From Pixels to Pop Icons

Success in Video Games

In 2024, the video game industry generated $184.3 billion in revenue—$92.5 billion from mobile gaming, $41.5 billion from PC games, and $50.3 billion from console titles. Each year brings new releases alongside beloved franchises like Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Assassin’s Creed, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Diablo, and Minecraft. These games have transcended their original medium to become pop culture icons, influencing fashion, film, merchandise, and live events. Five Nights at Freddy’s, for example, now boasts a full-length movie, extensive merchandise, and a haunted house attraction at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I even spotted a cosplayer dressed as Chica—proof that video games continue to ripple through our cultural landscape in unexpected ways.

It’s tempting to think that a game’s success is all about graphics, mechanics, or marketing—but the truth runs deeper. The titles that become household names—Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, Final Fantasy, Assassin’s Creed, Five Nights at Freddy’s—don’t just entertain. They stick. They embed themselves into our cultural DNA.

These games tap into universal themes that resonate across generations and cultures. Whether it’s myth, fear, freedom, or identity, they speak to something primal and enduring in the human experience. Their stories and aesthetics aren’t just compelling—they’re symbolic, archetypal, and emotionally charged. They also offer replayable, shareable experiences. Whether through sandbox creativity, branching narratives, or emergent gameplay, these titles invite players to return again and again—and to share their journeys with others. They become social touchstones, sparking conversation, collaboration, and community. Yet what truly sets them apart is their ability to expand beyond the screen. These games bleed into fashion, fandom, cosplay, memes, merchandise, movies, and even education. They become part of how we express ourselves, how we decorate our spaces, and how we connect with others. And finally, timing matters. These games arrive at the right moment, on the right platform, with the right audience. They catch cultural currents just as they crest, riding waves of technological innovation, social media virality, and generational nostalgia. It’s not just quality—it’s cultural stickiness.

But why is this?

For this entry, we’ll be looking at five games: Five Nights at Freddy’s, Legend of Zelda, Assassin’s Creed, Minecraft and for contrast, Slenderman: The Eight Pages.

What Makes a Game Popular?

To understand what makes a game truly iconic, we need to look beyond sales figures and review scores. Cultural stickiness isn’t just about popularity—it’s about presence. It’s about how a game infiltrates our language, our fashion, our fears, and our fantasies. In this section, we’ll explore five titles that exemplify this phenomenon—and one that almost did.

We begin with Five Nights at Freddy’s, a game that redefined indie horror and became a viral juggernaut. From its humble beginnings in 2014, FNAF tapped into a primal fear: the uncanny valley of animatronics, childhood nostalgia turned sinister, and the dread of being watched. Its minimalist gameplay—managing lights, doors, and cameras—was deceptively simple, but its lore was anything but. Hidden clues, cryptic phone calls, and a sprawling timeline of missing children and haunted machines gave fans endless material to dissect. YouTube creators like Markiplier and Jacksepticeye turned jump scares into spectacle, and the fandom exploded. Today, FNAF boasts novels, a movie franchise, Halloween haunted houses at Universal Studios, and even themed restaurants. It’s not just a game—it’s a cultural ritual.

The Legend of Zelda, by contrast, is mythic in scope. Since 1986, it has woven a tapestry of heroism, elemental balance, and spiritual quests. Link isn’t just a character—he’s an archetype, a silent vessel for courage and curiosity. The series draws from Western fantasy, Japanese folklore, and universal themes of time, memory, and destiny. With each installment, Zelda expands its mythology while preserving its core: the Triforce, the Master Sword, and the eternal struggle between light and shadow. Its music, fashion, and iconography have permeated pop culture, inspiring everything from symphony tours to tattoo art.

Assassin’s Creed takes a different route—through history. It’s not just a game; it’s a time machine. Players traverse ancient Egypt, Renaissance Italy, Revolutionary France, and more, engaging with real historical figures and events. Ubisoft’s Discovery Tour mode even strips away combat to offer educational experiences. The series blends stealth, parkour, and philosophical conflict—Templars vs. Assassins, control vs. freedom. Its multicultural development teams and global settings have pushed the industry toward more inclusive storytelling. Assassin’s Creed isn’t just immersive—it’s instructive.

