The Best Games for EDM Lovers
Whether you started out loving or hating it, EDM is a genre which has grown and grown over the years to become a truly universal phenomenon. Its complex passages, pacey builds and unmatched drops infecting sound systems across the globe. But EDM found one of its best partners in the world of gaming, becoming a staple of gaming culture, esports and even games themselves.
Let us look at some of the games which feature EDM, and thus are the perfect games for EDM lovers.
1. Beat Saber
Perhaps the quintessential VR experience for newcomers, Beat Saber has become a cultural phenomenon with millions of downloads. While more recent collaborations have seen the cube-slicing game incorporate music from popular groups from BTS to Green Day, the original score for the game features beat-heavy songs from EDM artist Jarsolav Beck.
Not only that, but the game also features EDM classics like Crab Rave—bringing tonnes of energy to the game.
2. Crypt of the NecroDancer
A wholly unique take on the idea of a rhythm game, Crypt of the NecroDancer is a dungeon crawler where you must move, attack or action to the beat as you navigate old-school dungeons which light up like a dancefloor. This engaging, rhythm-focused experience sees you move faster and faster as it delivers new challenges throughout your dungeon crawling.
The EDM-infused soundtrack not only sounds great but dictates the whole pace of the game. Making it a great, and innovative, use of EDM in gaming.
3. Rocket League
This vehicular soccer game needs little introduction in the 2020s; but if you’re yet to play it, it’s essentially soccer with rocker-fuelled cars… Yes, it’s crazy.
While the gameplay is incredibly unique and fun, its EDM soundtrack really brings the game’s energy to the next level. Through a partnership with EDM record label Monstercat, Rocket League features a large roster of EDM artists on their soundtrack, including Droeloe, Slushii and Dion Timmer to name just three. Not only that, but you can even customise your car with deadmau5’ designs! To get your hands on it, you can buy Rocket League Credits.
4. Rez Infinite
While the original Rez Infinite was first played in 2001, it recently received a remaster which updates everything from its graphics to its soundtrack—the remaster even includes VR support!
If you’re a fan of EDM’s trance-like qualities, you’ll love Rez Infinite. The game fuses dreamlike graphics and trance-inducing music to provide a truly mesmerizing experience—one that feels even more immersive in VR.
5. Hotline Miami
A truly iconic title, Hotline Miami is a game known for its incredible soundtrack. While the game features a variety of genres, the one to feature the most prominently is certainly EDM. Heck, Hotline Miami’s soundtrack skyrocketed musicians like Perturbator M|O|O|N and Jasper Byrne into the mainstream, with their incredible music pumping through the game’s violent and evocative gameplay.
If you want to get even closer to the game’s music, I recommend playing on PlayStation, given that the PS4 edition caused the controller to change colour with the beat.
6. Just Shapes & Beats
You might not have heard of this one, but its Steam reception of “Overwhelmingly Positive” speaks for itself. Just Shapes and Beats is exactly what it says—a 2D bullet hell featuring wild shapes that you must dodge, shoot and more as they pulsate and move to a variety of crazy and catchy EDM beats.
The synchronisation and pacing of this game is truly exhilarating, offering up some serious challenges. Thus, if you’re a fan of challenges, this is another one for you.
7. Sayonara Wild Hearts
If you’re an EDM lover, but you’re not into the challenge of the last two titles, Sayonara Wild Hearts offers an excellent alternative take of the genre’s place in gaming.
Featuring amazingly evocative 3D graphics, all synced up to the rhythm, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a fast-paced rhythm game which sees you run through various colourful environments to a stylish synth-pop and EDM soundtrack. Its story features a strong, aesthetic narrative and reaches some great emotional highs.
8. Grand Theft Auto V
Like any GTA game, Grand Theft Auto V is brimming with great radio stations, many of which feature pumping EDM tunes. Best of all, the energy that EDM brings driving and flying around GTA 5’s huge map gives the game a notably different flavour. Music from greats like Green Velvet, Kaskade, Flying Lotus and Aphex Twin all inject an electric vibe into the game’s free roam. So perhaps its time to jump back into GTA and there’s no better way to do it than by getting a cheap GTA V modded account.
EDM makes up a powerful and energising part of the modern musical landscape, and its inclusion in some of the biggest and best games of the last ten years reflects that.