Browse Game genre groups

themes

Action	Informal group for finding action sub-genres.		0 game
Action Runner	A genre similar to Endless Runners but rather is split into (presumably handmade instead of randomly generated) levels with specific challenges and with an actual end somewhere along the line.	1988 / 2021	13 games
Action-RPG[ARPG]	RPG sub-genre characterized with heavy focus on fast-paced (real-time) combat and is overall very similar to Action-Adventure genre.	1980 / 2022	506 games
Action-Strategy	A genre combination that focuses on economic supremacy and destroying the enemy's ability to fight back while maintaining high amount of fast-paced action.	1989 / 2019	26 games
Adventure-RPG	A point and click, text, or other type of adventure game (besides Action-Adventure) with significant RPG elements.	1982 / 2021	50 games
Amidar-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay of "grid capture" games, introduced in Amidar.	1981 / 1988	42 games
Anti-Advergame	A game featuring a product but deriding it rather than promote it.		2 games
Arcade Flight Simulator[Arcade Combat Flight Simulator]	A variety of flight sims that are less about flight simulation (such as physics involved) and more about arcade combat. Usually with very little to no actual flight physics simulated.	2012 / 2015	5 games
Arena shooter	Sub-genre of multi-directional shooters, defined largely by multi-directional shooter sensibilities but constrained to a small-ish "arena" (usually small enough to fit on screen at all times).	1971 / 2024	788 games
Artillery game	Strategy sub-genre. Involves lobbing shots long distances with aim based mainly on angle, but often force applied to the projectile is a factor as well as external elements such as wind.	1976 / 2020	165 games
Asteroids-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Asteroids.	1979 / 2017	83 games
Augmented Reality Game (ARG;Alternate Reality Game)	ARGs remove barriers between the game world & the players so that they are shaped by each other. Actions in the real world are part of the game.	1976 / 2019	168 games
Avalanche-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in the classic arcade game Avalanche from Atari in 1978.	1978 / 2016	17 games
Awkward Physics	A nameless genre where most of the gameplay involves fighting an awkward physics mechanics to accomplish your job.	2008 / 2016	10 games
Beat 'em up(Brawler)	Informal group for finding beat 'em up sub-genres; fighting genre modified to so it's no longer one-on-one but against multitude of opponents.	1985 / 2016	17 games
Berzerk-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay of the arcade classic "Berzerk".	1980 / 1998	19 games
Biological simulation	Sub-genre of artificial life	1984 / 2018	56 games
Blitz-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay of the game "Blitz", in which the player controls a bomber aircraft and throws bombs on buildings etc. Once leaving the screen the bomber reappears at a lower altitude.	1977 / 2015	68 games
Boat combat		1983 / 2005	22 games
Bomberman-like	Games where the protagonist must plant bombs in a limited maze to destroy their enemies and use the environment to shield themselves from the blast. Gameplay is often fast and frantic.	1991 / 2020	7 games
Boulder Dash-like	Any games that replicate the game type established by Boulder Dash, that is collecting treasures while evading hazards such as falling boulders.	1984 / 2019	193 games
Breakout-like (Casse-briques;ブロック崩し;Block Kuzushi;Arkanoid-like)[Arkanoid clone;Breakout clone]	A type of action game where player controls a pad - usually moving it along the bottom edge of the screen - and using it to bounce a ball up to destroy blocks with it while trying to prevent the ball from falling off screen.	1976 / 2022	669 games
Bubble Shooter(Marble Popper)	A puzzle shooter genre usually involving a gun (for which only the angle can be controlled) shooting bubbles/marbles into the playing field which likely already has a number of them, with player's aim being attempting to destroy the ones remaining.	1994 / 2015	60 games
Bullet Hell(Manic shooter;Curtain fire;Danmaku;弾幕;Maniac Shooters)	A sub-genre of shmup where the whole screen is literally filled with projectiles, usually with the main challenge being avoiding those bullets (often by recognizing/memorizing firing patterns) rather than destroying enemies.	1983 / 2024	155 games
Business simulation(Economic simulation;Tycoon game)	Business simulation games, also known as economic simulation games or tycoon games, are games that focus on the management of economic processes, usually in the form of a business.	1977 / 2021	236 games
Car combat (Auto combat)	Sub-genre of vehicular combat.	1976 / 2015	80 games
Card battle	A combat strategy sub-genre of collectible card games, involves strategic combat using cards as the primary gameplay mechanic.	1990 / 2019	170 games
Card game	Played with a deck (or pack) of hand-sized heavy paper or plastic sheets with faces & backs.	1970 / 2019	465 games (13 characters)
Cave-flyer (Luolalentely)	A genre where the player controls a ship with 360 degree movement all around and usually physics playing a role in either the ship's control or otherwise.	1981 / 2016	91 games