Then there’s Minecraft, the sandbox that became a social phenomenon. With its blocky aesthetic and open-ended gameplay, Minecraft invites players to build, explore, and survive on their own terms. It’s been used to teach chemistry, architecture, and coding. It’s inspired music videos, parodies, and even episodes of The Simpsons. Its influence on game design is profound—crafting systems, procedural generation, and survival mechanics owe it a debt. Minecraft isn’t just a game—it’s a platform for creativity, collaboration, and education.

And finally, Slender: The Eight Pages. Released in 2012, it was a viral sensation—a minimalist horror game that captured the internet’s imagination. Players wandered a dark forest, collecting pages while evading the faceless Slenderman. The game’s simplicity was its strength: no weapons, no HUD, just dread. But despite its initial impact, Slender lacked the infrastructure to sustain its momentum. It didn’t evolve mechanically, expand narratively, or build a transmedia empire. Worse, its mythos became entangled with real-world violence, casting a shadow over its legacy. Slender was a moment—FNAF became a movement.

Psychological Functions in Iconic vs. Non-Iconic Games

Popular games like Minecraft, Zelda, Assassin’s Creed, FNAF, and Final Fantasy don’t just entertain—they engage the brain in layered, meaningful ways. Compared to less iconic titles, they tend to activate a broader spectrum of psychological functions that make the experience more immersive, memorable, and socially resonant.

One of the most powerful effects is the creation of a flow state. Iconic games often strike the perfect balance between challenge and skill, allowing players to enter a deep, focused rhythm where time seems to vanish. Whether it’s solving puzzles in Zelda, building in Minecraft, or managing tension in FNAF, these games are designed to keep players cognitively engaged without overwhelming them. In contrast, games that miss this balance—either by being too easy or too frustrating—can break immersion and fail to sustain attention.

These titles also support identity formation and emotional resonance. Players aren’t just controlling avatars—they’re stepping into archetypal roles like hero, creator, rebel, or survivor. Assassin’s Creed lets players embody historical revolutionaries, while Final Fantasy offers emotionally complex characters navigating moral dilemmas. This depth allows players to explore aspects of themselves and experience catharsis through play. Games that lack narrative richness or symbolic weight often struggle to create the same emotional impact.

Cognitively, iconic games stimulate multiple brain regions at once. Spatial reasoning, memory, problem-solving, and strategic planning are all activated through layered mechanics. Minecraft challenges players to think in three dimensions, while Zelda encourages lateral thinking and pattern recognition. These games function as brain trainers wrapped in compelling worlds. Simpler or poorly designed games may offer only surface-level engagement, limiting their long-term cognitive value.

Social connectivity is another key factor. Iconic games become cultural rituals—they’re played, discussed, memed, cosplayed, and theorized. FNAF and Minecraft thrive on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, where fans share gameplay, theories, and creations. This communal aspect fulfills deep psychological needs for belonging and shared experience. Games that fail to generate community traction often feel isolating or forgettable.

Finally, these games are masterful at triggering the brain’s reward system. Through achievements, collectibles, progression systems, and narrative payoffs, they feed dopamine in satisfying loops. Whether it’s unlocking a new ability in Zelda, surviving another night in FNAF, or leveling up in Assassin’s Creed, players are constantly rewarded for their engagement. Games that don’t optimize these feedback loops can feel flat or unrewarding, leading to disengagement.

In short, iconic games tend to engage multiple psychological functions simultaneously. They offer emotional, cognitive, and social rewards, create symbolic resonance, and align with cultural timing and platform ecosystems. Less iconic games may still be enjoyable, but they often lack the layered design that turns play into meaning.

A Note on First Person Shooter (FPS) Games

First-person shooters like Call of Duty and Overwatch are wildly popular, but they succeed through a very different psychological lens than games like Five Nights at Freddy’s, Final Fantasy, or The Legend of Zelda. While narrative-driven titles invite players into mythic journeys and emotional depth, FPS games thrive on immediacy, performance, and social adrenaline.

