Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer SFX
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The world's number one sci-fi, fantasy and horror magazine
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Disney Plus bundles
  • Best Sci Fi Movies
  • New Marvel TV Shows
  • New TV Shows
Don't miss these
The Coriolis: The Great Dark Core Rules stood upright on a wooden surface, against a dark background
Tabletop Gaming I've fallen out of love with Destiny, but this new tabletop RPG captures what I adored about it in the first place
Screenshot of a chess board with one piece getting blown up in an explosion with UI overlaid on the sides, from Passant: A Chess Roguelike.
Roguelike Games Everything in the world must be converted into a roguelike, and not even chess is safe with a new game "that changes all the rules"
A press image shows the protagonist from Cronos: The New Dawn standing inside a dark engine room
Horror Games Bloober's Cronos: The New Dawn is like Dead Space in Hell, but it has a cool female protagonist because the devs say that's simply "more interesting"
A stack of board games on a wooden table beside Life in Reterra and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, all behind a GamesRadar+ logo
Board Games Best board games in 2025, with over 25 recommendations reviewed by our experts
a person in a leather coat leans against a telephone
RPGs I'm relieved to see the Disco Elysium successor is just as strange and dark – I've had my fill of fantasy RPGs for the year
A close up in The Alters
Survival Games "Yo this isn't Mass Effect, my guy, put the flirt gun down": Devs behind sci-fi survival game The Alters shoot down thirsty fans' requests to romance their clones
Star Overdrive screenshot showing protagonist Bios who has wide hair surfing across a desert plain as a sandworm peruses him - the Indie Spotlight logo is at the top right corner
Open World Games I've been hunting sandworms while doing hoverboard kickflips and keytar solos in this hypnotizing mashup of Breath of the Wild and Hi-Fi Rush
A woman turns to look at an unseen person while standing in front of crew mates behind a glass screen in Directive 8020
Horror Games Until Dawn studio's first sci-fi game is a body horror fest inspired by John Carpenter with tons of Lethal Company tension, and I've never been so excited to turn into a pile of sludge
Gloomhaven, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Life in Reterra boxes on a wooden table, with a GR+ logo sat between them
Board Games The best adult board games 2025, from newcomer Fate of the Fellowship to Gloomhaven
Keir Dullea in 2001: A Space Odyssey
Movies The 32 greatest sci-fi movie quotes
The Electric State Roleplaying Game core rulebook lying on a glass table
Tabletop Gaming The Electric State Roleplaying Game review: "The quintessential road trip movie turned TTPRG"
The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time: pictures of Alien, Arrival, Terminator, Brazil and 2001.
Sci-Fi Movies The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time
A heavily-armored warrior with a bladed shield and morningstar stands on top of a pile of demon corpses, against a volcanic, medieval background
Board Games "A hell of a feeling:" Doom: The Dark Ages Arena board game is like "heavy metal chess" and dammit I'm so in
Multiple Jans discuss their situation in The Alters
Survival Games My current GOTY contender sold itself to me with an out-of-nowhere musical number, and I can't praise that choice enough
Two menacing gingerbread men look intimidating while a candy person waves from a cage
Tabletop Gaming I didn't expect to like the latest D&D book, but after an utterly stupid adventure I'm all in on Dragon Delves
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies
  3. Sci-Fi Movies

10 sci-fi game changers

Features
By Dave Golder published 2 April 2015

Why can't sci-fi and fantasy characters play something other than chess for a change?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Your Move

Your Move

Ever noticed that an awful lot of people in sci-fi and fantasy films play chess? Why cant they battle wits over something else for a change? We give them something else to play with

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Spock plays Connect Four

Spock plays Connect Four

Forget 3D Chess. This the is logical game to play

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
The Doctor & K9 play Mousetrap

The Doctor & K9 play Mousetrap

If they have a rodent problem maybe they should call in the exterminators

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Eldon Tyrell plays Guess Who?

Eldon Tyrell plays Guess Who?

Maybe this is how the big boss in Blade Runner decides what his replicants will look like.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
WOPR plays Scrabble

WOPR plays Scrabble

Why play WarGames when you could be trying to make a word out of X, Z, Q, Y, B, V and O?