Centipede-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Centipede, where the character must shoot and destroy segments of a centipede as it moves down the screen.	1981 / 2021	123 games
City-building	Involving planning, construction, and management of population centers (cities) and the people involved with them.	1980 / 2021	256 games
Clicker	A type of simplistic game where the player usually contributes only by clicking madly at opponents to defeat them while using some resource gained from defeating them to upgrade per click effectiviness as well as passive progression effects.	2014 / 2021	22 games
Cockpit simulation	Simulation subgenre where player operating cockpit controls or similar interfaces is one of the main driving forces of gameplay.	2007 / 2020	9 games
Collectible card game(CCG;Trading card game;TCG)[card trading game]	A card game where player acquires new cards either by purchasing them, finding them, or by trading them with other players.	1997 / 2017	93 games
Colony simulation(Colony survival simulation)	A survival simulator where player controls a colony, settlement, shelter, or some other small community rather than single character.	2006 / 2020	27 games
Combat Flight Simulator[combat flight simulation]			2 games
Comical Action (コミカルアクション)	An action/platformer genre characterized by single-screen levels (limited scrolling) and cooperative 2-player action. A level is usually cleared when all enemies on the screen have been defeated (who usually drop random score bonus items).	1983 / 2020	79 games
Construction & management simulation	Sub-genre of business simulation with emphasis on construction which forms most or all of the aspects of managing the business.	1991 / 2021	39 games
Construction puzzle	A construction puzzle is any game where you have to assemble a given set of pieces in a certain way.	1978 / 2020	175 games
Corridor Shooter	A shooter sub-genre where player follows narrow paths with little to no choice where to go.	1982 / 2015	22 games
Dandy-like (Gauntlet-like)	Replicates the gameplay established by Dandy - a top-down maze shooter. Popularized by the first clone, Gauntlet.	1983 / 2017	131 games
Dating simulation	Dating sims are a sub-genre of simulation games, usually Japanese, with romantic elements. The most common objective is to achieve a romantic relationship.	1984 / 2021	191 games
Deathrace	A subsection of racing games where the player must (or can) destroy other vehicles before they are themselves destroyed. This can be with weapons or by causing collision damage.		1 game
Defender-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Defender.	1980 / 2022	88 games
Defense game	Any games where the primary goal is to defend something besides the protagonist (unless the protagonist's movement is uncontrollable by player).	1980 / 2016	46 games
Depthcharge-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Depthcharge, a ship that must sink submarines.	1977 / 2008	23 games
Donkey Kong-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in the original "Donkey Kong" arcade game.	1981 / 2016	86 games
Dress-up Game	A significant portion of gameplay is devoted to dressing a character in clothing according to taste (the players' or a preference of the game)	1984 / 2017	8 games
Duel	A game that requires two players to battle to the death using weapons generally guns or swords		1 game
Dungeon Crawler (Dungeon Bash)	A scenario where the player navigates labyrinthine "dungeons" in search of treasure and evil to vanquish. Used frequently in older RPGs, especially early video game RPGs, and is often treated as a sub-genre of them as such.	1974 / 2022	541 games
Endless Runner(Infinite Runner)[Endless Running]	An auto-scrolling platformer characterized by simple controls - usually just one or two buttons - and randomly generated levels.	1983 / 2018	53 games
Eroge	A Japanese video or computer game that contains erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork.	1985 / 2023	873 games
Erotic	Anything intended to stimulate sexually. May or may not involve nudity or sexually suggestive storylines.	1982 / 2021	96 games
Escape the room(Escape room)	Adventure sub-genre where the goal is to "escape the room". Most commonly seen as online Flash games and made popular by MOTAS which is one of them.	1983 / 2024	40 games
Exergame (Fitness game;Exertainment)	A sports sub-genre defined by actual exercise routines performed by the player as part of the gameplay. Requires controller(s) or other peripheral(s) that are capable of tracking said exercises.	1982 / 2021	124 games
Falling blocks	Sub-genre of visual matching puzzles which involves rotating and placing falling blocks together usually to form complete lines and to make them disappear.	1981 / 2023	1060 games
Farm simulation		1981 / 2017	39 games
Fighting (Versus fighting;One-on-one fighting)	Informal group for finding fighting game sub-genres; Primarily one-on-one fighting genre, but includes tag team fighting, too.		0 game
Fixed shooter (1DoF shooter;Gallery shooter;Space Invaders-like)	A shooter sub-genre where each level fits within a single screen and the main character movement is fixed to a single axis of motion (commonly left and right along the bottom) or no movement at all.	1973 / 2024	1523 games
