A lot of game adaptations still approach games like they’re unfinished movies. Take the cutscenes, recreate the characters, follow the plot as closely as possible, and hope fans connect with it. But in a recent interview, Genki Kawamura talked about a different approach while discussing the adaptation of The Exit 8 — follow the rules of the game, not just the story. That idea feels way more interesting.
The reason certain games stick with people usually has less to do with plot and more to do with feeling. Tension, repetition, discovery, rhythm, uncertainty. Especially with indie games, the experience itself is often the entire point. The Exit 8 works because of its atmosphere and the small mental rules the player learns while moving through the space. Translating that into film is way more compelling than trying to recreate gameplay scene-for-scene.
You’re starting to see more creators understand that games influence people differently than films do. The best adaptations lately tend to capture the logic, tone, pacing, or emotional structure of a game rather than treating it like a storyboard.
It also says a lot about where gaming sits culturally now. Directors, writers, and brands are no longer looking at games as niche references. They’re studying how games create emotion and interaction differently from other mediums and figuring out how to bring those ideas into film, fashion, music, and design.
