Video games come in different styles and stunning gameplay experiences. By exploring different types of games, you can make innovative titles that engage players and enhance interactive experiences, and you can accurately identify your target game player.
Whether you're new to game development or mastering game developer roles, understanding video game genres is important and enables you to lay a solid foundation in mastering game development. More types of games are listed in this guide, and we will delve into their subgenres and provide typical examples of each.
What Are the Most Popular Video Game Genres?
Generally speaking, each year has a slight variation in players' preferences. However, the most played games of the year are always the same. Popular games like action games and adventure games are frequently welcomed by many players. The game genres listed are the most common and popular video game genres, and each game has 1 to 3 subgenres and example games.
Action Games
What is it: Action games are story-driven genres that focus on exploration, puzzle-solving, and character interaction rather than fast-paced action. Players often take on the role of a protagonist navigating a richly detailed world, uncovering mysteries, and making choices that shape the narrative. They may feature elements like dialogue trees, inventory-based puzzles, and branching storylines.
Shooters
Shooters focus on ranged combat, allowing players to engage in tactical battles from different perspectives. First-person shooters immerse players in the protagonist's viewpoint, enhancing the sense of immediacy, while third-person shooters provide a broader strategic overview. Classical games like Valorant, Bodycam, and Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
Fighting Games
Fighting games are all about fast-paced, skillful combat, where players face off in one-on-one duels or team battles. Victory comes down to mastering combos, special moves, and well-timed attacks. These games challenge players to think quickly, react instantly, and outmaneuver their opponents with strategy and precision. Classical games like Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat.
Platformers
Platformers are a genre of games that focus on jumping, climbing, and navigating obstacles across different levels. Players control a character as they move through environments filled with platforms, hazards, and enemies, often requiring precise timing and skillful movement to progress. Classical games like Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, and INSIDE.
Adventure Games
What is it: Adventure games emphasize exploration, puzzle-solving, and inventory management rather than action. Players uncover the narrative at their own pace through a point-and-click interface or within 3D worlds. Puzzles test players'logic as well as their inventory management skills.
Point-and-Click Adventures
Point-and-click adventure games let players interact with various elements; players solve puzzles and advance the storyline, often navigating richly detailed settings that enhance the narrative experience. It prioritizes storytelling and logic-based challenges over reflex-driven gameplay, making it ideal for players who enjoy immersive narratives and clever problem-solving. Classical games like The Longest Journey and Grim Fandango.
Text-Based adventures
Text-based adventure games rely on written descriptions and player input to drive the story and gameplay. Instead of graphics, players interact through typed commands or choices, making these games heavily reliant on storytelling, imagination, and decision-making. Classical games like A Dark Room and The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante.
Interactive Movie Adventures Games
Interactive movie adventures game blends cinematic storytelling with player choices, creating immersive experiences where decisions shape the narrative. These games often feature real-time choices, quick-time events (QTEs), and branching storylines, making them feel like an interactive film. Typical games like Until Dawn, Late Shift, and The Walking Dead.
Role-Playing Games
What is it: Role-Playing Game (RPG) is a genre where players take on the role of a character (or party of characters) in a story-driven world, making choices that influence the narrative, gameplay, and character progression. RPGs emphasize character development, exploration, and immersive storytelling, often featuring rich worlds, quests, and decision-making elements.
Action RPGs
Action RPG (ARPG) combines the deep character progression and storytelling of traditional role-playing games with real-time, fast-paced combat. Instead of turn-based battles, players engage in dynamic action, relying on reflexes, timing, and skill to defeat enemies. Typical games like Dragon's Dogma II and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Traditional Japanese RPGs (JRPGs)
Traditional Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) are story-driven games that emphasize turn-based combat, character progression, and rich narratives. Originating in Japan, these games often feature anime-inspired visuals, deep storytelling, and party-based mechanics, offering a structured adventure with a strong focus on character development. Games like Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Suikoden II.
Open World RPG
An Open-World RPG (Role-Playing Game) is a genre that combines the deep storytelling and character progression of traditional RPGs with a vast, freely explorable world. Unlike linear RPGs, open-world RPGs allow players to roam large, interconnected environments, complete quests in a non-linear fashion, and interact with the world in dynamic ways. Games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Starfield
Simulation Games
What is it: A simulation game is a genre that replicates real-world activities or systems, allowing players to engage in immersive, often open-ended experiences. These games focus on realism, strategic decision-making, and long-term progression, simulating everything from managing a city to piloting aircraft or running a farm.
Life Simulations
In games like "Animal Crossing," players engage in activities ranging from building and decorating homes to interacting with a community of characters. The focus on customization and player-driven narratives creates a dynamic experience that caters to individual preferences.
