These Two Dark Fairytales Need to Unravel on Modern Consoles
The article advocates for more games based on classic fairytales, drawing parallels between gaming and traditional storytelling traditions. Just as previous generations learned survival lessons from stories told by fireplaces—about avoiding tricksters, suspicious fruit, and dangerous forests—modern audiences can gain similar insights from interactive games.
The author argues that despite games’ increasing cultural prominence as a storytelling medium, they rarely draw from the rich tradition of classic fairytales. This represents a missed opportunity to engage players with timeless narratives. The article highlights American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns as exemplary games that effectively adapt fairytale material for interactive audiences, demonstrating that the genre has untapped potential in the gaming space.
A key concern raised is game preservation. The article emphasizes the importance of ensuring that fairytale-based games remain playable across console generations, not becoming inaccessible as hardware evolves. This broader issue affects the industry’s ability to maintain access to culturally significant works over time.
The piece ultimately calls for both more game development in this space and industry commitment to preservation efforts, so that fairytale-inspired games don’t disappear as new console generations replace older hardware.