselves stranded in a typical backyard environment. As they strive to figure out a way to undo the shrinkage they have suffered, they must also combat the many creepy crawlies that lurk about the garden.
The basic premise has proven to be a hit with audiences through the success of such family pictures as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and A Bug’s Life. There is no reason why a Grounded movie couldn’t thrive as a new iteration on such interests for a new generation of kids. Rife with adventure and thrills, affording plenty of opportunity for family-friendly comedy, and following four lovable characters in a simple yet strong narrative, Grounded could work phenomenally as the next video game adaptation to hit the big screen with the intent of captivating a mass audience.
