10 Best Games For Discworld Fans

Within the city of Ankh-Morpork stands the legendary Unseen University, home of the Discworld’s finest (and fattest) wizards. And deep beneath said university, in a restricted section of the archives, can be found a mysterious gray box.

Upon placing an unusually shiny disc into the box, it begins to glow and depict images most curious. Visions of the Disc made from numbers and dots, pixels and code. For this is the box upon which games most similar to the Discworld can be played.

Related

10 Most Iconic Video Game Schools

No alarms required to attend these schools, just a console.

Alright, so what games are those, anyway? Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels shine across a broad spectrum of fantasy fiction. Ranging from the Rincewind pastiches of fantasy tropes to the political satire of Ankh-Morpork’s industrial revolution, it’s hard to claim a single fantasy sub-genre or setting best depicts the entire series.

However, they do all share one truth: Pratchett’s novels feature a viciously funny blend of satire, absurdity, and wordplay. At the same time, his characters are charmingly human. We can only hope future games will take more inspiration from the series!

When searching out games which share Discworld’s “vibe,” we must seek a balance of humor and story. Pestilent cities, wizardly academies, and other fantasy tropes should certainly be considered! But above all else, our list of game recommendations emphasizes Discworld-esque comedy.

Related

10 Best Games Like Deltarune

There are plenty of great games to tide you over until the next Deltarune chapter.

10 Disco Elysium

Detective! Detective!

For Sam Vimes aficionados, it’s hard to top Disco Elysium’s mix of gritty noir and unexpected humor. Set in a dingy slum of Revachol—a comfortable parallel to Discworld’s Ankh-Morpork—in this game you’re a detective ferreting out the unknown.

Unlike many investigative games, in Disco Elysium the mysteries aren’t just external. Opening the game with total amnesia, you’re not just trying to solve a murder. You’re also trying to discover your inner self.

I find this reminiscent of Vimes’s journey across the Guards sequence. Quite confident about his role in the world in Guards! Guards!, Vimes becomes increasingly lost as he (often accidentally) rises in status. Never as lost as Disco Elysium’s main character, I think the two would feel companionship nonetheless.

9 Portal & Portal 2

A Deadly Sense Of Humor

Golems may be the closest Discworld gets to robots, but the dry, deadpan humor of Portal and Portal 2 is quite familiar. GLaDOS’s mild irritation in Portal at your persistent ability to survive her deadly puzzles fits quite well with Lord Vetinari’s comically flat delivery. (Particularly if he’s had a rather bad day.)

The humor jumps a step further, though, as Portal 2 diversifies the narration with commentary from the obliviously enthusiastic Wheatley and the capitalist parody Cave Johnson. One of the best puzzle games of all time, Portal 2 keeps you both struggling with puzzles and laughing at the “helpful” commentary.

Even if the game’s comedy is largely confined to the dialogue—the plot is funny, but events don’t escalate into a comedic cascade like Discworld—the biting tone and superb voice acting make the Portal games a strong choice for fans itching for Death’s sardonic commentary while they die repeatedly to the same puzzle.

8 Overlord

Anti-Hero Hype

If you’ve got a taste for dark comedy, then Overlord may be up your alley. Playing as an evil overlord followed around by your goon squad of minions, Overlord is one of those delightful games where you get to play the bad guy.

Or do you? Overlord shares the Discworld novels’ satiric sense of humor. As a send-up of fantasy tropes, it leaves open the question of just how villainous you are. With a surprisingly good karma system facilitating shifts between anti-hero and unashamed villain, your evil (and “evil”) deeds often turn into a morbidly cartoonish parody.

It was also written by Rhianna Pratchett. Pedigree isn’t necessarily a guarantor of quality or humor, but in Overlord’s case, a resemblance glimmers through. Its humor isn’t merely a pale imitation of Discworld—the darker themes and playfulness with evil allow Overlord to stand on its own tyrannical feet.

Related

10 Best Choose Your Own Adventure Games

Some games give us the chance to write our own stories, creating unique tales with the element of choice. Here are a few of those excellent titles.

7 Simon The Sorcerer

Harry Potter: Point And Click

After finding Ye Olde Spellbook in his attic, a boy is sucked through a portal and must learn to become a wizard. The oldest entry on our list, Simon the Sorcerer is a classic point-and-click adventure where your goal is simply to get home.

It also may be the most straightforward comedy. Simon the Sorcerer is stuffed full with allusions, references, and puns playing on a wide variety of fantasies. In addition to genre staples like The Lord of the Rings and Narnia, Simon the Sorcerer is also quite heavily inspired by Discworld.

Originally designed with a Discworld license in mind, the slightly dopey, unreliable perspective on magic in Simon the Sorcerer is easily compared to the Unseen University. Although it didn’t get the license, this game proudly declares its Discworld influences.

6 Fable

A Bit British, Innit?

