Unit 40: Video game design

Video game genres

I will be discussing the different types of video game genre available to to public, and evaluate the different ways you can play the game be it solo or duo.

The genres I will discuss are:

• Sports
• Adventure
• Action
• Simulation
• Strategy
• Puzzle
• Role play
• Management
• Educational
• Viral marketing

Sports

The sports genre allows the user to experience a simulation of the sport they want to play on a screen, the can control the players or player and control the rules of the game. It is the perfect experience for people that want to get into a game and enjoy a sport in real life. There are games for almost every type of sport for example FIFA 15, this is a game where you play virtual football against a computer or another person.

Adventure

Adventure games allow the player to experience a sense of reason to their simulation it gives them a role to accomplish which is great as a pass time for gamers. It provides an end game and a point to start off which entices players into playing the game. For example the last of us, follows a storyline which provides a scene where you can interact with NPC's. An example of an adventure based game is a game called Skyrim, this game focusses on selective gameplay it allows you to explore the environment and complete quests. An adventure game should have these features if it wants to be successful.

Action

Action games are based around fighting with NPC’S or multiplayer gameplay, it focusses on three main aspects, reaction time, hand eye co-ordination, and lastly the knowledge to counter moves that your opponent has played. There are various amounts of action games one of them being, mortal combat, mortal combat is a game which provides all of the three main aspects which action games are based on, however to have the core features that make the game that genre doesn’t make a successful game. Mortal combat is a game which introduced another aspect this aspect being a story line and an end game to the action game rather than attempting to beat your highscore playing the same game mode.

Simulation

Simulation games allow the user to experience the game as if it were to be in real life or to experience things that are available in real life however the user doesn’t have access to or needs training to use this tool. There is a vast amount of simulation games because they are usually created when an expensive or difficult to operate tool is created. One example of this type of game is tractor simulator, this is a simulation game that allows the user to experience the controls and feel of driving and operating a tractor. Simulation games can vary in the content they provide because they are usually extremely specialised and detailed in the aspect they are trying to teach the user.

Strategy

Strategy games are games which revolve around one thing and one thing only to beat the opponent by outsmarting them and being more resourceful with your assets, this type of video game is one of the most difficult to master and win because of this fact. This is mainly based on online gaming however you can also play on the PC, strategy games such as MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games focus mainly on taking objectives gaining an advantage and essentially destroying your enemy’s base. A game that does this is called League of legends, this game focuses on the aspects that I have just wrote about. League of legends is a game which allows the user to use the skill set of a character to then defeat the enemy user in order to then take objectives from their base one the enemy has been defeated.

Puzzle

Puzzle games focus on mainly strategy however you do not have an opponent most of the time in these sorts of games the only opponent you have is the game itself where you have to use your knowledge and understanding of the game in order to beat it. So you can only rely on yourself in these types of games and not on anyone else to support you or help you it is only you and you have to solve it in one way or another. An example of a puzzle game would be 2048 this game has several tiles set up and if you shift the tiles left right up or down if the tiles with the numbers that have 2 – 4 – 8 – 16 – 32… and so on meet in ascending order you are well on your way on getting the 2048 tile. Because you cannot get any help from anyone in order to solve the game it makes it that much more interesting because of the fact that you can only play it and you are the only one that can solve it because if you let someone else solve it, it means that you will not feel the accomplishment of solving the puzzle itself.

Role play

Role playing games are games where you have no online interaction at all you can only interact with the non-playing characters and beat the game by taking advantage of what they offer. This is similar to a puzzle game however role playing games have a story line to them and allow the users to get a faint sense of adventure and a vivid understanding of the character they are playing. An example of this type of game would be Runescape. Although in Runescape you can interact with others by speaking to them a game mode within that game denies any access to the usual interaction you would be able to do if you were not playing in this specific game mode, runescape covers all the things needed in order to be considered an RPG and much more.

Management

Management games don’t have a story instead you have to make your own story by creating characters managing those characters, you are essentially the creator and what you do with the tools given to you are what you use to make the game enjoyable essentially. An example of a management game is Sims this game allows you to control a city and what happens within this city, you cannot lose the game nor can you win it which provides a new type of game mode called “management games”

Educational

Educational games are classed as puzzle or strategy games most of the time since they teach you how to problem solve and get to an objective faster, these types of games are mentally intense meaning that you cannot play this for long periods of time without losing some of your capability to play this game. An example of an educational game would surgeon simulator since it teaches you how to become a brain surgeon.

Viral marketing

Viral marketing is in almost every game it is called “micro – transactions” they allow the user to obtain boosts/bonuses within the game in order to achieve their goal faster. An example of this would be candy crush saga where you can buy lives if you run out instead of waiting for them to refresh.