4X – Strategy built around four core principles: Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate.
Examples: Civilization
Action – Fast-paced games emphasizing reflexes, combat, movement, and hand-eye coordination.
Subgenres include: Action-Adventure, Beat ’em Up (Brawlers), Hack and Slash, Character Action, Platformer, Shooter, Stealth, Survival, Action Arena, and Combat.
Examples: Doom, Devil May Cry, Mario, God of War
Action-Adventure – Combines combat with exploration and puzzle solving.
Subgenres include: Open World, Metroidvania, Soulslike, Immersive Sim, and Zelda-like.
Examples: Zelda, Tomb Raider, Elden Ring
Adventure – Focuses on exploration, puzzles, and storytelling.
Subgenres include: Graphic Adventure, Point-and-Click Adventure, Interactive Fiction, Walking Simulator, Visual Novel, Puzzle Adventure, and Narrative Adventure.
Examples: Life is Strange, Monkey Island
Beat ’em Up – Fight through waves of enemies while progressing through levels.
Subgenres include: Side-Scrolling Beat ’em Up, 3D Beat ’em Up, and Co-op Beat ’em Up.
Examples: Streets of Rage, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge
Card & Board Games – Digital adaptations or originals inspired by tabletop games.
Subgenres include: Deck Builder, Collectible Card Game (CCG), Roguelike Deck Builder, and Digital Board Games.
Examples: Slay the Spire
Casino / Gambling – Simulations of casino games.
Subgenres include: Poker, Slots, and Blackjack.
City Builder – Build and manage cities or civilizations.
Subgenres include: Historical, Modern, and Colony Sim.
Examples: Cities: Skylines
Educational – Games designed primarily to teach.
Subgenres include: Language Learning, Mathematics, Science, and Typing.
Extraction Shooter – Enter dangerous areas, gather loot, and escape before losing everything.
Examples: Escape from Tarkov
Fighting – One-on-one or team-based combat using martial arts or weapons.
Subgenres include: Traditional Fighter, Arena Fighter, Platform Fighter, Anime Fighter, and Weapon-Based Fighter.
Examples: Street Fighter, Tekken, Smash Bros.
Hero Shooter – Shooters centered around heroes with unique abilities.
Examples: Overwatch
Horror – Designed to frighten or create tension.
Subgenres include: Survival Horror, Psychological Horror, Action Horror, Cosmic Horror, and Multiplayer Horror.
Examples: Resident Evil, Silent Hill
Life Simulation – Daily living, relationships, and personal progression.
Subgenres include: Farming Sim, Social Sim, Dating Sim, and Family Sim.
Examples: Stardew Valley, Sims 4
Management – Manage resources, people, or businesses.
Subgenres include: Theme Park Management, Restaurant Management, Hospital Management, Zoo Management, and Colony Management.
Examples: Planet Zoo
Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) – An online video game in which a large number of players, usually hundreds or thousands, interact with each other simultaneously in the same persistent game world across various platforms like PC, consoles, and mobile devices.
Examples: MMO Sandbox, MMO Survival, and MMO Shooter.
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) – Massive online RPG with thousands of players.
Subgenres include: Theme Park MMORPG, Sandbox MMORPG, PvE Focused, and PvP Focused
Examples: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV
Metroidvania – Exploration focused on unlocking abilities to access new areas. Common Features include: Backtracking, Ability Gates, and Large connected maps.
Examples: Hollow Knight
MOBA – Multiplayer team battles where players control unique heroes. Common Features include: Lanes, Towers, and Team Objectives.
Examples: League of Legends
Open World – Large worlds with freedom to explore.
Subgenres include: Open World RPG, Open World Survival, Open World Action, and Sandbox Open World
Examples: GTA V, Breath of the Wild
Party Games – Casual multiplayer games designed for groups.
Subgenres include: Mini-game Collections, Social Deduction, Couch Co-op.
Examples: Mario Party
Platformer – Jumping and movement through obstacle-filled environments.
Subgenres include: 2D Platformer, 3D Platformer, Precision Platformer, and Puzzle.
Examples: Mario, Celeste
Puzzle – Solving logic, pattern, or spatial challenges.
Subgenres include: Physics Puzzle, Match-3, Escape Room, Word Puzzle, Logic Puzzle, and Tile Matching.
Examples: Portal, Tetris
Racing – Vehicle competition.
Subgenres include: Arcade Racing, Simulation Racing, Kart Racing, Rally Racing, and Combat Racing
Examples: Forza Horizon, Mario Kart
Rhythm – Gameplay synchronized to music.
Subgenres include: Rhythm Action, Dance, and Instrument Simulation.
Examples: Beat Saber, Guitar Hero
Role-Playing Game (RPG) – Character progression, statistics, quests, and story.
Subgenres include: Action RPG (ARPG), Japanese RPG (JRPG), Western RPG (WRPG), Tactical RPG (TRPG), Strategy RPG (SRPG), Roguelike RPG, Roguelite RPG, Dungeon Crawler, Monster Tamer, and MMORPG.
Examples: Skyrim, Final Fantasy, Diablo
Roguelike / Roguelite – Procedurally generated runs with repeated playthroughs.
Roguelike factors include: Permanent death, Randomized levels, and Little persistent progression.
Roguelite factors include: Permanent upgrades between runs, Meta progression, and More forgiving mechanics
Examples: Hades, Dead Cells
Sandbox – Player-driven gameplay with minimal restrictions.
Subgenres include: Building Sandbox, Physics Sandbox, Creative Sandbox, and Life Sandbox.
Examples: Minecraft, Garry’s Mod
Shooter – Combat primarily using ranged weapons.
Subgenres include: First-Person Shooter (FPS), Third-Person Shooter (TPS), Hero Shooter, Arena Shooter, Tactical Shooter, Military Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Rail Shooter, Twin-Stick Shooter, and Bullet Hell (Shoot ’em Up).
Examples: Call of Duty, Halo, Doom, Valorant
Simulation – Realistic recreation of real-world activities.
Subgenres include: Flight Sim, Driving Sim, Farming Sim, Life Sim, Business Sim, Construction Sim, Medical Sim, and Train Sim.
Examples: Microsoft Flight Simulator
Social Deduction – Players must determine who is lying or secretly working against the group.
Examples: Among Us
Soulslike – Challenging combat emphasizing patience, stamina management, and learning enemy patterns. Common Features include: Difficult boss fights, Checkpoint system, and Risk/reward progression.
Examples: Dark Souls, Elden Ring
Sports – Recreation of athletic competition.
Subgenres include: Simulation Sports, Arcade Sports, Extreme Sports, and Management Sports
Examples: EA Sports FC, NBA 2K
Strategy – Winning through planning rather than reflexes.
Subgenres include: Real-Time Strategy (RTS), Turn-Based Strategy (TBS), 4X, Grand Strategy, Tower Defense, Auto Battler, MOBA, and Wargame.
Examples: Civilization, StarCraft
Stealth – Avoid detection while completing objectives.
Subgenres include: Tactical Stealth, Action Stealth, and Social Stealth.
Examples: Metal Gear Solid
Survival – Managing hunger, crafting, shelter, and staying alive.
Subgenres include: Crafting Survival, Survival Horror, Open World Survival, and Multiplayer Survival.
Examples: Valheim, Rust
Survival Horror – Horror emphasizing scarce resources and survival.
Subgenres include: Fixed Camera, Over-the-Shoulder, and First Person.
Examples: Resident Evil, Dead Space
Visual Novel – Interactive stories with player choices.
Subgenres include: Mystery, Romance, Horror, and Sci-Fi.
Examples: Danganronpa