Genres of computer games: list. Classification of computer games by genre

Another 20 years ago, the classification of computer games by genre was not the place to be, but virtual entertainment existed, and already in quite a large number. Many of the current series come from exactly that era. Today, developers and journalists always tightly tie each game of the Igroprom to a certain genre. However, different people do not always agree on the same product.

Basic Groups

To classify computer games by genre did not seem too complicated, it is necessary to define three classes, which can be attributed most of the game programs:

• Dynamic games. From the gamer you need the maximum reaction speed and accuracy. Minimal intellectual tasks.
• Planning Games. The main thing in them is the development and assessment of the situation. At the same time, one has to think not only about the present state of affairs, but also about what can happen on the following moves and what benefits can be gained in the future. The closest and most obvious parallel is chess.
• The plot game. They may contain elements of the two classes described above, but the goal is to advance on the plot, and not to win over the enemy.

Arcade

Arcade is one of the oldest genres. Their main feature is the simplest management. For example, a gamer does not need to know anything about how to drive a car in real life. Just click on the arrow button to rotate.

However, this does not mean that it is very easy to win the arcade. Many developers follow the golden rule: it is easy to master, it is difficult to win.

The arcades can be divided into several sub-genres:

• Scroller - A game with linear levels that scroll left or right. This includes classic Golden Ax.
• Room - first you need to perform a task in a limited space, after which you open the door, which will allow you to move to the next level. A typical representative is Digger.
• Tier - the target is hit on targets (Duck Hunt, some levels of "Contra").

Today, thanks to independent developers, there are many arcades at the junction of genres. They combine the simplicity of the original class and are complicated by additional elements.

Action

Computer games genre action presuppose the management of a person. The main difference from arcades is complexity. And it is expressed not in the amount of effort spent to win, but in the development of gameplay and environment. Almost always, the developer tries to make the virtual reality as realistic as possible (impossibility to climb a steep wall or jump above a few tens of centimeters, a first person view, a restriction on the speed of movement, etc.).

We can say that the ancestors were still arcades, but great freedom immediately identified them in a separate category.

If you make a rating of computer games by genre, action will be in the first place. It so happened that all products of this category are always at the forefront of progress. It happens that behind the primitive gameplay hides a graphics monster, all the beauty of which can be seen not on every computer. It's worth remembering Doom3 or Crysis.

Action Options

Genres of computer games, the table of which is often published in thematic magazines and on pages of other information resources, is often divided into several smaller ones. And the action is one of the most "densely populated."

First of all, it is worth noting the balance between action and mental work. Some militants assume shooting at everything that moves, others require compulsory training, studying the terrain, developing tactics.

The first are very close to the arcades (Serious Sam, Doom, CoD). They carry the gamer a lot of enemies, the speed of action, the story rollers.

On the other side of the scale is a stealth-action. This subgenre appeared relatively recently. To shoot or kill here is either not necessary at all, or it happens extremely rarely. Every move must be neat and invisible. In the vicinity of it departed survival horror. Here, the enemies are often much stronger than the player, and the weapon is either weak, or can be used limitedly (few rounds).

Genres of computer games are often classified according to the mode of combat. And the choice here is small. If shooting is supposed, then the product can be safely called a shooter, if the weapon is slasher.

The outlook also affects the subclass of computer games. If the camera is located behind the main character's back, the title "Third person" is added to the title. If you get the impression that a gamer looks at the world with the eyes of a character, the name acquires the prefix First person.

It should be noted that the characters of computer games by genre can move. That is, in a series about the same hero can be present products of different subclasses and at the same time do not have a common gameplay. Do not choose entertainment based on the name.

Stand alone is fighting, or martial arts. The gameplay of similar products is not similar to other action games.

The very last thing you can write about action movies: sometimes they inherit the elements of RPG. This is expressed by the presence of the main character's skills and characteristics, which significantly affect the gameplay. Also, as the levels progress, these skills change, intensify or lose along with the change of equipment. This mechanics is an obligatory attribute of action-RPG.

Simulators

Action and arcade - not all genres of computer games, the list of which could be called the phrase "dynamic entertainment." Simulators can also be added here. This definition is often added definitions that make it blurry and incomprehensible.