Games like Call of Duty deliver fast-paced, high-stakes action that activates the brain’s reward system in rapid bursts. The satisfaction of landing a headshot, surviving a firefight, or coordinating with a squad taps into reflexive dopamine loops. These experiences are less about immersion in story and more about mastery, competition, and reflex. Overwatch adds a layer of character-driven appeal, with each hero offering a distinct personality and playstyle. Players aren’t just shooting—they’re fulfilling roles, whether protecting allies as a tank or flanking enemies as a damage dealer. The game’s vibrant aesthetic and polished animations make it accessible even to those outside the hardcore FPS crowd.

In contrast, games like FNAF, Final Fantasy, and Zelda engage players through slower, more symbolic experiences. These titles are built around storytelling, emotional resonance, and thematic exploration. They ask players to reflect, not just react. Whether it’s Link’s silent courage, Cloud’s existential crisis, or the eerie mystery of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, these games offer journeys of meaning. They reward patience, curiosity, and emotional investment, often unfolding over hours or even days.

Where FPS games prioritize short-session engagement and external performance, narrative games prioritize internal transformation. One is a test of reflexes; the other is a process of becoming. Both genres can become cultural icons, but they speak to different psychological appetites. FPS games satisfy the need for speed, skill, and social dominance. Narrative games satisfy the need for story, symbolism, and emotional depth.

Understanding this difference helps explain why both types of games can thrive—because they activate different parts of the human experience. Whether you’re chasing victory in a firefight or unraveling the mystery of a haunted pizzeria, you’re engaging with play as a form of identity, connection, and meaning.

What Game Developers Can Learn from Cultural Icons

If cultural stickiness is the outcome, then game designers—whether crafting sprawling RPGs or adrenaline-fueled shooters—need to understand the psychological architecture that makes a game unforgettable. The path to popularity isn’t one-size-fits-all. Designing a game like Final Fantasy or Zelda requires a fundamentally different approach than building a hit like Call of Duty or Overwatch. Both genres can become cultural icons, but they do so by engaging players in radically different ways.

Narrative-driven games thrive on emotional depth, symbolic storytelling, and layered gameplay loops. Titles like Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Assassin’s Creed invite players into mythic worlds where they can explore identity, morality, and transformation. These games often draw from archetypal structures—the hero’s journey, elemental balance, memory and destiny—and reward curiosity with lore, character development, and thematic resonance. Designers working in this space must think like mythmakers and psychologists, crafting experiences that unfold slowly but leave lasting impressions. The goal isn’t just to entertain—it’s to create meaning.

By contrast, FPS games like Call of Duty and Overwatch succeed through immediacy, precision, and social adrenaline. These titles are built around fast-paced feedback loops that reward reflexes, coordination, and tactical mastery. Players aren’t exploring myth—they’re performing under pressure. The satisfaction comes from skill expression, competitive dominance, and team synergy. Designers in this space must prioritize balance, responsiveness, and visual clarity. The emotional engagement is different—it’s about intensity, not introspection. These games often become cultural rituals through esports, streaming, and seasonal content drops, feeding a constant cycle of engagement and reward.

For developers aiming to create mainstream hits, the key is understanding which psychological levers you’re pulling. Are you inviting players to reflect, explore, and transform? Or are you challenging them to react, compete, and dominate? Both paths can lead to success, but they require different design philosophies, pacing strategies, and community-building tools. The most iconic games don’t just follow trends—they shape them by aligning their mechanics with the emotional and cognitive rhythms of their audience.

Whether you’re building a sandbox for creativity, a battlefield for precision, or a mythic quest for transformation, the blueprint for cultural impact begins with understanding how players think, feel, and connect. That’s where design becomes art—and where games become legends.

As we’ve seen, the most iconic games don’t just entertain—they shape how we think, feel, and connect. Whether you’re drawn to the mythic depth of Zelda, the adrenaline of Call of Duty, or the eerie lore of FNAF, these titles have left a mark far beyond the screen. If you’re curious to explore them firsthand—or revisit the ones that shaped your own gaming journey—I’ve curated a few Amazon links below. From game editions to themed merchandise, these picks reflect the cultural impact we’ve been unpacking throughout this post.

