One of the best things about playing video games is that you can enter a world that is completely different from your own reality. Once you start, you can become a World War II soldier, or the best football player in the world, or a legendary knight. Some games, though, give you the chance to be something other than human.
Some titles feature animals that are super realistic, others are meant to be complete fantasy.
Below are the 10 best games where you can play as a member of the animal kingdom.
Little Kitty Big City
There are plenty of gamers out there who really love cats. And why wouldn’t they? Kitties and their docile personalities make for a perfect partner to sit there while you play games.
Double Dagger Studio is betting on gamer love for felines with its latest title, Little Kitty Big City. In the title, users play as a cat trying to get back home. Along the way, gamers must navigate a big city and do fun kitty things like exploring the sights and trying to find something to eat.
The game will debut in 2022.
Skatebird
There is actually quite a cute story in Skatebird, created by Glass Bottom Games. Upset that his owner has to go to work each day and is no longer able to skate, a bird takes up the sport in order to get his attention.
And the game is lots of fun to play. The action is quite similar to that of any Tony Hawk game. The only difference is rather than a human doing the skating, it is a tiny bird. And rather than large-sized skate parks, the game takes place in miniaturized versions.
Untitled Goose Game
Sometimes ideas for games can come from very random places. Untitled Goose Game was developed after a simple picture of a goose was shared in House House studios. Eventually, a game was developed where a domesticated goose annoys people in an English town. While playing as the bird, gamers can honk, flap their wings, and pick stuff up with the Goose’s beak.
The game was an unexpected hit, topping 100,000 games sold on Nintendo Switch. It was also a hit among critics with many complimenting the title for its fun gameplay and unending charm.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the first games that gave players the opportunity to play as an animal. The game was initially created to compete with Nintendo’s Mario Game and became the flagship title for the Sega Genesis system. Sonic wasn’t able to beat out Mario, it would have been near impossible for any game to do so.
Still, the Sonic games are incredibly fun to play. In the start, gamers would propel the hedgehog through obstacles where he collected rings. There have been multiple incarnations of the game and a second film based on the character will be released in 2022.
Away: The Survival Game
This title, developed and published by Breaking Walls, allows you to play as quite a unique animal. In the game, users control a sugar glider who is trying to save their family. The gamer must avoid predators, hunt down their own food and fly around the forest.
There are also short sequences in the title where the player can play as other animals such as a beetle or a fox. The game was based on nature films and is scored by Mike Raznick who had worked on the BBC’s Planet Earth II.
Endling
Endling is a term used to describe the last surviving member of a species. And in this Herobeat Studios game, you play as the last remaining Fox on Earth.
The title portrays a planet Earth that has been ravaged by mankind. Moving through the game, the player must protect her three cubs as they grow into adulthood. Endling is not only meant to be enjoyable to play but it is also meant to send a message about how damaging the environment has such a negative effect on wildlife.
Maneater
Sure, sharks are terrifying, but did you ever think of things from their perspective? In Maneater, created by Tripwire Interactive, you are in control of a female bull shark who is obsessed with getting revenge on the fishermen who killed her mom and disfigured her.
The player starts as a baby shark who must find food and grow big and strong. Later on in the game, the shark goes after Scaly Pete, her mom’s murderer. The bull shark can also cause havoc for people on jet skis, riding aboard yachts, or hanging out on the shoreline.
Spirit of the North
Spirit of the North, first developed by Infuse Studios for Playstation 4, recently received an update for Playstation 5. And in the title, the user plays a fox who lives in Iceland. There are no narrators or dialogue, with stories only told by cave pictures drawn on walls.
At first, the fox can only perform basic movements like running and jumping. But as the player moves on in the game, they earn more advanced moves. More than anything the game was praised for its incredible graphics.
Goat Simulator
Sometimes the best games are the ones that are the most simple. And 2014’s Goat Simulator, developed by Coffee Stain Studios is exactly that. In the game, you control a goat with a simple goal, create as much chaos as possible.
There’s not much more to the game than that. The title was helped along by a massive viral marketing campaign that piqued the curiosity of gamers around the world. The biggest winner was Coffee Stain Studios which went on to become a video game publisher.
Tokyo Jungle
In most of the games on this list, you play as one singular animal. In Tokyo Jungle, released in 2012 by Sony Computer Entertainment, you can take control of a number of different animals.
The goal of the title is to play through missions centered around a number of animals. Over the course of the game, you may play as a pomeranian, sika deer, beagle, spotted hyena, or a lion.
