History PunBasedTitle / VideoGames

* Franchise/{{Kirby}}:

* ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'': "Yarn" being both what the characters are made of and a synonym for "story".

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' has the mission "Trojan Whores", where the strippers hired by Pierce for a party at the Saints' new headquarters turn out to be "hooker assassins" hired by the Syndicate to assassinate the Boss and his lieutenants.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'' is a play on "bat out of Hell" and the name of one of the playable characters, Johnny Gat. Not to mention that the whole point of your mission is to get your boss out of hell.
* ''VideoGame/IttleDew'' is both a CharacterTitle and a reference to how much it [[SincerestFormOfFlattery imitates]] ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. In other words, "It's not ''Zelda'', but ''Ittle Dew'' (it'll do)."
* The UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS' title is a pun on the name of its predecessor, the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, and the 3DS' new stereoscopic 3D feature.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' is a clever homophone that showcases both the availability of the games for those consoles, and them being collectively the '''fourth''' installment in the series.
* ''VideoGame/InvisibleInc'' is a pun on invisible ink, a tool used by spies to send secret messages.
* ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' is a pun on the phrase "[[YouFightLikeACow them's fighting words]]".
* ''Alienation'' is the SpiritualSuccessor for ''VideoGame/DeadNation'', but instead of shooting zombies, you shoot hordes of alien invaders.
* ''[[http://www.supercanemagic.com/ Super Cane Magic ZERO]]'' is a RPG made by Italian devs and featuring the art of Italian cartoonist Sio. It's about a dog that ate a magic cane and [[RealityWarper made the world fall into chaos]] with its now-magical barks. But "cane" (pronounced ''kah-nay'') in Italian means "dog", so it's about a cane-wielding ''cane'', thus explaining the subtitle "Legend of the Cane Cane". By the way, "Zero" means "zero" in Italian.
* The [[MarketBasedTitle North American title]] for ''VideoGame/ProtectMeKnight 2'' is called ''Gotta Protectors''. The [=eShop's=] game description sums it up succinctly: "The bad guys are after Princess Lola. You gotta [[HoldTheLine protect her]]!"
* The otome DatingSim ''C-14 Dating'' centers around a group of archaeologists. It's a play on the term "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating carbon dating]]" (or "carbon-14" dating, for the radioactive carbon isotope), a method used by archaeologists to determine the age of ancient artifacts.
* The ''VideoGame/PointBlank'' games are somewhat [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo oddly-named]] in Japan, but all the titles are puns conflating the stock Japanese phrase "ganbare" with the English word "gun."
%%*''VideoGame/GameTengoku'''s sequel, ''[=GUNbare=]! Game Tengoku''.
* Several level titles in ''VideoGame/LEGOMarvelSuperHeroes'' are puns. Like "Juggernauts and Crosses" for the first level at X-Mansion involving Juggernaut (because it's X-Mansion, [[SigilSpam there are indeed a lot of crosses around]]), "Taking Liberties" for the level where you fight a HYDRA-hijacked [[MonumentalBattle Statue of Liberty]], and "Bro-tunheim" for the level where Thor and Loki reunite.
* The title of ''VideoGame/AkibasTrip'' is a pun on "Akiba Strip", and stripping enemies is how you defeat them.
* ''VideoGame/OpenSorcery'', a game taking place in a world where magical spells are written like computer programs, is a play on "sorcery" and "open source".
* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' should probably win an award for its creative title. Matt and Trey originally wanted to call it something more explicit like "Butthole of Time" but the publisher refused, so they had to get creative.
* ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse'': the first syllable of "xeno" sounds like 'Z', which thus invokes the name "''Anime/DragonBallZ''".
* ''Purikura Daisakusen'' an arcade and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game by Creator/{{Atlus}}, refers to two things. "Purikura" (or "[=PriCla=]") is both the Japanese abbreviation for Princess Clara, the game's main character (who originated in the ''VideoGame/PowerInstinct'' franchise), and for the "Print Club", a series of photo booths that allow you to print pictures with funny effects, trademarked by Atlus in Japan.
* In ''VideoGame/TheDarksideDetective'', each section has a title that is pun on either a police-related phrase (such as "Police Farce") or a famous movie (such as "Tome Alone").
* ''VideoGame/DaemonXMachina'' is a MechaGame with a title playing on "DeusExMachina."
* ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' is a construction-based shooter that's named after an unintended but totally grammatically correct way of interpreting the word "''fortnight''". That word is supposed to mean "fourteen days", but it can also be read as a ''literal'' "fort night"; hence the title, ''Fortnite'', which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly about building a fort so that you can stand your ground against whatever goes bump in the night]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': In Japanese, "Okami" is a homophone that can mean either "wolf" or "great deity", with each meaning being written differently in kanji (the game's title uses the kanji for the latter). Fittingly, the game's story involves Amaterasu, one of the most important deities in Myth/JapaneseMythology, taking the form of a wolf.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'': Has some groaners as Side Quest names. These include ''Cache Flow, Cache and Release, Cold Hard Cache''
* ''VideoGame/BCsQuestForTires'''s title is based on the film ''Film/QuestForFire''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' is a pretty smart one most people overlook, from "splat" (referring to the ink) and "platoon" (referring to the combat).
* ''VideoGame/KangFu'', referring to the martial art "kung fu" and the animal "kangaroo".
* The soundtrack from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' has a MurderBallad, sung from the perspective of a woman telling her friends she will be unable to make it in time to an appointment, because she has been murdered and is lying like a broken doll on the tiles of Waterloo Station. The name of the song? "The Late Pearl Attaway".
* ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'': "Yarn" being both what the characters are made of and a synonym for "story".
* ''Videogame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'' has 90% of the PVP events and a PVE ones with those - a lead designer even stated that she's "a person whose job duties routinely involve generating puns." For instance, Hulk = "Smash Hit", Doctor Strange = "Strange Days", America Chavez = "Stars and Strikes", Nico Minoru = "[[MagicStaff Staff]] Appreciation Day"...
* ''VideoGame/DeathTrips'' is not only a play on ''Music/DeathGrips'' but also references how the villain, Lady Death, suffers a DeathByFallingOver.
* ''VideoGame/ArcAngle'' is a [[RougeAnglesOfSatin deliberate misspelling]] of Arch Angel. The main character is an angelic entity who shines an angle of light in an arc in front of it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Smashroom}}'': Smash + Mushroom = ... well, take a guess.
* Trigger + Gore = ''VideoGame/{{Triggore}}''

