Game Genres

Name:

First/third person shooter

Description:

Focuses on combat using projectile weapons like guns or missiles.
Usually played by teenage boys or men.
Popular in western culture.

Examples:

COD is a first and third person shooter video game franchise. Originated on the PC with mainly WW2 themes and stories, fighting on the front lines of historic events.

Owned by activation, infinity ward and Treyarch developing the game in two sub-storylines: infinity ward, making the modern warfare trilogy, focusing on current tech and weaponry; Tryarch, making world at war, black ops and black ops two. These start in WW2, sticking to the traditional COD, then branch off into fantasy history’s about top covert missions combining old combat styles and weaponry with futuristic types.

These small differences give the games a very distinct feel, for example in my opinion the Tryarch “old” style warfare feels more clunky and heavy and the modern warfare by infinity ward feels sleeker and smoother (Tryarchs series also contains an exclusive spin off game, Nazi zombies, a zombie survival shooter).

 They also have a lot of similarities with being the same genera, both are quite quick passed and contain scenes of violence or gore with the game involving war. Also, both are leaning towards bigger multiplayer aspects in the later game titles relying more on strategy and communication between a team of online players.

Battle field is a much more realistic shooter, having better and more photo realistic graphics and realistic aspect such as bullet drop and lenses glare to add more of a tactical feel to the game. The game is on much bigger scale with bigger levels and teams with more features like vehicles such as tanks, jets, choppers, ATVs, buggiers etc.

Name:

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena

Description:

Also knows as an action RTS, in which players control one character with powerful abilities, in a team of players to destroy the opposing team’s structures and push “lanes” and waves of AI creatures to ultimately “farm” your hero and win the game.

Usually played by teenage boys.

Popular in western and Korean cultures.

Is big in E-spots.

Examples:

One of the biggest MOBAs on the scene, developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS and inspired by the mod, defence of the ancients on world of Warcraft 3: the frozen throne. Based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft. The objective of the DOTA is for each team to destroy the opponents' Ancient, which is heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. In traditional MOBA style, LOL has two teams witch spawn on opposite sides of the map, connected by three lanes. Each team has one nexus, three inhibitors, and nine turrets (three in each lane). One minuet thirty seconds after the start of the game, AI called minions spawn and automatically charge into lane. They are sent in waves every three minutes after and get stronger each wave. They are used to push enemy turrets and are killed for gold and their XP to level your character’s abilities. Abilities can be passive, active or toggle-able; passive abilities are abilities that affect your champion (character) without using any manna and buffing stats like base damage or health regeneration etc.; active abilities are abilities that you have to manually activate to do unique attacks, these cost manna; toggle-able abilities are a mix of both other types, when activated they become a passive but cost manna over time e.g. a damage buff that uses manna each basic attack but can be disabled.

You gain gold and XP over time and get larger amounts from minion and jungle keep (a neutral AI in the jungle between lanes, they give duffs to increase base damage and manna regeneration) kills, dragon kills (a mini boss AI that spawns at 2:30 and respawns after 6 minutes, gives gold and XP) and Barron Nasher (a world boss that spawns 15:00 and respawns every 7 minutes, it gives a buff that increases overall damage and health). Players spend their XP on levelling up their four abilities making them stronger. They spend gold on items with active or passive stats boosts.

As players grow stronger they fight cooperatively to gain map control and kills to eventually destroy the enemy nexus and end the game. 

Name:

Puzzle

Description:

Played a lot by women on hand held devises but generally for any gender of any age.

Puzzle games are meant to test your problem solving ability and train your brain.

Examples:

Candy Crush is a match three puzzle game developed by king for Facebook and later a mobile app for smartphones. The aim of the game is to match three or more candies to crush a required number of objects, e.g. chocolate. The game works with a life system, where if you fail to complete a level, you lose a life. You get a maximum of 5 lives at a time and you generate a new one after a certain duration of time. This stops you over playing the game and keeps the hit it gives of accomplishment from beating a level feeling fresh and satisfactory. This game is successful as it is easy and played to kill time plus is doesn't get boring as it limits your playtime. Portal is a much more advanced puzzle game. It has a back story with main characters and voiced scripts, the game is based on a test subject using futuristic portal making technologies to navigate around “test chambers” to complete puzzles to unlock the next stage and progress through the story. The levels get progressively harder and more challenging as you enhance your skills of “thinking with portals”, using momentum, timing and reflexes.

Name:

Racing

Description:

driving vehicles to a location or round a circuit in a set time or faster than the rest. Usually played on console by males of all ages.

Examples:

Dirt is a rally car racing game. it has a solo campaign where you go round circuits, aiming to get the best time and race other AI drivers round a track to get as close to first as you can. You earn money for each event and can buy new upgrades and cars to race. The game also has a multiplayer feature where you race other players round a track for XP and level ups to unlock better cars.

