Rick and Morty is a show that has become one of the most popular cartoons of recent memory. First airing in 2013, the show has developed a significant fanbase and global appeal, and has predictably evolved and branched out to other forms of media.
One of the most obvious forms of media that Rick and Morty has lent itself to is video games. That being said, the relationship between the franchise and video games has been a fairly inconsistent one, spanning across platforms and genres without a clear overall structure.
Pocket Mortys
The first fairly large-scale officially licensed title to come under the Rick and Morty name was that of the 2016 mobile game Pocket Mortys. The game is a typically tongue-in-cheek parody of the Pokemon franchise, in which the player explores a top-down open-world as deranged scientist Rick Sanchez, capturing different variations of his grandson Morty to train and fight other Mortys.
Like Pokemon, the combat is turn-based, with over 200 types of Morty to catch and fight with. Considering that the game’s plot concerns itself with exploring dimensions to discover new Morty variants, it is tied into the overall themes of the show in quite a clever and engaging way.
Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
Definitely the most high-profile Rick and Morty game to date came with Virtual Rick-ality, which released in 2017. As the name suggests, the game was made for VR headsets, being an interactive experience set within the Sanchez household showcasing many references to the numerous plot lines and gags of the show itself.
The game was published by Adult Swim, and was received well by fans at the time of release, which prompted the company to eventually release a collector’s edition of Virtual Rick-ality. While the franchise has not delved back into the VR medium since the release of this game, it is safe to say that it has definitely left its mark.
Rick and Morty Crossovers With Other Games
Outside of its own officially licensed games, Rick and Morty has had plenty of crossover content with many other high-profile releases. Perhaps most notably, Rick and Morty collaborated with Fortnite in the release of in-game skins for the two main characters, being one of the many franchises to collaborate with the massively popular battle royale shooter.
Rick and Morty has had announcer packs for DOTA 2, as well as featuring a segment where the pair explore the world of Minecraft within the show itself. Rick and Morty has also been the subject of many Easter eggs, with the likes of Borderlands 3 featuring “Wick and Warty” NPCs, for example. The show has firmly established itself within the contemporary pop-culture zeitgeist, which has made its transition into video games all the more seamless and inexorable.
High On Life
The latest foray from the creators of Rick and Morty into the world of gaming is set to come with the recently announced first-person shooter High on Life. Set to release this October, the title is being developed by Squanch Games, which was founded by Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland in 2016.
The studio released the well-received Accounting in 2016, as well as Trover Saves the Universe in 2019, and High on Life is set to be its most ambitious project yet. Adopting the same iconic humor, art style, and voices of Rick and Morty, the game is intrinsically linked to the franchise despite not being a spinoff of the show.
High on Life is even inspired by Rick and Morty zaniness within its story, which will see players take control of a bounty hunter that is saving humans who are being used as drugs by alien cartels. The relationship between Rick and Morty and video games is definitely a strange one that has taken many different identities, but with Squanch Games only growing in size, fans should expect to see many more officially licensed games in the future.
