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Computer Game Genre table
table started by
robert for the Computer Games Commons
Computer and video games are generally categorized into genres. A computer Chess game, for example, would be regarded as a Strategy game,. Within...
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| x name | x image | x Computer games | x article |
|---|---|---|---|
| x Platform game |
|
Rainbow Islands |
Platform game, or platformer, is a video game genre characterized by jumping to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles. It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps. The most common unifying element to...
|
| Super Mario Bros. | |||
| Prince of Persia | |||
| Lode Runner | |||
| Another World | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Adventure |
|
Maniac Mansion |
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story that is driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenges such as combat. The term originates from the 1970s game...
|
| Day of the Tentacle | |||
| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure | |||
| Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders | |||
| Escape from Monkey Island | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Action-adventure |
|
D/Generation |
An action-adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action game and an adventure game, especially crucial elements like puzzles. Â Action-adventures require many of the same physical skills as action games, but also offer...
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| The Staff of Karnath | |||
| Primal | |||
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | |||
| Dizzy - The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Turn-based strategy |
|
Civilization |
A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a strategy game (usually some type of wargame, especially a strategic-level wargame) that is turn-based. The phrase turn-based is used to distinguish such games from real-time strategy games, and as such the...
|
| Fritz | |||
| Heroes Chronicles | |||
| Total Chaos | |||
| L'Empereur | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Life simulation | The Sims |
Life simulation games (or Artificial life games) are simulation games in which the player lives or controls one or more artificial lifeforms. A life simulation game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation of an...
|
|
| Little Computer People | |||
| The Sims 2: Nightlife | |||
| Alter Ego | |||
| Animal Forest | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x God game |
|
The Sims |
A god game is a construction and management simulation that casts the player in the position of controlling the game on a large scale, as an entity with divine/supernatural powers, as a great leader, or with no specified character (as in The Sims...
|
| Populous | |||
| The Sims 2: Nightlife | |||
| Dungeon Keeper 2 | |||
| The Sims Life Stories | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Stealth-based game |
|
Castle Wolfenstein |
A stealth game is a video game in which the player needs to avoid detection. The genre dates back to 1981 with the release of 005 and Castle Wolfenstein, and attained some early success with Metal Gear (1987) and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990)....
|
| Metal Gear | |||
| Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake | |||
| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | |||
| Beyond Castle Wolfenstein | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x MMORPG |
|
Final Fantasy XI |
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (commonly abbreviated MMORPG) is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world. The term MMORPG was coined by Richard...
|
| World of Warcraft | |||
| Star Trek Online | |||
| The Shadows of Luclin | |||
| Materia Magica | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Role-playing game |
|
Final Fantasy |
A role-playing game (RPG; often roleplaying game) is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants often determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or...
|
| Betrayal at Krondor | |||
| The Secret | |||
| Rune Factory | |||
| Digimon Story: Sunburst/Moonlight | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x First-person Shooter |
|
Frontlines: Fuel of War |
First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre which centers the gameplay around gun- or projectile weapon-based combat through the first person perspective; i.e., the action is seen through the eyes of a protagonist, and thus the player....
|
| JFK: Reloaded | |||
| Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds | |||
| VBS1 | |||
| Natural Selection | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Real-time strategy |
|
Magnant |
Real-time strategy (RTS) games are a genre of computer wargames which do not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II.
In an RTS, as in other wargames, the participants position and maneuver...
|
| Allegiance | |||
| Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 | |||
| Total Annihilation | |||
| Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Interactive fiction |
|
Border Zone |
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video...
|
| Deadline | |||
| Will | |||
| Advanced Xoru | |||
| Journey | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Science fiction |
|
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II |
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that aren't necessarily accepted by mainstream science. such as extra-terrestrial life forms, alien worlds, and time travel, often...
