It's a great time right now to work your way through your video game backlog, though it’s possible to feel fatigued doing this, especially after you burn through several games in a row. To add some variety to your day, we recommend binge-watching a few shows on Netflix to complement your gaming marathons.
If you’re in the mood to watch something video game related rather than a generic comedy or drama, you’re in good hands as Netflix has a wealth of viable options to choose from. To help make the selection process a little easier, we’ve put together a list featuring some of the best TV shows related to and/or connected to the gaming realm that you can binge on Netflix.
Best gaming TV shows to binge on Netflix
© Netflix, Konami
Castlevania
The animated adaptation of the Castlevania series is not only one of the best animated series related to video games, it’s also one of the best animated series available on Netflix in general. It’s just that good. In Castlevania, you follow Count Dracula who goes on a rampage against the villagers of Wallachia after they murder his wife Lisa for being a witch.
Obviously she's not actually a witch, but these villagers aren’t the brightest bulbs. Rather than slaughter everyone right then and there, Dracula decides to give the people of Wallachia a year to make up for what they’ve done. Unable to meet this deadline, Dracula stays true to his word and orders his demons to start going to town.
Dracula’s not going to stop the slaughter until he gets his full revenge, leading to characters like Trevor Belmont, Alucard, and Sypha getting involved to try and combat Dracula’s swarm of demon forces. The story gets pretty wild, and as much as we want to keep going, we won’t spoil what happens. You’ll just have to watch and see for yourself.
As of right now, there are three seasons of Castlevania for you to sink your teeth into, giving you plenty of time to immerse yourself in the property’s gloomy, gothic world. Season one and two adapt from the video game Castlevania III, while seasons two and three feature pieces from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.
If you’re a die-hard Castlevania fan, you’ll likely feel familiar with how the series progresses. If you’re approaching the show without any prior Castlevania knowledge, you can still enjoy it as it never rushes through key plot points, making it easy enough to follow. You can even take turns playing games like Castlevania III, then watching an episode or two of the Castlevania animated series.
No matter how you approach it, Castlevania is a must-watch for fans and newcomers alike.
The Witcher
If you played through The Witcher series from CD Projekt Red, you’ll absolutely love seeing where it all began in the live action Netflix adaptation, The Witcher. Rather than base itself off the storyline featured in the games, The Witcher draws from author Andrzej Sapkowski’s early short story collection, The Last Wish.
In Netflix's The Witcher, you follow Geralt of Rivia as he tries to keep to himself and remain unbothered, but somehow winds up getting roped into conflict at every turn. He also tries to earn a little coin as well with his monster hunting.
"Toss a coin to your Witcher oh valley of plenty, oh valley of plenty, oooh!"
Ok, yeah, we’ll stop. We couldn't help ourselves. Anyway, The Witcher features interesting story elements in the background as well that deal with war, the Law of Surprise, and Yennefer’s transformation alongside some badass swordfighting. The show changes a few things around for certain characters like Yennefer – and there are time jumps that you may or may not enjoy – but as a whole The Witcher is a blast.
We also can’t help but point out the fact that Henry Cavill was the perfect casting choice for Geralt, and supporting actors like Joey Batey as Jaskier do an amazing job as well. Unlike Castlevania, it’s harder to approach The Witcher on Netflix if you have no prior knowledge of the games as the show tends to rush through plot points like the war and its key players.
That said, you can still enjoy it as a newcomer if you approach it like a show that’s going to take you on a grand adventure. Oh, and don’t expect it to be another Game of Thrones. It’s not, and that's ok. The Witcher is very much its own entity working to find its footing, and we have no doubt it’ll only continue to get better when season two finally comes out.
The Dragon Prince
Following the rampant success of The Dragon Prince, a video game based on the show is now in the works. When the game is released, it’ll expand upon plot points featured in the animated series. You’ll even be able to play as some of the characters!
While there’s still a lot we don’t know about the video game adaptation itself, we do know that The Dragon Prince is a fantastic series to binge-watch.
The Dragon Prince is a fantasy show with gorgeous animation that takes place on the fascinating fictional continent of Xadia. In some regards, it feels reminiscent of Avatar: The Last Airbender in that Xadia boasts six types of elemental magic including Ocean, Earth, Sky, Sun, Moon, and Stars. The characters themselves also deal with circumstances that individuals their age wouldn't normally have to handle.
Setting itself apart, the show also features a story arc about dragons, as its name suggests. Specifically, characters Ezran and Callum have a dragon egg they need to protect as many seek to destroy it or use it for personal gain. There are a lot of twists and turns during Ezran and Callum's journey, along with three whole seasons to binge, making The Dragon Prince a must-watch.
At the very least, you should add it to your watchlist, it’s phenomenal.
Dad of Light
Adding a little flavor to this list we have Dad of Light, a Japanese series that connects with Final Fantasy XIV in a creative new way. Instead of being about the events of the game itself, it’s about the people who play the game and how they forge connections with one another.
Specifically, about how one son seeks to reconnect with his father by playing Final Fantasy XIV.