Frogger-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Frogger, where you navigate obstacles, time your movements, and find safe paths, often from a top-down view or grid-based layout.	1981 / 2022	153 games
Galaxian-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Galaxian.	1979 / 1990	51 games
Galcon-like(Galactic Conquest-like;Swarm Defense)[swarm defence]	Replicates the gameplay of Galcon, a simple strategy game similar to Risk but more dependant on number of units than random chance.	1995 / 2016	26 games
Gamebook[Choose your own adventure;CYOA]	"A gamebook is a book that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices that affect the course of the narrative, which branches down various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages." --Wikipedia	1980 / 2021	119 games
God game	Strategy sub-genre where the player controls the game on large scale, often acting as a god of some sort or with no specific character, where player attempts to interact with and influence a number of autonomous individuals.	1981 / 2018	118 games
Government simulation (Political simulation)	Simulation sub-genre dealing with governmental and/or political simulation of a nation or part of one.	1980 / 2020	149 games
Grand strategy (Grand strategy wargame)	A strategy sub-genre that focuses on [i]grand strategy[/i], using the entire resources of a nation to accomplish your goals.	1985 / 2022	99 games
Grand Theft Auto-like(Grand Theft Auto clone)	An open world action-adventure with transitionless change between on foot and vehicular/mounted movement, vehicle/ride jacking, and combat.	1997 / 2023	146 games
Hack and Slash (Hack and Slay;Hack & Slash)	A sub-genre of beat 'em ups that originated from P&P RPGs where it's seen as derogatory. Differentiated from most beat 'em up by the fact that you primarily use melee weapons instead of bare hands.	1984 / 2021	460 games
Head On-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay of "grid capture" games, introduced in Head On.	1979 / 1990	25 games
Heiankyo Alien-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Heiankyo Alien.	1979 / 1995	8 games
Hero Defense	A PvE game genre where group of heroes defend something from waves of creeps and bosses.		1 game
Hero Shooter	A class-based (the heroes) PvP multiplayer shooter game where classes are distinct characters. Usually from first person perspective but is not necessarily so.		0 game
Hidden object(Hidden picture)	A type of puzzle games where the aim is to find some hidden object(s) via perception, which may be used to solve additional puzzles. Possibly based on the Where's Wally/Waldo books which embody the game mechanic.	1984 / 2021	168 games
Hogan's Alley	A shooting range for tactical training. Typically populated by cardboard cutouts representing hostile & bystander humans sliding & rotating into view.	1983 / 1987	14 games
Horde game(Horde-base game;L4D-like)	A game genre focusing on dealing with massive hordes of usually individually easy to defeat opponents.	2008 / 2016	14 games
Hybrid game[genre fusion]	Mixes two or more game genres more or less seamlessly, but does not fall into definition of some hybrid genre already in existence.	1982 / 2018	118 games
Idler(Idle game)	Any game where most of the game is purposefully made so the player must idle, or simply greatly benefits from idling. This includes games that play themselves and games that have very little for player to actually do that isn't done for them already.	2015 / 2024	9 games
Interactive fiction (IF;Text adventure)	A type of adventure game where the game world and player input is described using text. Such as "You are in a hallway. There is a key on the floor", ">get key", ">use silver key on door", ">turn valve", ">say hello", etc..	1971 / 2022	4553 games
Interactive Movie	Players get to guide the outcome of a movie. The players actions can have minor or major effects, but often the movie either continues or ends.	1983 / 2017	67 games
Jetskiing	(Sport themes)		1 game
Joust-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in the Williams Arcade game "Joust".	1982 / 2009	45 games
Kikstart-like	Replicates the gameplay established by Kikstart - a (side-scrolling) driving/biking game similar to motorcycle/mountain bike trials with heavy emphasis on physics.	1985 / 2017	18 games
Knight Lore-like	Replicates the gameplay established by Knight Lore - an isometric maze-adventure-platformer.	1984 / 2019	125 games
Lander simulation(Landing simulation)	A genre focusing on simulation of landing of air- or spacecraft.	1975 / 2021	86 games
Lemmings-like	Replicates the gameplay of the original Lemmings puzzle game where player instructs or sacrifices individuals from a throng to guide the remainder into safety.	1987 / 2014	12 games
Life simulation(Artificial life)	Simulation individuals, groups of people, relationships, and often their things and surroundings.	1975 / 2019	252 games
Lights Out	The game consists of a grid of lights. Pressing any of the lights will toggle it and the four adjacent lights. The goal of the puzzle is to switch all the lights off (or on), preferably in as few button presses as possible.	1978 / 2004	7 games
