Games that take place in their own completely unique worlds often struggle to put together compelling stories and create worlds that can intrigue the player and build towards sequels or a franchise. Whether developers are actively seeking to do this or just have a better, more well-rounded vision for their games, it is always delightful to see the effort put into these aspects.
However, platformer games, which have less reason than most other types of games to put together such world-building, often end up doing it better than expected and adding little pieces of texture and history to their worlds to surprise and delight players. These platformers have the best world building around and are well worth checking out.
6 Shovel Knight
While Shovel Knight is a game that was hugely inspired by classic side-scrolling platform games, there is very little inspiration taken from them in terms of storytelling. Instead, it builds a unique, fun, and whimsical world around the simple premise that it sets out for the player.
The game doesn’t have lengthy dialogue often, but the world around the simple, elegant plot is fleshed out through briefer interactions and meeting other characters. This style worked incredibly well for the platform genre, where it can often be hard to do as much storytelling as in RPG or major action games. It is also a game filled with many deaths, and with a great multiplayer mode.
5 Little Nightmares II
The world-building aspects of many darker puzzle platformers are minuscule at best. Infamous games in this sub-genre such as LIMBO, INSIDE and even Little Nightmares leave much about their worlds to the imagination of the player. Little Nightmares II expands greatly upon the world around the original game though.
From showing schools and hospitals in the world to the core story involving the tall man, Little Nightmares II doesn’t just give an intensely creepy vibe throughout. It also builds a unique, fascinating world with much more that could be explored in future games. The Pale City is a terrifying place and there are as many questions as answers given in the game, but the world created inside this game has many fans clamoring for more.
4 It Takes Two
Not even set in a fantasy world of its own making like most of the other modern games, It Takes Two is set in a much more realistic world that suddenly goes awry. The game focuses on a married couple who are getting a divorce. The pair end up getting trapped in their daughter’s dolls and are forced to work together through a series of obstacles keeping them from getting back into their own bodies.
The world-building here is incredible and intricate, focused more on the past relationship between these two and their daughter. From her old toys to their old vacuum and toolbox, these anthropomorphic objects they come into contact with constantly build stories and worlds around their lives and the crazy situation they’ve become trapped in.
3 Portal
Portal is not the type of game that would normally have great world-building. However, the fleshing out of the experiments done at the Aperture Science Research Centre is done by the narrative robotic voice of GLaDOS, one of the two characters in the game. The sardonic tone of this character as well as all the knowledge about the experiments, the player character, and the world informs the player about the world of the game.
This impressive world building even extended into the real world at one point, with a website being built around Aperture Science to promote the game's release. This incredible amount of effort on the part of the game creators did not go unnoticed, as Portal is still praised fifteen years after its release for its style and world-building.
2 Psychonauts
The thought of a young boy who goes to a summer camp for psychic spies is uncommon enough and was a wonderful idea. For him to then uncover a conspiracy and delve into the minds of other campers and explore the unique personalities of each was closer to a stroke of genius. The conversations that the player can overhear while exploring the camp were wittily written and highly praised by critics too.
Not only this, but tidbits of conversation and world-building like this changed as the story progressed, and the bizarre characters all managed to have their own quirks and create a wild cast and an incredible world around the game which hasn’t often been replicated in the nearly two decades since it was released.
1 Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is one of the ultimate examples of world-building in video games. The subterranean world of Hallownest is a dark and foreboding place. The history of the Infection, a supernatural disease that destroyed the kingdom and its population, is well explored throughout the game and is intensely emotional as a journey.
Both the radiance and the infection, stored within the Hollow Knight, are built as parts of this moving world that feels alive. The history of Hallownest is given to players through NPC dialogue and the surrounding environment, which is the best sort of storytelling for games like this. The world of Hollow Knight is incredible and deserves the recognition it is given for creating this world around a platform game.