In this day and age, when everyone is on the move all the time, no one has time for long titles. Why don’t you take Vampires: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and throw it in the trash next to Fallout: A Post-Apocalyptic Role Playing Game? Those titles were so long I fell asleep while writing them, and not just because it’s 2 AM and I’ve gotta hit this deadline.
These are not necessarily the best games in so far as their content, but these one-word titles sum up what their games are all about, usually with more than one meaning.
10. DOOM
Pretty simple. You’re the Doomguy. You bring doom with you wherever you go. The world is doomed unless you save it from the demons. The all-caps title also communicates a certain level of confidence that I wish I could relate to. From now on, I am NIRAV.
9. INSIDE
Another all-caps title? Oh god. I can feel myself shrinking in the face of such an intimidating font. INSIDE is actually a great title because there’s no way to understand what it means until you complete the game. At the beginning, INSIDE seems to refer to the boy heading inside the facility to escape his captors. At the end, it becomes clear that the boy was inside the simulation the entire time, the simulation being the game that you are playing. Woah. Big brain time.
8. Dishonored
It’s all right there. Corvo is dishonored by the Lord Regent when he’s framed for the Empress’s murder. Then he re-honors himself by… actually killing hundreds of people? I suppose there’s a reason the no-kill route is the canon one. Nevertheless, when I see the word “dishonored” I know there’s going to be some crazy revenge going on.
7. Dreams
Besides being a phenomenally robust and user-friendly game engine, Dreams gets across what it’s all about in six simple letters. Every piece of media, every movie, game, book, building, painting began as a dream. It also holds the second, more obvious meaning of “if you can dream it, you can build it.” What I like about this title is that it in itself is encouraging. You are all dreamers, and therefore you all have the capacity to create.
6. Firewatch
I hope I don’t have to break this one down for you. You spend the entire game watching for fires, and then there’s a fire and you watch it. And then the game ends. It’s all right there in the title.
5. Portal
That’s right, this one is portals all the way down. You’re pretty much shooting portals to solve puzzles every 3-4 seconds, so I’m not sure what word could possibly be more descriptive of this experience. Maybe just Cake, which could have been funny. Don’t worry if you don’t get it, it’s an inside joke for Gamers (TM) only.
4.Titanfall
Besides just being a super cool title, Titanfall communicates deftly in just three syllables what the deal here is. There are Titans that Fall out of the sky to aid you. I was trying to figure out some way to fit in a joke about Attack on Titanfall in here, but I didn’t quite make it. Darn.
3. Bloodborne
Bloodborne is actually a particularly clever title because while the primary reference is to the blood-borne pathogen that is infecting the citizens of Yahrnam, the secondary meaning refers to the Hunter as well as the creatures they fight being born from blood, from killing, from violence. Okay, fine, I didn’t finish Bloodborne. Sue me. Go try to run a marathon and tell me I just need to “git gud.”
2. Control
Control references so many elements of its game at once I don’t think I could list them all out. Jesse Faden must take control of the bureau by becoming its director; Jesse can control objects with her mind through telekinesis; thematically, the game is about taking control from those who have it; you must focus your energy to clear Control Points, from which you can control the surrounding areas; Jesse wrestles with a second consciousness inside her head for control of her own body; the Hiss are being controlled by Altered Items; a test subject is controlling the Altered World Events subconsciously while he himself is being controlled – you get the idea. Anyway, is good. Play it.
1. Minecraft
You mine stuff, then craft it into other stuff, then use that stuff to mine more. You sit down for just an hour or so and very suddenly it’s five years later and you’re typing up an article about video games at 2 AM on a Friday night.
Did I miss any clever one-word titles? Still hoping Half-Life might show up as some sort of honorable mention? Well keep hoping, pal. Some people don’t count the hyphen but I do, and you’re in my town now.
