8 Video Games That Blew Up Thanks To YOU
5. Choo-Choo Charles
Conversely, Choo-Choo Charles was hardly a Game of the Year contender or a universally lauded piece of work, but its utterly unhinged concept and fantastic creature design allowed it to become a huge word-of-mouth hit.
Choo-Choo Charles tasks players with building out their train in order to battle Charles, a terrifying spider-train hybrid who plans to make short, snacky work of them.
What the game lacks in finesse and critical plaudits, it more than compensates with its wacky, streamer-friendly concept, ensuring that from its initial trailer through to its eventual release, it was widely discussed on social media.
The game's single developer, Gaven Eisenbeisz, has spoken extensively about his conscious attempts to make a "viral game," and in this case it paid off far beyond his wildest expectations. He attributes Choo-Choo Charles' success primarily to his decision to take iconography from a popular children's TV series - Thomas the Tank Engine - and give it a perverse horror makeover.
Given that the game has sold almost a half-million copies on PC alone, it's safe to say that Eisenbeisz perfectly understood what makes a game popular on social media.