Islands feature heavily in literature, movies and popular TV narratives. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that video games and iGaming titles have followed up on this proven setting. Island narratives occupy a disproportionate space in our collective culture, whether in classic novels like Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe and Lord of the Flies or movies like Whisky Galore or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Thinking further back, Shakespeare’s Tempest was set on an unnamed island somewhere near Italy, and the Greek myths and legends saw Odysseus and many other heroic figures battling their way from one mysterious island to the next. Islands offer the ultimate fantasy location where an author or scriptwriter’s imagination can be allowed to run riot.
Islands and island dwelling spark something in people’s imaginations. Who has not entertained the thought of ‘escaping it all and retreating to live on a small island’? While the Greeks and Romans might have been horrified at the idea of being exiled to a small island, it remains a fantasy for many. The Isle of White’s longstanding residents might grumble about an influx of blow-ins and retirees to their beloved pubs and beauty spots, however, the allure of island life remains irresistible for many. Anyone living on the island knows that running away does not make problems disappear, but proximity to the sea and being surrounded by nature has an undoubted appeal.
The creators of board games, video games and slot games (iGaming) are no different from the weavers of narratives in other genres. Basing your game or casino slot on an island or using island imagery conjures up a certain something. There is the perception that the same rules may not apply, and fantastical things can happen without anyone so much as batting an eyelid. While the Isle of Wight might be only a forty-five-minute ferry ride from Portsmouth, that stretch of water allows for all kinds of imaginative leaps.
In 2023, one independent game developer set his Zombie Survival online game on the Isle of Wight. The back story went something like this.
Following an unexpected nuclear exchange in 1998 across Western Europe, a cargo ship runs aground on a sand bar off the coast of Europe. Following news of a mysterious infection sweeping through the UK’s cities, there are reports that people are succumbing to an intense fever and then eating each other. With the ship’s supplies dwindling, the captain asks the sheltering crew to venture forth and discover a long-term means of survival.
While this sandbox game might not have hit the heady heights of Minecraft, it still attempted to put the Isle of Wight on the gaming map.
However, most game developers tend to look further afield when it comes to inspiration for their narratives. UK online casinos feature hundreds of games which are either directly linked to or have a firm nod to island life. Whether it is palm trees and rum or pirates and treasure, tropical island imagery features heavily in many slot games. Anyone researching online casinos will be spoilt for island choice. Games include titles like Caribbean Escape, Island Vacation, Cash Compass and Wolf Fang Treasure Island. The titles conjure up a wide array of tempting and somewhat terrifying (in the case of wolf fangs!) adventures.
Tropical, remote islands are full of promise and intrigue. Popular films like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise have done so much to ignite gamers’ imaginations about everything that has to do with treasures, islands, and adventures. There were a number of officially licensed games around the time the first films came out, and a good deal of spin-offs, too.
The popularity of the story has lived on beyond the lifespan of the films, and the characters now pop up in other incarnations. In July, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean docked in Fortnite as part of the Battle Royale v30 July hotfix. Titled Cursed Sails, the creators invited players to cast off on the ghostly Ship in a Bottle, explore Shipwreck Shallows and hunt for buried treasure. However, it was a short but sweet foray in Fortnite as the Cursed Jack Sparrow outfit was only available to players who completed the premium reward track that ran until August 6th, 2024.
Fortunately, there are plenty of games set on islands everywhere, and they may or may not feature pirates. Islands provide the perfect setting and landscape for adventures and survival challenges and, cut off from the world, make stories feasible that could not happen elsewhere. Games like The Survivalists and The Forest are prime examples of survival experiences on deserted islands where players have to scavenge for resources and build settlements. With a controller and a screen, we can all have our own Bear Grills experience without having to leave the comfort of our gaming chair!
While remote islands are often synonymous with pleasure and leisure, they are more often popular settings for quests, challenges and epic battles of survival. Harking back to the Greek myths, Odysseus, Jason, and Theseus’ epic status resulted from the quests they undertook and the monsters they defeated. From sirens luring them onto rocks to witches turning their crews into pigs and sea monsters destroying their ships whole, the stories of islands and adventuring are as old as the oldest stories.
Today’s games developers and iGaming studios are tapping into stories we already partly know. We do not need to be given an entire back story to understand that a quest could lead to untold riches but that there could be risks along the way. Islands isolated from the world are an excellent setting for some of the most popular games. Abandoned islands are a great place for players to get lost.
Many of the most popular games have players trying to bring dilapidated islands back to a state of normalcy or just survive in a hostile environment. Playing these survival games allows us to indulge in our very own “I’m a Celebrity” survival experience without having to chow down on insects or unspeakable animal parts. The developers have tapped into what we enjoy making island survival games exotic and engaging.
Islands are popular settings because, well, simply put, islands are popular.
