Categorizing games is complex because they are often seen both by the type of game and by the way we view it. Before we look at the many ways that games are categorized by genre, let’s look at the different visual perspectives—points of view—that are commonly used in games.
This chapter covers:
When you are brainstorming your own games, try changing the point of view of your game and see how that might affect the way it plays. For instance, how different were the original Prince of Persia games from the original Tomb Raider games? In some ways they were remarkably similar, yet one was a side-scrolling 2D game and the other was a full 3D environment.
As in written literature, where you have first-person, second-person, and different sorts of third-person perspectives, games also use a viewer perspective. Some games in the early days were text only and were generally set in a second-person “voice,” but with graphical games, the perspectives most commonly used are first- and third-person.
First-person perspective is the direct view as seen from the eyes of your player character.
Second-person perspective is the view of a character through someone else’s eyes.
Third-person perspective is the view from outside your player character. This is generally a view that follows the character from somewhere behind, above, or above and behind the character.
There are three major categories of games graphically:
Text only (no graphics)
2D graphics
3D graphics
In addition to pure text games, there also used to be games that were essentially text games but with a few still images thrown in, like an illustrated book. This is not a viable format for today’s mainstream market; however, for some web-based game experiences, it may still be used on occasion. In addition, technically games can also be in color, black and white, or even some special format, such as solarized or sepia tinted. But variants are also extremely rare, and to use an alternate to color would require a specific stylistic rationale. (For more style options, see the “Visual Styles” section later in this chapter.)
So, within this context, there are several possibilities for each graphical style, as discussed in the following subsections.
The views with 2D graphics include:
Side View. This is common in platform arcade games, such as many early games including Defender, Load Runner, Pitfall, Donkey Kong, and so on. It is also used in puzzle games, such as Tetris or Bubble Bobble. There are some variations on the side-view perspective, such as the two-player side-view game (early Street Fighter, Pong, and so on) or the spectator view (Jordan vs. Bird: One on One). In addition, some side-view games showed static screens, but later ones added scrolling (becoming known as side-scrolling games). Examples include Double Dragon, Final Fight, Prince of Persia, Earthworm Jim, and other popular game series, such as Mega Man and Mario.
Top-Down View. This view has the player looking directly down on the action. It is common in games such as the original versions of Pac-Man, Gauntlet, Ultima, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Many board games, such as Monopoly, and card games were (and still are) displayed from the top-down perspective.
Isometric. This is a slightly tilted top-down view, which gives an illusion of depth. The most common example is the original Zaxxon. Many Role-Playing Games, such as the Game Boy Pokemon series, Diablo, and Baldur’s Gate also use isometric graphics.
First-Person Fake Perspective. This views the world from the first-person perspective and uses vanishing-point graphics to create an illusion of depth in a purely 2D environment. It was common in early maze games, such as Wizardry. Sometimes these games used color-filled graphics; other times they used wireframe graphics to further the illusion of 3D.
Third-Person Fake Perspective. This is like first-person fake perspective, but you also see your character. One example is the arcade shooter Tempest.
Cockpit View. This uses the perspective as seen from within a vehicle, which could be a car, plane, tank, boat, sub, spaceship, and so on. Early examples included Battlezone, Formula One, Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer, and early entries in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series.
Advanced 2D graphics that try to create the illusion of three dimensions, such as the fake perspective, isometric, and cockpit views, are sometimes referred to as 2.5D. Games such as OutRun (an arcade driving game) and the 1993 game Stronghold—a D&D themed city-building game—can be considered 2.5D.
The views with 3D graphics include:
First Person. This is the view from the player character’s perspective, but in a fully realized 3D world. Examples range from Castle Wolfenstein 3D to Doom, Quake, Unreal, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life/Counter-Strike, and Ridge Racer.
Third Person. Including:
Isometric (Three-Quarter) View. A view from slightly above the action, such as in X-COM and Diablo.
Follow Camera. The camera follows the player character (including vehicles). This is very common in games such as Tomb Raider, Mario 64, Enter the Matrix, and so on.
Overhead View. The player views the action from directly above.
