Sprawling adventures, high stakes action, and a whole lot of drama — video games have all the right ingredients to traverse into the anime medium. This explains why not only are so many anime directly adapted from video games, but many are also inspired by gaming, its culture, and the storytelling tropes surrounding it.
Among these, a few creatively manage to merge the existing gaming archetypes with upbeat drama, comedy, and even romance. So, anime fans who have had their share of direct game adaptations can now switch to lighthearted game-centric anime that can be enjoyed by both gamers and non-gamers.
No Game No Life
Unfolding as a typical isekai, No Game No Life focuses on two shut-in siblings who get summoned to an otherworldly gaming realm. Going by the username "Blank," the two were known to be legendary gamers. However, in their new world, they must elevate their gaming skills and put everything on the line because gaming now isn't just a hobby, but a high-stakes war.
Replete with fanservice, comedy, and a whole lot of worldbuilding, No Game No Life is as dorky as a gaming anime gets. While it does include some common tropes of the genre, it never fails to entertain viewers with its upbeat characters and bright color scheme.
Gamers!
With a quintessential high school setup in its backdrop, Gamers! follows the life of Keita Amano. For a long time, he is nothing but ordinary. However, when the school's renowned idol, Karen, takes a liking to him because of their shared interest in gaming, his previously monotonous life turns upside down.
For the most part, Gamers! focuses less on gaming and more on slice-of-life drama. Even so, its hilariously awkward otaku characters and delightful rom-com moments make it a fun anime that almost anyone can enjoy.
New Game!
New Game! centers on Aoba Suzukaze, who eagerly joins a video game company after graduation and gets the opportunity to work on the new installment of her favorite Fairies Story series. Although she faces her share of ups and downs during the process, she eventually finds her place among other passionate game developers.
Without getting too preachy, the anime balances both comic and serious plotlines to shed new light on the struggles faced by those in the gaming industry. Not to mention, its CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) style of animation perfectly befits its themes.
High Score Girl
With titles like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat rising in the ranks, the '90s took arcade gaming to a whole new level. Set in the same era, High Score Girl features the heartwarming tale of Haruo Yaguchi and Akira Oono. Jealous of Akira's impressive gaming skills, Haruo initially sees her as his nemesis.
However, with time, he begins to appreciate her more than he'd like to admit and learns to embrace how Akira is the only person who gives him some tough competition. If not for the adorable chemistry of the show's main characters, most viewers will find themselves bingeing High Score Girl because of its warm, nostalgic '90s aesthetic.
And You Thought There Is Never A Girl Online?
In the fantastical world of an MMO, Hideki "Rusian" Nishimura learns the hard way that no one can be trusted. But as fate would have it, his skepticism gets tested when he ends up in a guild of three girls where one wants to marry him. To his surprise, not only are his guild members actually girls, but they are also his schoolmates.
From a storyline standpoint, the anime isn't any different from most high school-centric harem anime. It does, however, stand out by involving intriguing game dynamics, absurd humor, and fanservice in its otherwise generic rom-com setup.
D-Frag
D-Frag isn't the kind of anime that pleases viewers with its narrative depth. Instead, it keeps its premise simple and only entertains with its refreshing gags and gimmicky characters. At its fore is a misunderstood wannabe delinquent, Kenji Kazama, who gets forced into joining his school's Game Development Club.
At first, he despises everything about the club and tries his best to leave. However, he soon begins to find his place among the four leading girls of the club and learns to have fun with his new friends. Throughout its runtime, D-Frag throws gag-after-gag at viewers, and while some of its punchlines don't land too well, others leave viewers with tears of joy.
Recovery Of An MMO Junkie
Defying the typical norm of anime that features high school romance, Recovery Of An MMO Junkie portrays the complex romantic tale of two middle-aged characters who meet in an online RPG. Switching back and forth between the RPG's fantasy and the real world, the anime slowly removes the tapestry around their personalities and shows how one is a hikikomori, while the other is struggling to deal with the perils of adulthood.
Hilariously dorky at times and surprisingly poignant during others, Recovery Of An MMO Junkie never leaves a dull moment and proves that reality can often be stranger than fiction.
Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense
Most anime with VRMMO settings are not grounded in reality. They feature Isekai fantasies where characters face high stakes and insurmountable odds in the gaming world. Bofuri, on the other hand, does not shy away from the real MMO experience and keeps things interesting by depicting the perception of a newbie gamer.
Its protagonist, Kaede Honjou, decides to give a popular VRMMO a shot and instead of equally distributing her stat points, she invests all of them in vitality. To her surprise, her newbie approach makes her one of the highest-ranking players on the game's server. With what follows, her initial reluctance towards the game turns into a newfound passion and it further inspires her to keep leveling up.
KonoSuba: God's Blessing On This Wonderful World!
On the surface, KonoSuba is no different from most RPG harem anime. However, everything, from its game references to characters tropes is so over-the-top that viewers just can't take it seriously, which is exactly what makes it so entertaining. The show involves every imaginable Isekai trope out there, but presents them in such a way that it all comes off as a hilarious parody of the existing archetypes.
Kazuma Satou, its main character, is a recluse who gets reincarnated in a fantasy game after dying. But to his dismay, the gaming world turns out to be far more challenging than he had anticipated and brims with hysterical misfortunes and dilemmas.
Accel World
Akin to Sword Art Online, Accel World is set in a world where gamers use advanced technology to connect to an integrated gaming network. Using the same, middle schooler Haruyuki Arita escapes into the gaming world to forget about his everyday angst and insecurities. Little does he realize that the same medium of escapism will not only help him fight his bullies but also make him join forces with his school's most popular girl.
While most of its in-game elements share parallels with Sword Art Online, it gets a slight edge because of its seemingly humane characters. There are no high-stakes life or death situations in its gameplay, but every new challenge reflects the inner workings of its teenage characters.