🛍️ A Note on Links

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you—if you choose to make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Five Nights At Freddy’s: Core Collection
The FNAF Core Collection brings together the first five titles that launched the franchise into viral horror stardom: Five Nights at Freddy’s 1 through 4, plus Sister Location. From the claustrophobic tension of the original pizzeria to the twisted underground facility of Sister Location, this collection lets you trace the evolution of animatronic dread. With console-exclusive features like achievements, optional cheats, and optimized controls for Switch, it’s the perfect way to revisit—or survive for the first time—the dark corridors of Fazbear Entertainment. Whether you’re a lore hunter or a jump-scare junkie, this bundle delivers the full nightmare.

Five Nights At Freddy’s Movie (2023)
Five Nights at Freddy’s brings the cult-favorite horror game to the big screen, following a troubled security guard who takes a night shift at an abandoned family entertainment center. But the animatronics aren’t just relics—they’re alive, haunted, and hungry. With eerie atmosphere, cryptic lore, and jump scares that echo the game’s legacy, this film dives deep into the twisted mythos behind Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the franchise, it’s a chilling ride through memory, mystery, and mechanical terror.

Freddy Neon Sign
This officially licensed Five Nights at Freddy’s neon sign brings Glamrock Freddy’s eerie charm straight into your space. With bold LED illumination and a sleek triangle logo design, it’s the perfect accent for any game room, bedroom, or streaming setup. Whether you’re a longtime FNAF fan or just love the retro-horror aesthetic, this sign adds a glowing touch of menace and nostalgia to your decor. It’s not just lighting—it’s a statement.

FINAL FANTASY I-VI Collection Anniversary Edition
The Final Fantasy I–VI Collection 35th Anniversary Edition brings together the pixel-perfect remasters of the original six games that defined the RPG genre. From the elemental crystals of the first game to the operatic tragedy of VI, this collection is a love letter to storytelling, turn-based strategy, and mythic worldbuilding. Whether you’re revisiting these classics or discovering them for the first time, this Switch edition offers timeless gameplay wrapped in nostalgic charm. It’s not just a bundle—it’s the foundation of a cultural phenomenon.

Final Fantasy Poster Art
This Final Fantasy canvas print blends iconic visuals with sleek design, perfect for fans who want to showcase their love for the series beyond the screen. Whether you’re decorating a game room or curating a collector’s corner, this piece adds a touch of mythic elegance to your space. It’s a tribute to the legacy of crystals, summons, and unforgettable heroes—wrapped in frame-worthy style.

Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack
If you’ve ever felt the pulse of adventure, heartbreak, or triumph through a game’s music, the Final Fantasy soundtrack delivers it in full orchestral force. This collection features sweeping themes, battle anthems, and emotional motifs from across the franchise—but especially from my all-time favorite Final Fantasy title. Whether you’re reliving the story or just need a sonic escape into a mythic realm, these tracks are more than background—they’re memory, meaning, and magic. Perfect for writing, gaming, or just letting nostalgia wash over you.

MInecraft
Minecraft isn’t just a game—it’s a creative ecosystem. Whether you’re crafting castles, surviving creeper ambushes, or designing redstone contraptions that defy logic, this sandbox phenomenon invites you to shape your own world. With infinite terrain, community-made maps, and cross-platform play, it’s as much a social experience as it is a solo adventure. Perfect for players who thrive on autonomy, exploration, and pixel-perfect storytelling.

Overwatch
Overwatch is a team-based shooter that trades generic classes for vibrant, fully realized characters. Each hero brings unique abilities, backstories, and playstyles to the battlefield, turning every match into a dynamic dance of strategy and reflex. Whether you’re shielding allies as Reinhardt or flanking foes with Tracer’s time-bending speed, the game rewards coordination, adaptability, and flair. It’s not just about winning—it’s about finding your role in a world that still needs heroes.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a link for a download code. It doesn’t contain a game cartridge, although it does come in a game case.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild isn’t just a game—it’s a reinvention of what open-world storytelling can be. You play as Link, awakening from a century-long slumber into a shattered Hyrule, where every mountain, ruin, and storm hides a secret. With no set path, players are free to climb, glide, cook, fight, and discover at their own pace. The game’s physics engine, elemental interactions, and nonlinear quests turn exploration into experimentation. It’s a masterclass in emergent gameplay, where even failure feels like part of the story. Whether you’re chasing memories, taming wild horses, or confronting Calamity Ganon, BotW invites you to lose yourself—and find something mythic in return.