Vehicle Simulations
Vehicle simulation games focus on accurately replicating the experience of driving, piloting, or operating various vehicles. These game genres provide a driving or flying experience, featuring detailed physics and controls for players. Games such as "Gran Turismo" immerse players in the nuances of vehicle handling, offering a realistic recreation of automotive operation.
Sandbox Games
What is it: A sandbox game is a genre of video games that provides players with open-ended freedom to explore, create, and interact within a virtual world. Unlike traditional linear games, sandbox games allow players to set their own goals and engage with the game environment in a highly interactive and unrestricted manner.
Survival Crafting Games
Survival Crafting Sandbox game lets players explore vast, open worlds while gathering resources, crafting tools, and building shelters to survive. Along the way, they must manage essential needs like hunger, health, and stamina, all while adapting to an ever-changing environment. Many of these worlds are procedurally generated, making each playthrough unique and full of discovery. For example, games like Survivalcraft and Terraria.
Physics Sandbox Games
Physics Sandbox game lets players experiment freely with realistic physics in an open-world environment. These games often feature interactive objects, destructible environments, and mechanics like gravity and momentum. With no strict goals, players can build, destroy, and manipulate the world using creative tools, making each experience unique and open-ended. Games like Sandbox - Physics Simulator and Ragdoll Playground 3D.
Strategy Games
What is it: Strategy game is a genre that emphasizes tactical thinking, planning, and decision-making to achieve victory. In these games, players must manage resources, control units or characters, and make smart choices that lead to success. Strategy games can be turn-based or real-time, and they often require players to think ahead, anticipate opponents' moves, and adapt their plans accordingly.
Turn-based Strategy Games
Turn-Based Strategy (TBS) games let players take turns to plan and execute actions, like moving units or managing resources. Each turn allows for thoughtful decision-making without the pressure of real-time gameplay. It's all about strategy and careful planning. Classical games like XCOM and Civilization
Real-Time Strategy Games
Real-time strategy (RTS) games involve managing resources, building structures, and controlling units in real time. Players must make quick decisions, balancing strategy and fast execution. Success depends on efficient resource management and effective tactical moves. Classical games like Age of Empires IV and StarCraft II.
Sports and Racing Games
What is it: Sports and racing games simulate real-world competitive activities, offering players both realistic and arcade-style experiences. These genres cater to a wide range of play styles, from strategic management to high-speed action. Below is a breakdown of their subgenres in detail.
Team sports
Team sports games are based on traditional team-based sports where players control an entire team or a single athlete. These games often include realistic physics, official leagues, and multiplayer modes. Classical team games like FIFA (soccer), NBA 2K (basketball), Madden NFL (American football), NHL (ice hockey), and MLB The Show (baseball).
Arcade Sports
Arcade sports games are all about fast, over-the-top action, trading realism for fun and accessibility. Unlike simulation sports games that aim for accuracy, these games focus on high-energy gameplay, simple controls, and exaggerated moves. Whether it's gravity-defying dunks, insane speed boosts, or special power-ups, arcade sports games deliver a thrilling, casual-friendly experience that anyone can jump into and enjoy.
Sports Management
Instead of direct gameplay, players act as managers, making tactical decisions, handling rosters, and managing finances. Some also incorporate in-depth simulation mechanics. Classical games like Football Manager (soccer team management), Out of the Park Baseball (baseball simulation), Motorsport Manager (racing management).
Puzzle Games
What is it: Puzzle games challenge your brain by testing your ability to solve problems, recognize patterns, and think logically. They typically require you to work through puzzles or brainteasers that can be self-contained or integrated into a larger story. Whether it's solving a jigsaw, decoding a riddle, or navigating a complex logic puzzle, these games help players foster creative thinking and careful analysis, and they're also well-suited for kids to play.
Match-3 Games
Match-3 Games is a classic falling-block puzzle game where tetrominoes drop from the top, and you rotate and place them to complete rows that then disappear. Its simple yet addictive gameplay challenges your quick thinking and spatial skills. These games integrate puzzle-solving into a rich story where progress depends on uncovering clues, deciphering codes, or making logical connections. Classical games like Tetris and Candy Crush Saga.
Physics-Based Puzzles
Physics-based puzzles challenge players to solve problems using real-world physics concepts like gravity and momentum. Players interact with objects in a virtual world, manipulating them to reach goals or trigger mechanisms. It's about thinking creatively and understanding how objects behave in the game environment. For example, games like Cut the Rope, Angry Birds, and World of Goo.
Conclusion
The future of gaming will bring more immersive experiences that push the boundaries of traditional gameplay, giving players fresh ways to explore and interact with digital worlds. As the industry evolves, game genres will continue to innovate, showcasing the endless possibilities of technology and creativity.
That's all about the most popular game genres. The game genres mentioned here are just part of it; more engaging game genres need developers to leverage up-to-date game techniques and perfect ideas to explore. Stay tuned!