Side View. The action is seen from the side, as in Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee or Paper Mario.
Variable Camera. The angle and distance from the player’s character is adjustable. Thus, the view can vary between the different types of third-person view or change to first-person view and back. Some games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV, even allow for switching between follow camera, isometric, first person, cockpit view, and so on. The variations can be either user-controlled camera or algorithmically controlled.
Player Controlled. The player can set the angle and distance of the view, relative to the player’s character in the game. Mario 64 and Dark Age of Camelot are examples of this technique.
Algorithmic. The game has programming that can determine the best view based on the environment, presence of enemies, and so on. Examples include Madden NFL ’08, Enter the Matrix, and so on.
Mixed. Often in 3D games, the variability of the camera is a mix of algorithmic and player controlled: There is an algorithm for camera position, but there is also a way for the player to override that algorithm and control the camera himself.
Most commercial games today are made using 3D technology, even if they use a 2D point of view. The reason is that it’s just easier and quicker to model objects and environments using today’s 3D tools. In essence, then, a 2D game created with 3D tools is like having a 3D game with a fixed dolly camera. It is entirely possible to create good games with 2D perspectives, but they will probably be created with 3D tools.
Nobody knows what the future will bring, but we’ve seen inklings of future points of view. Here are a few ideas to spark your creativity, but don’t stop with these suggestions. Think to the future. What is possible? What do you imagine could happen?
Virtual Reality. Total immersion games will tend to use a first-person POV or possibly a variant of third-person. The main difference will be what kind of control the player will have and what kinds of feedback. For instance, turning your head may turn your view. You may be wearing devices that convey physical sensations based on gameplay. In the future, you may even be able to “touch” and “smell” the environment you’re in. The ultimate virtual reality, the Star Trek “Holodeck,” is probably somewhere far in an imaginary future, but we can dream.
In the Real World. Already people are starting to employ cell phones, personal HUD devices, GPS, video, and other technologies to take games out of arcades and homes and into the streets and office buildings. Games can generate agents who make phone calls and send faxes and otherwise involve themselves in players’ non-game lives. Games can also take input from the real world, such as the player’s global location, his proximity to a Wi-Fi spot, or the current weather conditions, and incorporate them into the game. Thus, the game is no longer contained in the device that is used to play it; the lines blur as games and reality seem to blend into one continuum.
Multi-Screen Viewing. Games have had split-screen views for multiplayer action for years. Some games have multiple screen views of the same action, even within a single-player game. This kind of viewing could incorporate all viewpoints—first-, second-, and third-person—each in its own window. Or, alternatively, it could display the viewpoints of different characters, as in Mario Kart and other multiplayer, multi-screen games.
Theater-Screen Viewing. With TVs getting to wall size these days, playing games in theater environments might become more affordable and common in the average household.
Small-Screen Viewing. With more and more games being played on handheld devices with small screens and resolutions, we’re seeing a lot of games that go back to earlier types of views—in particular, the 2D games of the ’80s and early ’90s. Fitting good games onto small screens is a new challenge, and new ideas may appear to take advantage of these devices—their strengths and their weaknesses. However, the main differences will probably be in design, as opposed to POV. This is changing rapidly, of course, as full 3D technologies are fitted to the small screen, so that many future handheld and telephone mobile games will feature full 3D.
HUD Display. This incorporates viewing the game through some wearable device that allows you to see it without a separate screen, possibly combining reality with the game graphics.
There are many ways to tell a story, and there are also many ways to present an image. Here are some of the main visual styles that you can use in creating games. Using different styles can convey a specific atmosphere to your game, and using something unique can set a game apart. However, keep in mind that unique visual style with bad gameplay still results in a bad game.
Cinematic
Photorealistic
2D cartoon graphics
3D cel shaded
Rotoscoped
Watercolor
Oil/acrylic paint
Pen/pencil sketch
Stylized
Comic illustration
Anime
Black and white with spot colors
Silhouette/shadow puppet
Motion blur/tracers
Solarized
Primary colors
Impressionistic
Mezzotint
Design Challenge
Take any of your favorite games and imagine changing the perspective or visual style of them. How would they change? Would it affect gameplay and overall game design?