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| CyberRace | |||
| RF Online | |||
| The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: The Secret of the Living Volcano | |||
| Commander Blood | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Simulation |
|
Princess Maker |
A simulation video game describes a diverse super-category of computer and video games. Some simulation video games are intended to simulate the real world; others are intended to simulate a fictional world; still others (The Sims 2 for example) are...
|
| Battlezone | |||
| Gunship | |||
| Shufflepuck Cafe | |||
| Monster Rancher EVO | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Shootem-Up | Llamatron | ||
| Revenge of the Mutant Camels | |||
| Ibara | |||
| Pink Sweets - Ibara Sorekara | |||
| ESP Ra.De. | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Third-person Shooter |
|
Extermination |
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.
A "third person shooter" is a game structured around shooting, and in which the player can...
|
| The Getaway 3 | |||
| Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico | |||
| Armored Core | |||
| 25 To Life | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Educational |
An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods.
Many educational films shown in schools are part of long series - for example,...
|
||
| x First-person Adventure | RHEM |
First-person adventures are one of the oldest computer and video game genres. First-person adventures tend to focus on puzzle, exploration and character-interaction with no shooting or action elements, though some also feature elements from other...
|
|
| 3D Monster Maze | |||
| Lost in Time | |||
| Skyborg: Into the Vortex | |||
| Raven Blade | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Maze |
|
Pac-Man Vs. |
A maze is a complex tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is...
|
| The Sacred Armour of Antiriad | |||
| Nonterraqueous | |||
| Gotcha | |||
| Nodes of Yesod | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Racing |
|
GP Rider |
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance,...
|
| Rallisport Challenge 2 | |||
| R.C. Pro-Am II | |||
| Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride | |||
| Monster Truck Madness | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Social Simulation | |||
| x Kart racing |
|
Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing |
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motor sport with simple, small four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits. Karting is commonly...
|
| Super Mario Kart | |||
| x Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter |
|
Neocron |
Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) is a sub-category of the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) video game genre, which combines first-person shooter-style gameplay with the game design elements that typify the MMOG...
|
| Huxley | |||
| PlanetSide | |||
| Parabellum | |||
| Soldier Front | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Mecha |
|
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf |
Mecha, also known as meka or mechs, are walking vehicles controlled by a pilot, often appearing in anime, science fiction, or other genres involving a fantastic or futuristic element. Mecha are generally, though not necessarily, bipedal, with arms,...
|
| Chousouju Mecha MG | |||
| G-Nome | |||
| Cyberbots | |||
| x Table tennis |
|
Tennis for Two |
Table tennis, also known as ping pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth with rackets (also known as "bats" or "paddles"). The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Players must allow...
|
| x Dating sim |
|
Feel the Magic: XY/XX |
Dating sims (or dating simulations) are a video game subgenre of simulation games, usually Japanese, with romantic elements. They are also sometimes put under the category of neoromance. The most common objective of dating sims is to date, usually...
|
| School Rumble: Nesan Jiken Desu | |||
| Crescendo | |||
| Harukanaru Toki no Naka de | |||
| Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2 | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Racing game |
|
F-Zero GX |
A racing game is a genre of computer and video games. Racing games are either in the first or third person perspective. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings, and feature any type of land, air,...
|
| Rally Bike / Dash Yarou | |||
| Chase H.Q. | |||
| V-Rally 3 | |||
| Rally Speedway | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Fighting game |
|
Variable Geo |
In versus, or competitive fighting games, two players (sometimes more) each choose a character, and then fight against each other, generally over several rounds. The winner of a round either knocks out his opponent (usually by depleting an energy...
|
| Robo Pit | |||
| Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit Ver. 1.5 | |||
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus | |||
| Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Sandbox |
|
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames |
A sandbox game (or a video game with an optional sandbox mode) is a video game with an open-ended and non-linear style of gameplay, or a reduced emphasis on structure. The sandbox analogy is used to describe this style of gaming because, as with a...
|
| The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction | |||
| Steambot Chronicles | |||
| Destroy All Humans! 3 | |||
| Prototype | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Tactical shooter |
|
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon |
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter game that includes both first-person shooters and third-person shooters. These games typically simulate realistic combat, thus making tactics and caution more important than quick reflexes in other action...
