G - Game Types Ahoy!

So, at some point, I figured I'd have to explain the different types of games – after all, what if someone stumbled in here without the foggiest notion of what terms like “FPS,” “RPG,” or “Match-Three” meant? Therefore, I am using this post to give an overview of what game-types are what.

Bomb – If you see a game with this tag on it, you can bet that you'll be blowing stuff up. Simple enough, eh?

Bullet Hell – Have you ever played a game where the screen was suddenly 90% projectiles and foes, all screaming towards your ship or character with murderous intent? If so, you've likely played a BULLET HELL SHMUP. I will explain SHMUPS later.

CCG – I hate CCGs. More often than not, these “Collectible Card Games” are just a way for the developers to take your money for nothing but some (usually pretty nice) pixels on the screen, which everyone else who paid a premium for these has also received, making your lv 12 Ultra-Rare Pegasus Knight just about as rare as a Zubat in a cave...

Cell – We're not talking about the Stephen King book here. CELL games are usually based on the life cycle of cellular structures. You are a cell. Swim around, eat things, grow, divide, don't die. That's usually it. These games can get pretty neat, though, and many also fall under the UPGRADE category as well.

Flight – Does what it says on the tin. FLIGHT games are usually something like a flight simulator, or else you're really playing a LAUNCH game with a distance goal.

FPS – Call of Duty. No, seriously – any game in the first-person perspective which has you running around and shooting things (usually brown people or aliens) is a FPS, or First-Person Shooter.

Hybrid Input – HYBRID INPUT games use both mouse and keyboard controlls.

Idle – IDLE games are great for those times when you don't really want to devote a ton of attention to a game. IDLE games play themselves, for the most part, with you only clicking a few boxes now and then to take care of your character, tree, or other goal/McGuffin. These games can get tedious after a few hours, but they're fun for the most part.

Keyboard Only – Okay, I'm cheating here and a little further down, since this and MOUSE ONLY are actually input options. There are games which can only be controlled via keyboard. These are some of those.

Launch – Ah, LAUNCH games. Press a button, hold a key, or do something else the game asks you to do to send your character careening across the screen for massive distance, damage, or other delights. I love LAUNCH titles. They can be great stress relievers.

Match-Three – Ever played Bejeweled? That's a MATCH-THREE. For those who missed the 00s, a MATCH-THREE is a game requiring you to make rows/groups of three similar items or tiles vanish. Usually, these tiles are gemstones. These games come Timed and Untimed, but it's surprisingly unlikely that any two will be exactly identical.

Metroidvania – A mashup of the titles of both Metroid and Castlevania, METROIDVANIA games evoke the devilish difficulty of both of these sainted games. METROIDVANIA games are not at all for the faint of heart or slow of reflex.

MMO – ChaosD1 would do a better job of explaining an MMO than I would, I'm sure, but to put it simply, the term MMO just means “Massively Multiplayer Online”. World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls Online are MMOs.

Mouse Only – Here's my other cheat. MOUSE ONLY games can only be played with a mouse or touch pad, stick, etc. Basically, they're not KEYBOARD ONLY or HYBRID INPUT games.

One-Button – Another easy one: ONE-BUTTON games only use, you guessed it, one button to play. Sounds boring, no? It isn't always the case.

Physics – Ah, PHYSICS games. Most LAUNCH games are also PHYSICS games, at their core, but not all PHYSICS game are launch games. PHYSICS games use the laws of physics to guide gameplay, such as gravity, friction, and inertia.

Pixel – The Retro-styling of PIXEL games makes them look like exceptionally high-quality NES (Nintendo), SNES (Super Nintendo), or Sega Genesis games from the 90s. These games come in all genre – Roleplaying Adventures, Shooters, etc. Some are even horror stories in game form.

Platformer – Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog were all PLATFORMERS. In these games, your accuracy and reflexes mean the difference between life and death. That jump can kill you!

Puzzle – Do you like solving jigsaws? Have a knack for Sudoku? Then you might like PUZZLE games, which pit your brain against whatever the developers can think of.

Racing – Not all RACING games are created equal. On the one hand, you have Twisted Metal and the really sweet-looking RACING games that come with XBOX or whatever. On the other hand... BIG F'N RIGS! (<insert Cinemassacre video>). Basically, these are games in which you race. Sometimes, they don't work, sometimes they're beautiful and really fun.

Ragdoll – There's a saying: “Some people are like Slinkies. They aren't useful for anything, they're usually tangled up, and they just sit there all the time, but it's fun as hell to watch them fall down the stairs.” With RAGDOLL games, you can do just that. Throw grandma from a train! Drop a stick person down into a pit of spikes! Satisfy your sadistic streak in a safe, sane, and consensual manner (and most won't even charge you!). The RAGDOLL game is one of throwing things around until they don't work anymore. Yes, Goat Simulator 2014 is technically a RAGDOLL.

