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table started by robert for the Video 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 Strategy , sub genres have emerged, such as Turn Based Strategy and Real Time Strategy Over the history of computer game development, some genres have... more
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x Platform game A simple platform sequence from the game Wonder Boy 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 Mystery House for the Apple II was the first adventure game to use graphics in the early home computer era 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 computer...
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 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a popular action-adventure game 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.  Action-adventures require many of the same physical skills as action games, but also offer...
The Staff of Karnath
Primal
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Dizzy - The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure
more
x Turn-based strategy The Battle for Wesnoth, an example of a turn-based "tactics" game Civilization
A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a strategy game (usually some type of wargame, especially a strategic-level wargame) where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real time strategy where all players play simultanteously. 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
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x God game Screenshot from Populous for the Amiga 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 Screenshot of Metal Gear Solid. The life bar (upper left) is almost depleted Castle Wolfenstein
Stealth game is a video game genre in which the player must avoid detection, using stealth to evade or ambush antagonists. Games in the genre employ mechanics such as hiding in shade, disguises, and noise which can alert enemies. Some games allow...
Metal Gear
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Beyond Castle Wolfenstein
more
x MMORPG WoW Flying Gnomes Final Fantasy XI
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world. As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a fictional...
World of Warcraft
Star Trek Online
The Shadows of Luclin
Materia Magica
more
x First-person Shooter Doom ingame 2 Frontlines: Fuel of War
First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre which centers the gameplay around gun- and projectile weapon-based combat through the first person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally...
JFK: Reloaded
Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds
VBS1
Natural Selection
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x Real-time strategy Dune II (1992) - The game that defined the real-time strategy genre 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 Zork can run on modern Z-machine interpreters, as well as the older models it was made for originally 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
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x Science fiction Science-fiction books, magazines, film, TV, gaming and fandom material 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...
CyberRace
RF Online
The ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures: The Secret of the Living Volcano
Commander Blood
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x Simulation Simsvr Battlezone
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...
Gunship
Shufflepuck Cafe
Monster Rancher EVO
REVS
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x Third-person Shooter Leon S. Kennedy in Salazar's Castle in Resident Evil 4 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
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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
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x Maze Public hedge maze in the "English Garden" at Schönbusch Park, Aschaffenburg, Germany 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
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x Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter Screenshot from World War II Online (2001) 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 Dating sim Cover 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
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x Racing game Gran Trak 10 (1974) F-Zero GX
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first- or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing...
Rally Bike / Dash Yarou
Chase H.Q.
V-Rally 3
Rally Speedway
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x Fighting game Screenshot of The King of Fighters XI (2005, SNK Playmore). 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
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x Sandbox GTA: San Andreas is a "sandbox-style" game with a huge free-roaming map 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
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x Tactical shooter rainbow-six-vegas.jpg 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
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x Extreme sport Windsurf-wipeout 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
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x Hack and slash The arcade version of Golden Axe 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 Area 51, an example of an on-rails light gun 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 R-Type II, a horizontally-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
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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 Tactical wargame Computer Ambush
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...
Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles
Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command
Steel Panthers: World at War
Breed
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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 Recent 20th anniversary arcade machine, combining two or more classic video games. 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 Civilization II is a prototypical example of a 4X strategy game. 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
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x Virtual world   Rise: The Vieneo Province
A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations, although other...
Second Life
World of Warcraft
There
Active Worlds
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x MUD A MUD logon screen Materia Magica
In online gaming, a MUD (multi-user dungeon), pronounced /mʌd/, 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 Image du jeu vidéo Abuse. Frontlines: Fuel of War
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand-eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games. In an action game, the player...
Kao Challengers
Spawn: In the Demon's Hand
Dirty Harry: The War Against Drugs
Machi Kuru Domino
more
x Shoot 'em up galaga.png Silhouette Mirage
Shoot 'em up (also known as shmup) 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 Side-scrolling NES Super Mario Bros 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 Computer role-playing game Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001), an example of a 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 The SimCity series, a well known example of the city-building game type. (Screenshot from SimCity 3000) 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 /wikipedia/images/en_id/975881 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...
