Genre terms like "Soulslike," "Roguelite," and "Metroidvania" let us trace most new video games back a few decades if necessary, so I feel I should add John Carpenter's 1982 science fiction film The Thing to the list of family names. How else could I explain recent and upcoming game releases like Bloober's Cronos: The New Dawn and Supermassive's Directive 8020?
Both these Thinglike/Thingish/Thingian video games – along with many other titles from the past few years, including Among Us, Still Wakes the Deep, and the 2024 remaster of PS2 shooter The Thing, obviously – brazenly worship Carpenter's film, which was unpopular at its release but now enjoys a reputation as one of the best horror movies. It may be less common for a suite of video games to take inspiration from a film rather than another game, but it makes sense in the case of The Thing, since its monster offers the putty-like elasticity required by a dynamic gaming experience.
