If you live in Ireland and enjoy playing video games, you’ve probably noticed a few tropes. Overwhelmingly, the Emerald Isle is portrayed as a place of faery-esque creatures, rolling and mist-covered hills, and pots of gold. There’s also a curious lack of the Irish language in many cases.
However, not all projects take such a surface-level view of Ireland, skimming over its ancient history and modern traditions. Even within the realm of online slots, where Irish mythology is a prominent theme, some developers go above and beyond to create a dynamic gameplay experience.
A new player might focus on RPT meaning in slots to find titles that offer the most return—but games like Leprechaun Riches also entice players by creating an unmatched Gaelic theme. The title includes industry-leading visuals, along with audio clips pulled from traditional ballads that will sound familiar to locals.
But what about longer-form games? After all, role-player games (RPGs) and action-adventure titles, two of the most popular types of games, include multiple levels and missions, which allow for further artistic exploration. Let’sdive into the best video games that include Gaelic themes and language.
Gaelic Games: Football 2
Let’s be clear: Gaelic Games is so bad it’s good. The first installation, with its subpar graphics and gameplay mechanics, hardly warranted a second… but the series has aged well and, as many gamers know, is a great craic.
First, there’s the voice of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh that covers the game’s action. Second, it includes a lineup of teams not often heard of in professional sports simulations… even if every single player has to be assigned a name. And lastly, those faulty game mechanics mentioned above could actually be enjoyable —assuming you’re playing just for fun.
Among Us (Gaelic Version)
If you’ve missed out on the zeitgeist, Among Us is a multiplayer game released back in 2018. It’s quickly become one of the world’s most popular titles for its ease of playing. The game simply requires players to identify which among them are imposters while completing other tasks. Last year, in 2021, the game received an official Irish dub.
Gamer Úna-Minh Kavanagh undertook the project. She plays titles in both English and Irish—and, like many other video games with Gaelic dubs, she undertook the project to preserve her language. After only five months of work with other translators, Úna-Minh had her name added to the Among Us contributors list for its Irish-language release.
Foclach
Did you know there’s a version of Wordle for Irish speakers? The app, called Foclach, is available for free for both mobile and browsers. The release came late in 2021, including slight variations to the original Wordle, as Irish players have to watch their fadas.
Since the release of Foclach, which was a passion project from developer and creator Linda Keating, more players have downloaded the game to brush up on their language. In addition to presenting them with a brain puzzle for the day, Foclach also helps with vocab acquisition.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (Wrath of the Druids)
The Assassin’s Creed video game franchise is known for recreating some incredibly realistic eras from history. In fact, the games span the globe in terms of both time and geography, covering Ancient Egypt, the American Revolution, and the Renaissance in Florence.
The latest release in the franchise is the Valhalla installation. This game sees players navigate the early days of Viking invasions throughout the British Isles. One plug-in expansion pack for the game (Wrath of the Druids) covers the main character Eivor’s adventure to meet Bárid mac Ímair, the King of Dublin.
From there, gamers can explore major locations throughout the island, from Giant’s Causeway to the ancient streets of early Dublin. Great lengths were taken to research historically accurate architecture and lifestyles from the game’s setting. In fact, the project panned out so well that the official Ireland Tourism team partnered with developers at Ubisoft to cross-promote tourism and the game’s release.
