Video Game Genres: An Overview

Despite the ambiguities in video game genre definition, there are some categories that are classically used to describe games. Here are overviews of some of the most popular video games genres.

Action Video Games

Also called action shooters and sometimes just called shooters, action shooter video games are games in which the primary goal is to kill large numbers of enemies. Fast action reflexes are more important when playing shooters than thinking or reasoning. Shooters may use a first person point of view, making it appear as though the player is in the game, or a third person point of view where the player follows behind or looks over the shoulder of the lead game character.

Role Playing Games (RPGs)

Role playing games are video or computer games in which players take on the personas or "roles" of characters in a scenario set in a fantasy world. Usually these games have elements of adventure and action. The genre's roots are in early paper games such as Dungeons and Dragons; in the 1980s, games such as Ultima helped to cement the place of the RPG in the video game world.

Sports Video Games

Sports games can either be virtual versions of real-life sports or phantasy sports created for a video game environment. All of the major league sports have multiple video games based on them and continue to be popular for players. Since team rosters regularly change, many publishers release updated versions of their major league sports video games.

Racing Games

In racing video games, players drive vehicles to compete against other human or computer-controlled vehicles. Racing games range from realistic simulations of real racing organizations such as Nascar, Kart or Formula One to cartoon-like racing games with arcade action.

Puzzle Video Games

Puzzle games are video games that emphasize problem solving, often dealing with logistical issues. Probably the most well-known puzzle game is Tetris, which requires the users to position falling puzzle pieces (by moving them side to side and rotating them) into the most efficient combinations relative to the pieces that have already fallen. The beauty of Tetris and most other successful puzzle games is the simplicity of its concept combined with the challenge of its gameplay.

Board and Card Video Games

Some video games are modeled on classic board or card games; this genre is also sometimes called traditional games. While some games in this genre are elaborately enhanced by the addition of animation, video, audio and interactive elements, others are fairly true to their real life counterparts. For many of these games, the major advantage of the video game or computer format is that it provides a computer-controlled player, so there is always someone to play against.

Fighting Video Games

Fighting games usually involve a player's character fighting head-to-head with a computer-controlled character or with another player's character. Fighting video games are often loosely based on hand-to-hand battle techniques or martial arts; less often fighting game characters have weapons that are used to fight.

Simulation Games

In a simulation video game, the game tries to recreate a real-world environment and experience as closely as possible. So, in a flying simulation the controls would be similar to those on a real plane instead of a radically simplified version. Other simulations allow the player to make strategic decisions and to manipulate the world's environment, such as the classic SimCity.

Strategy Games

Strategy games, also sometimes referred to as resource management games, allow players to control an environment and situations in an effort to accomplish a goal. In turn-based strategy games, players take turns to move toward their goal; in real-time strategy games, different players can make choices and take actions simultaneously. Most people consider real-time games to be more interesting and sophisticated.

Online Video Games

Online games are not really a genre, since online games can be found in nearly every genre. Some of the most popular games online include puzzle, board and card games as well as massive multi-player RPGs. However, many people look at online games as a category since there are unique issues in playing and developing them. These issues include how the game is presented to the user, whether the game requires a download, how many people can play simultaneously, and the methods by which players pay for their game.

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