Slytherin Video Games

Well, it is time.  After covering three Hogwarts houses and their video game recommendations, I’m on my final house.  Today, I am discussing titles that are perfect for the Slytherin house.  Since Slytherins are most often associated with cunning, I tend to think of them as people that would like to explore moral ambiguity and the idea of what people would be willing to sacrifice in order to save their loved ones or accomplish a goal.  I’ve got some great games here, so let’s get started!

I wanted to get a screenshot of actual Mass Effect gameplay, but the Origins client is silly and I am instead stuck with just showing off the logo for Mass Effect:  Andromeda.  This series has always intrigued me because of the way it approaches morality.  In my eyes, renegade and paragon runs of the series are not necessarily strictly good or evil the way a good or bad karma run of Fallout would be, but instead a fundamental shift in the way Commander Shepard views the world.  Paragon Shepard wants to help everyone and believes that stopping to aid the individuals will still further the ultimate goal.  Renegade Shepard, however, is interested in barrelling right through to the end goal of saving the world and any time spent trying to diplomatically solve a problem is time that could be spent furthering the ultimate goal.  I could, and likely one day will, write an entire post on my feelings about this morality system, but for now, I will just state that I’m certain that considering the different potential outcomes and means of solving a problem will appeal to Slytherins.

The Orwell series is another one that likes to work with the concept of moral grey areas.  It tackles the concept of citizen privacy and whether infringing upon the rights of the few to save the lives of many is an appropriate use of power.  This is a game that is very much a product of its time, meaning that it is culturally relevant right now and may not be in ten years.  Like a photograph, however, this means that it captures the state of politics and what citizens are concerned about right now and Slytherins will enjoy considering what the right answers are to the game’s many questions.

The simulation genre can be a great choice for Slytherins when the focus is on managing people’s lives.  Slytherins can make tough choices and try different combinations of resources in order to create an efficient (or, perhaps, inefficient) system.  Prison Architect is a great example of this because there are many different ways to run a prison.  Players can choose whether to focus on punishment or rehabilitation, if an execution chamber is necessary, and what rights prisoners should and should not be allowed.

The Sims is a good game for Slytherins who want to practice their own ambitions because every character has their own dreams and goals to be achieved.  There are so many cool challenges that can be done in this game, allowing people to make the game into anything they want.  Additionally, there’s no doubting that this series can also be used to let off some steam at the end of a stressful day by taking it out on the Sims themselves.

Finally, the last recommendation that I have for this entire series is the Saints Row series.  Most people want to play a game that allows them to do whatever they want without limitations, and this series is perfect for fulfilling this desire.  For Slytherins, in particular, sometimes it’s fun to just go on a virtual joyride.  Grand Theft Auto would fill this need just as well, but the dark and outlandish sense of humor that the Saints Row series works with will appeal especially to the Slytherin house.

Now, we have come to the end of my Hogwarts house gaming recommendations.  I had a really fun time coming up with these and am so glad that I expanded this from being just a book recommendation series into also talking about video games.  What games would you recommend for Slytherins?  Let me know in the comments down below!