Science Adventure

Science Adventure is a genre term for fiction I am coining for my own personal use. It is directly inspired by the game franchise of Nitroplus, as described here: Science Adventure Franchise. I first encountered the concept in an anime called Steins;Gate which is based on the game of the same name from Nitroplus. Steins;Gate is described by its creators as a “hypothetical science adventure game” which I feel is pretty accurate, but falls quite short on what Science Adventure implies as I see it. I was puzzled at first on how to define what I mean by the term, but then a show called Farscape rescued me.

Definition

I can clearly define Science Adventure in fiction by defining what it is not (definition by contrast). It lacks the romance of Space Opera, it lacks the grit and focus of Hard science fiction, and it lacks the weapons and battle focus of Military science fiction. It lacks the trappings, though often shares concepts with Cyberpunk, it is not centered on a post-apocalyptic or dystopian world, and is not a simple skin on top of the old west in space. It is not derivative of social centered Soft science fiction, and while it can and often explores concepts like Time Travel and Superhuman (common Science fiction subgenres) it is not specifically about them.

Concepts

Implications

Usage

Science Adventure is the basis of the Centaurus Gate roleplaying game.