Complete List of Game Genres

INTRODUCTION

The world of games may perhaps be called an entirely new universe.

The number of video games is so vast that it practically cannot be counted by any traditional means. If someone is even remotely interested in gaming, he or she can find a specific game that will suit their needs. Whether you need great graphics, story, combat, freedom, difficulty, thrill, fear, laughter, it’s all there! We’ve categorized every game genre currently in existence and provided an example for each of those genres, so you can be sure to find something for yourself.

 

Action games:

Action games, as one of the most popular ones currently, provide a great deal of fun for those who do not necessarily need a great story within the game. Those games engage our motor functions, and may require some practice in terms of hand and eye movements. While Action genre is contained within each and every subsequent genre, it definitely deserves it’s own paragraph. Here are several examples of Action games:

 

Street Fighter

 

Still created in 2d technology, this fighting action game was an absolute hit. Kids (and adults too!) went crazy about this game, playing it non-stop for hours with their friends or an AI (who were challenging enough themselves). Nowadays, there are many similar games, creating their own unique style, however one thing remains the same – the complexity of combination attacks in those games is something nobody can forget.

 

Call of Duty

 

Shooter games (FPS) are definitely something that help people vent off some steam. Their history is almost as long as PC’s themselves (Can you remember Doom?). Call of Duty is just one of unbelievably huge amount of games currently on the market. They fit perfectly into Action game description – they do require proper eye and hand coordination since aiming, while maybe not as easy as in real life, is still challenging enough.

 

Mario

 

Who doesn’t know good old Mario Bro’s. This game perfectly describes what platform action games are all about.

Go ->right-> and you will eventually get there (but watch out for insane amount of obstacles and holes)!

Platform games were most popular on nintendo devices, but nowadays they are easily playable on your PC. The camera angle is always the same, looking from the side of your character. From most notable platform games nowadays it is worth mentioning Limbo, a beautiful game developed by Playdead, released in 2010. However, if you search, you can find many unique platform games to keep your evenings full of enjoyment.

 

Guitar hero

 

Before I start, I’ll say right away, that you can play those games on keyboard too, it’s simply less “cool” to do so. If you want to push the limits of your brain in terms of your reaction time – guitar hero is definitely one action game, you absolutely need to master.

Rhythm games can be considered one of the hardest games there are, as the difficulty can be almost infinitely pumped up. The genre is specific though and not for everyone.

 

Dishonored 2

 

This fantasy game, will take you to a world where stealth is your best weapon in most cases. This game not only tests and improves your motor skills, but also has a great story. For action game lovers, who like mix of fast paced-stealth productions this is an absolute “must play” title.

 

Adventure games

I don’t think there is much need to describe adventure games, other than the fact that their main focus is put on the plot.

Very often those games also require you to think twice before you make a decision that may change the entire course of the game. For those who find enjoyment in focusing their minds, playing particular stories, solving puzzles etc. this is a genre to try out.

 

Siberia

A great game for those who need storytelling with massive amount of interaction and puzzles. Siberia is one of the games that that may consume a person for hours, feeling almost like it’s an interactive movie (however much longer than a typical movie though).

 

Resident Evil

 

Another title known by pretty much everyone. The game is quite different from the movie. It’s purpose is to tell a story, that while not so engaging, is meant to scare the player as much as possible. While it definitely can be considered an adventure game, Resident Evil has many aspects that can link it to action game genre.

The other types of adventure games include text adventures, graphic adventures and visual novels. All of them are definitely worth a shot, provided someone is interested in adventure genre in a first place.

 

Role-playing games

This genre nowadays is probably as hard to describe as answer to question “what life is?”

 

It evolved so much over the years, that the name of the genre may have nothing to do with an actual gameplay.

In simplest words – RPG is a genre in which player takes control over the character, plays the role, and simply decides its fate. The other undoubtedly always appearing feature of every RPG is growth of the character that is played, usually a specific skill tree that allows character customization. This is very often also paired with a good plot and multitude of subplots. RPG single player games, are one of those games that usually take the longest to finish the main content of the game (ranging from 50 to 120 hours, or even longer). Below I’ll show example of a few most popular RPG games that were released:

 

The Witcher 3

 

Andrzej Sapkowski. A legendary writer who is responsible for creating series The Witcher. With the growth in popularity of those books, CD-Project Red created games that tell the story of one of the Witchers named Geralt. The game has an incredible plot, packed with action elements, engaging combat, fantasy, huge and beautiful open world and even romance. It’s pretty much personification of a different life in a different universe, a true spirit of RPG.

 

Baldur’s Gate

This game, may look old, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy or simply bad.

 

Still considered as top RPG titles of all time, Baldur’s Gate took hearts of hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. The game is not only extremely long to finish, but also hard and engaging with great plot and strategy elements.

However, in terms of gameplay, it is completely different than Witcher or other similar titles. If you are not bothered by the older graphics, this is a game that will not let you sleep at night.

 

Dark Souls

 

While the story of Dark Souls is limited, not even closely reminding of the one presented in The Witcher, it is definitely a game that has a great combat aspect into it. You must be warned though, that this game isn’t for weak minded people who tend to give up quickly.

It has many action-RPG elements in it, especially the one regarding improvement of your character.

 

World of Warcraft

 

Of course we didn’t forget about good (old?) WoW! World of Warcraft is a MMORPG, basically an RPG that supports many players. Hundreds of thousands of players packed in one world (across multiple servers) work together (or against each other) to fight the greater evil – it cannot be described any easier.

Thousands of hours of continuous enjoyment of the game, tons of updates and several already released expansions. Definitely an RPG worth giving a shot.

