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10 Underrated Gaming YouTube Channels You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Quality YouTubers that deserve more subs.

We’ve all heard of the Youtube Gaming Icons that have dominated the social media site for years: Jacksepticeye, Mr Beast, and not forgetting the ‘face of YouTube’, PewDiePie.  While undoubtedly these YouTubers have helped make the gaming side of YouTube as popular as it is today, there are thousands of gaming channels that are producing quality content across YouTube that deserve more recognition for their work.  This ranges from video-essayists to game-review channels, to let’s players.   

Although it is impossible to highlight every single one of these less-appreciated channels, here are a few of the most underrated gaming YouTube channels that you probably haven’t heard of!

Arcadology

With less than 10,000 subscribers, Arcadology is a surprisingly comprehensive and detailed channel.  It often focuses not on video games themselves, but on the history of each game’s development.  Many of the videos on this channel include exclusive interviews with people involved in the development of massive video game franchises, such as God of War.  In more recent videos, the channel has moved towards examining game mechanics, and the psychological impact of video games. 

However, some of the best videos that Arcadology has produced would have to be its ‘History of…’ series, which captures a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the development of some of the most well-known video games ever made.  I would recommend ‘The History of Dark Souls – The Founding of From Software to Dark Souls 3’.  It is a truly fascinating tale of how the Dark Souls franchise came to be, and of the life of its ‘creator’, Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Oddheader

‘Oddheader’ is one of the more unique Top 10 channels on YouTube, devoting videos to listing mysteries and secrets found in various video games.  This channel often finds obscure and interesting stories to delve into, and little-known easter eggs, which would be hard to find from any other YouTube channel. While all the videos on this channel are worth a watch, a great example of a Top 10 video in ‘oddheader’ would be the video ‘10 Strangest Unsolved Discoveries in Video Games’.

John Wolfe

John Wolfe, while not deprived of followers, having over 700k subscribers and over 100k views on each of his videos, might be said to be one of the more underrated let’s players of YouTube.  This is because the let’s play side of YouTube is particularly dominated by bigger names, who are often the go-to YouTubers for game playthroughs.  However, John Wolfe brings his own unique spin to let’s plays, focusing almost entirely on the horror genre as he plays through horror games. He often gives the limelight to more obscure games that bigger YouTube gaming channels wouldn’t think to cover. 

Wolfe’s commentary often ramps up the suspense and tension created by the games he plays, as he doesn’t oversaturate his commentary with witty comments and over-the-top reactions – a trap that many let’s players fall into.  If you want to check out John Wolfe’s channel, try his video on ‘Scrutinised’: ‘WELCOME TO THE NEW GAME – Scrutinized [Part 1]’

Yakkocmn

Yakkocmn is largely a game-review channel that often includes mini-skits within the review, and weaves comedy into the videos to make for an entertaining and informative watch.  What makes this channel particularly distinctive is its emphasis on aspects of games that aren’t usually covered by YouTube gaming channels, like soundtracks, or reviewing underrated indie games. 

The cheerful and passionate commentary by the young host ‘yakko’, gives each video a vibrant atmosphere and makes it a truly compelling channel to watch.  His video dedicated to video-game vinyl records ‘Why I Spent $1,000 on Video Game Soundtracks’ demonstrates his knowledge of music in video games and is a great example of the content on this channel.

Continue?

Another Let’s Play channel, ‘Continue?’ is one of the more light-hearted channels on this list.  It features three men who play different video games together every week and decide at the end of the video whether the game is good enough to continue playing – hence the title ‘Continue?’.

With under 50,000 views per video, it is shocking how underrated this gaming channel is, as there is an obvious camaraderie between the three hosts, their banter providing a nostalgic reminder of times where you’d get the Xbox, PlayStation, even the Wii out of the cupboard to play with your friends during a gaming ‘sesh.  Their gameplay of the video game ‘Moving Out’ is hilarious and a must-see for those in the mood for a light-hearted let’s play.