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' = "Transylvania"

* The name ''VideoGame/{{RuneScape}}'' is often accused of being a pun on "[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere RunEscape]]".
* ''NearlyDeparted'', about family members who had died but remained hanging around the house as ghosts after the funeral.

* ''VideoGame/{{Cyberia}}'' = Siberia

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII: Champion Edition'' is officially called ''Street Fighter II Dash'' in Japan. The word "Dash" is represented by a prime symbol, which is used in math to indicate the derivative of a function. In other words, ''Street Fighter II Dash'' is really "The Derivative of ''Street Fighter II''".
* ''VideoGame/RushNAttack'' = "Russian Attack"
* The fighting game ''Battle Stadium DON'' is a manga-based pun. DON stands for the three manga franchises represented in the game, ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Manga/OnePiece'', and ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. It also refers to the sound effect "DON," which is used for "dramatic impacts" in manga (similar to "dun dun DUNNN!" or "dun-dunnnnnn!") and anime. The three of these shows also tended to use "don" heavily, considering [[ShonenDemographic their genre.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Ufouria}}'' is a pun on the word "euphoria", also '''u''' have to control '''four''' different characters. And when you look at some of the bosses...there's also the UFO pun as well.

* The sequels to the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' games.
** The "Tsu" in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTsu'' can roughly translate as "Expert", but it's also pronounced the same way the Japanese pronounce the English word "two".
** The "Sun" in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoSun'' is a homophone for ''san'', Japanese for three.
** ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyon'', the fourth game in the series, ends with a portmanteau between the words ''puyo'' and ''yon'' (four).
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' is about Diddy embarking on a quest to rescue Donkey Kong (quest for a Kong), and along with his girlfriend Dixie he'll conquer several lands that are under the power of the Kremlings (Kong-quest).
* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is a pun of {{Hikikomori}}, who translated as "Shut-In", Based of the titular character's condition.
* The Wii game ''VideoGame/KikiTrick'', the gameplay of which largely revolves around identifying audio cues, is a play on ''kikitori'', a Japanese phrase meaning "listening comprehension".
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' = "Transylvania"
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' is known as ''Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo'' in Japan. The "X" is meant to represent the fact that it's the first ''Castlevania'' game set after Simon Belmont's era (most of the previous games were remakes and prequels), but it doubles as a StealthPun since it's the tenth ''Dracula'' game released by Konami in Japan following the three Famicom games (3), the [=MSX2=] version (4), the arcade game (5), the first two Game Boy games (7), the Super Famicom version (8) and the [=X68000=] version (9).
* Combine that with GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath when ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'' is named for a reason: it takes place in Dr. Neurosis' castle, which is located at "13 Brain Dead Avenue", for those who haven't seen the intro. It can also be a DoubleMeaningTitle when it involves an evil scientist BrainInAJar and [[TheManyDeathsOfYou the many death scenes of Lance Galahad]]. {{A|rsonMurderAndJaywalking}}lso, ThirteenIsUnlucky for Lance and the player.
* The Wii version of the original ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' is subtitled ''[[VideoGame/DeadRisingChopTillYouDrop Chop Till You Drop]]''.