In fact, there are only two subclasses: a simulator of technology and sports games. The first assumes high complexity of physical calculations. Their task is to maximize the prototype's behavior to the real one.

The second is an attempt to imitate sports competitions. The player is exactly the same as in the action, man controls (or even several). With the first, this genre is related to the most realistic behavior of the characters and their interaction.

It should be noted that sports managers in no way belong to the class in question - they are rather economic strategies.

RTS

Describing the genres of computer game planning, it is worth starting with real-time strategies (RTS). The speed of reaction in them plays the same important role as in the militants. It is worth a moment to distract, and the game can be considered lost. However, a lightning-fast reaction hides an equally important stage of planning and assessing the situation.

RTS usually has two equivalent parts: the base and the battle. The game of strong players is usually reconciled, as in chess. But because of the need for rapid media action, representatives of this class are often called mass action.

Global Strategies

Describing genres of computer games, the list of which started with RTS, global strategies can not be ignored . Their essence is in the systematic development of the plot with rare battles. The whole party is tied up on a fine calculation and does not make any demands on the skills responsible for speed and accuracy.

Global strategies are not limited to building a base. Often on the map can be located many cities, in addition to fighting measures, there is diplomacy. Often there is technical progress and other characteristics that should be developed to achieve victory.

The gameplay can be both step-by-step (TBS), and with battles taking place in real time. Although developers sometimes mix these two types. For example, in Total War, almost all moves are made, as in TBS, but when one army attacks another, the battles unfold in the same way as in a full-fledged RTS.

A genre very close to that described above is a local strategy. Its representatives are almost completely deprived of micro-management. Production of resources and their seizure still remained, but their choice is very limited: only those that are used exclusively for military purposes are available. Without direct clashes of armies in such projects can not do.

I must say that genres of computer games in history are often represented by strategies. There are similar representatives in dynamic entertainment, but they are almost always limited to recreating the network, the plot can also be imagined. In the strategy, developers often painstakingly endure whole epochs, not allowing the gamer to back away from real events.

Wargames, or war games

If you completely remove production, and leave only the need to conduct military operations, you will get a "war game". The opportunities for tactical victories from this only increase. A weak general can not now win at the expense of industry and the economy.

Tactical games

Tactical strategies are similar to other genres of computer game planning, the main difference is that control is not carried out by troops and armies, but only by a few units. In addition, each fighter will have individual characteristics, his personal equipment and weapons. The system of character development is like the one used in RPG.

Managers

If war games and tactical games do not have elements of development in themselves, then in managers everything is done just the opposite - all this is there. However, at the same time there is no war, victory can only be economic. It is believed that invented this genre by Sid Meier.

Because of the simplicity of developing such products, the representatives of the gameev are quite a lot here. It is enough for a developer to know several mathematical rules and write scripts that will use them. And the main opponent of the gamer will not be computer competitors, but just a set of rules set up to simulate market relations.

Stand alone are the sports managers. Their main difference is the almost complete lack of graphics and dozens of tables, it is sometimes impossible to deal with them in a week.

Indirect control

Very young genre - the strategy of indirect control. The main idea of this genre is the inability to give the unit a direct order. It is necessary to evoke in him a sense of need for action. And it is desirable that the action is the one that is necessary to advance the story.

This idea is very close to the previous genre, the difference is in the goals. And the contrast of the latter is so strong that no one will name the strategy of indirect control by the manager. Representatives of this genre is very small, in view of the difficulties associated with the development. Medieval, Majesty, Black & White - that's probably all the big names you can remember.

Puzzle Games

If you choose genres of computer games for children, pay special attention to this one. Often, his representatives are called murderers of time or entertainments of secretaries. However, the opinion is too superficial.

Basically, as the name implies, representatives of this class primarily occupy the head, not the hands. They can both transfer the mechanics of board games to the virtual world (chess), and use their own (Armadillo, Tower of Goo).

Narrative Activities

This category should include those representatives of virtual entertainment, which are at the forefront not so much the gameplay, as the narrative, atmosphere, quality plot. They are often told about: "This is a game in which you can live."

Often, they have features and action, and strategies, but not for this in the first place set plot adventures. It is this state of affairs that Diablo and his clones can not be considered to be similar to, as much as the fans of this product would like.

