novel adaptations
Trying to avoid more indirect adaptations, i.e. ones based on a movie/tv adaptation rather than the book itself, ones based loosely around a famous character rather than a specific story, ones that are just a sequel to a previous video game adaptation (unless they're based on a particular sequel novel). I'll fudge those rules where I feel like it though.
198 Games
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (Jules Verne, 1870)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan, 1915)
Around the World in 80 Days (Jules Verne, 1873)
Around the World in 80 Days (Jules Verne, 1873)
The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco, 1980)
Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe, 1719)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain, 1876)
The ABC Murders (Agatha Christie, 1936)
And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie, 1940)
Evil Under the Sun (Agatha Christie, 1941)
Death on the Nile (Agatha Christie, 1937)
Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie, 1934)
Peril at End House (Agatha Christie, 1932)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (Lewis Carroll, 1871)
Congo (Michael Crichton, 1980)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (Lewis Carroll, 1871)
The Neverending Story (Michael Ende, 1979)
Water Margin (Shi Nai'an, late 1300s)
Bedlam (Christopher Brookmyre, 2013)
Below the Root (Zilpha Keatley Snyder, 1975)
The Riftwar Cycle (Raymond E. Feist, 1982-2013) (subsequently novelized as Krondor: The Betrayal (1998))
Moderato Cantabile (Marguerite Duras, 1958)
Brave Story (Miyuki Miyabe, 1999-2001)
Brave Story (Miyuki Miyabe, 1999-2001)
Brave Story (Miyuki Miyabe, 1999-2001)
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (Spider Robinson, 1977)
The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Tom Clancy, 1988)
Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence (Nick Bantock, 1991)
The Difference Engine (William Gibson & Bruce Sterling, 1990)
Chaos Legion (Tow Ubukata, 2003)
When Gravity Fails (George Alec Effinger, 1987)
The Colour of Magic (Terry Pratchett, 1983)
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, 1993)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas, 1844)
Kâbus (Alev Alatlı, 1999)
Azure Bonds (Kate Novak & Jeff Grubb, 1988)
The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown, 2003)
Inferno (Dante Alighieri, ~1320)
Inferno (Dante Alighieri, ~1320)
Dear Faustina (Rhoda Broughton, 1897)
The Death Gate Cycle (Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, 1990-1994)
Digital Devil Story trilogy (Aya Nishitani, 1986-1988)
Digital Devil Story trilogy (Aya Nishitani, 1986-1988)
Guards! Guards! (Terry Pratchett, 1989)
Moving Pictures (Terry Pratchett, 1990) & Reaper Man (Terry Pratchett, 1991)
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886)
Dracula (Bram Stoker, 1897)
Dracula (Bram Stoker, 1897)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong, 1300s)
Dragonflight and sequels (Anne McCaffrey, 1968-1979)
Dragonworld (Byron Preiss & Michael Reaves, 1979)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong, 1300s)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong, 1300s)
Journey to the West (Wu Cheng'en, 1592)
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury, 1953)
Falcon: The Renegade Lord (Mark Smith, 1985)
The Stand (Stephen King, 1978)
The Fourth Protocol (Frederick Forsyth, 1984)
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Mary Shelley, 1818)
A Song of Ice and Fire series (George R.R. Martin, 1996-2011)
Journey to the West (Wu Cheng'en, 1592)
Gateway (Frederik Pohl., 1977)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee, 1960)
Children's and Household Tales [aka Grimm's Fairy Tales] (Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, 1812)
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (Sue Townsend, 1984)
Inferno (Dante Alighieri, ~1320)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong, 1300s)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams, 1979)
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937)
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937)
How to Be a Complete Bastard (Adrian Edmondson, Mark Leigh & Mike Lepine, 1986)
The Hunt for Red October (Tom Clancy, 1984)
Damiano trilogy (R.A. MacAvoy, 1983-1984)
Around the World in 80 Days (Jules Verne, 1873)
Watt (Samuel Beckett, 1953)
The Invincible (Stanisław Lem, 1964)
Shōgun (James Clavell, 1975)
Shōgun (James Clavell, 1975)
The Blackstone Chronicles (John Saul, 1996-1997)
The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett, 1989)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong, 1300s)
Kim (Rudyard Kipling, 1901)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Luo Guanzhong, 1300s)
Le Morte d'Arthur (Thomas Malory, 1485)
Fire on the Water (Joe Dever & Gary Chalk, 1984)
Flight from the Dark (Joe Dever & Gary Chalk, 1984)
The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954)
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden [aka The Eight Dog Chronicles] (Kyokutei Bakin, 1814-1842)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)
Metro 2033 (Dmitry Glukhovsky, 2002)
The Mist (Stephen King, 1980)
Murder off Miami (Dennis Wheatley, 1936)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (Jules Verne, 1870)
Investiture of the Gods (Xu Zhonglin, late 1500s - early 1600s)
False Impressions & The Clues Challenge ("Carolyn Keene", ed. Anne Greenberg, 1990 & 2001)
Captive Witness (Richard Ballad (as Carolyn Keene), 1981)
Mystery on Maui (Elizabeth Nugent (as Carolyn Keene), 1998)
The Bluebeard Room (James Duncan Lawrence (as Carolyn Keene), 1985)
11 Comments
thanks! I think it came up when I was getting the list together but I was having a hard time figuring out which specific Kenji Miyazawa works it was pulling from and whether it might be better suited for my other list, for games based on short stories? I should look into it further
Hmm yeah possibly the short stories list would be a better fit – I haven’t found much info on the specific stories it’s adapting either, and am not familiar with Miyazawa’s work
I love your list! There are novels that I didn't even know had a game.
Definitely need "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" on here!
"I Have No Mouth" is based on a short story so it's on this list instead https://www.backloggd.com/u/jakobvongunten/list/games-based-on-poems-short-stories-and-songs-1/
You missed Shannara when it comes to Legend Entertainment book adaptions.
There's also the Discworld adventure game trilogy and the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy interactive fiction game. Also Pilgrim: Faith as a Weapon and Return of the Phantom
Finally I think the Dune RTSes by Westwood would count, unlike the original Cryo adventure game which was clearly based off the Lynch film.
There's also the Discworld adventure game trilogy and the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy interactive fiction game. Also Pilgrim: Faith as a Weapon and Return of the Phantom
Finally I think the Dune RTSes by Westwood would count, unlike the original Cryo adventure game which was clearly based off the Lynch film.
have added a few of those but Shannara, Discworld Noir, and the Westwood Dune games are all original plots within the setting of their respective series afaik. Not sure why Hitchhiker's wasn't here already, perhaps when i made the list I thought it was primarily based on the radio series?
The Atlus Megami Tensei isn't actually a direct adaption on the novel, it's a sequel the the first 2 novels (before the 3rd novel released and went in a different direction). I don't know too much about the Telenet one but I believe it's a side story rather then an adaption of the novels.
I am glad someone else already did the work of compiling these. Thanks For Making it. Recently this game called "To Hell With The Ugly" was released, which is a direct adaptation of the Boris Vian novel of the same name, if you wouldnt mind adding it.
thanks! (for both the appreciation & the tip)
TeN
3 years ago