There’s something magical – no pun intended – about stories that refuse to play by the rules of genre.
Games that don’t just blend sci-fi and fantasy, but weave them together like it’s the most natural thing in the world. You’re blasting aliens one minute and casting spells the next. Or, you’re in a dark tower guarded by a dragon, but also, you got there using a jetpack.
That kind of delightful confusion? That’s the vibe of Split Fiction where two very different creative forces collide and things go off the rails, beautifully. Now, Split Fiction has a specific premise: two writers plugged into a creative machine that starts flipping between their fantasy and sci-fi brainwaves.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | Video | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Longest Journey | 2000-11-17 | Adventure & Puzzle | Funcom | |
 | Dreamfall The Longest Journey | 2006-04-17 | Puzzle & Role-playing (RPG) | Funcom | |
 | Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order | 2019-11-15 | Adventure | Respawn Entertainment | |
 | STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor | 2023-04-28 | Adventure | Respawn Entertainment | |
 | The Heart Of Darkness | 2022-04-16 | Turn-based strategy (TBS) & Adventure | BigWednesday | |
 | Blackthorn Arena Reforged | 2024-11-02 | Simulator & Indie | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | ELEX | 2017-10-17 | Role-playing (RPG) & Adventure | Piranha Bytes | |
 | ELEX II | 2022-03-01 | Role-playing (RPG) & Adventure | Piranha Bytes | |
 | Outcast A New Beginning | 2024-03-15 | Shooter & Adventure | Appeal Studios | |
 | Jak And Daxter The Precursor Legacy | 2001 | Racing & Adventure | Naughty Dog |
But even if there aren’t a ton of games that do exactly that, there are quite a few that love hopping between high fantasy and futuristic sci-fi like it’s just another Tuesday. So here are some of the best ones that mash those genres together in glorious, chaotic harmony.
The Longest Journey & Dreamfall
| Release date: | 2000-11-17 |
| Genre: | Point-and-click & Puzzle |
| Developer: | Funcom |
Let’s kick it off with the gold standard. The Longest Journey and its sequel, Dreamfall, are the closest you’ll get to the Split Fiction formula in a video game form.
Here, you got two worlds: Stark and Arcadia. The former’s a gritty, futuristic, tech-drenched version of Earth. The latter? A magical realm full of talking creatures, spells, and proper fantasy goodness.
Our protagonists — April and, in the case of Dreamfall, Zoë — can shift between them, solving puzzles and getting swept up in world-shaping prophecies. The worlds are literally split to keep science and magic apart.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order & Survivor
| Release date: | 2019-11-15 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Respawn Entertainment |
Now don’t let the stormtroopers and space travel fool you. Star Wars is high fantasy in disguise. Jedi and Sith are just space wizards with laser swords, the Force is essentially magic, and the whole thing has more in common with The Lord of the Rings than with, say, Star Trek.
Fallen Order and Survivor double down on this idea. You’ve got ancient temples, mystical visions, and long-lost powers waiting to be awakened.
You might be zipping through hyperspace, but every time you land on a new planet, it’s like stepping into an entirely different fantasy kingdom—each one with its own creatures, ruins, ancient powers, and mystical secrets. It’s not just sci-fi set dressing, it’s a galaxy-wide anthology of fantasy worlds, connected by hyperspace lanes and guided by a lightsaber-wielding knight trying to make sense of it all.
Heart of Darkness
| Release date: | 2022-04-16 |
| Genre: | Turn-based strategy (TBS) & Adventure |
| Developer: | BigWednesday |
Ah yes, the ’90s gem no one ever really talks about, but absolutely should. In Heart of Darkness, young Andy builds his own spaceship and blasts off to rescue his dog from a nightmarish world full of creepy shadows and dark magic.
At first, he’s using a plasma gun. Then he loses it. And just when things look grim, he taps into the mystical side of the Darklands and starts wielding supernatural powers.
This game is like The NeverEnding Story got hacked by a kid obsessed with sci-fi comics and shadow monsters. The fact that you start with tech and end with magic? That’s fantasy stuff, alright.
World of Warcraft
| Release date: | 2004-11-23 |
| Genre: | Role-playing (RPG) |
| Developer: | Blizzard Entertainment |
WoW started off as pretty much pure high fantasy (maybe with the exception of the dwarven and goblin stuff). You know, elves, dragons, and grimy taverns galore. But over the years? It’s gotten way weirder.
