Many anime shows from the last five years should be adapted into video games. While several of the shows I’m featuring have small games not released in America, many of these shows could work as larger titles in the console and PC spaces. Regardless of the likelihood of a big-budget adaptation happening, here are 10 modern anime that could make fantastic video games.

Aldnoah.Zero

What is it? – Aldnoah.Zero is a return to the mecha anime of yesteryear, but with brutal depictions of advanced warfare and a suitably grim storyline featuring the people of Mars (who originated from Earth) returning to capture the resources of Earth by annihilating anyone who resists them.

The game – Nearly all of the mech fights in Aldnoah.Zero pit average human robots against specialized giant robots from Mars that are nearly indestructible. Each of the Martian robots inevitably has a weak point that the protagonist figures out how to exploit through observation and experimentation. An Aldnoah.Zero game should be about using your robot to take down all of the Martian Knights exclusively in boss fights similar to something like Shadow of the Colossus. To capture the drama at the heart of the story, you could break up the action by exploring the ship you are traveling on and talking with your crewmates. The game should alternate between following both Inaho Kaizuka fighting for Earth and Slaine Troyard fighting for the Martians to give you a glimpse behind both sides of the conflict.

Durarara!!

What is it? – Durarara!! explores how various characters and gangs intersect with one another in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo. Watching small sparks of conflict ignite into a raging inferno that challenges all of the characters is the highlight of the show.

The game – If Durarara!! were adapted into a game, it would be best if it followed an original character that was ushered into the world of Durarara!! similar to how the main protagonist Mikado enters the city. In this manner, you could interact with the entirety of the large cast of characters without any baggage. If Mikado were the main character, he wouldn’t enter any fights himself, which would be hard to build action around. If you want to be able to tackle fighting any of the factions or ride motorcycles, you would need an original character who is willing to participate in all of the exciting happenings in Ikebukuro. It would be awesome to explore the city and to personally develop relationships with the characters both when the city is peaceful and when violence inevitably erupts.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

What is it? – Madoka Magica follows a middle school girl named Madoka who is offered the chance to become a magical girl and have one of her wishes granted. The anime is a deconstruction of the magical girl genre with engaging, lovable characters and razor-sharp writing.

The game – Madoka Magica already possesses a game-like structure in its universe, as the magical girls must descend into the various labyrinths to fight witches and their familiars. The labyrinths are colorful, disorienting, and haunting; featuring wildly divergent terrain and imagery, which makes them ideal levels to be further explored. It might be best to make a Madoka game divorced from the core story not only because it hasn’t been done before, but because it gives the designers more room to work with. By focusing on original stories and characters, it would necessitate that new surprises be around every corner – which could be very satisfying. It also helps that you can craft characters with powers even more suited for a video game. Of course, due to the flexibility of the structure of the show, a developer could easily tie their original characters and storyline back into the main fiction, which could provide the best of both worlds.

Keep reading for ideas on Pyscho Pass, Attack on Titan, and more…

Psycho Pass

What is it? – Pyscho Pass takes place in a world where people are judged by their likelihood to commit a crime, and follows a police group designed to remove dangerous latent criminals from society before they can act.

The game – Pyscho Pass probably wouldn’t translate well as any kind of action game considering the only weapon in the universe has only three shots or so in it. However, the fascinating world could easily support an adventure game. By investigating crime scenes and interrogating witnesses, you could piece together whoever was planning to commit gruesome murders and decide how to confront them when it’s time to bring them to justice. If the game was anything like the first or second seasons of the show, the highlight of the game would be figuring out the true mastermind that links together each individual case.

Accel World

What is it? – Accel World follows a group of middle school children who are playing an augmented reality fighting game with MMO elements. By winning matches in the game, the players gain the right to accelerate, which effectively slows down time and motivates them to keep playing.

