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- Cult classics are video games that are widely praised and well received, but often are commercial failures.
- Cult classics of any medium often employ creative, imaginative, or impressive features that fans love and return to or influence later works.
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A cult following is a group of fans that is overly passionate about a particular work of art, usually small in number compared to pop culture at large. Usually the movie or game was a commercial flop or obscure and sometimes gains a following despite the poor critical opinion of that work of art.
But what makes a cult classic? That is a matter of opinion, really. It depends on the number of people in the cult following, how long since the work of art was created, the passion of the following, and the gap between its popularity and its critical reception.
You might be a member of a cult following without even knowing it. Cult followings are usually tight-knit groups with online communities and in-person friend groups, but if you enjoy a movie, band, or game despite its popularity and return to it again and again, can’t stop talking about it to your friends, then you can consider yourself a part of its cult following.
The irony is, that the more cult-like the following of a game, the more obscure it is, and less likely to be discovered by pop culture at large. The larger the cult following, the more the game gets picked up by journalists and publications, earning mainstream appeal and slowly losing its cult status. Therefore, there are probably hundreds of games with extremely passionate cult followings that we would never be able to include here because we simply don’t know about them, and the games that are included here are probably on the verge of gaining mainstream acceptance.
Now, there are plenty of games with rabid and passionate fanbases (League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Overwatch all come to mind), but we limited our list to some of the most passionate of the cult classics (in our opinion).
Why Are We Talking About This?
Mainstream media, pop culture, and cable news do not have a monopoly on what constitutes good art or enjoyable video games. More often than not, the most popular media is created to make money and appeal to a broad audience, usually making it bland and easy to enjoy. Don’t let others tell you what you want to enjoy and what is good art, find out for yourself.
#1 Ico
We start our list with one of the most well-known cult classics, Ico, which has been called one of the greatest video games of all time, a masterpiece, and the predecessor to many modern successes like The Last of Us and an icon during a time when video games were still struggling to be considered art.
It was the predecessor to the wildly successful and popular Shadow of the Colussus and features many of the same elements: minimal dialogue, large expansive areas to explore, and “subtracting design” which reduced the number of gameplay elements and HUD items that interfered with the core elements of the game, improving immersion.
It received near-universal love from players and reviewers but was a commercial failure.
#2 EarthBound
EarthBound is the second game in the Mother series and is known as Mother 2 in Japan. It sold well in its homeland but was a commercial failure in the United States for a number of reasons, but a small and passionate group of fans fell in love with it.
Most of this popularity grew after the main character, Ness, was included as the last unlockable character in the first Super Smash Bros. game. If you played that game and had no idea who he was, you weren’t alone.
Earthbound has since been called one of the best video games of all time and has been re-released numerous times. It is often included on lists of games you must play and is one of the hallmarks of the RPG genre.
#3 Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Conker’s Bad Fur Day imitates the art style of popular games of the time like Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Mario 64, appearing like yet another kid-friendly platformer, but players were in for a surprise.
Conker is an alcoholic squirrel and the game involves him trying to get back home after a nasty night of binge drinking. It features significant alcohol and drug use, graphic violence, extreme profanity, dirty and crude humor, numerous pop culture jokes and references, and more.
Conker’s Bad Fur Day was praised when it was released and received positive reviews and consumer praise, but (as was expected) it did not sell very well. It has been called one of the best platforming games of all time. A sequel was planned, but Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT) canceled the project when it bought the developer, Rare.
#4 Psychonauts
Tim Schafer, the director at Double Fine Productions that created Psychonauts, is the patron saint of cult video game classics. If Schafer has touched it, chances are it’s going to be a unique and enjoyable experience, but not necessarily popular or commercially successful. Unfortunately, all the publishers Shafer has worked with have only cared about profits, leading to a long difficult road for this legendary developer to get anything done.
Psychonauts follows the main character, Razputin, who is a young boy who visits a camp for kids to train to become psychic spies. Like other games on this list, it has been called one of the greatest games ever made and was well-received by fans and critics, but it was a massive financial failure. It won the 2005 Best Original Game from the Game Critics Awards, among many others.
