GameGenres
Every genre is a way of playing
An encyclopedia for learning what defines each video game genre: its mechanics, where it comes from, which games founded it, and how to build a small one yourself.
Explore the genresPlay the demos
130 genres and subgenres; 38 with a full entry and 38 with our own demo to play and read the code of.
Choose a family
Action
Games where you overcome physical challenges in real time: you react quickly, aim and coordinate what you see with what your hands do, often with little time to think.
Action-adventure, Arcade, Beat 'em up, Block breaker, Collectathon, Fighting…
See the family: 27 genres and subgenres
Adventure
You progress by exploring places, talking to characters and solving puzzles with the items you pick up, and your reflexes do not matter. The challenge is understanding how the story's world works.
Point-and-click adventure, Text-based game, Walking simulator
See the family: 7 genres and subgenres
Incremental game
A game where you repeat a simple action, such as clicking, to gather a resource that you then invest in upgrades that produce it on their own, ever faster. Progress continues even when you are not playing, and the challenge is deciding what to invest in and when to reset in exchange for permanent bonuses.
See the family: 1 genre
Puzzle
You solve problems under fixed rules, such as arranging pieces, clearing a path or putting objects in place. The challenge lies mostly in working out the solution rather than in reflexes.
Falling-block puzzle, Hidden object, Physics puzzle, Puzzle-platformer, Sokoban, Tile-matching…
See the family: 8 genres and subgenres
Role-playing
You take on the role of one or more characters defined by numbers (health, attack, skills) that grow as you explore the world and win battles. The challenge lies in deciding how they progress and how to make the most of what they can do in each situation.
Action role-playing game, Dungeon crawler, Japanese RPG, Massively multiplayer online RPG, Monster-taming game, Roguelike…
See the family: 14 genres and subgenres
Serious game
Games made with a main purpose other than entertainment: teaching, training, informing, persuading or supporting health. They use a game's rules and challenge as the means to that end.
Educational, Exercise
See the family: 4 genres and subgenres
Shooter
You attack from a distance with weapons that fire: the challenge is aiming quickly and accurately at enemies or targets while avoiding being hit.
Battle royale, First-person shooter, Hero shooter, Light-gun shooter, Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter, Rail shooter…
See the family: 17 genres and subgenres
Simulation
Games that model a real or fictional system (a city, an aircraft, a farm, a life) for you to run and watch respond to your decisions. The challenge is less about beating an opponent than understanding that system and keeping it going or making it grow.
Breeding, Construction and management simulation, Cooking, Courtroom battle, Flight simulator, God game…
See the family: 21 genres and subgenres
Sports
You play a sport or compete in races: controlling an athlete, a team or a vehicle, or running a club from the manager's office. The challenge combines the sport's rules and tactics with your reflexes or your management.
Cue sports, Fishing, Football (soccer), Golf, Racing
See the family: 8 genres and subgenres
Strategy
Games you win by thinking and planning rather than by reflexes. You manage resources, territory or units, anticipate what your rivals will do and decide how to use what you have, in turns or in real time.
4X, Artillery game, Auto battler, Grand strategy, Real-time strategy, Tactics…
See the family: 10 genres and subgenres
Traditional games
Digital versions of games that exist off-screen and are played at a table, in an arcade or in a casino: board games, cards, gambling, pinball or quiz shows. The rules come from the original game; the computer acts as opponent, referee or table.
Board game, Card game, Gambling, Game show, Maze, Pinball…
See the family: 12 genres and subgenres
Visual novel
You read a story that moves forward line by line in a text box, over character art and backgrounds, and every so often you choose what to do or say. Your decisions take the story down different branches to one of several endings.
See the family: 1 genreFull entries
Sorted by the year each genre was born. Each one has mechanics, history, games to try, a demo and an exercise to try.
- 1958SportsYou play a sport or compete in races: controlling an athlete, a team or a vehicle, or running a club from the manager's office. The challenge combines the sport's rules and tactics with your reflexes or your management.
- 1964EducationalGames designed to teach you something specific, such as maths, reading, history or science, while you play. The challenge is tied to the content: to progress you have to apply what you learn.
- 1969Artillery gameA usually turn-based game where you and your rivals fire at each other from fixed positions, choosing the angle and power of each shot. The challenge is working out the trajectory, allowing for distance, terrain and sometimes wind.
- 1972Light-gun shooterYou aim a gun-shaped controller at the screen and shoot targets as they appear; the challenge is reacting quickly and hitting them before they hit you.
- 1973First-person shooterYou see the world through your character's eyes, with the weapon in the foreground, and move freely through 3D spaces while aiming and shooting at enemies.
- 1973MazeYou move through a maze, usually seen from above, and the challenge is choosing your routes through its corridors wisely to collect items, find the exit or escape whoever is chasing you.
- 1974RacingA game in which you compete to finish first or in the shortest time on a circuit or a route, almost always at the wheel of a vehicle. The challenge is mastering speed and trajectory without going off the track or losing time in the corners.
- 1975Role-playingYou take on the role of one or more characters defined by numbers (health, attack, skills) that grow as you explore the world and win battles. The challenge lies in deciding how they progress and how to make the most of what they can do in each situation.
- 1975Twin-stick shooterOne stick moves your character and the other fires in any direction, regardless of where you walk, while you survive surrounding hordes seen from above.