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Xavier and Eric play Buckaroo

Xavier and Eric play Buckaroo

Professor X is First Class at this game. Magneto wishes it wasnt all made of plastic.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Xavier and Eric play KerPlunk

Xavier and Eric play KerPlunk

Professor X likes the way the straws form multiple X shapes. Magneto wishes it wasnt made of plastic

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Frank Poole plays Pac-Man

Frank Poole plays Pac-Man

Still popular in 2001 for when you get fed up with HAL beating you at Chess all the time.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Andy and Kenneth play Battleships

Andy and Kenneth play Battleships

If you were separated by streets heaving with zombies during the Dawn Of The Dead, a bit a binocular-aided Battleships will help pass the time.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Number Six plays Cluedo

Number Six plays Cluedo

Imagine if this formed the Village green in The Prisoner rather than a giant chess set? Seems more like one of Number Twos interrogation schemes to us.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Death plays Jenga

Death plays Jenga

After chess in The Seventh Seal and Twister, Cluedo and Battleship in Bill and Teds Bogus Journey, he needed to find a new challenge.

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
PRODUCTS
Blade Runner Star Trek the seventh seal
Dave Golder
Dave Golder
Social Links Navigation
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years. 

See more Movies Features
Read more
The Coriolis: The Great Dark Core Rules stood upright on a wooden surface, against a dark background
I've fallen out of love with Destiny, but this new tabletop RPG captures what I adored about it in the first place
Screenshot of a chess board with one piece getting blown up in an explosion with UI overlaid on the sides, from Passant: A Chess Roguelike.
Everything in the world must be converted into a roguelike, and not even chess is safe with a new game "that changes all the rules"
A press image shows the protagonist from Cronos: The New Dawn standing inside a dark engine room
Bloober's Cronos: The New Dawn is like Dead Space in Hell, but it has a cool female protagonist because the devs say that's simply "more interesting"
A stack of board games on a wooden table beside Life in Reterra and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, all behind a GamesRadar+ logo
Best board games in 2025, with over 25 recommendations reviewed by our experts
a person in a leather coat leans against a telephone
I'm relieved to see the Disco Elysium successor is just as strange and dark – I've had my fill of fantasy RPGs for the year
A close up in The Alters
"Yo this isn't Mass Effect, my guy, put the flirt gun down": Devs behind sci-fi survival game The Alters shoot down thirsty fans' requests to romance their clones
Latest in Sci-Fi Movies
Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray on the set of Star Wars: Starfighter
Deadpool and Wolverine director's Star Wars movie Starfighter shares first look and confirms new casting, including Amy Adams and a Lanterns star
Ice Cube in War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds producer says none of the Amazon product placement was intentional in the 2% Rotten Tomatoes disaster
Gizmo in Gremlins
Original Gremlins writer Chris Columbus says they "haven't cracked" Gremlins 3 yet: "There's a bunch of scripts, nothing has been approved"
John Williams
John Williams, the legendary composer behind Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and the original Superman theme admits he "never liked film music very much"
Kylo Ren
Two years before release, Star Wars fans are hoping Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling's Starfighter movie explores past the Skywalker saga: "Tell new stories about new characters"
A Yautja warrior leaping at an alien monster with his sword raised
Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg will contribute to a new Marvel Comics prequel story for the upcoming movie
Latest in Features
KPop Demon Hunters still of Rumi and the blue demon tiger
I can't wait for a KPop Demon Hunters sequel, but I'm still not convinced Netflix is actually going to learn anything from the original's success
Key art for Planet of Lana 2 shows Lana and Mui looking out at a landscape.
I can't get enough of the cute cat-like companion in this puzzle platformer, even if some block pushing is a little business as usual
Delicious in Dungeon
Delicious in Dungeon season 2 release date speculation, story, and everything else we know so far
The Outer Worlds 2 screenshot showing someone holding a two-handed weapon beneath a starry sky
"The shorthand is New Vegas in space": The Outer Worlds 2 directors double down on Fallout comparisons, and Obsidian isn't worried about setting expectations too high: "It's our pedigree"
Kirby and the Forgotten Land Star-Crossed World screenshot of Kirby looking up at a little starry character with Astronomer Waddle Dee (who wears a beret with star decals) and the blue chinchilla-like companion Elfilin
Just when I thought Kirby and the Forgotten Land couldn't get any better, Star-Crossed World on Switch 2 proved me wrong
Resident Evil 9 screenshot showing Grace moving through a dark corridor with a lighter in hand
Capcom says that Resident Evil 9 will be "so-called 'old school Resident Evil'" in style, but its director teases a "new system" that creates a "complete roller coaster ride between the different aspects of the series"
  1. The Prince runs along a bridge across a pretty pond in The Rogue Prince of Persia
    1
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  2. 2
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  3. 3
    Fate of the Fellowship is the most anticipated board game of the year, and it's a thing of absolute genius
  4. 4
    This is the perfect cozy board game for Fall with its compelling mix of Redwall and city-building
  5. 5
    Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater review: "Little surprised me in this rigid remake, but it's still one of my favorite games of all time"
  1. Julia Garner in Weapons
    1
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  2. 2
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  3. 3
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  4. 4
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  5. 5
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...