|
| Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm | |||
| Vietcong | |||
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear | |||
| Deadly Dozen | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Extreme sport |
|
Freekstyle |
Extreme sports (also called action sport and adventure sport) is a media term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger. These activities often involve speed, height, high level of physical exertion, highly...
|
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater | |||
| Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX | |||
| Tony Hawk's Underground 2 | |||
| Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Hack and slash |
|
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II |
Hack and slash or hack and slay refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes close combat with short-range weapons. "Hack and slash" was originally used to describe an aspect of pen and paper role-playing games (RPGs).
Hack and slash has its roots...
|
| Diablo | |||
| Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus | |||
| Rune | |||
| Gauntlet Legends | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Rail shooter |
|
Star Wars Trilogy Arcade |
Rail Shooter is a genre of shoot 'em up video games, deriving from the 'on-rails' movement featured in such games. In Shoot 'em up that the term is applicable to, control over movement is generally possible to the extent of allowing the player to...
|
| Yoshi's Safari | |||
| The House of the Dead 2 | |||
| The Lost World: Jurassic Park | |||
| World Combat | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Scrolling shooter |
|
Gradius Neo |
Scrolling shooters are a type of video game, a subgenre of shoot 'em up. Such games feature backgrounds that appear to 'scroll' as the protagonist moves through them. Scrolling shooters feature 'top-down' or 'side-on' perspectives.
A scrolling...
|
| Alpha Mission | |||
| Strikers 1945 III | |||
| Star Fox | |||
| Thunder Force AC | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Transport puzzle | Atomix |
Transport puzzles are logistical puzzles, which often represent real-life transport problems.
In transport puzzles you move yourself and/or tokens through a given landscape.
As in rearrangement puzzles, no piece is ever lost or added to the board....
|
|
| Rocks'n'Diamonds | |||
| x Tactical wargame |
|
Steel Panthers |
Tactical wargames are a type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry. The...
|
| Computer Ambush | |||
| Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles | |||
| Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command | |||
| Steel Panthers: World at War | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Music video game | Guitar Hero II |
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a...
|
|
| Dance Dance Revolution Konamix | |||
| EyeToy: Groove | |||
| Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 4 | |||
| Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Arcade game |
|
Hammer Heads |
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, public houses, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers. Most arcade games are redemption games, merchandisers (such as Claw crane...
|
| Cyclone | |||
| Konami Arcade Classics | |||
| Duck Hunt | |||
| The Office Games | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Space simulation | Star Trek: Klingon Academy |
A space simulator is a system that tries to replicate or simulate outer space and/or the experience of space flight in a spacecraft as closely and realistically as possible. This includes full-size cockpit replicas mounted on hydraulic rams,...
|
|
| O.R.B: Off-World Resource Base | |||
| Wing Commander: Armada | |||
| Galactic Empire | |||
| Star Wars: Starfighter | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x 4X |
|
Star Wars: Rebellion |
4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World....
|
| The Tone Rebellion | |||
| Ascendancy | |||
| Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire | |||
| Imperium Galactica II: Alliances | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Add-on | San Andreas Multiplayer |
Add-on may refer to:
|
|
| Multi Theft Auto | |||
| GTA: Online | |||
| x Virtual world | Rise: The Vieneo Province |
The computer accesses a computer-simulated world and presents perceptual stimuli to the user, who in turn can manipulate elements of the modeled world and thus experiences telepresence to a certain degree. Such modeled worlds may appear similar to...
|
|
| Second Life | |||
| World of Warcraft | |||
| There | |||
| Active Worlds | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x MUD |
|
Materia Magica |
In online gaming, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), pronounced /mĘŚd/, is a multi-user real-time virtual world described entirely in text. It combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read...
|
| Dragon's Gate | |||
| The Inquisition | |||
| Lusternia, Age of Ascension | |||
| Astaria | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Action game |
|
Frontlines: Fuel of War |
Action game refers to a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand-eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, first-person shooters, and platform games.
