Games Based on Literature

While you could argue that no small percentage of games is derived from such literary sources as Tolkien and Pratchett this concept is about books that have more directly led to the genesis of a specific game either through direct adaptation or significant inspiration. For obvious reasons, movie tie-ins that once originated in a book are not included here.

Titles

• The Romance of the Three Kingdoms series of games are based on the 14th century Chinese novel of the same name.
• Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, the first game in the Megami Tensei series, was based on the novel Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani.
• BioShock was vaguely inspired by Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and makes several references to it, for example in the initials of the game's antagonist Andrew Ryan. The themes and views expressed by Rand are explored at great length and portrayed with quite a bit of criticism, though the game can be interpreted to suggest that Rapture fails for being taken to extremes rather than as the result of an inherently flawed ideology.

• Assassin's Creed was inspired in large part by the book Alamut by Vladmir Bartol.

• Sun Tzu's Art of War and Julius Caesar's memoirs were among the inspiration for the Total War series of games, providing the underlying philosophy and tactics.

• Lovecraft of course is well-known for his influence on the survival horror genre, notably Alone in the Dark and even some direct adaptations involving monsters with excess tentacles.
• The Parasite Eve franchise was originally inspired by a horror novel, also called "Parasite Eve", and written by author Hideaki Sena. The novel's storyline is not directly explored in the games, though the first game is presented as a sequel to that story.
• The first-person shooter The Wheel of Time is set in the same universe as, though not directly related to, the late Robert Jordan's fantasy novel series of the same name.
• The Witcher is an adaptation of the Polish novel series of the same name by author Andrezj Sapkowski.
• Alan Wake takes many of it's thriller settings and horror genre tropes from the works of Stephen King, whose name is the first spoken words at the beginning of the game.