The Alt History Timeline Project

Most of you who have been around a while know I set themes for myself, or challenges to help me complete games. Keeps my ADHD focused on a couple games. So one of these ideas Ive been kicking around for a couple years now I think I want to take a run at next year, but its a big one and I need some help. Suggestions and organization to be specific.

I want to play a series of games, minimum of 50 total, that sort of recreate the “History” of earth. Quite obviously though it wouldnt be the true history but rather a fabricated timeline of events from across the world based in video games. While Ive got some games chosen, I need more, though I’m being slightly picky about some choices. System and age dont matter, but Im staying away from games that jump large chunks of time, or wouldnt be feasibly explainable from decade to decade. For example Wolfenstein, or Fallout, which have events that utterly warp the tragectory of the entire earth for many years. Id rather pick things that take place in a specific year or couple years, or represent a decade. Im not shying away from sci fi or fantasy, apoclypse etc as its an alt history, but i want it to still make sense as a timeline.

So far i think my start point is probably going to be Far Cry Primal, and ill end up somewhere like Mass Effect Andromeda, or Outer Worlds.
Along with those Ive tapped Greedfall, Kingdom Come Deliverence, Cyberpunk 2077 and a few others as potentials but the door is pretty wide open for relevant suggest right now.

As always, thanks for reading!

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Mafia games would be good, many of the Call of Duty games I think would fit this too. Red dead would be cool, Ghost of Tsushima would be cool, and the AC games would for your project.

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I played Mafia 1 and 2 a couple months ago back to back, so those probably wont be revisisted, but 3 is on my short list. Red Dead 2 is also on there, 1 ive played several times and love it, i just havent gotten around to 2. Ghost is stupid good, i may play that again. Have to see what else i can turn up for that time period.

And assasins creed is kind of a sticky one. I might play one or two of them, but since they hit so many time periods they feel a bit like the easy way out if that makes sense. I also started a project to play them all, got through the original in January amd then just didnt feel like playing another. But if any itll probably be origins, syndicate and/or unity

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What a fun project! Some ideas:

  • 2000 BC - Treasures of the Aegean
  • 1000 BC - Hades 1 or 2
  • 50 BC - Expeditions: Rome
  • 800 AD - The Lost Vikings
  • 1000 AD - A Prince of Persia game, maybe the new one?
  • 1400s - Elsinore
  • 1500s - Sekiro, Pentiment
  • 1600s - The Confines of the Crown
  • 1700s - Sid Meier’s Pirates (2004 version), Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
  • 1800s - Dishonored 1-2, Return of the Obra Dinn, Desperados 3
  • 1910s - The Last Express, Overboard
  • 1940s - Strikers 1945
  • 1950s - The Red Star
  • 1980s - Wintermoor Tactics Club, A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986, Hidden Agenda (old PC game, not the 2017 one)
  • 1990s - Devil May Cry 3, Gone Home, Kathy Rain
  • 2000s - Butterfly Soup, Persona 3, The World Ends With You
  • 2010s - Life Is Strange 1-3
  • 2020s - Phoenix Wright series, Vampire the Masquerade: Shadows of New York (set during the beginning of the pandemic)
  • 2030s - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, A Mind Forever Voyaging
  • 2050s - Deus Ex
  • Near Future - XCOM, Creatures Such as We, Tacoma, Shadowrun: Dragonfall
  • Distant Future - Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Citizen Sleeper, Einhander, Saltsea Chronicles, Analogue: A Hate Story
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I recommend:

  • The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery

You will get a slice of life of Germany (Bavaria) in 1995 and a look into the historical backgrounds of King Ludwig II and Richard Wagner between 1870 and 1886 with a little scary twist.

That’s 1811 to 1840.

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance
    The game is set in the early 1400s Kingdom of Bohemia, also known as the Czech Kingdom.

  • The Saboteur

France and Germany in 1940.

  • Martha is dead

Italy 1944.

  • Jack Orlando

Prohibition in the 30s, detecive story about a murder. If you don’t want to go for the Mafia related games that have been already mentioned.

  • Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

Japan 1600 and later.

  • Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth

England in 1100 -1200.

  • Jotun
    If you dont want to go with one of the AAA games about the Vikings. I guess the time is about 800+.

For the future/alternative reality, I definitely recommend the Shadowrun games and everything XCOM related.

