Why do we have a chapter on movie genres in a book about game design? Is it because we love movies? Or is it because movies and games have a lot in common—story, characters, plots, action, mysteries, and puzzles, to name a few things? And, while movies are not interactive—the key difference between them and games—the evolution of movies over the past 100 or so years is a window into our collective entertainment preferences. As such, we can learn a lot from the types of movies that are being made.

Additionally, we can use movie genres as templates from which to develop our game concepts. While I’m not suggesting that you necessarily base your games on movies—though that is also a valid approach—you can use movies for inspiration, drawing ideas from moviemakers’ established skills in directing, acting, music and sound composition and engineering, drama, and comedy.

There are so many types of movies that it is difficult to create a definitive and incontrovertible list of the main categories. It’s safe to say, however, that just about every movie is either a comedy, a drama, or some combination of both. There are some plotless and absurd themes that might defy those descriptions, and some documentary films may be neither comedy nor drama. But the vast majority of films—and literature, for that matter—can be seen as comedy or drama.

One way to look at this book is to think of movie genres as key words or concepts. There is a wealth of ideas contained in the history of movies, and you can use the many movie styles available as inspiration. As always, these lists are just a beginning, but imagine how useful they’d become if you were to mix the concepts—for example, if you mix “martial arts” with “buddy movie.” You come up with something like Rush Hour. There’s nothing wrong with existing genres, but how wonderful would it be if you could come up with something altogether new, simply by looking at what’s already been done? Also reference Chapter 17, “Game Worlds.”

Under the categories of comedy and drama, you can find a wide variety of themes, many of which have become recognized as genres in themselves.

In this chapter, we’ll discuss:

Movie Genres Used in Games

So far games do not make use of all the themes that have been used in movies. Some movie themes are not particularly suited to making games, which require lots of interactivity and challenge. However, some of the movie themes that have been used successfully in games include:

• War

• Fantasy

• Epic/historical

• Martial arts

• Sports

• Swashbuckler

• Crime/detective

• Aviation

• Science fiction

• Vampire

Other useful references for this subject include Chapter 9, “Storytelling Techniques,” Chapter 12, “Character Design,” and Chapter 17, “Game Worlds.”

Design Challenge

1. Pick five movie genres and adapt them to a game design.

2. Take a movie genre and a game genre and combine them into an original game concept.

3. Pick a game genre and turn the game into a movie. What kind of movie would it be?