Gaslamp fantasy
Fiction genre theme
Edwardian/Victorian era setting with associated technologies (which might include steam) pushed to fantastic limits. An alternative to steampunk.
36
games
11platforms
Alternate names: Gaslight fantasy, Gaslight romance
VCS 1983
OSX 2011
OSX 2011-07-13
WIN 2011-07-13
GEN 1994
SCD 1993
LIN 2014-04-14
SNES 1994-06
DOS 1991-12-31
WIN 2011
LIN 2011
IIGS 1989
When steampunk has no punk and steam power is not emphasized (or is not existent), it may in fact be Gaslamp Fiction instead. The name is from after the year 2000 but the beginnings of the style may occur as early as 1818 with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein where technology is used to construct an artificial being. Other technologies of the day are also featured in the novel. Often, biological constructs, non-steam mechanical constructs, vampires, ghosts, monsters, robots, zombies, goblinoids, and fantasy creatures are present. They are a result of the fantastic technology of course. The Bram Stoker's Dracula novel in 1897 also contains gaslamp elements such as a blood transfusions (a newly investigated and a highly questionable medical technology at the time). Odd medical technology and medical machines are often gaslamp elements. Though there can be technology related to electricity, it is (much like steam power) often not emphasized as such or explored in accurate detail in stories of this genre (note the role of electricity in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein). It is yet one more technology of the era that can be pushed to fantastic limits.
This genre can be a subset of both Science Fiction and Fantasy.
- 5 replies
This genre can be a subset of both Science Fiction and Fantasy.
- 5 replies
Popular tags
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Games by year
The first Gaslamp fantasy video game was released in 1983.
Gaslamp Games, Starrats Studios and Total Eclipse published most of these games.