Nostalgia for the 2010s

In the future, we’ll look back at this decade and say stuff like, “Hey! Do you remember Angry Birds? That was a fun game.”

Virtual Grunt is set in 2027. People at Everything League, Inc., the gaming company in the book, have a soft spot in their hearts for the 2010s. They built a virtual reality game in which players compete in a wide variety of games adapted for VR. “Fruit Slicer” is like Fruit Ninja. “Serve the Diners” has similarities to Diner Dash.

I wanted the games to feel familiar for people who played mobile games¹ during this decade, but I also didn’t want to be tied down to how the games played in their two-dimensional forms. Oh, and I added the “Z” variations of the games, which was a bit of fun. You’ll see for yourself in the book.

Something else that was fun to do:

As I was writing the book, Thunder by Imagine Dragons (a band whose music is reverberating off of the rocky walls of the cave in which I’m currently residing) was one of the most popular songs in America. Being able to talk about a current hit as one of the band’s “older songs” is fun. You should try it some time.

No, seriously, write a story that takes place in the future. It’s a seriously good time.