Revelations: Persona
Guardian Heroes
Baten Kaitos Origins
Namco x Capcom
more
x Pinball Picture of a pinball machine. The backglass can be seen to the right 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 Slim-pickens riding-the-bomb enh-lores 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 Blackjack game example 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....
Super Nudge 2000
x Point-and-click Chuck the plant as a cactus in Day of the Tentacle 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 A rocket lands on the moon in Le Voyage dans la Lune, the film adaptation of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon 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 scenario in fantasy role-playing games 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...
Temple of Apshai
The Dungeon Revealed
Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon Toki/Yami no Tankentai
Dandy
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x Casino game   High Stakes Gambling
Games available in most casinos are commonly called casino games. In a casino game, the players gamble casino chips on various possible random outcomes or combinations of outcomes. Casino games are available in online casinos, where permitted by law...
Vegas Dreams
Casino Kid
Casino Kid 2
Caesar's Palace
more
x Pachinko Masamura Gauge All 15 Pachinko Sexy Reaction
Pachinko (パチンコ) is a Japanese gaming device used for amusement and gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but with no flippers and a large number of relatively small balls. The player fires a ball up into the machine,...
Pachinko Sexy Reaction 2
Jissen Pachi-Slot Pachinko Hisshôhô! Hokuto no Ken
Heiwa Pachinko World 64
Pachinko 365 Hi
more
x Psychological horror   Manhunt 2
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot. Psychological horror is different from the type...
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Manhunt
more
x Olympic video games Mega Drive Cover Winter Olympics: Lillehammer 94
"Olympic" video games is a name given to sport video games including more than one event and/or several sports. They are one of the older video game genres, having first appeared with the 1983 arcade classic Track & Field. Since then, numerous...
Olympic Gold
Sydney 2000
Olympic Summer Games
Salt Lake 2002
more
x Casual game   Fish Tycoon
A casual game is a video game or online game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment...
The Office
Mainichi Issho
Stephen King's F13
Tori-Emaki
more
x Mobile game    
A mobile game is a video game played on a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, handheld computer or portable media player. This does not include games played on handheld video game systems such as PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS. The first game that...
x Drinking game Symposium sceneFresco from the Tomb of the Diver. 475 BCE. Paestum Museum, Italy Early Edu-Ware products
Drinking games are games which involve the drinking of alcoholic beverages. People have been playing drinking games since ancient times. Currently, they are most popular among college students. One consequence of this popularity is that drinking...
x Web application Horde-portal Lords: Rising Sun
In software engineering, a web application or webapp is an application that is accessed via a web browser over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. It is also a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language ...
x Collectible card game A Pokémon card game in progress. Sangokushi Taisen DS
A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards. While trading cards have been around for longer, CCGs combine the appeal of collecting...
PoxNora
Culdcept Saga
Phantasy Star Online Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution
Metal Gear Acid 2
more
x Educational game Robot – magnetisches Lernspiel (1960) Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers
Educational games are games that have been specifically designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. They...
Typo Attack
Common Sense Training
Captain Novolin
Rayman Brain Games
more
x Dojin   Meakashi-hen
Dōjin (同人, dōjin), often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement. The word is sometimes translated into English as clique, coterie, society, or circle ...
Onikakushi-hen
Minagoroshi-hen
Watanagashi-hen
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei
more
x Beat 'em up Kung Fu Master (1984), a prototypal beat 'em up, running on MAME Power Stone Collection
Beat 'em up (also known as brawler) is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and large numbers of antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge based plots, though...
Silhouette Mirage
Guardian Heroes
Splatterhouse
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
more
x Episodic games   Shootout! The Game
An episodic video game is a video game produced and sold in small units that build into a recognizable series, as opposed to a video game series in which games are larger and produced separately and expansion packs which add onto an existing game....
Dinohunters
The Kill Point Game
Dogfights The Game
Kuma\War
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