#5 Alan Wake
Remedy Entertainment has a talent for creating mind-bending works of art, and Alan Wake is no different. A mystery and thriller action-adventure game told over six episodes, it was widely praised within the industry and by mainstream publications.
Sales at launch were very disappointing, but widespread word-of-mouth led to thousands more copies being sold in the months after, and it has become the second-most-pirated game for the Xbox 360. If you enjoy mystery and thriller books or shows, then this game is definitely for you.
#6 Spec Ops: The Line
On the surface, Spec Ops: The Line looks just like any other brown military-simulation shooter that was common at the time. But while some people might have expected a typical first-person-shooter, they were surprised by how the game explores the horrors of war and how the game “physically opposed” the player, making them question their actions and the things that games typically ask players to do, including morally questionable decisions.
It is widely accepted as one of the best examples of video games as art and is widely praised for its content despite a broken multiplayer aspect. While many typical shooter elements drew criticism, it is the game’s narrative that drew a cult following, with many believing that the combat was not meant to be fun or engaging, and functions as a critique of the FPS genre.
#7 Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress is a freeware game (surviving only on donations) developed by two people and was released in alpha in 2006 with a paid version being released on Steam in 2022. It used exclusively ASCII graphics and involved players managing a colony of dwarves in a procedurally generated world with absolutely mind-blowing depth and complexity.
Trust us, you might think you can anticipate the depth of this game, but you can’t. This is the game that inspired simpler games like Minecraft and RimWorld, but completely blows them out of the water in terms of mechanical depth and complexity.
The game has a significant and passionate cult following even though it is still decades away from being a finished game. It has fostered the growth of art, media, communities, and events. It has even been studied in academic papers about artificial intelligence, computer game pedagogy, and more.
#8 Killer7
Killer7 is an action-adventure game about a group of assassins in a complex noir storyline with unconventional game mechanics and unique gameplay. It was divisive among critics when it was released, but gamers loved its fresh feel and well-written story and characters. Much of its experimental aspects are what drew a passionate fanbase
Killer7 quickly earned a cult following because of its fantastic style, presentation, well-crafted story, and soundtrack. It became so popular among fans that game director Suda was convinced to re-release much of his older work.
#9 Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
If you’re surprised to see a game like this on this list, especially from a company like Rockstar Games, then you can understand the confusion of games around the world in 2006 when it was announced.
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is exactly what it sounds like: a table tennis simulation video game, nothing else. No guns, no mini-games, no microtransactions, no gimmicks, just solid, fun, realistic ping-pong action.
Players enjoyed how simple yet fun the game was, and its cult following continues to support it during a time when every game seems to be filled with nonsense and un-fun elements.
#10 Grim Fandango
The man, the myth, the legend, Tim Schafer returns with this second cult classic on our list.
Grim Fandango is an adventure game, the first 3D game published by LucasArts, set in the Land of the Dead in which the player must interact with people and objects to solve puzzles and crimes.
Grim Fandango received widespread acclaim and praise for its unique art style, writing, and creativity, and won many awards. It is included as one of the greatest video games of all time. Despite this, it was a massive commercial flop. Some publications have called it the last genuine game to be published by LucasArts. Fans continue to love and support the game to this day.
#11 Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth game in the Hitman game series and is widely held to be the best of the franchise. Even though it was a commercial and critical success, it is still believed to be a cult classic since it remains one of the most popular games in the genre and continues to be popular despite disappointing movie adaptations and well-received sequels.
It doesn’t do anything particularly revolutionary or different from the previous games in the series, but it does everything very well along with a fantastic soundtrack. It is well-polished and is an incredibly solid game with tight controls and well-crafted missions. Among stealth and assassination-style games, Hitman: Blood Money remains the benchmark for other games to meet.
#12 System Shock 2
System Shock 2 is the predecessor to, and the reason for, the legendary Bioshock series. It is an action RPG horror game released in 1999 to widespread critical praise but ended up being a commercial flop. For the publisher Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), this was enough to sign the death certificate of the series.
At the time of release, System Shock 2’s open-ended gameplay, first-person RPG elements, and other mechanics were innovative and groundbreaking. It has been called one of the greatest games of all time and has influenced dozens of games ever since. If you want to explore the grandfather of modern first-person RPGs, this is where you should start.
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