Linear Platformer	A platforming sub-genre where the player can move freely from the start of the level to the exit in the furthest part of the stage with no branching routes.	1981 / 1991	6 games
Literature Generator	Programs/Games that generate literature. Must be gamelike to be a valid entry. Not be to be used with strictly serious software that does not qualify for the edutainment category.	1977 / 2020	47 games
Logic puzzle	Puzzles that derive from the mathematics field of deduction but don't necessarily require any actual math.	1975 / 2020	393 games
Loot 'em up(Looter)[looter game;looter-shooter;looter shooter]	A placeholder genre for the rather poorly described genre of games that focus on large quantities of procedurally generated loot that the player is constantly evaluating and swapping out on.	2000 / 2021	71 games
Lunar Rescue-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Lunar Rescue.	1979 / 1987	20 games
Management simulation	Business simulation that emphatizes micro-management with little or no construction involved.	1989 / 2020	7 games
Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMO;MMOG;Persistent Online Game)	Multiplayer games that are capable of supporting hundreds or thousands players simultaneously.	1986 / 2024	718 games
Match 3	A type of visual matching puzzles where you match 3 or more visually similar pieces to progress, often by lining them horizontally, vertically or diagonally.	1979 / 2021	286 games
Maxit-like	Any games that replicate the game type established by "Maxit".	1979 / 1998	24 games
Mech simulator		1994 / 2013	22 games
Medical simulation		1982 / 2010	33 games
Melee combat simulation (Fighting simulation;Close-combat simulation)	This is a placeholder for the nameless genre about melee combat simulation.	1998 / 2017	33 games
Metroidvania	Explorable platformer. Action-adventure or action-platformer sub-genre with a lot of backtracking, a superficial sense of exploration to find locations to which you later gain access to via new abilities, tools, or such.	1983 / 2024	396 games
Militainment (Military entertainment)	"... defined as either entertainment featuring and celebrating the military, or controlled by the military." --Wikipedia	1998 / 2017	45 games
Minesweeper	A logic puzzle where player must deduce the locations of mines via hints in the environment.	1984 / 2022	82 games
Missile Command-like	Missile Command and any game that involves defending a base or cities from incoming missile attacks intercepting the incoming projectiles before they reach and destroy the player's assets.	1980 / 2021	109 games
Moon Patrol-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Moon Patrol.	1982 / 1987	30 games
MUD (Multi-User Dungeon;Multi-User Domain;MU*)	Text-based role-playing, simulation and/or action games that can usually be played with any telnet compatible client.	1987 / 2016	32 games
Multi-directional shooter	A shooter sub-genre defined by open two dimensional environment with freedom of orientation and movement.	1976 / 2019	180 games
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game	Like a [gametag=MMORPG]MMORPG[/gametag] with a more reasonable number of players.		0 game
Nameless genres	Any game genres that don't have widely agreed upon name yet nor have decent placeholder name.		0 game
One-on-one fighting	Based around non-sport close combat between two characters at a time, energy bars and usually limited time, in a stage in which the boundaries are fixed.	1979 / 2021	1366 games
Open World Survival Crafting	A genre popularized by Minecraft, the player has to forage for resources to craft shelter or weapons to survive hostile attacks from other players or NPCs.	1992 / 2023	97 games
Other puzzle	Puzzle games that defy categorization.	1981 / 2013	14 games
Outbreak simulation (Pandemic simulation)	A pandemic or other disease, viral or such outbreak simulation where player attempts to mutate/evolve/develop an extremely virulent and possibly lethal one or tries to fight such.	1984 / 2017	19 games
Outline puzzle(Revealing images)	The objective is to uncover the silhouette portion of background with a marker until most of the silhouette is uncovered.	1981 / 2015	75 games
Pac-Man-like	Any game that replicates the basic gameplay of the original Pac-Man, with the goal of clearing a maze of dots while eluding deadly adversaries.	1979 / 2020	560 games
Pacifist horror	A sub-genre of horror games where player is forced to always flee with no option of fighting back.	2005 / 2019	22 games
Pang-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Cannon Ball and made popular with Pang.	1983 / 2014	25 games
Panic-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Space Panic, that is a platforms with ladders, limited oxygen and the ability to create holes in platforms to trap pursuing enemies.	1980 / 2020	120 games
Party game	Designed for enjoyment during parties or similar gatherings with a large number of participants.	1983 / 2024	215 games
Pengo-like	Any games that replicate the game type established by Pengo.	1982 / 2018	54 games
Pinball	Video games with the same gameplay as the original pinball tables in which score is made manipulating one or more steel balls on a play field.	1974 / 2022	628 games
