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A platformer is a game where the main objective is to move a character from point A to point B using the game mechanics. Platformer games normally have suspended platforms that are intended to be reached using the motion of the character. The movement of the character is the goal!
examples include:
- mario bros
- donkey kong |
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The most common type of non FPS shooter is a third person shooter. As you can probably guess, a third person shooter is like a first person shooter, but in third person. There are other genres like shoot-em-up, where the player typically moves in four directions and shoots straight up. Another kind is called a run-and-gun shooter, a 2d game where you move around and shoot. This game is usually top-down. Also included are pretty much any other game where you shoot things, like bullet hells.
examples include:
- splatoon
- duck hunt
- Star Wars: battlefront |
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A style of game where multiple, most often 2, but there can be more, players control one or multiple characters and engage in PvP or PvE. Attacks and combos are traditionally executed from a string of specific joystick and button inputs from a controller. These games focus on keeping all players in view and showing players the same image on their screens. These games often have a wide variety of characters to pick from with an even wider variety of different weapons, powers, and playstyles.
Examples: Super Smash Bros, Street Fighter, Tekken |
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Beat ‘em up games are fighting games, generally 2D where one player fights an innumerable number of enemies, but the genre can commonly be played as a 1v1 multiplayer game. This genre is iconically used in media in arcades.
Example Games: Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Golden Axe |
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Games within the stealth genre encourage players to utilize stealth to overcome obstacles and/or opponents. They typically reward the player for remaning unnoticed as opposed to engaging with enemies. For this reason, combat is often deemphasized compared to other game genres. The player is forced to get creative with how they remain unseen. Game mechanics often include hiding, sneaking, disguises, etc. Many games within the genre have encompassed espionage, counter-terrorism, and rogue themes.
Examples: Early Assassin’s Creed franchise, Metal Gear Solid franchise, Thief franchise, Hitman franchise |
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The survival genre consists of video games set in hostile open world environments. The goal of a player in the survival genre is stated in the name, the player must survive for as long as possible. Many survival games include elements of crafting, building, and fighting to keep the player engaged for long durations of time. These building elements are often times combined with a large open world, allowing the player to explore and create to their hearts content.
Examples:
-Minecraft
-Rust
-The Forest
-Ark: survival evolved
-Subnautica |
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These games incorporate music and challenge the player’s sense of rhythm to obtain the highest score or compete against others. They can use pressure sensitive mats for dance type rhythm games such as DDR or controllers that appear as instruments like Guitar Hero. Players need to have correct timing and rhythm, hitting buttons or “notes” in order to succeed. Songs and minigames can have a range of difficulty, with harder ones needing more practice and precision.
- Examples: DDR, Guitar Hero, Beat Saber, Beatstar |
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The ultimate goal of a horror game is to scare the player. Common themes tend to include paranormal activity, jumpscares, creepy atmospheres, and use of peoples’ fears. Many of these interactive games have interesting storylines and tend to have the player determine a mystery or find an end goal. They are designed to make the players question every move and hesitant to continue.
Examples:
Phasmophobia, FNAF, Little Nightmares, Limbo |
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Digital Novels are games which are driven by narrative choice. The most common application of this genre is through visual novels, which are easily described as digital novels with interactivity and game elements such as animated visuals and music. Visual novels were popularized in asian countries where 2d anime artstyles could be best taken advantage of, like a digital version of the already popular light novels. Visual novels became more popular in the west, popularized by the genre subversion Doki Doki Literature Club. The line for digital novels are very easily blurred, as narrative interactivity has become a staple in large scale games. You can definitively call Telltale games digital novels, but you can definitely argue whether point and click mystery games count because they are very dialogue focused.
Examples:
-Doki Doki Literature Club
-The Wolf Among Us
-Clannad
-I Love You, Colonel Sanders!
-Detroit: Become Human |
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stands for Role-playing Game in which the player assumes the role of a specific character within a fictional setting. This means that the player is controlling a single character in real time. Each of these characters have existing identities that are made up of unique personality traits, backstories, and capabilities. There is always a specific mission or quest that the chosen character is expected to undertake and this is based on the player’s choices.
Examples
Super Mario Bros
Pokemon: Let’s go, Pikachu!
Fallout: New Vegas |
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Definition - An abbreviation for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (commonly further shortened to MMO). These games attempt to have a massive playerbase who all play at the same time. Usually, these games’ selling point is their expansive map and multitudes of content. The main goal of the developers is to make another world for the players to explore and live in, with some having their entire in-game economy made by the players that inhabit it. These games require massive servers and therefore new games in this genre are not often seen.
examples:
World of Warcraft
EVE Online
Final Fantasy XIV
Runescape
Sea of Thieves |
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Construction and Management games, also sometimes called Simulation Games, is a genre of games that feature the building, growing, and managing of a society. While the scale of this society can range from either a small project to a grand city, the building is a staple of this genre. Another staple of this kind of genre is the idea of resource management. This forces the player to balance their limited resources and the overall productivity of what they are building.
