As its success in foreign markets grows, Doctor Who becomes more and more of a merchandising juggernaut; with the possibility of a Tardis Lego set on the horizon, and (most recently) the release of Doctor Who downloadable content for Minecraft. A bold move since Doctor Who games have never really caught on as far as the mainstream gaming market goes. Doctor Who games have been released intermittently since as far back as 1983 but after 1997s Destiny Of The Doctors for PC, things dried up until 2010 when the BBC decided it was time to give this little attempted area of merchandising another try. After the success of the free-to-play Doctor Who Adventure Games released on PC alongside Series 5, a trio of mainstream titles were introduced for the PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Wii. All of which were weighted towards being puzzle-based and received mixed reviews. Following these less than successful forays back into video gaming and the recently closed MMO Worlds In Time, Doctor Who gaming is once again in limbo other than the Minecraft DLC. But despite its less than shining track record, a strong Doctor Who game is possible. Its simply a matter of choosing a decent genre (significant market penetration will always be difficult for a puzzle game), and tying it into the Doctor Who Universe properly. And since the professionals seem to be struggling to get it right, weve come up with a few ideas of our own...
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