Platform Hell	A variety of platformers that are utterly unfair, requiring memorizing every little detail of the game to beat them as anything you see or don't see can't be trusted to be what they appear or don't appear to be.	2008 / 2011	4 games
Platformer	Informal group for finding platformer sub-genres.	1981 / 2021	1229 games
Poker: Hi Chicago	[i][b]Hi[/b] Chicago[/i] is a stud poker variant where half the pot goes to the player with the highest spade in the hole. Not to be confused with [i]Chicago[/i] poker.		1 game
Pong	Pong and any game that reproduces a simple two-dimensional table tennis simulation. Widely considered one of the first video games.	1972 / 2021	230 games
Precision platformer	A platformer genre where the focus is extreme precision in movement, either player fails competely (needs to restart the level/game) from tiniest failings, get horrible score for it, or such.	1984 / 2021	30 games
Pursuit	A type of racing game where the aim is to pursue or chase down a specific opponent, often having to disable them from proceeding further.		1 game
Puzzle (Problem solving)	Informal group for finding puzzle sub-genres.		0 game
Qbert-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in the arcade coin-op Q*Bert. Generally this will involve your character traversing a pyramid like structure, changing the colour of tiles and avoiding enemies.	1982 / 2021	94 games
Qix-like	Gameplay based on Taito's arcade game Qix, where one fences off sections off the gameworld, trapping bonuses, enemies and whatever else inside. Usually levels are won by fencing off ~75% of them.	1981 / 2024	106 games
Racing	Generic group about racing games	1977 / 2022	682 games
Rail shooter[railshooter;on-rails shooter]	A shooter sub-genre where the player is stuck on a relatively linear path with few or no branches, can't stray far from it and viewing angles are limited (usually none but what the virtual "rails" dictate).	1982 / 2020	137 games
Raiser sim[raise-up sim;raising sim;princess maker clones]	A genre of life simulation where the player is responsible for raising or otherwise managing the life of an individual up to a point, usually as a personal manager rather than as the character themself. Often named "something maker".	1991 / 2015	47 games
Rally-X-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Rally-X.	1980 / 2007	14 games
Real-Time Strategy	Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video games in which all elements of the game are in real time and do not progress in turns.	1981 / 2024	176 games
Robotron Like	Replicates Robotron: 2084 gameplay - a top-down, twin-stick, independent-aim arena-shooter placing the protagonist in endless waves of multiple types of 100 or more enemies & requiring protection & rescue of civilians among them.	1983 / 2009	24 games
Rogue-lite(Roguelike-like)[Roguelite]	A pseudo-genre derived from Roguelikes leaving only procedural map generation and permadeath while adding meta progression.	2009 / 2024	172 games
Roguelike	Imitates the old Rogue's style, a subgenre characterized by a turn-based dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels.	1975 / 2024	477 games
Roguevania	Combination of castlevania-likes and rogue-lites that started gaining popularity in the early 2010s with the surge of rogue-lites.	2013 / 2014	6 games
Role-playing game	Informal group for finding RPG sub-genres.	1990 / 2017	19 games
Run and Gun	Shoot 'em up sub-genre, with both horizontal or vertical scrolling and may feature multidirectional movement.	1972 / 2024	1178 games
Sarcastic (Sarcasm)	A characterization to express contempt. Often combined irony & a change in voice tones. Usually a subset of Humorous.		1 game
Scramble-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Scramble.	1981 / 2008	82 games
Scrolling shooter	A shooter sub genre characterized by automatically advancing (autoscrolling) environments, both vertically or horizontally.	1975 / 2023	2172 games
Shariki-like	Replicates the gameplay established by Shariki - a combination of 3-visual matching and 1x2-tile cycle puzzle.	1994 / 2021	71 games
Shoot 'em up	Informal group for finding shmup sub-genres.		0 game
Shooter	Informal group for finding shooter sub-genres.		0 game
Simulation	Informal group for finding simulation sub-genres.		0 game
Sliding puzzle (Sliding block puzzle;Sliding tile puzzle)	A type of puzzle where player usually slides square tiles across a grid where only one square is free.	1979 / 2016	182 games
Social simulation	Sub-genre of artificial life	1985 / 2015	54 games
Sōkoban (倉庫番;Soukoban)	Soukoban is a transport puzzle in which the player pushes objects around a maze and tries to put them in designated locations.	1982 / 2019	115 games
Souls-like[Souls game;Soulsborne]	A variant of action-adventure/RPG games popularized by FromSoftware with their Dark Souls and Bloodborne games. Superficially similar to hack&slash games but with much slower, tactical pace.	2001 / 2024	39 games
Space combat simulator	A variation of space flight simulators where the focus is on futuristic combat.	1977 / 2015	77 games
Space Flight Simulator[space flight simulation]		1986 / 2009	0 game
Space Invaders-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Space Invaders, where the player character at the bottom of the screen is tasked with shooting down waves of advancing enemies descending from the top.	1978 / 2024	128 games
