M S . M AC L E O D

GAME GENRES

WHAT IS A GENRE?

game genre are categories based on combination of subject matter, setting, screen presentation/format, player perspective and game playing strategies. 

THE GENRE MARKET

• In looking at people playing games, a company must look at what players want to play and what kind of system that they are played on.  The largest and fastest market is the mobile market.  (android or the OS systems) • What do you think?  What do you play?  What

system do you use?  These are questions that are important. 

GAME GENRES

About a dozen types of video games.– Each game belongs to one or more genre

Games in the same genre may look vastlydifferent, yet they share many of the sameproperties.

– Similar design issues and problems.– In some cases, similar gameplay mechanics.

TYPES OF GENRES

• Adventure Games• Action Games• Role-Playing Games

(RPGs)• Strategy Games• Fighting Games• Dance/Music/Rhythm

• Simulations• Sports Games• Casual Games• Educational Games• Puzzle Games• Online Games

ADVENTURE GAMES

• Story-based games, use puzzle solving to move the

story along.– Can be text based (requiring a parser of some kind)or graphical (point and click).– Can be first or third person.

- interesting characters and a good plot.• Generally not real-time games.

– No time limit on turns, usually.– Action-adventure hybrids can be real-time.

ADVENTURE GAMES PICTURES

• Zork I (TextAdventure)• Myst IV: Revelation (Graphical Adventure)• Tomb Raider (Action-Adventure)

ACTION GAMES

• Eye hand cordination• Real-time games, require quick reactions.

– Opponents are computer generated or human.

• Less cerebral than adventure games.– Players are looking for fast-paced action.– Some add adventure, strategic, or tacticalelements for a different kind of experience

ACTION GAMES

• UT2004 (FPS)• Mario 64 (Platform)• Pac-Man (Maze)• Metal Slug (Shooter)

ROLE-PLAYING GAMES (RPGS)

• In RPGs, the gamer generally directs a group ofheroes on a series of quests.

– Huge world with unfolding story.– Players micromanage their characters.– Characters tend to grow in strength and abilities.– Combat is typically an important element – used to accumulate experience, money and strength.

• Fantasy RPGs feature complex magical systems anddiverse races of characters.

ROLE-PLAYING GAMES (RPGS)PICTURES

• Final Fantasy X• Star Wars knights of the old republic• Fable• Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

STRATEGY GAMES

• Players manage a limited set of resources to achieve a predetermined goal.

– Resource management entails deciding what unitsto create and how to deploy them.– Trade offs in time, money, and raw materials.

STRATEGY GAMES

• Can be either turn-based or real-time.– Turn-based strategies give you time to think andimplement decisions at your own pace.– Real-time strategies (RTSs) have all opponentsthinking and acting at the same time.

• Opponents are computer generated, human or both.

STRATEGY GAMES PICTURES

• Age of Mythology• Full Spectrum Warrior• Command and Conquer• StarCraft 2• Rome: Total War

FIGHTING GAMES

Control figures on the screen and use a combination of moves to attack and defend from attacks.

– Players expect a set of basic attacks and countersto start– Most fights last only a few minutes, but there maybe many rounds in a complete bout.

FIGHTING GAMES PICTURES

• Soul Calibur II• Virtua Fighter 4• Mortal Kombat marvel vs DC

DANCE/MUSIC/RHYTHM

• Dancing, Sing, or playing musical instrument-style controller to create music or rhythmic patterns. • Dance Dance Revolution is probably the single

largest franchise. Of the rest, many require a specialized controller like DDR, but several don't• Examples of this form include Parappa the

Rapper, Dance Dance Revolution and Bust a Groove, Gitaroo Man. • Music Others are like Activision’s Rock band 3 or

Guitar Hero.

DANCE/MUSIC/RHYTHM PICTURES

SIMULATIONS

• Simulations (sims) attempt to emulate real world operating conditions with great detail.

– The more serious the simulation, the moreimportant accuracy is.– Great time and effort may be required to learnall of the intricacies of the game.

SIMULATIONS

• Most simulate some kind of complex machinery, such as aircraft, tanks, cars, and so on.– The result is racing games, flight simulators, etc.

• Less serious simulations are simpler, easier

– Often referred to as “arcade simulations.”

SIMULATIONS PICTURES

• Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec• Microsoft Flight Simulator

SPORTS GAMES

Participate in a sporting event or activity.– As a player, owner, manager, or coaching.– Can be a single match, series, entire season orlife-time of the team or franchise.

• Being good at a real sport does not translate to the video game, but that is the point!

SPORTS GAMES

Must accurately and realistically reproduce the rules and strategies of the sport.

– Arcade versions with relaxed rules or reduced realism can also be entertaining.

SPORTS GAMES PICTURES

Madden NFL

NHL

Tony Hawk

CASUAL GAMES

Casual games are easy-to-play, short session games with little or no learning curve.

– Includes adaptations of traditional games likechess, hearts, and solitaire.– Includes television games like Jeopardy, Wheel ofFortune and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?– Other simple games like Reversi & Minesweeper.

CASUAL GAMES

• Players often already familiar with rules.• Players generally want to drop into and out of these games quickly.

CASUAL GAMES PICTURES

• Solitaire• Who Wants to be a Millionaire?• Minesweeper

EDUCATIONAL GAMES

Designed to teach as they entertain.– Sometimes called “edutainment”.

• Generally aimed at a younger audience than most other gaming products.

– Designers work closely with subject matterexperts to ensure the content is appropriatefor the target group.

EDUCATIONAL GAMES PICTURES

• Reader Rabbit• Carmen Sandiego• Disney Learning Adventure

PUZZLE GAMES

For the intellectual challenge of problemsolving.• The puzzles are an end in themselves and arenot integrated into a story.• Puzzles can be non real-time or real-time.

– There are little or no time constraints innon real-time puzzles.– Real-time puzzles have some timingelements and contain some action.

PUZZLE GAMES PICTURES

• The Incredible Machine• Tetris• Puzzle Bobble

ONLINE GAMES

Online games may include any other genre and their distinguishing feature is multiplayer network play.

– Some accommodate only 2-4 players, but otherswork with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands ofplayers.– Known as Massively Multiplayer (as in: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or MMORPG).

ONLINE GAMES

Often, communities grow around these games.

• Online gaming is still in its infancy, with manytechnical and business difficulties unsolved.

ONLINE GAMES PICTURES

• City of Heroes• Everquest II• Ultima Online• World of Warcraft

PLATFORM

This is a sub genre the focus on the players moving quickly through an environment often jumping and avoiding objects. It is believed that the platform genre began in 1981 with the release of the games Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog.

As companies began to develop platform games for home consoles and computers instead of arcade machines (i.e. Super Mario Bros). • Examples of 2D screen-based platform franchises

include Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong, Lode Runner, Mario Bros.

• evolve more as a 3D market - Super Mario 64.

PLATFORM PICTURES

WHY IS KNOWING THIS IMPORTANT?

Successful game design requires understanding of the possibilities

• When designing a game, it is good to identify the genre first.• Recognizing genres in gaming can translate to other disciplines, as all fields have their own collection of genres.