When the internet first came along it was a game changer, moving swiftly from being dismissed as nothing but a fad, to suddenly being at the heart of every single business transaction on the planet.
While lots of old products and companies were immediately made redundant by the new technology, there were others that somehow found a way to survive on the online ether.
One such entity that managed to do this was the entertainment genre of classic games, which despite being based on cards, boards, and dice, somehow carved out a niche for itself, becoming part of the online gaming mainstream.
Here we detail just some of the classic games that have been revitalized or even reborn thanks to the internet revolution and the rise in online gaming that followed.
Chess is a classic board game that shows no signs of waning in online popularity, thanks to being pushed by famous live streaming celebrities and a new generation of chess grand master
Card Games Get New Versions and Variants Galore
Some of the games with the most incredible longevity are classic card games like poker, blackjack and Uno, many of which have been enjoyed by millions of people around the globe for centuries. Lots have made seamless transitions online because of their simple formats, which enable players to learn their gameplay dynamics quickly but then challenge those same players with what are almost endless amounts of outcomes. Additionally, online sources such as an information page from Uno’s game provider or a PokerStars Casino online gaming blog provide detailed information including dynamics and rules on how to deal with the new variants, which can differ greatly from the originals they spawned from. This is evident in things like the multitude of poker variants that can now be found online, such as 3-Card-Brag or Pot Limit Omaha.
Classic Board Games Being Updated Every Day
While card games are certainly some of the best examples of classic games that have since transferred over into the online gaming realm, there is another genre of game that has arguably made the switch in an even more impressive manner.
That genre is the trusty board game. Games like chess, backgammon, and Monopoly have become smash hits both via online sites and apps, many of which have completely reimagined the original incarnations of said games.
The rise of chess in particular has been remarkable, with there being lots of new-fangled versions which have brought the game up to speed – quite literally in some cases. Blitz Chess is one of these fresh variants, which has been made famous by youthful chess grand masters like Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.
While contemporary chess and backgammon formats have tended to opt for more minimal structures and presentation, other classics like Monopoly have gone the other way, treating online players to a fully immersive 3D experience.
Backgammon’s beginnings can be traced back thousands of years, and it is still going strong online to this day
Arcade Classics Continue to be Remade
The very first arcade button bashers were not connected to the internet, but instead were housed in hulking machines, banks of which lined arcade halls up and down the land. It was thought that such games would fall out of favor once connectivity became the online gaming industry’s buzz word, but the people who owned the rights to arcade franchises like Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Super Mario had other ideas, realizing just how valuable such franchises could be moving forward.
It is for this reason that such gaming franchises, rather than going away, have simply grown and grown in popularity, to not only re-establish their dominance over the realm of gaming, but also other entertainment industries such as cinema and television.
Of course, these games have changed an incredible amount since their initial 2D arcade days. The upcoming Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope promises to be a blend of full 3D platformer and open world explorer, whereas the Sonic Frontiers trailer appears to suggest that Sega’s favorite blue hedgehog is also dipping his toe into open world gaming.