Space trading and combat simulator	A sub-genre of space flight simulators, combines elements of commerce, exploration, and combat within a vast, open-space setting.	1982 / 2021	140 games
Spectacle Brawler(Spectacle Fighter)[Character Action;Stylish Action]	A variety of beat 'em ups and hack'n'slash games that focus in "spectacular" visuals and super powered protagonist.	2001 / 2018	49 games
Sport			1 game
Sports management	A sub-genre of sports and management simulations where player trains and manages a person or group of people and then sends them to a competition, which they watch as (completely) non-interactive event.	1981 / 2018	539 games
Stealth game	Not only is stealth possible, the gameplay focuses on it, as the primary focus is on avoiding direct confrontation with enemies or opponents.	1981 / 2023	136 games
Strategy	Informal group for finding strategy sub-genres.	1988 / 2009	9 games
Strategy-RPG	Hybrid genre unrelated to tactical-RPGs.	1980 / 2018	21 games
Street Racing	A subset of Racing/Driving games that involves the player navigating through streets often with other non-competing cars to avoid	1987 / 2021	11 games
Survival simulation		1977 / 2021	42 games
Tactical(Tactics)	Requires the use of tactics. Although not much different from strategy on brief glance, tactics is more involved with operation of individual units rather than squads/platoons, resource management or construction.	1981 / 2024	805 games
Tank simulator		1989 / 2016	13 games
The Sumer Game-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in "The Sumer Game".	1971 / 1995	46 games
Tile cycle puzzle[tile cycling puzzle]	A visual matching puzzle where player cycles tiles in predefined area (usually 1x2, 2x2, or similar area of adjacent tiles) until they match what is desired.	1994 / 2021	8 games
Tile swap puzzle[tile swapping puzzle]	A visual matching puzzle where player swaps any tile with any other to achieve what is wanted. May also occur with swapping groups of adjacent tiles together for added challenge.	1982 / 2012	5 games
Tiling puzzle	Sub-genre of transport puzzles.	1983 / 2016	25 games
Tower Defense	Strategy sub-genre where player is limited to building defensive towers and has no movable defenses (or moving them is hard/detrimental) to protect something, and never goes on the offense.	1990 / 2024	393 games
Tower Offense (Reverse Tower Defense;Tower Attack)	Inversion of the Tower Defense strategy genre where the player controls the horde trying to reach whatever is being protected by the towers.	1984 / 2017	37 games
Trading simulation	A business simulation that focuses on trading of goods.	1974 / 2013	44 games
Train simulator	Sub-genre of simulation. Covers both simulating actual driving of a train as well as business management (strategy) simulation of railroad industry.	1983 / 2011	148 games
Tube racing	A racing genre characterized by near-omnidirectional gravity allowing you to drive along the walls and ceiling of a tube-like structure.	1994 / 2017	9 games
Tube shooter	Shmup sub-genre where player moves alongside the inside surface of an abstract tube.	1979 / 2016	78 games
Turn-based platformer	A platformer sub-genre where the platforming activity runs in turns rather than real-time.	2013 / 2015	3 games
Turret defense	A nameless genre where player mainly controls a turret gun (usually a ballista) and protects something (usually a castle) from waves of enemies while often also using support powers (such as magic) and sending automated troops to aid in the defense.		6 games
Twitch shooter	Shooters characterized by overall fast-paced action (auto-run and no stamina system), no cover system, and favors strafing, jumping and constant movement to dodge bullets and enemy attacks.	1993 / 2017	77 games
Unknown genre	Takes a severe departure from its base genre, becoming something largely unidentifiable.	2011 / 2013	2 games
VAGUE: Jump and Run	This can either mean basic platformer or hop and bop sub-genre of it.	2008 / 2013	6 games
Vertical platformer	A platforming sub-genre where player traverses mainly vertically up or down, often scaling a tower or similar.	1982 / 2014	77 games
Virtual pets (Digital pets;Artificial pets;Pet-raising simulation)	Digital companions or creatures that players can care for, nurture, and interact with within the game's virtual world.	1986 / 2014	149 games
Visual novel[NVL;ADV;AVG]	Sug-genre of adventure games. Easily confusable with dating sims with which visual novels share their outward appearance, but the emphasis is on non-gamelike elements and the lack of use of statistics or other numerical data.	1973 / 2023	3845 games
Wargame	A sub-genre of strategy games involving warfare on tactical or strategic level. Categorized somewhat differently from their tabletop cousins, but generally refers to any strategic game focusing on waging war.	1973 / 2020	851 games
Warlords-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in Warlords, an Atari arcade game, mixing elements of Pong and Breakout.	1980 / 2007	9 games
Whac-A-Mole	Anything that imitates the Whac-A-Mole gameplay where user wields a mallet which they use to whack moles that appear from holes randomly.	1981 / 2015	24 games
