What's the best game where nobody gets killed?
Can't we all be friends? Or just maim each other a little?
Video games and murder are like cheese and crackers. Vic and Bob. The Edinburgh Fringe and disgruntled locals. A classic partnership, but hardly inseparable: though our chief interaction with these virtual worlds is to deal death to their residents, it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, there are thousands of video games out there where you aren't compelled to kill anyone. Or stab them. Or even lightly maim them. Farming simulators, for example, where the only thing resembling violence is the application of combine harvester to corn. Relationship simulators, where the only conflict to be found is that between heart and head. Or Assassin's Creed 3, where you tend to just kill British colonisers, which most people agree is fair game.
Our guest this week is James Batchelor, editor-in-chief of our sister publication Gamesindustry.biz, and someone who is keen to spread awareness of the fact that video gaming is a broad and eclectic art form which includes plenty of non-violent titles, over 300 of which he has documented in his book: The Best Non-Violent Video Games.
So, which is the best game where nobody gets killed, according to our esteemed panel? To find out, you'll have to watch or listen to this show. Handily there are several methods for doing so listed below. Cor, you lucky people. We've thought of everything!
Special thanks to David Bulmer for performing "Jim's Theme".
Watch the video version here:
- Here's The Best Games Ever Podcast on Apple Podcasts.
- You can also follow us on Spotify.
- It's even on YouTube if that's your thing.
Listen to the audio version here:
Or subscribe to us via your favourite podcast platforms:
You could also simply read the summary below, if you're the sort of person who skips to the last page of a book (a wrongun, a reprobate, a Bad Seed).
James Batchelor
James picked Pokémon Gold and Silver, which doesn't feature in his book as it does feature plenty of violence, but nobody actually gets killed, so it qualifies here. It also resisted all of Alex's attempts to find some kind of loophole or technicality to disqualify it.
Tom
Tom picked Fashion Police Squad, a retro-styled boomer shooter where instead of filling punters with hot lead, you merely shoot better fitting clothes onto them. If anything, you're helping.
Alex
Alex went with Splatoon, Nintendo's distinctly Nintendo take on the multiplayer shooter in which nobody dies from bullet wounds because they get covered in ink instead. Despite the obvious drowning risk, nobody dies.
“What is the Best Games Ever Show?” you ask? Well, it is essentially a 30-minute panel show where people (Jim Trinca and associates) decide on the best game in a specific category. That's it. It's good. Listen to it.
Come back in a week for another exciting instalment of the Best Games Ever Show.
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|
Buy Starfield Standard Digital Edition for Series S/X and Windows |