Take one of your own concepts and play with different sorts of views and visual styles. How might these changes affect the game and design? Do you prefer one over another?
Look over the lists in this chapter and consider how you might make novel use of different points of view and visual styles. What would happen if you used different styles at different points in your game? What would happen if you changed point of view at different points?
When designing a game, it’s often useful to think in terms of game genres, not necessarily to create a game that purely fits a particular genre, but to think in terms of the existing archetypes of computer and video games. Being aware of archetypes is often useful in considering the features and characteristics of a game design. It is clear that over time, game genres begin to borrow from each other, such that RTS games often incorporate RPG-like features, for instance, and RPGs often incorporate features from all kinds of other game genres, ranging from FPS to platform action to puzzle games. Where once the lines were drawn clearly, now they are often blurred as new hybrid genres develop. Still, in essence, there are only a few basic types of games from which all others are developed.
Additionally, much of our taste in entertainment is influenced by the movies, so we might find inspiration for games in the kinds of movies we watch.
This section lists the known universe of game genres. When you break it down, there are a lot of variations. (For some insight into movie genres, check Chapter 10, “Movie Genres.”
The earliest games were text adventures, text Role-Playing Games, or arcade action games of one kind of another. As time passed and technology improved, new kinds of games quickly emerged so that, by the mid-’80s, almost every kind of game had appeared in one form or another. Throughout the ’90s, many of these genres, such as First-Person Shooters, Real-Time Strategy games, and multiplayer games, were further refined and popularized. Here is a list of every game genre we’ve seen so far:
Text Games
Adventure: Zork
RPG: First Age
Sports (stat-based): Footy Fanatic
Online
Play-by-email: Lords of the Earth
MUD: Scepter of Goth
Wordplay: Boggle
Social: Clandestine
Text-based graphic adventure (2D or 3D): NewAge
Beat-em-up
Traditional: Kung-Fu Master
Hack ’n slash: Devil May Cry
Fighting (including head-to-head, platform, exploration, side-scrolling, and story-based)
2D: Mortal Kombat
3D: Tekken
Wrestling: WWF WrestleMania 2000
General: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2D: Karateka
3D: Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Shooter
First-person
Fantasy: Turok
Historic: Battlefield: 1942
Modern: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Sci-fi: Halo: Combat Evolved
Horror: Doom
Tactical: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
Light gun: Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt
Rail: Star Fox 64
Scrolling: Gradius
Third person
Fantasy: Tomb Raider
Historic: Medal of Honor
Modern: Gears of War
Sci-fi: Star Wars: Battlefront
Tactical: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs
Arcade (follow cam, overhead, or isometric views): Ikari Warriors
Action Adventure
Fantasy: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Horror: The House of the Dead
Modern: Grand Theft Auto III
Sci-fi: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Adventure
First-person: Fahrenheit
General: Blade Runner
Horror: Resident Evil
Text: Zork: Grand Inquisitor
Third-person: Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
Car combat: Twisted Metal: Black
Demolition derby: Ultimate Demolition Derby
General: Juiced
Mission-based: Cars
Racing
Gran Turismo: Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
Arcade: OutRun
Drag: Hot Rod: American Street Drag
Formula One: Grand Prix Legends
Futuristic: F-Zero
GT/street: GT Legends
Kart: Mario Kart 64
Motorcycle: MotoGP 2
Motocross: Motocross Madness
Street: Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Combat racing: Road Rash
On foot: Hyper Sports
Other: The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Space: Wipeout Pure
Rally/off-road: Colin McRae Rally 2005
Snow/water: Splashdown
Stock car: NASCAR 07
Truck: Monster Truck Madness
Role-Playing
Action RPG: Diablo, The Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana
Console-style RPG: Final Fantasy series
First-person: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Turn-based: Final Fantasy Tactics, Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention, X-COM
Massively multiplayer online: EverQuest
Fantasy: World of Warcraft
Modern: Hellgate: London
Sci-fi: RF Online
Multiplayer Games (small scale or massive multiplayer)
RPG: Baldur’s Gate
RTS: StarCraft
Shooter: Counter-Strike: Source
Board games: Monopoly
Card games: Bridge
Social: Second Life (arguably not a game)
Civilian plane: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 (Standard)
Helicopter: RC Helicopter
Modern jet: X-Plane
WWI: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
WWII: IL-2 Sturmovik
Sci-fi
Futuristic jet: Wing Commander
Futuristic sub: Submarine Titans
Mech: MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
Spaceships (large and small): Microsoft Space Simulator
Ship: Ship Simulator 2008
Submarine: Silent Hunter III
Tank: M1 Tank Platoon
Train: Microsoft Train Simulator
Pinball: Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
Social and artificial life: Spore
Commerce: Big Biz Tycoon!
