Top 7 Games That Let You Eat People: From Sharks to Superheroes

Summary

Video games have explored cannibalism as a core gameplay element for power, survival, and absurdity.
Titles like Digital Devil Saga and Fallout 4 introduce cannibalism as a mechanic with different implications and consequences.
Games like Maneater and Prototype offer unique experiences where players can engage in human consumption for various purposes.

Historically, video games have provided players with opportunities to enact actions of violence that one may (ideally) never contemplate in reality. This ranges from annihilating a whole island’s populace with extreme force, to subjecting simulated individuals to cruel treatment like torture before drowning them in a pool without ladders.

In various creative works, the normally unthinkable act of consuming human flesh is portrayed. These stories often incorporate cannibalism as a central game mechanic, enabling players to immerse themselves in the strange and terrifying reality of eating another human being. This can be motivated by factors such as power, survival, or sheer absurdity.

Prototype

Giving New Meaning To The Words “Street Food”

In today’s open-world city games, it’s common to see NPCs wandering around, but what makes Prototype stand out is its approach to causing urban chaos. Unlike many others, the protagonist of Prototype, a sentient, monstrous biomass named Alex Mercer, doesn’t just wreak havoc mindlessly through the streets of New York City; he does it to sustain himself.

In one of gaming’s most gruesome survival mechanics, Mercer resorts to brutal attacks like clawing, cleaving, and liquefying New York City residents to sustain himself. This grisly act allows him to perform powerful “critical mass” attacks that obliterate the surrounding area. Besides using people as sustenance, Mercer can mimic his victims’ appearance to evade enemies, causing confusion and making them fight each other, a tactic known as a literal skin swap. Additionally, he gains any plot-related memories or abilities from his meals.

Digital Devil Saga

Consume, Or Face The Devil’s Hanger

As a devoted fan, I’d say if anyone could pull off rage-infused cannibalism as a central gameplay mechanic, it would be Atlus. The Digital Devil Saga, a turn-based RPG, presents us with a band of heroes who have been afflicted by a demonic virus, compelling them to consume humans or descend into a frenzied “berserker mode” as they traverse and strive to flee their self-imposed purgatory in this pseudo-futuristic wasteland, the Junkyard. Regrettably, this remarkable RPG remains confined to the PS2, much like its protagonists are trapped within the Junkyard.

In DDS, Hindu concepts of karma and ascension are used extensively, but when demons devour each other, even including the heroes, it’s not symbolic – it’s vividly grisly. However, in most cases where the party encounters enemies and consumes them, the act takes place off-screen. But the game offers abilities that enable the heroes to sneak a bite during combat, and devouring enemies often paves the path for potent, non-cannibalistic skills.

Rimworld

Chewing Whatever It Takes To Survive

Just as it’s problematic in the real world when one animal consumes its own kind, causing various biological, emotional, and societal problems, so too will the settlers in Rimworld face significant physical and personal distress if they resort to cannibalism during times of severe hunger.

Instead, the Ideology expansion allows players to adopt the “Cannibal” concept for their settlers, enabling them to partake in cannibal feasts to satiate their hunger without any moral repercussions. Interestingly, donning the skin of their victims not only eliminates hunger but also boosts their spirits, improving their mood.

Donut County

Fill The Void With Friends, Farms, Fields, And Freaking Everything

An adorable and hilarious demonstration of something consuming an entire land and its inhabitants is the game called Donut County. In this game, players assume the role of a raccoon who has gained control over a mobile hole in the ground. The objective is to gobble up everything within sight using this hole.

Just like in the game Katamari Damacy, the size of the remote-controlled hole expands as it consumes. Players aim to satisfy a raccoon’s compulsion for collecting trash by locating various items to stuff into the hole, starting with small objects and gradually progressing to larger ones such as people and eventually buildings.

Ultimate Spider-Man

Spider-Man Would Never (But Venom Would)

Despite the fact that spiders are known for their huge appetite and tendency to consume creatures as large or larger than themselves, fortunately, this is not a characteristic Spider-Man acquired after being bitten by the radioactive spider. However, in the game “Ultimate Spider-Man“, players can explore the aggressive instinct of the symbiote spider, which includes a desire to crush humans with its immense power when Venom is unlocked.

Following the completion of the game, Venom can be controlled in the open world. To keep him active, players need to provide him with fresh meat regularly due to his continuously decreasing health. Since Venom feeds on humans, he spits out their unresponsive (or probably unconscious) bodies after consuming them to maintain the game’s cartoonish comic book aesthetic.

Fallout 4

Every Man-Morsal Pre-Cooked In The Post-Apocalypse

In the highly advanced post-apocalyptic game series known as Fallout, it’s not surprising that the topic of cannibalism might arise in discussions about gameplay at some point. Since Fallout 3, players have had the choice to consume their fellow survivors in the Wasteland, an option they could unlock after reaching level twelve. This gruesome act would result in negative karma for the player, and it’s important to note that others within the game world also seem intrigued by this dark aspect of human nature.

The benefit has been present across every Fallout game since then. Nibbling on a deceased person restores some health (either fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the player’s preference for immersive grimness). In the 3D versions of Fallout, consuming a corpse changes the camera view to third-person perspective. For those who opt for survival mode, such as in Fallout 4, players can alleviate their hunger by snacking on some roadkill remains, and in certain instances, even gain impressive stat enhancements.

Maneater

Resetting The Food Chain

Title of the video game may be deceptive, as Maneater offers players an opportunity to assume the role of a monstrous, ever-evolving shark and consume various living beings, including men, women, and almost every other creature. This gritty “shark RPG” delights in over-the-top portrayals of human consumption through graphic visuals and satirical observations. Despite being centered around a shark’s vengeance on fishermen, Maneater surprisingly boasts a rich depth for players to delve into.

The feeding system in this game functions as both a battle strategy and a means for player advancement. It encourages players to consider every swimmer as a potential meal for their shark character. Eating an apex predator enables the shark to evolve along various paths (acquiring abilities such as poison, electricity, and a bone-crushing ram, among others), and broadens its diet from marine life to any creatures visible on land or in water.

2025-04-03 02:36