Quests

Computer games in the genre of quest - the most thoroughbred representatives of the plot adventures. In them, a gamer pre-assigned a role, and from this point of view, tells an interactive story. Quests are almost always linear, you can go from beginning to end only one way. The possibilities of solving each problem are a minimum. The main actions are communication with NPCs, searching for items, and combining them.

This situation simplifies the development to a minimum and allows the script writer to polish the storyline to a shine. Alas, today quests are not a popular genre, and therefore do not pay off. A rare representative of this branch falls into the top sales lists or search queries. Consequently, today it is often possible to meet low-budget products of this direction.

Often the quests are said to be computer games of a detective genre. This happened because of the large number of representatives reporting about the detectives. Many developers simply "wrap" the stories of famous books in an interactive shell.

Puzzle Quests

This kind of virtual entertainment can have an intricate and complex plot, as in ordinary quests, but it may be that there is none at all. The place of the scenario in this case comes the atmosphere. The gameplay consists entirely of solving riddles and puzzles of varying complexity.

The most famous representative of the class is Myst and its many sequels. Like simple quests, puzzles are very unpopular today.

Role Playing Games (RPG)

In RPG (role-playing games), the plot and freedom of action are collected into a single whole. Action and planning elements have also been added. This genre spoils gamers and tactics, and an advanced combat system, and developed gameplay. But do not confuse the secondary and primary. It is because of this that "Allods" and Diablo are very often called "rolevki."

Thus, only the product, the main thing in which is the story, interaction with the NPC, freedom of action, can be considered an RPG project. It is because of this classic of the genre are Arcanum, Fallout, Planescape. Often, "rolevki" define exactly as computer games in the genre of fantasy, which is absolutely wrong. Despite the fact that often the most popular representatives of this class and offer a gamer to visit the fabulous worlds, setting does not affect in which group to record the product.

In addition to the plot, no less important attribute is considered to be wagering. A gamer can try on the role of a magician, warrior, thief. The principle of "good - bad" does not go overboard either. However, developers make everything much more difficult. You can do a good deed, which will not be accepted by everyone. In addition, not every NPC will trust someone who has done many "good" things. For some, the main criterion for predisposition is intelligence.

For each action of the protagonist, the world will react. And the individual NPCs in it will not leave the plot unchanged. Accordingly, it turns out that each level can be traversed in dozens of ways that lead to different finals.

MMORPG

Describing genres of computer games, you can not ignore the MMORPG. It incorporates some features of the strategy. Many gamers do not use the role-playing component of such projects, but primarily plan the development of the character.

There are almost no differences in products representing online RPGs. The formula remains the same, only minor coefficients change. In this case, most of the time the player spends on tedious "pumping". Interestingly, MMORPG has almost no other goals than reaching the last level.

Online "rolevki" waiting for the developer, who can breathe freshness into the genre. Alas, the amounts needed to create such projects are too high, which is why those studios that can afford the MMORPG release go the beaten path, trying to avoid risks.

MUD

You can say that this genre is an antiques. However, these games are developing and are successful, although not for too many users.

What is MUD? The description will be quite simple: in the window appears the characteristic of the terrain where the character is located. Just the text commands are set: use things, move, turn around, open the door. The MUD often uses the classic role-playing system D & D. It determines how the character will evolve.

The most interesting is that the gamer does not get all the keywords that can be entered into the console. Moreover, this list is changed when navigating between locations. After reading the description carefully, you can find something that is hidden from the eyes of inattentive users.

Clever users of MUDs are encouraged. And the secrets of a popular representative can not always be read on the forum, because knowledge in such games is power.

For the little ones

Like any other virtual entertainment, geymdev works can be divided into the following genres of computer games for preschoolers:

• Puzzles. Here you can include simple puzzles, labyrinths. They develop logic, thinking, memory, and the assiduity of the child.
• Computer variants of desktop entertainment. These include specks, dominoes, checkers. The child learns planning and forecasting.
• Musical games - created specifically for the development of hearing and a sense of rhythm.
• Teaching programs - one of the main virtual entertainment in the life of a preschooler. They are aimed at the development of certain skills and skills: the study of colors and forms, alphabet, counting, etc.