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. | 1986 / 2021 | 14 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 |
Comical Action | 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 | 80 games |
Donkey Kong-like | Anything that replicates the basic gameplay introduced in the original "Donkey Kong" arcade game. (too short) | 1981 / 2016 | 77 games |
Endless Runner | An auto-scrolling platformer characterized by simple controls - usually just one or two buttons - and randomly generated levels. | 1983 / 2018 | 53 games |
Hop and bop | 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 |
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 / 2023 | 391 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 | 118 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 |
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 | 29 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 | 203 games |
Turn-based platformer | A platformer sub-genre where the platforming activity runs in turns rather than real-time. (too short) | 2013 / 2015 | 3 games |
Vertical platformer | A platforming sub-genre where player traverses mainly vertically up or down, often scaling a tower or similar. | 1984 / 2014 | 68 games |
Platformer
Game genre theme
Informal group for finding platformer sub-genres.
1191
games
94platforms
See also: platformer elements
The first Platformer video game was released in 1981.
Sega, Gremlin Graphics and Capcom published most of these games.