- 1976AdventureYou progress by exploring places, talking to characters and solving puzzles with the items you pick up, and your reflexes do not matter. The challenge is understanding how the story's world works.
- 1976Block breakerYou move a paddle along the edge of the screen to bounce a ball into the level's blocks and break them all, without letting the ball get past you.
- 1976Interactive fictionA text-narrated adventure where you type commands in natural language, such as "open the door" or "go north", and the game describes what happens. The challenge is exploring, understanding the world from its descriptions and solving puzzles with the objects you find.
- 1978Shoot 'em upA shooter in which you steer a ship or character across a plane seen from the side or from above, firing nonstop at waves of enemies while dodging their projectiles.
- 1978Word puzzleYou form, guess or complete words from loose letters or clues, as in anagrams, crosswords or word searches. The challenge is your vocabulary and spelling.
- 1979Run and gunYou advance on foot through scrolling levels, running, jumping and firing nonstop at enemies coming from every side.
- 1980PlatformerAn action game whose main challenge is moving a character through a space of platforms at different heights, mostly by jumping, while avoiding falls and obstacles.
- 1980RoguelikeA role-playing game in which you descend through a dungeon generated anew in every game, moving turn by turn on a grid. If your character dies you lose everything and start again in a different dungeon, so every step calls for thought.
- 1981StealthYou make progress without being spotted: you hide in shadows, study guards' patrols and lines of sight, and would rather slip past unseen than fight.
- 1982Construction and management simulationA simulation game in which you build and run a place, such as a city, a farm, a park or a colony, deciding what to build and where with limited resources, so that what is produced covers what is consumed and the whole keeps growing.
- 1982CookingYou prepare dishes by following recipes: chopping, mixing, cooking and serving on time. The challenge is usually getting each step right or juggling many orders at once without burning anything.
- 1982PuzzleYou solve problems under fixed rules, such as arranging pieces, clearing a path or putting objects in place. The challenge lies mostly in working out the solution rather than in reflexes.
- 1982Real-time strategyA strategy game where you gather resources, build a base, produce units and direct attacks while your rivals do the same, with no turns or pauses. The challenge is deciding quickly and handling economy and combat at the same time.
- 1982Tactical RPGA role-playing game where you move your characters square by square, in turns, across a battle map, making use of terrain and each one's abilities. Between battles you develop them, and losing one can be costly.
- 1983Puzzle-platformerYou use a platformer's moves (running, jumping, climbing) to solve each level's puzzles: triggering mechanisms, pushing blocks or combining abilities. The challenge lies more in working out the route than in pulling off the jump.
- 1983Visual novelYou read a story that moves forward line by line in a text box, over character art and backgrounds, and every so often you choose what to do or say. Your decisions take the story down different branches to one of several endings.
- 1984Beat 'em upYou advance through a level fighting waves of enemies that surround you hand to hand, with punches, grabs and sometimes objects from the setting used as weapons.
- 1984Falling-block puzzlePieces fall from the top and you shift and rotate them to fit them together below; completing a line or a group clears it. The challenge is sorting quickly without leaving gaps as the pieces fall faster.
- 1984FightingAn action game in which you control a fighter in close combat against one or more opponents, usually over several rounds, and win by reading their intentions and punishing their mistakes with well-timed attacks.
- 1985Tile-matchingYou move, swap or pick tiles on a grid to bring matching pieces together, which then vanish and let others drop in. The challenge is reading the board and setting up chain reactions.
- 1986MetroidvaniaYou explore a large interconnected map, usually 2D, where many areas stay locked until you gain the ability or item that lets you through, so you keep backtracking.
- 1990Tower defenseA strategy game in which you protect a point against waves of enemies advancing along a route; you barely control them or your defenses, and instead decide which towers to buy and where to put them on a limited budget.
- 1993Bullet hellA shoot 'em up that fills the screen with hundreds of projectiles in intricate patterns; your ship is vulnerable only at a tiny point, and the challenge is weaving between the bullets.
- 1996RhythmYou press buttons, tap the screen or hit a plastic instrument exactly when the music says so; the tighter your timing with the beat, the more points you score.
- 1996Survival horrorYou explore threatening places with scarce ammunition, few healing items and a limited inventory; running or hiding is often wiser than fighting, and the tension comes from that scarcity.
- 2002Incremental gameA game where you repeat a simple action, such as clicking, to gather a resource that you then invest in upgrades that produce it on their own, ever faster. Progress continues even when you are not playing, and the challenge is deciding what to invest in and when to reset in exchange for permanent bonuses.
- 2003Open-world survival craftYou start with nothing in an open world and have to gather resources, craft tools and build a shelter to stay alive against hunger, weather and creatures.
- 2008DeckbuilderYou start with a small, weak deck and, during play, buy or earn new cards to improve it. The challenge is choosing what to add and what to cut so that every card you draw works in your favour.
- 2009Endless runnerYour character runs forward on its own along a course that never ends; you only jump, dodge or switch lanes, and the goal is to get as far as possible before you crash.
How to make the most of it
- Pick a genre and read its entry: definition, gameplay loop and design challenges.
- Play the historical examples and our own demo to recognise its mechanics.
- Open the demo's code, walk through its sections and change it with the suggested exercise.
The classification follows the GAMER Group's multilingual taxonomy (University of Washington), with our own extensions marked as such.