* Many levels in ''VideoGame/{{Croc}}: Legend of the Gobbos'' are named with a pun, usually a poor one at that. Examples include "I Snow Him So Well" (being in the [[SlippySlideyIceWorld snow themed world]] and "License to Chill", also on the snow island and "Be Wheely Careful", in reference to the large spinning cogs which Croc must ride to navigate the level. Others are debatable as to whether they are true puns, but are intriguing nonetheless, such as "And So the Adventure Begins" (the first level in the game, go figure), "Cave Fear", "Life's a Beach" and "The Tower of Power".
* Creator/HudsonSoft's ''Momotarō Densetsu'' ("The Legend of Momotarō") led to a MorePopularSpinoff called ''Momotarō Dentetsu'' ("Momotarō Electric Railway").

* ''James Pond: Underwater Agent'' is an obvious pun on James Bond (who is an underCOVER agent). His arch nemesis is Dr. Maybe (after Dr. No), and most of the levels in the game are (terrible) James Bond puns, such as "A View To A Spill" and "Leak and Let Die".
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' and its follow-up ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' refer to both Link (the character) traveling between the Light and DarkWorld, and the literal link between said worlds.
* ''VideoGame/LEGOCityUndercover: The Chase Begins'' is a UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS {{prequel}} to the UsefulNotes/WiiU game, detailing how the protagonist Chase [=McCain=] became an elite member of the LEGO City Police Force.
* The EnhancedRemake of ''Archer [=MacLean=]'s Mercury'' is called ''Mercury Hg'' ("Hg" being a play on "HD", and also the periodic table symbol for mercury).

** The "Tsu" in ''Puyo Puyo Tsu'' can roughly translate as "Expert", but it's also pronounced the same way the Japanese pronounce the English word "two".
** The "Sun" in ''Puyo Puyo Sun'' is a homophone for ''san'', Japanese for three.
** ''Puyo Puyon'', the fourth game in the series, ends with a portmanteau between the words ''puyo'' and ''yon'' (four).

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': The Main Menu song is "Men And You". "Men & U"... A.k.a "Menu".

* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is a pun of {{Hikikomori}}, who translated as "Shut-In", Based of the titular character's condition.

* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is a pun of {{Hikikkomori}}, who translated as "Shut-In", Based of the titular character's condition.

* ''VideoGame/IttleDew'' is both a CharacterTitle and a reference to how much it [[SincerestFormOfFlattery imitates]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda''. In other words, "It's not ''Zelda'', but ''Ittle Dew'' (it'll do)."

* Several level titles in ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperheroes'' are puns. Like "Juggernauts and Crosses" for the first level at X-Mansion involving Juggernaut (because it's X-Mansion, [[SigilSpam there are indeed a lot of crosses around]]), "Taking Liberties" for the level where you fight a HYDRA-hijacked [[MonumentalBattle Statue of Liberty]], and "Bro-tunheim" for the level where Thor and Loki reunite.

* In Japan, ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII′: Champion Edition'' is officially called ''Street Fighter II Dash''. The word "Dash" is represented by a prime symbol, which is used in math to indicate the derivative of a function. In other words, ''Street Fighter II Dash'' is really "The Derivative of ''Street Fighter II''".

* The fighting game ''Battle Stadium DON'' is a manga-based pun. DON stands for the three games represented in the game, ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Manga/OnePiece'', and ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. It also refers to the sound effect "DON," which is used for "dramatic impacts" in manga (similar to "dun dun DUNNN!" or "dun-dunnnnnn!") and anime. The three of these shows also tended to use "don" heavily, considering [[ShonenDemographic their genre.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/TheyHunger They Hunger 2: Rest in Pieces]]''. The Zombies eat people. Fast forward nine years, and now it's a one-liner in upcoming ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever''.

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'' should probably win an award for its creative title.