Word game (Word puzzle)	Video games games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties.	1970 / 2022	953 games
xPS/RTS	This is a placeholder for the FPS/RTS and TPS/RTS hybrid genres.	1988 / 2016	30 games
Zelda-like	Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in "The Legend of Zelda". Meant to be for the classic "2D overhead" Zelda type games aka "The Legend of Zelda (NES)" clones.	1986 / 2012	20 games

entities

Audio game		1997 / 2013	6 games
Collectathon		1996 / 2008	14 games
Main game types	Informal group for finding the main game types.		0 game
Maze	A genre characterized by labyrinthine levels and evasion of enemies, often with little to no way to fight back.	1977 / 1982	3 games

concepts

4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate;eXploration, eXpansion, eXploitation and eXtermination)	Strategy sub-genre focusing on managing a whole empire, with full access to the whole game world at all times, management of cities of equivalent, troop movement on strategic level, multiple ways to win, and others.	1972 / 2022	252 games
Action-Adventure	A very vague genre often involving lots of action in form of bloody combat, somewhat spacious environments, and an occasional environmental puzzle. Also includes adventure games that are very action oriented.	1980 / 2024	1128 games
Adventure game elements	Any tags that describe game elements originally found in adventure games only, or generally seen as a defining traits of the genre.		0 game
Adventure(Quest)	Informal group for finding adventure game sub-genres.		0 game
Altered genre	Takes a known genre and changes it in a way that it is no longer correctly described as it despite having identifiable elements from it.	1975 / 2017	46 games
Arcade	Mimics the style of arcade games by having short levels, simple controls, fairly non-stop hectic action, rapidly increasing difficulty combined with minimal or non-existent character or vehicle customization possibilities.	1971 / 2016	299 games
Arena FPS/TPS(Arena-style shooter)	Arena-style first/third-person shooters that have fast-paced, twitch/skill-based gameplay in fairly small locations with powerups strewn across them. Equipment is only gained as pickups within the levels themselves. Commonly PvP oriented.	1999 / 2017	58 games
Audio Matching	A type of puzzle games where you match audio patterns/sounds together to progress.		1 game
Bejeweled Twist	Replicates gameplay of Bejeweled Twist where you rotate a number of pieces to create lines of 3 or more matching pieces.	2008 / 2009	4 games
Belt scroller	A slightly slanted perspective (almost side view, isometric or similar) games where game is played on a mostly left or right progressing field with limited depth towards and away from the camera. Commonly used by beat 'em ups.	1986 / 2019	211 games
Casual game	Simple, family-friendly games that are easy to pick up and play for a short while but do not take hours of dedication to accomplish something.	2006 / 2024	78 games
Cinematic platformer	Distinct from typical platform games in that they focus on fluid, life-like movements, without the exaggerated physics found in other platform games.	1989 / 2018	113 games
Combat racing	Racing where you can attack your opponents in one manner or another, possibly removing them from the race permanently.	1988 / 2022	82 games
Design puzzle	Puzzle games where the challenge lies in designing something.	2009 / 2011	6 games
Diablo-like	Top-down hack&slash action-RPGs where roleplaying is usually nonexistent and the focus is solely on combat and combat related character advancement.	1996 / 2021	62 games
Dungeon Keeper-like	A variation of god games.	1997 / 2012	0 game
Eastern RPG (Console RPG;Japanese RPG;JRPG)	Any tags commonly perceived as defining or common traits of eastern-style RPGs.		0 game
Environmental puzzle	A type of puzzle that involves altering the environment, such as pushing large objects around or toggling levers that move a series of platforms to reach places otherwise inaccessible.	1988 / 2022	126 games
Exploration game	An adventure sub-genre where exploring the environments is the primary activity, usually with extremely non-linear levels or even metroidvania-ish progression. Likely to have little to no combat and some even lack a way to finish them (no ending).	1979 / 2020	29 games
First-person shooter(FPS)[1st person shooter]	A shooter from first-person perspective with fairly free movement (not locked to a grid, rails, or autoscrolling) and view direction. As such, despite the name, simply being from 1st person perspective and being a shooter is not enough to qualify.	1973 / 2024	2183 games
Flight Simulator		2010 / 2011	0 game
Fortress simulation(Castle simulation)	A simulation sub-genre similar to city building, but focuses in building fortifications in addition to troop maneuvering and sieging.	1991 / 2014	21 games
Gallery shooter(Shooting gallery)[light gun shooter]	A type of shooter where player control is limited to a reticle across a screen or a light gun where any movement is out of player's control. Generally mimics shooting gallery games found in carnivals.	1977 / 2016	35 games