Spaceflight: Microsoft Space Simulator
Boat racing: Extreme River Boat Racing
War
Infantry: Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Tank: Panzer General
Helicopter: Comanche 3
Modern jet: Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
WWI: Red Baron
WWII: Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2: WW II Pacific Theater
Future: FreeSpace 2
Naval: Ship Simulator 2008
Submarine: Battlestations Midway
Battlefield: Battlefield: 1942
God Games
Populous (the original)
Sports (including text/stat-based, simulation, and arcade sports games)
Biking: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3
Bowling: Super Bowling (for Nintendo 64)
Cricket: Cricket 2005
Futuristic: PSX Pitball
Rugby: Rugby 08
Skateboarding: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Ice skating: Michelle Kwan Figure Skating
Snowboarding: Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
Surfing: Transworld Surf
Wakeboarding: Wakeboarding Unleashed
Fishing: Sega Bass Fishing
Table tennis: Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
Baseball
Arcade: Baseball Stars
Management: Baseball Mogul 2009
Sim: MLB 08: The Show
Stats: Out of the Park Baseball 9
Basketball
Arcade: NBA Jam
Management: World Basketball Manager
Sim: NBA 2K2
Boxing: Knockout Kings
American football
Arcade: Madden NFL Season 2 arcade machine from Global VR
Management: Fantasy Football Draft Edge
Sim: Madden NFL 08
Stats: Action! PC Football
Wrestling: WWE WrestleMania 21
Golf
Arcade: Golden Tee
Sim: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Ice hockey
Arcade: Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey ’98
Management: NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007
Sim: NHL 08
Soccer
Arcade: World Cup 90: Arcade Soccer
Management: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2008
Sim: FIFA Soccer 08
Tennis: Top Spin
Volleyball: Outlaw Volleyball: Spike or Die
Strategy
Breeding/constructing: Theme Park
City building
Historic: Glory of the Roman Empire
Modern: Tycoon City: New York
Futuristic: SimCity 3000 Unlimited
Real-time
Fantasy: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Historic: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Military: Command & Conquer
Modern: Age of Empires III
Sci-fi: Earth 2140
Turn-based
War Game
Real-time: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Turn-based: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Board (statistical): Risk
Online multiplayer: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Modern warfare: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Historical: Medal of Honor: Airborne
Horror: F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon
Fantasy: Half-Life
Space: Star Wars: Empire at War
Air combat: Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
Naval combat: Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific
Strategic: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Lockdown
Other Game Genres
Tycoon: SimCity
Board games/card games (traditional): Monopoly
Card battle: Magic: The Gathering
Music maker: Elite Beat Agents
Billiards/pool: Pool Party
Gambling: Texas Hold ’Em
Pinball: Dream Pinball 3D
Party: Mario Party
Puzzle: Tetris
Rhythm: Guitar Hero
Dancing: Dance Dance Revolution Extreme
Trivia/game show: Jeopardy!
Virtual life: The Sims 2
Design Challenge
Using the list of game genres, test out some combinations. For instance, how about a snow-boarding soccer game? Or a breeding section in a futuristic crime thriller game?
In what ways can you consider these typical genres and create less-than-typical games?
Take a normally serious game genre and add humor to it. (See also Chapter 9, “Storytelling Techniques,” and the section called “Creating Comedy.”)
Invent a genre that hasn’t been created yet. You can be the first!
For more ideas, see Chapter 2, “Brainstorming and Research.”