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Lots of good suggestions, rhank you both. Ill start looking into these

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This is fun! Here’s some I thought of:

1274 - Ghost of Tsushima
1802 - Return of the Obra Dinn
1839 - Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Late 1800s/Early 1900s - The Great Ace Attorney
1911 - Red Dead Redemption
1943 - Return to Castle Wolfenstein (I know you mentioned Wolfenstein’s dramatic deviation from our real history, but this one stays grounded in World War II from what I recall)
1947 - L.A. Noire
1964 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
1960s - Call of Duty: Black Ops
1975 - Boku no Natsuyasumi
1984 - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
1986 - Shenmue
1996 - Tomb Raider (Original)
2003 - Half-Life
2005 - Metal Gear Solid
2010 - The Walking Dead (Season 1)
2013 - Tomb Raider (2013 reboot)
2010s - Persona 5
2019 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon
2022 - Bayonetta 3
2035 - Prey (2017)
2330 - Starfield
3021 - Horizon: Zero Dawn
+12,000 Years - Splatoon
+250,000,000 Years - Pikmin 1-4

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Thansk for the suggestions! Ending in pikmin would be hilariously weird. Also makes me wonder if we could somehow timestamp Kirby and the forgotten land.

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If you haven’t seen this thread, it might be helpful: Jev’s game library - A big chronology

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I have not, and its probably a solid resource so thank you!

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Dawn of Man, a pretty good city builder on Steam and GOG lets you take a small but growing tribe from the stone age through farming and animal husbandry up to the iron age.

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Ill check it out, but to be honest the only city builders ive ever really got hooked on were Civilization Revolution…which is only sorta a city builder and Kingom for Keiflings which can be beat in like 6 hours. Appreciate the suggestion though!

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By the time you finish this project, GTA 6 would have come out so you can include that! That’ll be for the modern day. Based on the trailer, there’s probably going to be a lot of pop culture in it.

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This is a really neat concept, you’re always coming up with good gaming related questions / ideas!

I like what other people have mentioned already. I would like to add one of my favourite games from the PS1 era that would fit in nicely as sort of one of the first games to play as it’s based around the dawn of mankind. I’m talking of course of Populus! Specifically Populus: The Beginning is my favourite!

I really like the idea of using fps games to represent moments of conflict in your timeline. You could almost create a fictional timeline where you decide certain countries are going to war and then play some battlefield or red orchestra for example to play that moment out!

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Good choice of topic, Ureshi!
I am humbled that my extensive timeline list has come to mention here. As much as the total amount can be overwhelming, a handful picking could do for a fun backlog project to partake in a chronological narrative of your idea.

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Yeah, its a great list. Id probably be skipping over the Age of Empires stuff for the most part, Im rubbish at those type of games, but theres a lot of stuff on there i havent heard of, and also it kind of helps set up timeline order as to when some stuff takes place. Ive barely even started a skeleton of a list, and usually i do this kind of this alone but this seemed like a bigger idea than just myself could handle. And as you mentioned it seemed like it could be a fun piece for others to join in on if they felt like it.

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I’m not sure if my suggestions will be any good but here goes. Sorry for the lengthy list.

  • A Forgotten City takes place during ancient Rome.
  • Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is set in the late 8th century.
  • A Plague Tale takes place in 1348.
  • Fable series takes place between the 1600s and 1700s.
  • Child of Light takes place in 1895.
  • The Room series supposedly takes place in 1897.
  • Juniper’s Knot supposedly takes place during the 19th/20th century.
  • Call of the Sea takes place in the 1930s.
  • Cooking Companions supposedly takes place during the 1930s.
  • Bioshock takes place in 1960.
  • Hotel Dusk: Room 215 takes place in 1979.
  • 1979 Revolution: Black Friday takes place in 1979.
  • The Medium takes place in the 1980s.
  • Higurashi takes place in 1983.
  • Firewatch takes place in 1989.
  • If Found… takes place in 1993.
  • Gone Home takes place in 1995.
  • Unpacking begins in 1997.
  • The House of the Dead takes place in 1998.
  • Emily is Away takes place in 2006-2007.
  • No More Heroes supposedly takes place in 2007.
  • Left 4 Dead supposedly takes place in 2009.
  • Catherine supposedly takes place in 2011.
  • Life is Strange takes place in 2013.
  • Outlast takes place in 2013.
  • The Last of Us begins in 2013 but mostly takes place in 2023.
  • Tell Me Why takes place in 2015.
  • Oxenfree supposedly takes place in 2016.
  • Doki Doki Literature Club supposedly takes place in 2017.
  • F.E.A.R. takes place in 2025.
  • Halo series takes place during the 2500’s.
  • The Sims games feel like time capsules for the years they came out in. Same goes for Animal Crossing.
  • Splatoon is a futuristic post-apocalyptic alternative timeline if all humans perished (if I remember the lore correctly). No official year listed.
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Ill take any suggestions. Also im shocked you mentioned Child of Light. I love that game but i never hear anyone talk about it. Thank you!

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I am so sad the sequel was cancelled. :sob:

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I didnt even know there was one planned!! That sucks

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