(1) GAME GENRES

GAME GENRES

Games come in many different types. Over the years a number of different genres have been created. If you are very creative you can try to make a game that is completely new, but if you want to be on the safe side you better pick a particular genre and make a game that fits in this genre. The following are some of the most important game genres:

• ARCADE GAMES

where reaction speed is the most important aspect of the game. Typical examples are scrolling shooters, maze games like Pacman, breakout type of games, various platform games, etc. These games are relatively easy to make and normally 2-dimensional graphics is good enough for them. These are definitely the type of games you should first start creating. A particular type of arcade games is the pinball game. These are a bit harder to create because you need natural ball movement.

• PUZZLE GAMES

where clever thinking is the most important aspect. Many maze games are actually more based on puzzle solving rather than on reaction speed. Other examples include board games and sliding puzzles. These games are also normally 2-dimensional and are relatively easy to create, unless the game has to be played against a computer opponent in which case it might be difficult to program the way the computer plays the game. (Think about trying to program the computer to play chess.)

• ROLE PLAYING GAMES (RPG)

where you steer a character through a dangerous world. Typical examples are Diablo and Baldur's Gate. The most important part of such a game is the development of the character you control. The character must learn new skills, become more powerful, and find additional and better weapons. At the same moment the opponents become more powerful as well. Sometimes there is also a strong story line and the player must discover what is going on in the world. RPG games are often isometric or fully 3D, but this is not crucial. You can also create 2-dimensional RPG games. RPG games are harder to make because you must create the mechanism of character development. Also the games normally need to be large because otherwise they are soon finished. Good level design is crucial.

• STRATEGY GAMES

either real-time (RTS) or turn-based. Here the player normally only indirectly controls the character in the game but he does set out the strategies that the characters need to follow. Examples include Age of Empires, Caesar, Command and Conquer, etc. Strategy games often use an isometric view. They take a lot of time to create because they require many different game objects, like characters and buildings, that all need their own animated images and specific behavior.

• MANAGEMENT GAMES

in which you must build up an empire. In these games the player manages for example a city, factory, railroad company, park, etc. Examples are SimCity, Theme Park, Railroad Tycoon and in some sense also games like The Sims. Views are often isometric for a good overview. Managing resources is a crucial ingredient. These games are difficult to make because there must be an underlying system that simulates the world, for example the behavior of the visitors of your theme park. Many GOD games can be considered as a combination of management and strategy games.

• ADVENTURE GAMES

where the story line is rather crucial. Most adventure games are largely 2-dimensional and use the well-known point-and-click interface. The difficulty in creating an adventure game does not lie in the actions but in creating an interesting, funny, and surprising story line and in creating the corresponding artwork. You really need to be an artist for this.

• FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS

which can be seen as the 3-dimensional version of the old arcade games. Here the emphasis is on fast-paced action and reaction speed, not on cleverness and puzzle solving. Famous examples are obviously the Doom and Quake series but huge numbers have been created. First person shooters need a 3-dimensional world to create the feeling of presence.

• THIRD-PERSON SHOOTERS

where the player directly controls a game character through a hostile world. A clear example is Tomb Raider. The main difference with role playing games is that there is not much emphasis on character development. It is more a matter of fast action and discovering the game world. Many third-person shooters also have a storyline and borrow aspects from adventure games. Third-person shooters do not need to be 3-dimensional (think for example of the early GTA games) and can be created with relative ease.

• SPORT GAMES

in which an existing sport, like soccer or baseball is simulated. Many such games exist and they are very popular. Creating a convincing and funto-play sport game is though a big challenge. It might work better if you give it a cartoon flavor because then the action does not need to be realistic.

• RACING GAMES

are in some sense a special type of sport game. Because there are so many of them they deserve a category of their own. Some racing games, like for example many Formula-1 games, try to model the driving of a car as realistic as possible. Other games are more arcade style and make racing very easy. Racing games can be both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional. One of the major challenges when making a racing game is to create convincing racing behavior of the computer controlled opponents.

• SIMULATORS

like flight simulators. Such games try to realistically simulate some mechanism, like a plane. They are popular because people like to understand how such systems work and like to be able to control them. Creating simulators is rather difficult because you must implement the internal working of the system you are simulating, e.g. the flying of a plane. Clearly we did not cover all types of games in this list but it at least gives you some indication of the various genres.You can of course produce a game that has aspects of different genres, but you should be careful with this. The player picks a game from a particular genre because he likes that genre. For example, assume that you, as a designer, decided to create an adventure game with some added action. Somewhere in the game the main character has to move to a different city and for this he has to steel a car. Chased by the police the player has to race to the next city, avoiding being caught. This may sound like fun, but be careful. A player that chooses an adventure game likes the story aspect, the fact that he has to solve complicated puzzles, and the fact that he can take his time and is not hurried. The racing part suddenly requires him to play a completely different type of game in which reaction speed counts much more than clever thinking. Probably this is not his type of game and he might be unable to finish the race and will stop playing the game. Similar problems occur for example when combining strategy games with first person shooting action. So best pick your genre and stick to it for the whole game.

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CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. What is a game?
2. What is Computer Game?
3. What do you mean by Game Assets?
4. What do you understand by 'Balance In Game'?
5. Write about story of a Game.
6. What is 'Game World'?
7. What is 'Game Play'?
8. What types/genres of games are there?