Roguelike – Way back when (I guess), a game came out called Rogue, which had players dying many, many times. Dying is encouraged in a ROGUELIKE game, even necessary in some! If you don't do well with video games and you don't mind dying often, ROGUELIKE games may be for you.

RPG (ARPG; JRPG/KRPG) – RPGs, or Role-Playing Games, come in as many shapes and flavors as ice cream. I will tell you about three here. The Standard RPG is like Legend of Zelda – you have a quest, you are a character, you do the quest as the character. ARPGs are Action RPGs, which usually involve a faster pace and more mechanical parts than a normal RPG. JRPGs are Japanese RPGs; there are also Korean RPGs, or KRPGs. JRPGs and KRPGs are made in Japan or Korea, and both have their own styles and methods of storytelling which are unique and distinct from each other and other RPGs. If you like questing with your sword and spellbook, RPGs are the way to go.

RTS – I hate RTS games. I'm not good at strategy, and that's what these games are all about. Not your father's strategy game, RTS games are Real-Time Strategy games. RTS games are usually war simulations.

Runner – See Spot. See Spot Run. Run, Spot, Run! RUNNERS are games which are played by having a character run from one point to another (hence the name). There's not a lot more to add here, so...

Sandbox – A SANDBOX game has a very open feel to it. You can run around wherever you want, whenever you want, and you experience the game at your own pace. Usually, SANDBOX games are also open-world (you can explore the whole map at once), but not always.

Seek-and-Find – These games are something like a game of Hide and Seek, but on your computer. You hunt around in digital environments of pretty much any kind and try to find items on a list. So... I-Spy for PC, but with better graphics and more variety.

Shmup – The SHMUP (short for “Shoot 'em Up”) is a game based on accuracy, speed, and usually foul language and Mountain Dew.

Sim – If you have never played “The SIMS”, it's a great game where you are God. You make families or individuals, you build their home, you run their lives. This is only one version of the SIM genre (which is short for Simulation). If it is a game where you become a train engineer or a pilot with a first-person option? SIM. If you're building a society? SIM. If you're learning to cook with a mouse and keyboard? SIM. I love me some SIMS.

Strategy – I am abysmal at STRATEGY games. RISK, Othello, Chess – these are all STRATEGY Games, which include the subgenre of RTS (Real-Time STRATEGY) games. RTS titles have you make all your important, game-breaking decisions as though you were present on the battlefield. I hate STRATEGY games. This is only because I am so bad.

Time Management – Most of the time, if you're running a store in a game, it's a Sim, but some Sims are also TIME MANAGEMENT games. In these games, you have to budget not only your cash, but your time as well. As someone who is often late to things (important things), I find TIME MANAGEMENT titles can actually improve your punctuality and your ability to juggle things like blogging, listening to podcasts, and doing homework. Okay, it never really worked for me, but I can dream, right?

Tower Defense – Another set of games I don't enjoy playing but can see the fun in are TOWER DEFENSE titles. In these games, you have weapons or characters or whatever that you place on the screen near some mode of conveyance (usually roads or rivers). Once everything is in place, enemies wail on you until either you or they are dead. These games can be either very fun or horribly frustrating, and no two are identical. Just your luck.

Turn-Based – Alright, I'll admit that this is really just an add-on to other genre. TURN-BASED games are exactly what they sound like, games based around a turn system, where you make your moves or decisions, then the computer or your opponent do what they're going to do until the game concludes. RPGs often use TURN-BASED systems for combat or conversation. Chances are, if you've played many games, you'll have played at least one TURN-BASED one.

Unity – Boy, I'm just a cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater, aren't I? The UNITY game is a game designed specifically for the UNITY player. There are Flash games, which actually most are (since Flash is used for most things on the interwebs), but UNITY games can be used (I think) more easily on Macs, which is a boon to Mac-toting gamers (how do you left-click on a Mac if that's your attack?!). That being said, I've noticed that most UNITY games are also 3D or polygonal (think the Nintendo 64 bit system, if you can). I really have only a very limited understanding of this group, so I'm honestly not sure why it's here. Probably so the entry looks more impressive than it is.

Upgrades – These games are fun, quirky little things. UPGRADE games require you to run through courses or something like that in order to earn currency and purchase, you guessed it, upgrades. There's even an entire series dedicated to the UPGRADE genre, and I highly recommend it. There's something highly rewarding and distinctly completionist about filling in all those stars or dots or what have you.

Virus – These games are unique. Each one is about spread-patterns, be they of paint, blood, or bio-terroristic organisms (such as Zombie Viruses!). I love VIRUS games, especially the “Pandemic” series. Go forth, my readers, and infect the world with your upgraded diseases and agents. Spread the fun (and plague).

So, that concludes this over-lengthy list of different game types. If you feel I've missed one, or if there's a term you don't recognize, feel free to let me know in the comments. A list of games of each type is to follow, once I compile and figure out the links.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC