It doesn’t matter whether you have been playing video games since childhood or only started now. Wanting to know how to find a game that you forgot the name of is a situation that we all end up in very often.
With hundreds of video games coming out every single year, it can get hard to keep track of certain games. Sometimes, it happens to be a game that was your favorite. And sometimes, it’s a game that you saw a trailer of and forgot to note down its name.
With so many possible situations where you could want to find a game that you forgot the name of – it’s a problem more common than you might realize.
If you’re reading this article, it’s safe to assume that you’ve already tried to find the game but your search has not worked out so far.
Fortunately, there are a couple of different methods that we can recommend to you which will help you understand how to find a game that you forgot the name of. By the end of this, you might finally remember what that game was!
So, let’s get started!
Table of Contents
1. Browse a Game Database
There are many websites that have a database full of video games, new and old. While some of these websites are multipurpose, others like MobyGames are built exclusively for the purpose of preserving video game history.
Once you open these sites, you have to narrow your search down by what you remember. For example, the generation in which the game was released. If it has 8-bit graphics, then you know that it’s an older game and select years and consoles that are relevant to your search.
What you can add to your search further are other details such as the genre, the age rating, the developing or publishing company, and more. You always remember some details about the game that you’re looking for, so using your memory will help.
There are several websites that you can try for this method, but we’ll recommend a bunch of them to get you started:
These three websites have a large database with names, pictures, and other helpful information about video games. And with so many options to narrow your search down, you’ll be good to go!
If this method does not work, keep scrolling down for more.
2. Ask a Forum (or group)
There are many forums on the internet that are dedicated to gaming, or at least have a section related to it. When it comes to knowing how to find a game that you forgot the name of, forums are usually the number one go-to solution.
All that you have to do is to simply pick a bunch of sites, make an account on them and begin asking your question. You can either do one site at a time, or ask on multiple ones at the same time so that you can have faster results.
In your question, make sure to include as many details as you can from your memory. Things like the year that the game might have come out in, information about its graphics, the genre that it is a part of, and more.
All of these things are very helpful. And sometimes, the same information that is not enough for you, can be the exact thing that makes someone else remember the game that you’re looking for.
And of course, forums are all about communication. So, even if the people don’t understand what you mean at first, discussing it further can lead to the solution that you desire.
As usual, there are a lot of different forums that you can try out. And we’re going to recommend some of them to you which we know are useful.
For those forums that are mainly centered around games, we have:
For those forums that are not centered around games but are still useful for finding games, we have:
Both Reddit and Quora are incredibly active websites, so it’s very likely that you will find the game with help from their communities. Reddit even has a specific subreddit that is meant only for finding lost video games, called ‘Tip of My Joystick’. This is the method that has worked for thousands of people, so go ahead and give it a shot!
Keep in mind that your question does not have to be exclusively about the games. If you remember only a character, even that’s a good idea because that can lead to finding the game itself.
And one tiny extra detail is that you can ask these questions in groups on social media too. For example, Facebook has many gaming groups where you can ask such questions and you might get the right answer.
Discord has a bunch of servers related to gaming too which you can ask to join your question. So, it’s not just forum – social media groups work too.
3. Google Images
Google Images is effective for finding a lost game thanks to certain methods.
To start off, let’s talk about whether you have a screenshot of the game or not – even if vague. If you do, you can use the reverse search to find matches, which works a lot of the times. The reverse search accepts both direct files and image URLs, so go with the option that you have.
Secondly, if you don’t have an image, then head over to the image section of Google. Once there, start typing random details that you remember about the game. Anything works, such as bits from the story or the name of a character.
Once you hit the search button, results will start pouring in and you can scroll around until you see anything related. This is not the most effective method, but it can work sometimes.
Lastly, using Google like this normally works too – not just Google Images. If you haven’t already by any chance, try googling almost as if you were talking to the site. Don’t feel shy, no one’s watching if it doesn’t work out.
But if you do get good results, then you’re the winner! So, give it a shot no matter how silly it may feel and you just might find the game that you forgot the name of.
4. Look for Popular Games (or obscure ones)
Sometimes, the game that you can’t find is not necessarily unpopular – you just haven’t come across it again by coincidence.
It’s very much possible that the game you cannot find anymore is popular and is on the favorite lists of people. So, what you should do here, is to remember all that you can about the game.
For example, if you were finding Resident Evil 1 but forgot its name, you would search for the year or console that it was on and its genre. Then, write ‘best’ next to it and you’re good to go.
The combined search as per our suggestion would, in the end, be something like ‘best survival horror games PS1’. Then, you can look through the results and you’ll find popular games and some obscure games too that are well-received by fans.
Eventually, you might come across the game that you had in mind!
Alternatively, you can also try the opposite of this method. You might recall people not being fond of the game or remember that its gameplay was not very good. So, try searching for ‘bad PS1 survival horror games’ as a quick example.
Once you’ve given every possibility a go, it’s very likely that you’ll find the game that you wanted. Or at least one of its other installments if any exist.
5. Ask your friends
This might not be Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but phoning a friend is sometimes the best thing to do.
Even if we speak to our friends for hours, it doesn’t always mean that we know every single thing about them. Sometimes, asking your friend is the best idea because they might surprisingly know exactly what you’re looking for. If not, then they might know some gaming buff who they could ask too.
Asking a friend doesn’t just mean asking your best friend, of course. If you have any social media accounts, chances are you have dozens of people added in them. So, based on what the social media is, there are many ways to ask a bunch of people.
The simplest one is using the Stories feature most apps like Facebook and Instagram have. If someone recognizes what game you’re talking about, they’ll tell you about it even if you guys don’t talk too much in general.
Try this out and your community might know more than you think. If they don’t, then try everything else that we’re suggesting!
6. Use music to find the game
This method might feel a bit random, but it has proven effective for several people. Especially if you’re trying to find a specific instalment to a franchise, since different games in a franchise can have distinctive music direction.
There are numerous ways to try this. The first one is to recall what the genre of the music is, since video games usually have only one genre of music in them so that it fits the mood of the story.
For example, if it’s a game set on a tropical beach, you can look for video games that have music that fits beach regions. And if it’s an open-world game set in a city, then you might find the game by looking for songs that were featured in its radio.
The second-best way is to try to recreate or hum the most iconic tune that you remember from the game. That, combined with other bits of information that you might remember, will help people recognize what game you’re looking for.
And lastly, see if you can remember who composed music for the game. If you remember anything like that, you can check every game that artist composed for. And then you’ll run into the game you like.
If none of that works, then as an extra option, you can try to listen to the most popular gaming OSTs from the year you think the game was from. This is the vaguest option but if it was a popular game like The Legend of Zelda, you’ll most likely find what you are looking for.
7. Visit your nearest gaming store
If none of the online methods work, there is still one thing you need to know in terms of how to find a game that you forgot the name of. Most places have at least one gaming store attached to them. And if you’re lucky, they might have at some employee that has been gaming for a while.
Strike a conversation with them with the intent of buying the game. If you find the game that you forgot, of course.
If things go smoothly, you might end up finding the game you forgot the name of. And you might even get your hands on a copy of it right away! Video game stores have games for older consoles too, so you’ll be in luck.
These are all of our recommended ways of finding a game that you forgot the name of. If none of these work for you, don’t be disheartened! You might coincidentally come across the game someday. Or perhaps you’ll meet someone who is able to recognize it from your description too.
There are hundreds of video games being developed every single day, so it’s easy for certain games to get lost. But thanks to many companies trying to preserve video games, you might see them as part of history, lost media, or in a re-release someday.
So, keep looking and share the joys of gaming with those you love! Who knows, you might know of a game that someone else forgot the name of too.