Dirt is quite a serious and true to life racing game, one that is not so realistic is Motorstorm. Motorstorm is a racing game based in fantasy places and islands with extreme conditions and extreme vehicles to cause mayhem and destruction around the track; things like monster-trucks, volcanoes, NOs boost and car on car combat.

Name:

Platform

Description:

A game that involves controlling a sprite over and through obstacles to advance in the game. Usually played on hand held devices by all ages.

Examples:

Mario is a platformer based around an Italian plumber in a fantasy  world, trying to save his princess from danger. Playing as Mario, you must venture though the world dodging and defeating enemies by jumping over or on them. There are also bricks you can smash your way through, some giving gold (collected and can be used to get extra lives and power ups) some giving power ups, each power up giving a unique power.

Super Meat Boy  is a platform game in which players control a small, dark red, cube-shaped character named Meat Boy, who must save his cube-shaped, heavily bandaged girlfriend Bandage Girl from the evil scientist Dr. Fetus. Players attempt to reach the end of each level, represented by Bandage Girl, while avoiding falling blocks, saw blades, and other fatal obstacles. The player can run and jump on platforms, and can slide down or jump from walls.

Name:

Role Playing Game

Description:

A game where the player must assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy world, living out the tale or story. Played on all platforms but mostly PC and console by teenagers and adults of both genders. 

Examples:

In Skyrim , you design your character ( race, facial feature ect.) and then play through the legend of the dragon born, someone with the gift of dragon speak. When Skyrim faces the destruction from the return of the dragons, it is your destiny to be its saviour and be the undoing of the dragons return. as you roam through the open world of Skyrim, completing quests and tasks to advance in the story line and level up your skills in crafting and combat until you are strong enough to defeat Alduin, leader of the dragon race.

Fall out is an open world, free roam RPG game. It allows the player to solve the set tasks and problems in a multiple of ways in the fantasy time line where there was nuclear fall out after WW2, causing people to live in bunkers underground for hundreds of years until you venture out, discovering new civilisations of survivors and new and dangerous creatures and places.

Name:

Sandbox

Description:

The player uses tools to edit and roam freely through a virtual world letting there imagination and creativity run wild. Played on PC or Consoles by children.

Examples:

Minecraft is an open world sandbox game, where the player must gather materials, craft and build tools and structures to survive against hunger and AI mobs that spawn in the darkness. The game uses blocks (cubes)  to represent all materials and make the game feel like first person Lego and is one of the reasons it appeals to a younger audience. There is also multiplayer as players can join a server and survive and build cooperatively. 

Gmod is a sandbox physics game that has no objectives or aims and allows you to use props from other games to create structures and games within it.  

Name:

Simulation

Description:

A game that trys to imitate and copy scenarios from real life. Used as a method of training and prediction or games. Played on PC by adults

Examples:

The Sims is a game were you first create a character or a family of characters  ( name, age, gender, ethnicity, personality traits, aspirations and relations). Then, you buy these characters a house with a set budget, you then control the actions of these "sims" on a day to day basis, getting them jobs, sending them school, home life and making friends or relationships. Almost any activity in real life is available in the game, it is realistic and true to life as it is simulating the reality of someone's day to day life.

There are other more specific simulation games that simulate the lives of people in certain job roles. For example, Train simulator  is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations putting players in charge of maintaining trail lines. Another, is Farming simulator were players are able to farm, breed livestock, grow crops and sell all assets created from farming.

Name:

Horror

Description:

A game usually set in a dark or eerie place, full of gore and jump scares round every corner. played Mainly on PC by teenage boys and men.

Examples:

Resident Evil, a zombie survival horror game. Players control the main characters through outbreaks of a biological weapon ( T-virus ) causing the dead to reanimate and attack/kill people, spreading the virus. the original games involved alot of exploration and puzzle solving but recently has developed into a more action orientated game but keeping the gore and jump scares.

Amnesia is a survival horror game were you play as Daniel, exploring a dark and foreboding castle, while avoiding monsters and other obstructions as well as solving puzzles and finding out who you are and the story behind the horrors in the castle.

Name:

Arcade

Description:

Retro style, simplistic 2D and low resolution, some remakes mimicking the games of the 1970s+. Classic arcade games are coin operated and made to be stationary and for public use.

Examples:

Pac man was made in 1980 and is a 2D maze game with the aim of eating all the circles thought the maze and avoid the four enemy AI that chase you.

Space Invaders was an arcade game released in 1978 as one of the earliest shooting games. The aim bin g to shoot down an fleet of invading alien ships as they speed it to land. This classic has been remade and adapted to modern day society and games but kept the basic idea. For example, space invaders extreme is a HD colour version of space invaders with an additional multiplayer mode of four person coop and online ranking systems. there are a lot more remakes of this game like a 3D version of space invades with a hack
 and slash feel, but still the same basic idea.