Noclip

Similar to Arcadology, ‘Noclip’ focuses on the history behind games, being a video game documentary channel, which provides details of the behind-the-scenes stories of game development and includes interviews with the development teams as well.  ‘Noclip’s attention to detail is what makes it so underrated, as many videos in the channel exceed an hour’s time, but never become boring as the interviews and background commentary are expertly woven together. 

It often feels as if you are watching a Netflix-level documentary when you press play on a ‘Noclip’ video, as it is very professionally edited.  There is something here for every gamer interested in the history of games, as the channel explores a variety of games, ranging from Fallout to Hades, to Frog Fractions!  However, the video ‘Telltale- the human stories behind the games’, is particularly entertaining; it recounts the tales of people working for the Telltale company before its collapse and is an emotional and fascinating documentary that would interest even non-video gamers due to its focus on the human beings behind the games.

Jacob Geller

Jacob Geller is not the most obscure video game YouTuber on this list, with over half a million subscribers, but is certainly underrated, as he uploads incredible video essays to YouTube consistently.  He manages to add a personal, relatable touch to each video, examining how gaming has impacted his own life for the better, with immaculate writing behind the script for each video, and flawless editing.  All of this combined makes for a truly cinematic watch. 

The channel excels in video-game analysis as well, and its thorough examination of the themes and stories of video games provides an argument in itself as to why video games aren’t just mindless entertainment, but art. A great video that demonstrates Geller’s writing abilities and personal touch is ‘The Game That Won’t Let You See All Of It’.

Dr. Lava’s Lost Pokemon

‘Dr. Lava’s Lost Pokemon’ mainly focuses on the Pokémon franchise, hence the name, but also on various other Nintendo games and characters.  It is difficult to categorize this YouTube channel, as it produces very specific videos, centered around content that was cut from video games before they were released.  This channel is great for a quick watch, as its content is short and sweet, each video usually being under 10 minutes long. 

The commentary is concise and interesting, and the details of the content cut from games are often well-researched and interesting.  For example, apparently ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ was supposed to have aliens!  I would suggest Dr. Lava’s video on this: ‘Breath of the Wild’s Cut Content – Dinosaurs & Aliens – Dr Lava #11’ for anyone interested in the channel.

Daryl Talks Games

Daryl Talks Games brings psychoanalysis to video games, and it works surprisingly well!  In his ‘Psych of Play’ series the narrator, Daryl, examines how our brains react to games.  He analyses how games affect addictive personalities differently, why rage quitting can be good for you, and why people go back to impossibly difficult games, as well as a variety of other questions about how video games can impact us mentally that we never knew we needed answered. 

Each video is always well-sourced, with Daryl often drawing from academic articles to verify his claim.  If you want to watch DarylTalksGames, try his video on gaming personalities: ‘How Your Personality Affects What You Play | Psych of Play’

Games Done Quick

One of the most enjoyable things about watching people play video games is watching someone who can play a game REALLY well.  Speedrunners are the epitome of this, and ‘Games Done Quick’ has to be one of the best YouTube channels to find well-crafted videos of speedrunners completing their game of choice as quickly as possible.  As well as showing gameplay, ‘Games Done Quick’ often has a group of commentators and people in the background cheering for the speedrunner. 

There is a real sense of community and solidarity, which extends to the viewer as well.  You’ll be holding your breath with everyone else when the speedrunner performs a risky move and you’ll be breathing a sigh of relief each time they complete a level.  One of the best playthroughs on the channel is of an indie game that is particularly popular with speedrunners: Celeste (‘Celeste by TGH in 1:28:03 – AGDQ2019’.)  It is astonishing how quickly the player completes the game and the video will grip you from the beginning until the end.

In Conclusion

There are various ways to experience video games, be it playing them yourself, or enjoying other people playing or commenting on them, in a video or podcast format.  With so many ways in which video games are broadcasted, it’s easy to miss a few of the smaller channels and people that take part in appreciating video games on YouTube or elsewhere.  However, as these underrated YouTube channels show, the less appreciated channels may sometimes be some of the best!  

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