The Victorian era took place from July 18, 2025, to Jul 01, 2025, 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.
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. Most games that take place in the Victorian era tend to be dark. While mostVictoria-era gamescan have a dark edge to them, there is variety in terms of genre, style, and the story they tell.
Updated July 25, 2025, by Hamza Haq:The Victorian Era was a very short period of history, all things considered. It lasted only for a little over 60 years, but the fantasies it has inspired and the imaginations it has stoked have lasted generations. The Steampunk genre is a direct offshoot of this fantasy trope that has gained a lot of traction over the years. The article has been updated with two additional games that take place in the Victorian Era, giving players interested in this topic even more options to browse through.
Around the World in 80 Daysis one of the most popular stories penned by Jules Verne that helped him become one of the best writers around who focused on adventurous stories. The ability to replicate this journey via a video game is something that players would love to check out, and80 Daysis an excellent video game for players who want to enjoy the same.
The striking art style and choice-based gameplay lend a ton of weight to every decision that players make, which can either aid them in their goal or prevent them from accomplishing this hefty task. The game encourages replayability and uses the Victorian era to make its storytelling more engaging than ever before.
26A Study in Steampunk: Choice By Gaslight
A Text-Based Tale Of Intrigue And Industry
A Study in Steampunkis an indie CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure) text-based RPG heavily inspired by Victorian Era England and steampunk elements. The game is essentially a book where players make choices as they read, and depending on these choices, the outcome changes and the story is altered.
The character that the player controls has his own stats, just like a regular RPG, and the actions he takes only succeed if they fall within the purview of those stats. These stats increase or decrease during a playthrough through the events that unfold.
Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~is an Otome game with a female protagonist named Cardia and a host of eligible bachelors, each one signifying a different ‘route’ or game path players can take to reach the game’s conclusion.
Code: Realize’s story takes place in an alternate version of Victorian London, with steampunk elements sprinkled in to give it an edge of fantasy. The art style is absolutely gorgeous and breathes life into the game’s world and characters. The secondary male leads, as well as the supporting cast, are all inspired by a famous historical or fantasy trope based in Victorian England, ranging from generic Germanic nobles to Sherlock Holmes himself.
One of the most underrated CRPGs back when the golden age of this genre was drawing to a close, the beloved Troika Games crafted one of the most unique worlds to every feature in a video game to date with the advent ofArcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura. The title may not have aged that well from a gameplay standpoint (something that fans of Troika Games are begrudgingly familiar with) but people willing to give its lack of gameplay fidelity a pass will love whatArcanumbrings to the table.
The way magic and technology work against each other makes the world and its inhabitants more unique, with players being encouraged to choose one over the other to make their build as effective as possible. This, coupled with a deep story that accommodates player choice in new and interesting ways, makesArcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscuraan excellent title for players who want to check out a game with shades of the Victorian era smattered here and there.
Following the massive success ofThe Dark Descent, it was clear that Frictional Games had finally settled on a formula that would guarantee success for them. This led toA Machine For Pigsriding hot on the coattails of its predecessor, with the time period being similar too.
Both games are set in the Victorian era, withA Machine for Pigsset two years before the rule of Queen Victoria drew to a close. The game is about as horrifying as one would expect from a Frictional Games product, and Amnesia continues to be one of their most successful franchises despite this title disappointing some fans for its lack of innovation.
It’s a shame that getting one’s hands on a working copy ofAmerican McGee’s Aliceis such a harrowing task. The game deserves to be hailed as a classic of its time that created a beautiful and haunting world where players could get lost.
The combat in the game was pretty serviceable, but it was the amazing visual design and tone of the narrative that made it such an underrated gem. Players who manage to get their hands onAmerican McGee’s Alicewill love its dark aesthetic and engaging levels, which will keep fans encapsulated till the end of a memorable adventure.
Steelrisingis a relatively recent Soulslike entry from Spiders, the game company credited with creating theworlds ofGreedFallandGreedFall 2. The setting forSteelrisingis an alternate iteration of the French Revolution set in Paris, but with heavy influences from the Victorian Era, if the technology tree of civilization had gone down the steampunk route instead of gas and electricity.
While gameplay can feel a little bit too similar to other Soulslike titles, the atmosphere is impeccable, conveying the essence of the time period it sets out to portray with startling accuracy. Both the NPCs and the environment are reflections of this era.
Sunless Seais an excellent title thatcombines exploration and storytelling in one neat package. The game does have its scary moments, but players mostly love this title for the many unique islands and stories that players can explore as they journey across the unterzee and uncover the wealth of content present in the world.
Soon enough, players will slowly understand how the game works and get over its massive difficulty curve with relative ease. Getting the best ship and destroying enemies that were giving players a hard time early on never ceases to be satisfying!
There aren’t many JRPGs that focus on the Victorian settingand Lovecraftian horror, so it’s amazing to see thatShadow Heartschecks both these boxes! The games in this genre are notorious for being a bit too lengthy for their good, so fans were glad to see thatShadow Heartsdidn’t overstay its welcome as it absorbed players in a unique and engaging tale.
Players have to maintain a sanity meter along with HP and MP, making for a fun balancing act as players attempt to wipe out enemies as soon as possible before a party member frenzies out of nowhere.Shadow Heartsmay have its rough edges, but this game’s concept is truly exhilarating and goes to show just how important it is to play through JRPGs that aren’t steeped in the usual high fantasy setting that some fans have grown bored of.
Released in 2015,The Order: 1886is a third-person game in the action-adventure genre. The setting is in 1886, but it’s not the same Victorian era as ours.It takes place in an alternate historythat 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 lacking, sometimes feeling more like a walking simulator than anaction-adventuretitle.
