There are a lot of video games out there. Just to name a few off the top of my head, there’s Call of Duty, Minecraft, Pokémon, and so much more. Some have faded off into the background after a few years, and some have stuck around for a lot longer. Some games impact a community so much that the experience stays with them even after years of being out. But what separates these games from the ones that disappear after a while? It’s not necessarily a difference in visuals or gameplay, as some incredibly good-looking games have faded out of focus over the years, and some games with very simple gameplay have stayed prominent for a long time. So why do some of these games have so much of a longer life than others? 

First, a game that was extremely popular with its release. Pokémon Go, when it first came out in July of 2016, was everywhere. It seemed like everyone was playing it. It absolutely exploded on sites like YouTube, being dubbed the “Summer of Pokémon Go” in later years. There are multiple videos about this event, and people posting about how it was a time when the community (and even people who weren’t part of the community before) came together playing the same game. After that initial summer, however, the game slowly lost a lot of popularity. It went from having more than 232 million players in 2016 to 88 million in 2024. While that’s still a large number of players, it’s a very large drop from its initial release. There are a lot less videos about it as well, the relevant videos nowadays being about the newer Pokémon games. When you ask people about Pokémon, their first response likely isn’t going to be about Pokémon Go. 

Next, Friday Night Funkin’, a rhythm game following the main character as he “battles” a variety of colorful characters. This game was released during COVID. November 1st, 2020, to be exact. This caused the game to be much bigger than it might have been otherwise. Everyone was stuck inside, looking for something to do, and there were a lot of games that were picked up because of that. Not that it’s not a fun game (if rhythm games are your thing), but its popularity absolutely exploded when it was released. However, according to various posts made online, a lot of people stopped playing the game after 2021 (i.e., when COVID restrictions started lightening). It was (and still is) a good game to play, but it’s long been past its popularity. 

Although both of these games had huge moments of popularity across YouTube and other platforms, they lost a lot of relevance after a few years. Whether it be because newer games in the series came out or people just lost interest, they weren’t taken into the community as much as others have been. 

Now, these games have had people who’ve been with them from the beginning (as any game has) and continues to gather new people around themselves to this day. First, Minecraft. The full version of Minecraft was released on November 18th, 2011. It’s received a multitude of updates since then, including the “Aquatic” 1.13 version of the game, the “Trails and Tails” 1.20 update, and the new “Tricky Trials” 1.21 update. The reason it’s still as relevant as it is today is simply because it’s evolved beyond “just a game” at this point. There are so many different things people have been able to do within the game. For example, there’s a built working phone that can browse the web Even aiming for a bit less than that, the ridiculous variety of mods (downloadable modifications) you can implement into the game can add so much to the playing experience, even making it so you’re barely playing the same game. There are mods than can add raisable dragons, with different mechanics based on which one you’ve downloaded. There are mods that can put you into a story, like a murder mystery.  There are even mods than can implement Pokémon, basically making so you’re playing a different franchise entirely inside of Minecraft. Minecraft has turned from just a sandbox game into a platform, and people have been able to take that incredibly far. 

Last but not least, there’s Undertale. Undertale was a game made almost entirely by Toby Fox and was released in 2015. The most notable aspect about Undertale is almost certainly its story. It’s all about the choices you make. Most games back when Undertale was released (and even a lot of games nowadays) have little to no changes to them depending on what you do. That’s what was so different about Undertale. All of your choices matter, and even killing one monster changes the story completely. Yes, you’re still a child travelling through the underground, but the characters may act different around you, there are different dialogues that occur, and the ending is completely different from what it would be if you hadn’t done that one little thing. The message, that “your choices matter”, is a simple one, but its effect on people was profound. There was no update to the game or news for a sequel for three years after its initial release, but it was still going extremely strong and kept in people’s minds after it came out.  

So, these games remained relevant not because of any kind of gameplay, necessarily, but because of something they were able to do. Minecraft gives so many options for different kinds of experiences, and Undertale brought in a [then] never before seen concept of true choice. Videogames are supposed to give to the community, and there are little that have done it better than these games.