In an action...
|
| Kao Challengers | |||
| Spawn: In the Demon's Hand | |||
| Dirty Harry: The War Against Drugs | |||
| Machi Kuru Domino | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Training |
|
VBS1 |
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and...
|
| VBS2 | |||
| x Shoot 'em up |
|
Silhouette Mirage |
Shoot 'em up (also known as shmups) is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often a spacecraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses...
|
| Lethal Xcess | |||
| Centipede | |||
| Triplane Turmoil 2 | |||
| Bangai-O | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Rugby league |
|
Australian Rugby League |
Rugby league is a full-contact team sport, played with a prolate spheroid ball by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two codes of rugby football (the other being rugby union) and is arguably the...
|
| x Side-scrolling |
|
Jurassic Park III: The DNA Factor |
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling...
|
| Bible Adventures | |||
| The Lost Vikings | |||
| Secret Agent | |||
| Duke Nukem | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Physical fitness |
|
Yourself!Fitness |
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations).
In previous years,...
|
| x Computer Mahjong |
|
Mahjong Taikai |
A Mahjong video game is a video game that is based on the classical Chinese game mahjong. However, many mahjong video games, especially among those released in Western territories, do not depict the actual game of mahjong but rather mahjong...
|
| x Computer role-playing game |
|
Mount&Blade |
A computer role-playing game (CRPG) is a broad video game genre originally developed for personal computers and other home computers. While technically not a separate genre, and sharing the same defining characteristics as console RPGs (also...
|
| Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura | |||
| Primal | |||
| Naruto RPG: Uketsugareshi Hi no Ishi | |||
| Descent to Undermountain | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x City-building game |
|
SimCity 3000 |
City-building games are a genre of computer game where players act as the overall planner and leader of a city, looking down on it from above, and being responsible for its growth and management. Players choose building placement and city management...
|
| SimCity 4 | |||
| SimCity | |||
| Utopia | |||
| Master of Olympus - Zeus | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Console role-playing game |
|
Final Fantasy IV |
A console role-playing game is a video game genre that has its origin rooted in video game consoles and includes game mechanics and, frequently, settings derived from those of traditional role-playing games. The term also applies to role-playing...
|
| Persona | |||
| Guardian Heroes | |||
| Baten Kaitos Origins | |||
| Namco x Capcom | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Pinball |
|
Metroid Prime Pinball |
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to...
|
| Kirby's Pinball Land | |||
| Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire | |||
| Pro Pinball: The Web | |||
| Pinball | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction |
|
Fallout |
Post-Apocalyptic directly constitutes an occurrence that is after an apocaplyptic event.
Post-Apocalpytic - After-Apocalypse
Post-Apolcalyptic movies deal with many different scenarios often dealing with the end of man kind, the destruction of...
|
| Fallout 2 | |||
| Darkwind: War on Wheels | |||
| Fallout 3 | |||
| Van Buren | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Gambling |
|
Golden Nugget 64 |
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period....
|
| x Point-and-click |
|
Diaspora |
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen (point) and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button(click), or other pointing device. An example of point-and-click is in hypermedia,...
|
| Tiny Toon Adventures: Toonenstein | |||
| Eerievale | |||
| Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller | |||
| Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster and the Beanstalk | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Alternate reality game | Majestic |
An alternate reality game (ARG), is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions.
The form is defined by...
|
|
| Evidence: The Last Ritual | |||
| x Steampunk |
|
Wild Arms 3 |
Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian...
|
| Wild Arms 2 | |||
| Wachenröder | |||
| Edge of Twilight | |||
| SteamBand | |||
| more ▼ | |||
| x Dungeon crawl | Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja |
A dungeon crawl is a type of role-playing game in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters and looting any treasure they may find. Because of its simplicity, a dungeon crawl can be easier for a gamemaster to run...
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|
| Temple of Apshai | |||
| The Dungeon Revealed | |||
| Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon Toki/Yami no Tankentai | |||
| Dandy | |||
| more ▼ | |||
