News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 9, 2022: The Caribbean is known for its historical and cultural influences. Whether it’s pirates, wildlife, or good parties, all eyes are on the Caribbean when it comes to tropical beauty and adventures.
The Caribbean’s Influence on the World
From music to movies, fashion to high art, the Caribbean has made its mark on the world, even if it is such a small region of the globe. With key figures rising from the islands and South American coasts including Rhianna, Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, and several others making their claims to fame, they have always proudly represented where they came from.
Best known for its music and lifestyle, the Caribbean seems to attract audiences from all around the world. Of course, who doesn’t love crystal clear waters, soft sandy beaches, and delicious foods that one can only find on the islands?
With so much to offer the world, gaming developers have found lots of inspiration from the islands and have incorporated its historical and cultural elements into their graphics, plotlines, and characters.
In the last several years, quite a few reputable titles have showcased the Caribbean’s unique beauty as the centerpiece for their video games.
Here are just a few of them.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag takes place in the early 18th century, which many historians have called the golden age of pirates. What many players enjoyed about this game was the multi-dimensional nature of the story. As the Caribbean is a mixture of all sorts of different peoples and cultures, the characters reflect that both in their conflict and their goals.
Many gamers also enjoyed the exploratory aspects of the game. Developers created beautiful islands, mysterious tombs, and choppy waters to navigate. It’s quite easy to simply play the game as one wants, as it is much more autonomous than the first few games of the Assassin’s Creed series, which did not allow players as much freedom.
The story also takes players on unexpected turns including fast-forwarding into the future, where game developers try to make a video game about the main character’s pirate life, which is a fun meta twist.
The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
While The Secret of Monkey Island is much older than the other titles on this list, it’s probably the most influential in terms of writing, puzzles, and gaming at large. Created by the makers of Star Wars, Lucasfilm Games, the game emulates interesting cinematic qualities while also providing fun point-and-click adventure style games.
What makes it so interesting is how funny it is, namely because it makes no pop culture references. The humor becomes timeless, allowing players to participate in the game’s own universe, where pirates fight pirates and nothing more.
For those who love nostalgic pixel art, The Secret of Monkey Island’s original version was released in just 16 colors. The designers used crafty techniques to give the graphics their depth, creating beautiful, Caribbean-inspired scenes like multicolor sunsets, underwater treasure chests, and polka dot inns. Luckily for fans, a new edition to Monkey Island is on the way.
Koral (2019)
While the Caribbean has historically been one of the world’s biggest sites for adventure, games like Koral have also shown the calming side of the Caribbean blue.
The object of the game is quite simple. Functioning as a puzzle game, players gather glowing balls of life from living coral plants and bring them to areas that are dying. The message of the game is to bring awareness to the coral reef crisis and climate change as a whole.
What makes Koral so special is its beautiful art direction. Its dreamy 2D graphics are simply mesmerizing, with glittering firework-like sparks in the darkness and pastel-colored reefs.
Fishin’ Frenzy (2021)
Even slot games can’t get enough of the Caribbean’s crystal clear waters. However, unlike Koral, where players explore the deep blue and rescue animals, many slot games situate the players right in the middle of the action.
For example, Fishin’ Frenzy presents players with five spinning reels to make their biggest catch. Players don’t have to go searching long to enjoy the enticing 2D graphics and sound design inspired by the fishing culture that’s popular in the Caribbean. In fact, the game blends fly fishing and spin fishing styles in its gameplay, which is something most fishers will appreciate.
Tropico 6 (2019)
For anyone who enjoys city-building games, the Tropico series uses the Caribbean as a backdrop for players to build elaborate, utopian cities. However, there are loads of characters with conflicting ideas, so players have to find creative ways to make them all happy, as well as satisfy the general population.
While many have claimed that the older versions of Tropico are more enjoyable because they focus less on the economic element of the game, for people who enjoy unorthodox exercises to improve their business, it could be an interesting game to check out.