The game – The structure of Brain Burst, the fighting game at the heart of Accel World, lends itself to a unique type of multiplayer game. In a game based off Accel World, it would be interesting to be able to join any of the seven factions, have a storyline associated with it, and compete against others to raise the reputation of your faction. The main difference between the show and a game based off of it would be the necessity to build your own character rather than have one assigned to you. By featuring a handful of classes with different abilities and emphasizing teamwork on the varied environments, you could have interesting PvP combat that would be fun to repeat again and again.

Attack on Titan

What is it? – Humanity makes one last stand against the Titans who are mindlessly devouring them like zombies. In the face of such great adversity, humanity might end up destroying itself before the Titans manage to break through the last lines of defense.

The game – Attack on Titan would be difficult to adapt as a video game if a developer did a straightforward adaption of the story. Instead, it would be best to follow the Survey Corps as they venture into Titan-infested lands. In this manner, you could feature plenty of large areas with varying terrain that could support a multitude of different threats as you fight Titans with their unique behaviors. There is room in the Attack on Titan universe to feature more characters like Captain Levi, who can actually handle the Titan threat, so actually being capable of slaying multiple Titans doesn’t have to feel out of place. The most important elements that an Attack on Titan game would have to get right are the big set-piece moments and the Vertical Maneuvering Gear, because the latter especially should be an absolute blast to control. If a developer can nail the core experience, an Attack on Titan game is worth pursuing.

Tiger and Bunny

What is it? – A super hero show where the heroes are sponsored by big corporations to combat crime and promote their products. While the threats posed by emerging super villains is exciting, watching the two main heroes struggle to get along and ultimately develop a deep friendship is the heart of the show.

The game – Tiger and Bunny could function really well as a co-op brawler with one person controlling Tiger while the other controls Bunny. Both Tiger and Bunny fight barehanded, so it makes sense that the series could be grounded in a brawler format. To further emphasize their teamwork and growing friendship, the two characters should be able to team up for co-op moves to really decimate the bad guys. Room exists to include Tiger and Bunny’s other teammates like Sky High and Blue Rose as playable characters over the course of the game.

Continue on for more ideas for Log Horizon, Girls Und Panzer, and more…

Log Horizon

What is it? – Log Horizon is about a group of 30,000 players trapped in the world of Elder Tale, a virtual reality MMO whose world is a half-scale model of Earth. The main character eventually starts a guild called Log Horizon in order to tackle the emerging threats in the players’ new reality.

The game – A game based on Log Horizon doesn’t necessarily need to follow the plot of the anime. One idea could be to use the world of Elder Tale to support a strategy RPG similar to XCOM or Fire Emblem. Teamwork and strategy is an important element of the show, and all of the characters also have classes they specialize in. Gathering information and using it is critical to the guild’s successes in the anime, so if you are able to gather crucial information before the strategy battles begin it could give you a big advantage on the battlefield.

Girls Und Panzer

What is it? – A surprisingly awesome anime about girls participating in tank battles as a school sport. The interschool competitions are intense as you follow a lovable group of underdogs that topple teams far more equipped and coordinated.

The game – Girls Und Panzer would work well as a real-time strategic action game. Your tank and crew would roam around the environment to scout out the competition to sneak up on and disable them. Actions would have to be deliberate because if a shot misses it would take a while for your crew to reload. You could customize your experience depending on which crew members you bring with you and how you outfit your tank with weapons, equipment, and paint jobs. While there has been a Girls Und Panzer game on the Vita in Japan, putting the series on a console would allow larger and more complex environments that could support large-scale online multiplayer battles.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

What is it? – Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet follows a human soldier named Ledo who crash lands on an alien planet covered entirely in water far in the future. He discovers that he actually landed on Earth, a planet believed to be uninhabitable, and he decides to join up with a society living on a fleet of ships. Ledo has to learn to adjust to civilian life when he learns he is unable to return home.

The game – A Gargantia game could take place after the events of the anime once peace has been restored. From here you could follow Ledo and participate in all the activities related to life aboard the Gargantia. Highlights of the game could include deep sea underwater diving for treasure, fishing, and battling pirates on the open seas. It would be open-ended, kind of like Animal Crossing, but with robots and occasionally more action.

Are there any modern anime that you think would make awesome games? Be sure to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!