Released just over 20 years ago, Fable deserves its status as a fantasy icon. Its use of “generic medieval fantasy” tropes for story and setting presented the archetype to new gamers on the first-generation Xbox.

But what makes Fable stand out from similar games or settings (like the Forgotten Realms) is its extremely British sense of humor. The blend of thoughtful parody alongside “dumb” puns and toilet jokes gives Fable a lighthearted vibe.

What makes this game a good fit for Discworld fans, though, is that Fable rarely loses track of its story. Humor functions as a compliment to Fable’s plot. In that regard, it’s quite similar to Pratchett’s work—using comedy while keeping focus on a more powerful tale or theme.

5 Psychonauts

Psychedelic Inception

Psychonauts is a platformer in which you use the main character, Rax, to explore diverse “mental spaces” and prevent the villain from harvesting everyone’s brain at psychic summer camp.

That colorful premise is backed up with equally distinctive characters, such as a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte who is losing a battle for self-control with the hallucination of his ancestor.

This ongoing mania shares the same vibe as Pratchett’s most bizarre and bewildering characters. The turtle manifestation of Om in Small Gods would fit right at home alongside Psychonauts’ sentient lungfish, Linda.

If platformers are your jam, then Psychonauts is a solid way to get your fix of weird humor. In comparison to Portal earlier on this list, though, Psychonauts focuses on execution over puzzle-solving. So, if eye-hand coordination is your weak point, this one might be a bit less suitable.

Related

10 Hilarious Indie Games That Nail Comedy

Throughout life, taking a break and having a nice laugh is great, so here are our favorite indie games that absolutely nail comedy.

4 Arcanum

Steampunk Revolution

The 2001 CRPG Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura may be a bit dated, but few games match the quality (and variety) of its writing. Set in a fantasy world overwhelmed by technological changes, you explore the clash of magic and machinery while trying—of course—to prevent the Bad Guy from ending the world.

If you’re into Pratchett’s later Discworld novels, Arcanum’s steampunk revolution should sound familiar. This same tension between “traditional medieval fantasy” and an emerging technological world is prominent throughout the Industrial Revolution novels.

For example, the feelings of loss and purposelessness felt by the dwarven “grags” in Thud!.

Theme isn’t the only commonality. This period of transition, loss, and hopes for the future in both Arcanum and Discworld is handled with a mixture of sentiment and absurdity. Fae gangsters, sarcastic ghosts, and class divisions are sources of both levity and problems to be solved in Arcanum’s quests.

3 Magicka

Wacky Wizard Hijinks

If you like magic to be chaotic and absurd, it’s hard to go wrong with Magicka. While the game’s spellcrafting system lacks mystery, in practice Magicka plays a bit like trying to take Sergeant Angua for walkies. (Scornful, violent, and persuasive.)

The game is a very silly action-adventure parody of fantasy tropes. The magic is rather over-the-top compared to the few spells cast by members of the Unseen University. Yet, the uncontrolled mayhem and unexpected interactions between spell and setting, to me, feel very Discworld.

After all, Discworld’s sense of magic is something wondrous, strange, and dangerous. The difference with Magicka is that the game’s wizards actually go out into the world and use it.

Related

10 Best Games With Dark Humor

So long as you’re not opposed to violence, profanity, and gross stuff, these games have plenty to laugh at.

2 There Is No Game

And There Is No Fourth Wall

Indie puzzler There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension is filled with absolute weirdness. Presenting you with a variety of totally-not-video-game situations, your goal is simply to escape each scenario to finally be able to play the game.

For me, this non-game’s meta-play and player-targeted narrative capture the same vibe as the most mind-bending bits of the Discworld books.

It feels like what might happen if the Unseen University’s cabinet of curiosity or reality-warping library strove to prevent a wizard’s investigation. Well, provided the wizard had already bribed the Librarian with a banana.

It’s hard to say much more without accidentally spoiling some of the game’s stranger turns. That said, if perplexing absurdity makes you giggle, There Is No Game is definitely worth checking out.

1 Discworld

Don Your Pointy Hat

What’s more Discworld than the Disc? Why, Discworld, of course! This old-school 1995 adventure game is the perfect way to get your interactive Discworld fix because it’s loosely based on Pratchett’s novels and was designed in collaboration with the author.

Largely a patchwork made from The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Guards! Guards!, this game mixes old elements and adds new ones. It’s a story suitable both for established fans and for players new to the series.

Playing as Rincewind in an adventure as pointy and clicky as the 90s could get, you must guide him through various puzzles to prevent a dragon from wreaking havoc on Ankh-Morpork. Along the way, you’ll also need to prove that dragons exist.

With extensive voice acting from British actors such as Eric Idle—of Monty Python infamy—and charming pixel art, Discworld is a loving homage to Pratchett’s work. The only problem? It’s a bit hard to find a copy.

Next

7 Best Low-Fantasy RPGs

These are the best low fantasy RPGs where magic exists but doesn’t dominate, offering grounded worlds, gritty combat, and immersive storytelling.