Accidental Isometric RPG

About

Accidental Isometric RPG refers to a series of real-life photographs that people think resemble isometric video game graphics common in role-playing games (RPGs) and other PC games. For instance, games like Project Zomboid and The Sims (among others) are commonly referenced in such memes. Viral posts about the phenomenon started in 2020 and continued going into 2024. Notable photos include a car seen after crashing into a CVS Pharmacy's brick wall, Justin Bieber's Mansion, a U.S. attack helicopter that had landed in a Japanese rice field and the Bel-Air Crime Scene photo from September 2024.

Origin

On February 26th, 2020, Tumblr^[1] user biggyman reblogged a post showing a car that had crashed into a CVS Pharmacy, writing, "Fallout 2 modded," gaining over 44,800 notes in four years (shown below). Other posts in the thread from since-deleted users read, "This looks like roller coaster tycoon." The posts are currently the first discovered viral instances of the meme.

Spread

Going into the 2020s, the concept became widely shared as other images were said to resemble the aesthetic. For instance, on April 6th, 2020, X^[2] user @pooldad tweeted an aerial photo of Justin Bieber's mansion, captioned, "if you pixelate the picture of justin beibers house a bit it looks like it's from a 1999 strategy game," receiving over 244,700 likes in a month (shown below). The tweet has since been deleted.

On August 31st, 2023, X^[3] user @UsagiCola tweeted the photo of the car that had crashed into a CVS, writing, "I can't stop thinking about how this really looks like a screenshot from an isometric pc game," receiving over 32,600 likes in two months (shown below). The tweet has since been deleted.

Also on August 31st, X^[4] user @DeMickyD quoted the abovementioned post, which added Project Zomboid media to the image, gaining over 57,000 likes in a year (shown below).

Isometric RPG Bel-Air Crime Scene

Isometric RPG Bel-Air Crime Scene refers to an aerial photograph taken at a Bel-Air, California armed break-in crime scene showing two cops in the backyard pool patio who appear to be in an isometric RPG video game or The Sims due to the framing, angle and grid of the tiled floor.

The photo was originally posted by the X^[5] account of @KTLA on September 6th, 2024, gaining over 4,900 likes in three days (shown below).

The image was compared to other isometric-like images that came before it, as evident in a tweet shared by X^[6] user @Meelsie143 on September 8th, who said, "I’m putting together a collection," receiving over 96,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References