Steampunk, having been overtaken by its sister genre cyberpunk in recent years, is still much more alive than gamers might give it credit for. There are games like Final Fantasy that take not-so-subtle influences from steampunk movements in their handling of ecologic and economic issues, while others such as BioShock and Dishonored take it more or less head-on visually. Steampunk has infiltrated games in a way that a lot of people don’t notice due to the lack of “top hat and goggles” imagery, instead adding a solid layer of grunge to the techie pseudo-magicka visual design.
Something about steampunk attracts game design more than it does any other medium, save for costume design on occasion. It seems to have all but fizzled out since the early 2000s with games like American McGee’s Alice and the Thief series taking undeniable influence from the movement. For anyone looking to get back into the retrofuturism of the grimy 19th century, these titles might be a good place to start.
10 Guns of Icarus Online
Guns of Icarus Online is maybe one of the most straight-forward examples of the steampunk aesthetic. The player is placed into the shoes of a techie in charge of a gigantic rusty-steel airship as they find themselves under siege by other players with their own steam-powered metal zeppelins.
The teamwork reminds of a proto-Sea of Thieves-like, with players taking hold of giant turrets while others pilot the ship and more still repair the damage done by other ships’ cannons.
9 Volcanoids
Volcanoids is an interesting take on the genre, placing an entourage of players into an open survival world in which they must build bases and fend off other survivors looking for blood. The giant drills aren’t just a visual motif, as the island is host to plentiful underground resources that are hindered by increasing volcanic activity that appears to be set off by the game’s PVE element, maddened mechanical beings.
It’s a shame that the other open-world survival game took the title Rust because Volcanoids is a much more fitting setting for it.
8 Machinarium
Machinarium is probably a familiar title to quite a few readers, as the visually unique indie title took the front page of game stores and articles for quite a while upon its 2009 release. The attention it got back then was completely deserved, as is evidenced by anyone who’s played the game.
It’s a fun little adventure following a robot attempting to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend in an oily, grimy world not too far from what we so often associate with the genre’s uncomfortable settings.
7 The Swindle
Where most steampunk stealth titles are directly derivative of Thief, The Swindle takes a 2-dimensional turn. While the game got mixed reviews from fans for its difficulty spikes and cohesion issues, it’s a solid stealth platformer that uses its mechanics and procedural generation methods to make a fun and unique indie title.
Visually, it bridges the gap between steampunk and cyberpunk with a style not-too-far from Don’t Starve, minus the Tim Burton twistiness.
6 Sunless Skies
Much like its prequel, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies is a hit-or-miss title for most gamers, considering it pushes narrative to the forefront. All in all, it feels similar to the format of classic tabletop RPGs, providing the player with endless sheets of character info and world-building, then setting them loose in a dark and fantastical world.
For players who don’t like to read, Sunless Skies most likely won’t be a win. For those willing to put in the time to learn the systems and master the roguelike style, however, the Sunless series is a vastly interesting piece of the genre.
5 BioShock
What’s a good steampunk list without the Big Daddy steampunk shooter of the generation? 2007’s BioShock, the spiritual successor to the classic FPRPG System Shock, takes the necropolis out of space and puts it at the bottom of the ocean, the other final frontier.
Where Bioshock’s steam takes the form of bubbles and cracked pipes, the worldbuilding is a beautiful nouveau adaptation of the genre, with a lot of unique stylistic choices and wonderful gameplay moments throughout its broken city.
4 Alice: Madness Returns
American McGee’s Alice series is a vastly interesting adaptation of the classic Carroll story. Herein, the titular Alice seeks refuge in Wonderland after being institutionalized. The Wonderland here, however, takes a new direction with the story’s typical “madness” and abstract imagery, instead favoring McGee’s favorite weird surrealist psychological horror.
The art design is one of the best of its generation, and the gameplay provides some fun and satisfying hack-and-slash flow.
3 Dishonored
Dishonored is one of the best examples of the influences of Thief over stealth games, as it takes a near-identical if not slightly more noble-esque approach to the former’s dark Victorian streets. Refining classic stealth mechanics for a modern age, Dishonored is perhaps a more widely accepted spiritual reboot to the franchise than the actual Thief reboot was.
From the magic elements to the grinding gears of the noble guard mechs, Dishonored‘s visual style is on-par with Final Fantasy’s conceptual contrast, adding a colorful fantasy element to the typical dinginess of steampunk.
2 Styx: Master Of Shadows
Another visual mashup taking precedence in the stealth genre, Styx is a fun and lighthearted but still dark take on steampunk. The player takes control of a centuries-old goblin as he takes on unsavory missions in a beautiful, if not polluted alternate 19th century.
The game has an undeniable charm, while still being divisive to genre fans for its denial of the typical silent protagonist in favor of a quirky lewd main character a-la Penumbra’s mind parasite. The narrative can break immersion on occasion, but Styx as a whole can be a truly satisfying follow-up to other kings of the genre.
1 Thief: Deadly Shadows
Thief is a classic in all ways and impossible not to mention in the conversation of stealth and steampunk games alike. Thief was one of the earliest stealth games, with The Dark Project releasing in 1998, and immediately becoming to the stealth genre what Doom was to the FPS.
Deadly Shadows, the third and final entry in the classic series, is perhaps also the best. DS takes the pinnacles of the previous entries and finesses them into the new generation, with upgraded mechanics, new items, and a typically dark and brooding world that makes players scared of the light just as much as what may lurk in the shadows with them.
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