Sims City
Railway Empire
Cities: Skylines
Planet Coaster |
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The Berlin Interpretation: There are randomly generated levels and rooms to a dungeon based environment. The items and enemies scattered throughout the rooms are different every time. When you die, your death is permanent, and you have to start from the beginning. These games are turn-based and tile based, so you can only move in the grid, and everything happens on the same screen. The rooms have multiple ways to progress, so that the player cannot get stuck due to the randomness. These games also focus on exploration and discovery
Examples of games: Crypt of the Necrodancer, Dead Cells, Enter The Gungeon, Hades, The Binding of Isaac, Risk of Rain 2 |
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In sandbox games you generally are able to do whatever you want in the environment that you are given. This gives the player a lot of freedom to do what they like in the world. These games may have a goal or just let the player do what they would like, but in general you may achieve what you would like however you want within the parameters of the game. While the game itself can be a sandbox game, other games that are not sandbox games may include a mode in which you can play the game in a sandbox mode and do what you would like.
Minecraft
Terraria
Kerbal Space Program
Garry's Mod
Raft
Elite (1984) is considered to be one of the first sandbox games. |
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A game genre where you, as the player, simulate a real world activity. Simulation games are the most popular video game with people who don’t really play video games. Simulation games don’t always have to simulate real world activities. Some simulation games can be very goofy and silly.
Examples: PC Building Simulator, Goat Simulator, Farming Simulator, ARMA, The Sims
Microsoft Flight Simulator is the most played simulator game series of all time |
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4X Game genre is a subgenre of strategy type board games. It includes both turn based and real time. Often times occur with either multiple people or multiple bots taking turns trying to fight over a single board. Oftentimes, players will fight over resources, such as materials and land to try to best the other players. Fun fact! No one plays these games except for lonely people who seek power they don’t have.
Examples include:
Master of Orion 2
Civilization
Imperialism |
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Definition: An "RTS" game, which is also known as a real-time strategy game, is a spin on the strategy genre but instead of battles consisting of a turn-based system, it instead uses a system where all characters in your party can attack at the same time. Real time strategy games typically also focus on building units to defeat your opponent. Some examples of “units” include technological resources, armies, or any actors that are assigned a task.
Examples:
Clash of clans
Monster Hunter
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Ark: Survival Evolved
StarCraft |
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A MOBA is a multiplayer online battle arena game. These kinds of games consist of opposing teams which battle each other, with the ultimate goal of achieving the win condition, which is usually destroying the enemy team's structure. Before the match begins each player is prompted to choose a certain character, each of which holds a special loadout of abilities. Players spawn into a map typically with A.I. controlled teammates that aid in battle. Players can also accumulate resources from different areas on the map that can help in battle.
Examples - League of Legends, Smite, Dota 2 |
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Definition: Subgenre of strategy games where the objective is to defend a players territory by stopping the enemy attackers from reaching the exits or obstructing the enemy attackers. This is usually accomplished by placing defensive structures on or along their path of attack so that the enemy is unable to defeat you or your base.
Examples- Bloons Tower Defense, Plants vs Zombies, Kingdom Rush, Clash of Clans |
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First-person shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that focuses on gun and other weapon combat from a first-person perspective. These games allow freedom of movement in a 3D world and are nowadays the most popular video game genre, making up more than a quarter of game sales in recent years. As these games take place in a 3D world, physics like gravity are typically represented in a fairly realistic manner. These games often show one or both hands of the avatar as players see through the perspective of the character. Ammunition and mini maps are part of the HUD that is often displayed on the screen in FPS games. FPS games often push the limits of hardware development. Multiplayer is a large part of the FPS genre. The hero-shooter subgenre is underneath the FPS genre (examples are Overwatch, Valorant, and Apex Legends).
examples:
Call of Duty
Doom
Destiny
Apex Legends
Halo |
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Definition: The sports genre consists of simulating a sport in real life into a video game. All sports games have different ways of approaching this end goal, such as being the racer in a racing game yourself in FP (Wipeout2048), or playing as different players in a football game as a birds eye view (Madden). The rules in these games are usually similar to real life sports, except many times the sport is simplified or the time limit is shortened to make the game more digestible for a single gaming session (NHL games speed up the clock to be ~5 minute periods instead of having the periods be 20 real minutes like in real life). People that play these games can expect to get a similar experience to normal sports minus the physical activity and longer games, like in real life. There’s also no risk of injury, like in football where you can get a concussion or in racing you could wipe out.
Examples: Wii Sports, Madden, NBA2K, PunchOut!!, FIFA, Wipeout2048 |
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games designed to be played by large groups, often consisting of numerous mini-games
Examples: Mario Party, OverCooked, Wii Part |
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similar to a third person shooter, a game where numerous players enter a battle arena for a winner-take-all match
Examples: PUBG, Fortnite, APEX Legends |
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a game that utilizes simple matching or problem-solving mechanics, like a match 3 game
Examples: Puzzle - Tetris, MYST, Celest |
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| I don't have this one sorry folks |
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| Engaging in an activity for fun and enjoyment |
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