These days, it’s a playground where steampunk gadgets, alien spaceships, and retrofuturistic time travel coexist with necromancers and druids.
Oh, and fun fact: Warcraft 2 was almost about orcs invading the modern world with F-16s fighting dragons. That idea was scrapped, but lives on spiritually in Spellcross, a strategy game where military forces face off against undead and fantasy horrors. And don’t forget War Wind II, where human soldiers get yeeted into a magic realm and have to deal with it.
Heroes of the Storm
| Release date: | 2015-06-02 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Blizzard Entertainment |
This one’s like the Smash Bros. of Blizzard’s various universes but cranked up to eleven in terms of genre mashup. You’ve got Warcraft orcs casting spells at Overwatch cyber-ninjas. A StarCraft marine fighting Diablo himself in a bizarre interdimensional nexus.
There’s no pretense of consistency here. Just raw, chaotic crossover energy. Somehow, it works. It’s like a buffet of sci-fi and fantasy tropes thrown into one magical-sci-fi cauldron. And it’s free to play, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested.
Blackthorne
| Release date: | 2024-11-02 |
| Genre: | Role-playing (RPG) & Strategy |
| Developer: | PersonaeGame Studio |
If Conan the Barbarian went to high school on Earth and came back to save his magical homeland with a shotgun — that’s Blackthorne in a nutshell. Kyle (yes, of course our hero had to be named Kyle) was sent to Earth as a kid to escape evil warlords on his home world. He grows up, gets tough, and then gets called back to Tuul.
He returns not with a magic sword, but a shotgun, and uses it to blast trolls and orc-like enemies in a world full of mystical runes and ancient feuds. It’s the perfect pulp blend of science guy vs fantasy world. And it works.
Blackthorne never really got the love it deserves, but now it’s a cult classic and one of the staples of the cinematic platformer genre.
ELEX I & II
| Release date: | 2022-03-01 |
| Genre: | Role-playing (RPG) & Adventure |
| Developer: | Piranha Bytes |
Now this is what we call full-on science fantasy. ELEX is set on a post-apocalyptic planet where futuristic weapons, jetpacks, and technology clash with magical powers and medieval aesthetics.
You’ve got factions that fully lean into one side or the other, but the world as a whole? It’s a glorious mess of genres.
Modern cities crumble next to wizard towers. You’re as likely to meet a cyber-soldier as you are a fire mage. If you’re on the fence when it comes to which genre you like more – sci-fi or fantasy – this game doesn’t force you to choose, getting the best of both worlds.
Outcast: A New Beginning
| Release date: | 2024-03-15 |
| Genre: | Shooter & Adventure & Role-playing (RPG) |
| Developer: | Appeal Studios |
Think Stargate, but with an even whackier world to explore. The original Outcast was already leaning toward science fantasy, but A New Beginning straight-up embraces it.
You’re Cutter Slade (name doesn’t get more ’90s than that), resurrected and summoned back to the alien world of Adelpha. But this isn’t just some sci-fi planet. This place has gods, prophecies, and powers that don’t obey logic.
Sure, you’ve got a jetpack and gadgets, and you gotta fight some robots, but you’re basically part of a divine plan now. Very Chosen One stuff. Outcast: A New Beginning may not be the greatest open-world action-adventure game ever released, but it’s super fun and might be a blast to play for everyone, not just fans of the original.
Jak and Daxter (series)
| Release date: | 2001-12-04 |
| Genre: | Platform & Adventure |
| Developer: | Naughty Dog |
The first Jak and Daxter game starts like your typical high fantasy romp: lush forests, magical ruins, and eco-based powers.
But as the series goes on? It pulls a full genre pivot into sci-fi dystopia. Suddenly you’ve got hover cars, gun factories, and authoritarian regimes.
It’s like the devs got halfway through a fantasy game and said, “You know what this needs? A whole lot more cyberpunk.” And you know what? That was the right call.
So yeah, while we don’t see many games doing exactly what Split Fiction does—genre writers trapped in their own chaotic stories—we do see plenty that live in that grey area between fantasy and sci-fi. These games don’t just switch gears. They mash genres together like it’s second nature, creating wild, unexpected universes that are somehow richer for the collision.
After all, why pick between dragons and spaceships when you can have both?