An index of works about in-universe video games, whether they be real or fictional. These games and their players play an important role in these stories, often incorporating Video Game Tropes and portraying Video Game Culture.
This index doesn't include works that are dedicated to just reviewing video games, like many of those in Video Review Show.
Not to be confused with stories merely taking place within a video game universe. Compare to The Anime of the Game and Video Game Movies, which are both works adapted from video games. See also Parody Video Games, RPG Episode, RPG Mechanics 'Verse, and The Most Dangerous Video Game.
Works
- .hack, a Japanese multimedia franchise (2002-present)
Anime & Manga
- .hack:
- 16bit Sensation: Another Layer
- Arcade Gamer Fubuki, a manga series (1998-2003)
- The Game Devil
- Gamerz Heaven
- Good Night World
- High Score Girl, a manga series (2010-2018)
- Loving Yamada at Lv999!
- Magic of Stella, a manga series (2012-present)
- New Game!, a manga series (2013-2021)
- Not Lives
- The Ones Within
- Recovery of an MMO Junkie, a manga series (2013-2015)
- Shitsurakuen
- Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games
Comic Books
- Kid Paddle and its spin-off Game Over
- Louca takes a detour from its usual soccer and sport-oriented action for an arc at an e-sport tournament (vol. 8-9)
- Noob, based on the eponymous webseries
Comic Strips
Fan Works
Films — Animation
- Detective Conan Film 06: The Phantom of Baker Street, a 2002 Japanese animated Science Fiction / Detective Drama film
- The Emoji Movie, a 2017 American comedy film
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, a 2001 American direct-to-video film
- Wreck-It Ralph, a 2012 American comedy film and part of the Disney Animated Canon. The bad guy (but not a bad guy) of a 1980s arcade game grows tired of his lot in life and jumps into other games across the arcade in an effort to prove to everyone that he has what it takes to be the good guy for a change.
- Ralph Breaks the Internet, a 2018 American comedy film
Films — Documentaries
- Indie Game: The Movie, a 2012 Canadian film
- The King of Kong, a 2007 American film
- Thank You for Playing, a 2015 American film
Films — Live-Action
- 8-Bit Christmas, a 2021 American Christmas american film
- Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie, a 2014 American film based on the popular web series.
- Arcade, a 1993 American B-movie
- Avalon, a 2001 Japanese Polish-language film
- Boss Level, 2021 American action film
- Final Deployment 4: Queen Battle Walkthrough, a 2018 short film
- Free Guy a 2021 action comedy film starring Ryan Reynolds as an NPC in a popular online game called Free City that grows beyond his programming, discovers the truth about his reality, and works to become the good guy in a chaotic Grand Theft Auto-esque world.
- Gamer, a 2011 film
- Gran Turismo, a 2023 sports drama centered around a contest sponsored by the titular game series.
- Hellraiser: Hellworld, a 2005 American horror film
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a 2017 American fantasy adventure film and sequel to the classic 1995 film Jumanji, where the titular magic board game transfers itself into a video game cartridge to endear itself to modern kids.
- Jumanji: The Next Level, the 2019 sequel to the above.
- The Last Starfighter, a 1984 American space opera film
- Pixels, a 2015 American comedy film
- Ready Player One, a 2018 American film
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, a 2003 American spy film
- Spy Kids: Armageddon, a 2023 American spy film
- Tetris, a 2023 historical thriller biopic about the real life story behind the famous puzzle game and the difficult journey it took to become a worldwide phenomenon.
- TRON, an American science fiction franchise by Disney
- TRON, a 1982 film
- TRON: Legacy, a 2010 film
- WarGames, a 1983 American film
- The Wizard, a 1989 American adventure film
Literature
- .hack//AI Buster
- ½ Prince
- Accel World
- And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online? (2013-2020)
- Armada, a 2015 American novel
- The Avatar Chronicles, a novel series (2004-2011)
- Awaken Online
- Blade Skill Online
- Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. (2016-present)
- Bushido Online
- Daemon, a novel series (2006, 2009)
- Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
- Endo and Kobayashi Live!
