Published Apr 26, 2026, 9:01 AM EDT

If he weren't, y'know, dead

Image: National Portrait Gallery of London

Each April marks the annual anniversary of William Shakespeare's birthday. The famous playwright would've been a ripe old 462 this year, had he not died and if it were possible for anyone to live that long. Rather than marking the occasion by watching Hamnet again, I did the next most logical thing: pondering what video games Shakespeare would've enjoyed playing.

1 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Image: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive

King Lear is about a really messed-up family. You know what else is about a really ( really ) messed up family ? Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 . Okay, so Renoir isn't an egomaniacal king who banishes his one good kid after she refuses to exaggerate his glory. The other kids don't rebel against Renoir and gouge his eyes out, and he doesn't lose his sanity or have a spectacular monologue in the rain while a jester watches.…