Star Trek Guide

Star Trek Games: The Star Trek Online MMPORG, video games, board games, slot machines and more

Since the first season of Star Trek, we’ve had games to simulate the adventures of the starship Enterprise. And why not? Who wouldn’t want to imagine crisscrossing a quarter of the galaxy, boldly going where no one has gone before? Even if it did all begin with a bunch of cardboard, dice and plastic tokens…

 

 

Wikipedia lists three board games simply called “Star Trek” in the 1970s as TOS entered syndication and the ST collective began slowly assimilating fans, but along with the franchise itself didn’t really hit warp speed until the release of The Motion Picture. Milton Bradley’s game based on TMP was a top-seller; the company released a game based on seizing power within the Klingon Empire thereafter. Plus, in the post Star Wars-marketing universe, Star Trek entered the lands of pinball machines and casino slot machines.

The early 1980s saw the rise and brief cultural domination of IGT Star Trek slot games, had a few titles in this genre; speaking (writing?) as one who was there, however, the shoot ’em ups that these games inevitably became just never felt right – they weren’t *Star Trek* enough, you know?

With the explosion of ST TV programming in the late 1980s/90s, each series got its own board games, trivia games, UNO games for Cochrane’s sake. For gamers, this truly was the golden age of Star Trek games…

…until, of course, the personal computer could realistically be a household device.  And then the internet. Seemingly 1,000 Star Trek-based games have hit the market in the 2000s and 10s, many featuring cast members of the various series. Most notable among the lot is the Star Trek Online MMORPG; first launched in 2012, its popularity remains high and upgrades seem to be released more and more often as further worlds are opened in official canon.

The point: Star Trek games come in many flavors and boast a history running fully parallel with the entire franchise. For example, the famous American slot maker, IGT has created for you, Star Trek fans a series of Star Trek slot machines, which you can find online and in Vegas. For the online game, check SlotsFree.com. For news and other information on Star Trek games and gaming, keep you eyes on this space for regular updates!