With an ode to the good ‘ole days, I’ve compiled hundreds of cool clan names to use for CoD or CoC. Any game with a social element (and that’s pretty much all of them these days) can allow for this sort of thing: a way for players to carve out a space of their own within the game, label it, and inhabit it. This extends to much more than just games with a fantasy element, though. This is the thing that you were building with your brothers and sisters, and this is the thing that guild leaders (by whatever name they are called) tap into when they put together a group of gamers, complete with a core philosophy, a set of rules, and maybe even a consistent role-playing universe. It’s not enough to pretend that you are yourself an adventurer or a superhero the real joy comes from feeling like you’re part of a larger world. I think this is a large reason behind the popularity of some of the social aspects of online games, such as MMORPGs and MOBAs.

Remember when you were a kid and you would play make believe with your friends or siblings? You would create your very own world where clan names didn’t matter and where you were in charge and could do whatever you wanted.