 

Minecraft

 

Released in 2011, Minecraft began the extreme boom in survival/sandbox type games. While it’s graphics is practically non-existent, even today people flock to play this game endlessly. Basically sandbox game gives you an absolute freedom in terms what to do within the game.

 

You want to build? You build.

 

You want to fight? You fight.

 

You get the point.

Basically it’s an RPG due to a fact that you don’t follow the story, but in case of Minecraft you are the story.

 

Simulators

The name of this genre is obviously self-explanatory. The aim of those games is to simulate specific aspect of real world. And believe me when I say it – there is a simulator game to absolutely everything! Starting from life simulators, vehicle simulators to construction or management simulators. You can find out below a couple of those simulators (one of which, everyone have played in their life).

 

The Sims series

 

Whether it’s a child, teen or an adult, everyone can find the Sims entertaining. The best thing about this game is that there is just so much to do.

So many content creators record gaming videos about the Sims and each one of them is so unique that someone might want to watch them all. The Sims let you fulfill your dreams from when you were a child, you can finally show to that neighbour of yours that you truly hate him.

Describing further about the amount of things to do in this game would makes this at least couple times as long as it already is. Try it out yourself if you still haven’t!

 

Euro Truck Simulator 2

 

Yes, it’s that simple. Get into a truck, pick up a load and drive to your destination. Rinse and repeat.

Eventually you will be able to purchase your own truck and pimp your ride so nicely that it’s going to be the king of the roads. This might sound dull to some but it actually is a lot of fun (for some reason).

 

Football manager

 

In this game you have a chance take a responsibility for your entire football team – but not from practical standpoint but rather from technical one. Choose the right options for your individual players and entire team and see how they do during the match. If your decision making is poor, they will never succeed.

 

Strategy games

The aim of strategy games is to force player into making many decisions that have long term effects.

Strategic games usually allow multiple ways to finish the game and player must choose which one is the best to follow at a given circumstances. The most popular (but not PC) strategy game is chess. PC strategies follow similar pattern. There are many subcategories to those games that link this genre with other types of games. Here are a couple examples:

 

Stellaris

 

This strategy game (4X strategy), developed by Paradox Interactive (great strategy game developer) is all about four fundamental aspects ie. space exploration, empire management, diplomacy and warfare.

Depending on your choices you can be a diplomatic peacekeeper, evil tyrant, science geek or a mix of everything. However, you need to remember that each action you make, has long-term consequences. Making a bad choice and finding out about it 15 hours later may lead to much frustration.

 

Starcraft

 

RTS (real time strategy) games are the other most popular strategies out there. Starcraft, while has it’s own single player campaign (which is great by the way), is most known for its multiplayer PVP aspect. Many professional players take part in competitive e-sports matches and fight for monetary prizes. RTS allows little time to make a decision regarding what to do in a given moment. It requires live, swift decision making.

And while one guy might have better idea regarding “how to win the game”, the other one already won, because he was faster.

 

League of Legends

 

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games, such as League of Legends are meant to bring out the competitive side of every person playing it.

Those strategy games require not only a great strategic mind, but also quick hands and watchful eyes (just like RTS), since strategy alone is not enough to win the game. League of Legends (among other similar games) very often organize e-sport championships where people can win prizes soon to be comparable to those that are distributed in real sports. League of Legends is also the most watched esports content on the Internet.

 

Tower Defence games

 

Tower Defence (TD) strategies are quite similar in almost every aspect. Nowadays it’s quite hard to find unique game in this sub-genre. The aim of those games is to create and improve defensive “towers”that are supposed to protect the base from the invaders which are increasingly difficult to defeat. Pretty enjoyable time consumer, available everywhere, since TD is very often available on Android or iPhones.

 

Hearthstone

What can be told about strategy card games, is that they are addictive and they are all about competitiveness, and have one of the highest learning curve out there.

Hearthstone is but a one among some notable card games. Another one well known is MTG (Magic the Gathering) or newest game by CD projekt Red – Gwent. Every single one of them is a treat for card game lovers. Although, if you find this game genre interesting, pick one and try to get as good as possible. Hearthstone is available for smartphones aswell, so if you find yourself in a situation where you can spare 10 minutes – go ahead and play a single match or two.

 

Sports games

Everybody loves a dose of sports games. Whether it’s football, basketball or racing, everyone can find something for themselves. There isn’t really much to say about them, except for the fact that their aim is to simulate real sports. Every year those games are improved upon, creating more realistic view. Most important aspects of those games, are physics that makes those games so realistic right now. Below are several of the most well known sports games:

 

Fifa

 

Unlike Football Manager, in Fifa series you to simply play your team to make it the best in the world. If you are a fan of Football and also like playing games, this is a title you should try for yourself.

 

DiRT Rally

 

There are many rally games out there right now. All of them beat each other in terms of which one has the best graphics and physics. If you are rather a fan of street racing, I’d definitely advise you to play Need for Speed. A good alternative to rally games,

NBA 2K17

 

Basketball games are definitely fast-paced, and nowadays resemble real life basketball more than ever. Definitely worth playing for every sports fan out there.

Conclusion

There are many games that allow you to enjoy yourself during your spare time. If you are looking for venting off some steam then you should pick action shooters. When story is something you crave for – try out either adventure games or an RPG game. If you are looking for a much longer gaming experience, try out MMORPG – those games can suck you in for thousands of hours – and you can even meet some new people and play together with them, and as we know it’s often better to play with others. Some people want to feel nostalgic when playing game, and while some RPG?s might help you with that, probably platform games are a way to go. Even people who say that they don’t like games in general would definitely find a title that they would find enjoyable.

 

Did we miss a gaming genre? Do you have your favourite game? Make sure to post everything in the comments! And always remember to record everything with our game recorder Action!