Hop and bop [Head jumping;Jumping on heads;jump and run]	A platformer genre characterized by jumping on the heads of your enemies being the primary (and possibly the only) method of disposing of them.	1984 / 2022	162 games
Immersive sim[immersive simulation]	Game genre focusing on generally systems-driven and open-ended gameplay, that is, immersive and reactive game systems that allow multiple solutions. Usually first-person and sometimes with role-playing game influences.	1992 / 2018	58 games
Kinetic novel	A visual novels that lacks the interactive gameplay elements. It primarily focuses on delivering a linear and predetermined narrative experience to the viewer.	1987 / 2017	163 games
Meditative (Experiential/Contemplative)	A large portion, if not all, of the game is about experiencing, contemplating, and or meditating about it.	1998 / 2017	11 games
Military simulation		2002 / 2011	14 games
Music game	A game genre where gameplay is focused on music and player's interaction with it in various ways, including rhythm, management, generation, and so forth.	1978 / 2023	115 games
Otome game (Maiden game)	A dating sim sub-genre targeted at heterosexual females. That is, involves female protagonist who attempts to form a lasting relationship with one or more potential male partners.	1994 / 2017	166 games
Platformer elements	Any tags that describe game elements originally found in platformers only, or generally seen as a defining traits of the genre.		0 game
Point-and-click adventure	Adventure games mainly played via pointer device driven user interface. The player clicks to move their character around, interact and examine.	1984 / 2024	1522 games
Puzzle platformer	Puzzle platformers are characterized by their use of a platform game structure to drive a game whose challenge is derived primarily from puzzles.	1983 / 2023	204 games
Puzzle-Adventure	A sub-genre of adventure games that often plays more like series of puzzles than an adventure with puzzles.	1991 / 2017	13 games
Sandbox	A genre characterized with players ability to do pretty much whatever they want, often with construction/crafting options with little to no challenges (by default). Likely also employs open world design.	1982 / 2023	237 games
Shooter elements	Any tags that describe game elements originally found in shooter games only, or generally seen as a defining traits of the genre.	2007 / 2009	0 game
Simulation elements			0 game
Snake (Nibbler;Nibbles;Rattler;Tron-like)	Replicates the core gameplay of controlling a snake or worm that lengthens as it devours food and dies from crashing to walls or other snakes, possibly even itself.	1976 / 2021	460 games
Strategy elements	Any tags that describe game elements originally found in strategy games only, or generally seen as a defining traits of the genre.		0 game
Survival horror	A sub-genre of video games inspired by horror fiction that focuses on survival of the character as the game tries to frighten players.	1975 / 2024	345 games
Tactical RPG[Strategy RPG;T-RPG;S-RPG;Tactics RPG;Tactical role-playing game;Simulation RPG;シミュレーションロールプレイングゲーム]	A sub-genre of RPGs focusing on tactical or stategic combat while having practically no personal achievements, adventuring, or such as you would in more traditional RPGs.	1988 / 2023	480 games
Team Brawler (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena;Aeon of Strife-type game;Defense of the Ancients-type game)	A multiplayer action game genre that started out with Dota and Aeon of Strife, but has expanded beyond their definitions. Usually involves two small very character oriented teams fighting against each other, often with RPG style leveling.	1998 / 2019	67 games
Third-person shooter(3rd person shooter)	A derivative genre of first-person shooters with same restrictive qualifiers, but from third-person perspective instead.	1995 / 2000	5 games
Time management game	A "puzzle" genre where the aim is to maximize efficiency over time. Often involves maintaining a schedule and/or building efficient task queues.	2007 / 2011	7 games
Transport puzzle (Logistics puzzle)	A variety of puzzles where the goal is to transport something somewhere else, such as by sliding/pushing game pieces around.	1982 / 2020	167 games
Tug o' War strategy	A nameless genre that resembles a very simple single-plane strategy where one factions harvests/generates resources in one end and sends endless stream of uncontrollable troops towards the other end and hope they beat the opposition generated there.	2009 / 2013	11 games
Twin-stick shooter (Twin-analogue shooter)	A shooter sub-genre characterized by two (joy)stick control with no buttons needed to shoot, one stick controls movement while the other stick controls shooting (both direction and the action).	1980 / 2021	117 games
Vehicle simulation	Simulation sub-genre focusing on vehicle operation and physics.		0 game
Vehicular combat	Players participate in combat in any type of vehicles as if the vehicles themselves are the combatants.	1978 / 2019	245 games
Visual matching	A type of puzzle games where you match colors, shapes, patterns or other visual cues together to progress.	1978 / 2022	786 games
Western RPG (Computer RPG)	Any tags commonly perceived as defining or common traits of western-style RPGs.		0 game