- Erebos
- Escapist Dream, a pop culture fiction novel (2020)
- Otaku Girl, sequel to Escapist Dream (2021)
- Full Dive ( August 2020-present)
- Gameknight999
- Gamers! (2015) (2015-2019)
- Genocide Online
- Heir Apparent, a novel with two companion books (2002)
- How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (2012-2017)
- Infinite Dendrogram (2016-present)
- Insignia, a novel series (2012-2014)
- In the Land of Leadale
- The King's Avatar, a Chinese novel series (2012-present)
- Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
- Log Horizon (2011-present)
- Magistellus Bad Trip
- Manuke FPS Player Ga Isekai E Ochita Baai
- No Game No Life (2012-present)
- No Pasaran Le Jeu, a French novel (1996, with a graphic novel adaptation in 2014)
- Only Sense Online
- Overlord (2012-present)
- Phantom Server, a Russian novel series (2015-2016)
- Press Start! (2016), an early chapter book series (2016-present)
- Prophecy Approved Companion: 2020 web serial novel
- Ready Player One, a 2011 science fiction novel
- Ready Player Two, its 2020 sequel
- Seven Senses of the Re'Union
- Shangri-La Frontier
- Solo Leveling, (first a web serial novel, than a webcomic, and then a published novel)
- Space Demons Trilogy
- Sword Art Online
- Void Forge, a 2013 science fiction novel
Live-Action TV
- Ace Lightning, a British TV series (2002-2004)
- Consolevania, a Scottish TV series (2004-present)
- Crash Zone, an Australian TV series (1999-2001)
- Deadly Games, an American TV series (1995-1997)
- Dead Pixels, a British TV series (2019-2021)
- GamesMaster, a British TV series (1992-1998)
- Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, a Japanese TV series (2016-2017)
- Kiss Me First, a British TV series (2018-present)
- Level Up, an American TV series (2012-2013)
Manhwa
Music
Television Episodes
- The Amazing World of Gumball S5 E18 "The Console"
- Batman Beyond S2 E24 "Sentries of the Last Cosmos"
- Black Mirror: Playtest
- Black Mirror: Striking Vipers
- BoBoiBoy S1 E7 "Game On!"
- Bravest Warriors S01 E03 "Butter Lettuce"
- Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island S2E2 "Monkey Business/Sir Nut-a-Lot" (specifically the second half, "Sir Nut-a-Lot")
- Community S3 E20 "Digital Estate Planning"
- Gravity Falls
- Happy Heroes S10E23 "Run, Superman Brothers"
- Kaeloo
- Kim Possible S2 E9 "Virtu-Ron"
- Mechamato S1 E9 "Retro Tech"
- Ninjago (Season 12: Prime Empire)
- "Would You Like to Enter Prime Empire?"
- "Dyer Island"
- "Level Thirteen"
- "Superstar Rockin' Jay"
- "I am Okino"
- "The Glitch"
- "The Cliffs of Hysteria"
- "The Maze of the Red Dragon"
- "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back"
- "Racer Seven"
- "The Speedway Five-Billion"
- "Stop, Drop and Side Scroll"
- "Ninjago Confidential"
- "The Prodigal Father"
- "The Temple of Madness"
- "Game Over"
- Simple Samosa Episode 99 "Khelo Samosa"
- The Simpsons
- South Park
- Star Trek: The Next Generation S5 E6 "The Game"
- Teen Titans Go! S2 E39 "Video Game References"
Video Games
- .hack:
- The Beginner's Guide, a 2015 exploration game
- Bubbaruka!, a 2021 Explorer Horror game about a haunted Virtual Pet simulator
- The Bunny Graveyard, an upcoming late 2023 horror game
- Contact, a 2006 role-playing game
- CrossCode, a 2018 action RPG
- Dev Guy, a 2015 adventure/exploration game
- The End (2015), a role-playing game
- Game Dev Story, a 1997 simulation game
- The Game Dev Tree, a 2020 Idle Game
- Game Dev Tycoon, a 2012 simulation game
- Game Tengoku, a 1995 arcade game
- Ganbare Neo Poke-Kun, a 2000 simulation game
- The Hex, a 2018 multi-genre computer game about a murder mystery involving several video game characters
- Kid Chameleon, a 1992 platform game
- Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, a 1997 role-playing game
- Nanashi no Game, a 2008 horror game
- Omikron: The Nomad Soul, a 1999 fantasy game
- Pony Island, a 2016 computer game
- Retro Game Challenge, a 2007 video game
- Segagaga, a 2001 role-playing game
- Skrillex Quest, a 2012 Action-Adventure game
- stikir, a 2019 Genre-Busting game.
- tERRORbane, a 2022 video game
- There Is No Game, a 2015 Flash puzzle game.
- TOME, a 2021 indie role-playing game based on the web series of the same name.
- Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, a 2019 hack and slash game
- WarioWare, a video game franchise
- The Writer Will Do Something, a 2015 interactive game
- Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom, a 2003 video game
Visual Novels
- Arcade Spirits, a 2017 visual novel
- Girls Beyond the Wasteland, a 2016 visual novel
Web Animation
- Lacey Games, a horror series about a series of fictional Flash games (2022-present)
- Little Runmo, a 2019 animated short film
- Meta Runner, an animated series (2019-2022)
- Rabbit Games, a horror series about fictional Flash games (2023-present)
- TOME, an animated series (2011-2015)
Web Original
Web Video
- Feminist Frequency: Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, a video series (2013-2017)
- The Gaming Historian, a web video series (2008-present)
- The Legend of Neil, a comedy series (2008-present)
- Now in the 90s
- Pure Pwnage, a web video series (2004-2010)
- Sword Art Online Abridged, a parody web series (2013-present)
Western Animation
- Code Monkeys, an American TV series (2007-2008)
- Da Boom Crew
- Glitch Techs, an American TV series produced by Nickelodeon and aired on Netflix (2020)
- ReBoot, a Canadian TV series (1994-2001)
- TRON: Uprising, an American TV series (2012-2013)