The name and the concept may throw you, but we guarantee this is a fun show to binge, especially for Final Fantasy fans who’ve wished their parents, siblings, friends, and so on would share their gaming passions. There are some weird elements to the show given that the main character, Akio, doesn’t actually reveal who he is to his father in the game.
Instead, he pretends to be a woman to sort of… catch his father’s interest and encourage him to interact with him? With his father interacting with him, they get to know each other all over again with a blank slate. It works, but there are still some weird and slightly comedic moments that add some flavor to the story as a whole.
Whether you love Final Fantasy, or love heartwarming stories, Dad of Light is a wonderful show to watch from start to finish.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Not only can you immerse yourself in the world of The Dark Crystal once more by watching The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix, you can also play the game’s fun as heck companion game, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics.
Prior to its release, there was a bit of skepticism in regards to whether The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance would live up to its predecessors. Following its release, there was no doubt that this show did its source material proper justice. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance serves as a prequel that follows three Gelflings as they rebel against the Skeksis.
What really sells the show is its charm and talented voice acting cast as they pull you in and make you want to join the Gelflings and help their cause. If you haven’t already seen this awesome prequel, you owe it to yourself to give it (and its companion game) a chance.
No Game No Life
Ok, we’re going to irk some anime fans here, but we personally feel like No Game No Life is a better “video game anime” than Sword Art Online. There, we said it, and we’re sticking to it.
No Game No Life is also fairly relevant right now given the show’s main characters, Sora and Shiro, are both hikikomori – aka hermits – that never leave their home. At least, in a physical sense. Sora and Shiro do a lot of gaming in the fictional world of Blank and are renowned for their skills.
While this is cool in and of itself, the plot gets a bit more interesting when they’re challenged by Tet and pulled into a very different game... Disboard.
No Game No Life oozes with charm, and the pacing makes it easy to binge as you become equally sucked into Disboard and how people work out their differences there by gaming and gambling (with a few twists attached). If you love anime, we recommend it as it has everything you could want from a good anime.
If you don’t like anime, it’s still worth checking out as long as you keep an open mind. Sadly, it’s not connected to any real game you can play like The Witcher or Castlevania, but the core game elements in the show itself should appeal to gamers all the same.
Carmen Sandiego
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Well, you can find out as you join her on various adventures in this adventurous series. Growing up, we had a lot of fun trying (and failing) to play the board game properly. As adults, there’s a nice air of nostalgia to shows like Carmen Sandiego.
Even if you never experienced the game itself, the show is extremely well-produced and put together and can be binged fairly quickly.
In the show, you’ll follow Carmen Sandiego as she works to thwart and undermine V.I.L.E. while also seeking to learn more about who she is. As the show teases, you’ll not only find out where Carmen Sandiego is, but who Carmen Sandiego is as a character. The show lives up to this promise with a smattering of character building and development, which adds weight and depth to the original board game.
It help you connect with Carmen and we really appreciate the effort the show’s creators put in to developing Carmen as an individual. The show offers just the right amount of story content, avoiding overcomplicated plotlines, while also offering plenty of little details to pique your curiosity and keep you watching.
Memories of the Alhambra
We included anime on this list, and we’re also including a k-drama. Yes, a k-drama. It's amazing, just hear us out... Memories of the Alhambra is special in that it made waves as one of the highest rated k-dramas ever released, and there are some fantastic reasons why. The story is absolutely wild.
Essentially, a big shot CEO travels to Spain to learn more about an exciting new AR game. The AR game features realistic medieval battles centered in and around the fictional land of Alhambra. As simple as this sounds, things aren’t quite what they seem. Similar to No Game No Life, the AR game in the show isn’t a real thing (as much as we’d love for it to be).
Instead, it gets creative with how an AR game like that would work, and it makes you ponder over the future of not only AR technology but VR technology as well as we get closer and closer to convincing realism. Right now, you can tell you’re playing a VR or AR game, but in Memories of the Alhambra, the lines between reality and fiction blur together.
If you’ve always found yourself fascinated by AR tech, or you simply want something fun and exciting to watch that’s long enough to keep you occupied for a good while, Memories of the Alhambra is definitely worth a watch.
Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh
© TV Asahi, Viz Media
We’re grouping these two together for the sake of childhood nostalgia here. Is it ever a bad time to rewatch some old-school Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh episodes? No, no it’s not. On Netflix, you’ll find both Yu-Gi-Oh and a surprisingly large collection of Pokemon to binge from the Indigo League all the way to Sun and Moon and even a few movies as well.
Both Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh offer an easygoing, welcoming, inviting, and most importantly, lighthearted way to pass the time which I think we can all agree is very much needed right now. You know exactly what you’re getting with Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, some creative monsters, some battles, and some cheesy dialogue that’ll make you cringe a little bit.
The characters are memorable, the episodes are quick and fun, and you may be surprised to find that you can’t stop watching once you start. They’re addictive as hell. We adore the familiarity, the nostalgia, and the cheerfulness that both of these shows bring to the table and are 100% positive you will too.
So, why not put on an episode tonight while you eat dinner?
Let us know what you think of classic Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh or both in the comments below. We’d love to chat with you about who we think are the best characters, and which creatures are our personal faves.
