5 Young Adult Novels That Would Make Amazing Video Games

Whether you’re a regular gamer or have never touched a video game console, these five incredible YA novels will inspire you to get creative and enter new virtual worlds. Each of these young adult books would make an amazing game adaptation, with their rich world building, immersive storytelling, and unforgettable characters. Which one of these young adult games would YOU most like to play?

Otherworld

By Jason Segel, Kirsten Miller

Are you ready to play Real Life 2.0? The first book in the Last Reality series is practically begging to be made into a video game! Otherworld promises to be an addictive, immersive game that will make all your dreams come true. Participants put on a virtual reality headset and explore a multifaceted world. Rich gamer kid Simon is eager to try it—especially if it means he can meet up with his estranged gamer friend Kat, who has mysteriously stopped speaking to him. But what he discovers is a reality far darker than he could’ve ever imagined.

Stranger Things: Runaway Max

By Brenna Yovanoff

There’s no doubt that the hit show Stranger Things would make an excellent video game, and Brenna Yovanoff’s young adult fiction Stranger Things: Runaway Max would make a fantastic storyline! In this prequel to the hit Netflix series, we explore the intricacies of Max’s past and how she came to find a home in Hawkins, Indiana. Max is one of the most popular characters in the show, and would certainly make for a fantastic POV in a young adult video game full of challenging puzzles, adventure, action, intrigue, and Easter eggs for every Stranger Things enthusiast.

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful

By Arwen Elys Dayton

With its groundbreaking, terrifyingly real sci-fi subjects, this near-future young adult thriller anthology about genetic engineering and modification would make an amazing YA video game! Spanning more than a hundred years, the stories are united by themes and questions about privilege, oppression, and what it means to be human. Players in the video game version could explore the different stories and scenarios, making difficult decisions, each with a major impact. We’re thinking along the lines of the interactive “Bandersnatch” episode of Black Mirror but with far more possibilities!

Aurora Rising

By Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Cool futuristic space world? Check. Lovable squad of marvelous misfits? Check. An evil demigod who would serve as the ultimate video game boss? Check, check, check! This first book in the fast-paced new young adult sci-fi series Aurora Cycle would translate so well to video game. We could follow the team of graduating cadets from Aurora Academy as they are assigned their space first missions . . . and try to save the entire galaxy. The world would be open and expansive, with plenty to explore, and players could take on missions and tasks as various characters in this awesome ensemble cast!

Skyward

By Brandon Sanderson

In a world where humans have been driven to the brink of extinction, Spensa longs to be a pilot and defend her people from the mysterious alien starfighters who want to destroy them. After discovering the wreckage of an ancient ship that seems to have a soul (talk about a cool video game sidekick!), she decides to try to persuade the machine to help her in exchange for repairing it while she finishes flight school. The first book in a quartet, the YA fiction book Skyward by Brandon Sanderson would make a fantastic space opera game full of humor, grit, and fantastic action sequences. Players would fall in love with Spensa and her ancient ship friend, and we could totally see them having the ability to play as either character at any point in the story.