Choosing a genre for the game

There are about a million video games in the world, which are classified into more than 30 genres and even more subgenres. From strategy to racing and fighting games, there is a project for every taste. At the same time, it is rather difficult to determine the most popular genre, since, as statistics show, gamers’ preferences change depending on their age, region of residence and gaming platform.

The genre determines not only the perception of the game by gamers, but also the technologies that will be used in the process of its technical development.

Therefore, this issue is resolved at the planning stage and often does not change during the main production.

Let’s take a look at the most common video game genres and their defining characteristics to help you choose the best option for your project.

Action games are divided into different sub-genres such as shooters, fighting games and platformers, but their main distinguishing feature is the constant flow of adrenaline and intense button presses.

The essence of such projects is fully reflected in the name: Action – “movement”. Here the player is in the very center of events and solves problems in real time, managing what is happening.

Action games usually don’t require a lot of training to get started, which is why they remain one of the most common genres. One of the most striking examples of action is the Mortal Kombat project.

As far as shooters are concerned, in a way they have transcended the genre and formed their own virtual worlds, with unique levels of difficulty and storytelling style.

They are of three types:

• from the first person – when the player sees what is happening through the eyes of the main character, for example, Call of Duty and Half-Life;
• third person – the action is shown so that the player can see the main character: Fortnite and Splatoon.
• with a top view – as the name implies, the gamer sees what is happening from a bird’s eye view. This format is the least popular.

Adventure games tend to combine action mechanics, with the addition of various obstacles and puzzles. Such projects are most popular on PC and consoles. Often they offer the player high performance and graphics options. Vivid examples: God of War, Resident Evil, Horizon.

Role-playing or RPG games provide gamers with the experience of character development in new, unique worlds. Fantasy and historical settings are often found here, which is largely due to the origin of the genre from Dungeons & Dragons and other board games.

Such projects focus on the evolution of the main character and the development of his skills needed to overcome the levels. They completely immerse the player in the gameplay through highly detailed environments and complex interactions.

It’s also worth noting that the RPG genre has been heavily influenced by cultural differences. For example, among players it is customary to divide role-playing games into WRPG – Western projects, and JRPG – Japanese.

Another feature of role-playing games is the presence of several endings, and which one awaits the player depends solely on his in-game decisions. This increases engagement and motivates gamers to replay.

A few notable examples of role-playing games:

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
• Dark Souls.
• Diablo.

Role-playing games with an open world, or, as they are also called – “sandboxes”, give gamers complete freedom of action. It can move freely through a huge virtual universe, complete quests in any order, and most importantly, it has hundreds of character upgrade options, which allows you to adapt the gameplay to your own style of play.

The peculiarity of “sandboxes” is that they are as close as possible to real life. For example, in Red Dead Redemption 2, which Rockstar Games has been developing for 7 long years, the player can immerse himself in the world of the wild west, participate in chases, establish trade routes, or, when everything is tired, go to a bar with multiplayer friends to eat steak, relax on a fishing trip or go hunting.

Accordingly, in terms of development, open-world games are the most difficult. The virtual universe occupies huge databases, requires high bandwidth, and needs a perfectly balanced level design.

Representatives of this genre have one thing in common – they are all designed to simulate real or fictional events, systems or processes. For example, there are simulations of construction, farming, machinery, and even real life.

A big plus in creating simulators is their simplicity. The development of such projects often does not require photorealistic graphics, unique mechanics or complex environments. At the same time, they are in great demand, especially in the mobile games market.

Strategies

The gameplay of such games originates in strategy board games. As a rule, here the whole world is available to the gamer, with all possible resources, and in order to cope with the tests, he needs to carefully think over his tactics and weigh every move.

Recently, such games have evolved from the principle of turn-based action in RTS – real-time strategy. Here the player is invited to collect resources, develop the economy and make decisions in real time, competing with other players or artificial intelligence. One of the most popular representatives of this genre can be called Starcraft.

Puzzle

In such games, gamers are invited to solve logical problems and pass tests that require mental effort. As a rule, these are casual projects that do not require much effort from a technical point of view, which can be launched even with low budgets.

Revenue from the sale of all versions of games in 2021 reached 180.3 billion, and this figure is increasing every year, which is largely due to the loyalty of gamers to new projects. This makes the gaming industry quite attractive for investment.

If you want to launch your own game that can attract millions of users around the world, please contact us. AVADA MEDIA specialists have practical experience in developing and launching game projects of various sizes. We will help you choose the best genre, select a game engine, and turn your idea into reality.