Video Game Genres Explained: From Action and RPG to Roguelike
Definitions, origins, landmark titles and subgenres of the major game genres—action, RPG, strategy, puzzle, simulation, adventure and roguelike.
When choosing a game, the first word most people look at is its "genre." Store categories, the opening line of a review, even how you describe a game to a friend—"it's a roguelike deckbuilder"—all lead with a genre name. Yet when you actually try to define where one genre ends and another begins, it gets tricky. Is an action RPG an action game or an RPG?
Game genres are a bit different from genres in novels or film. They're defined less by mood or setting (horror, fantasy, sci-fi) and more by what the player does—that is, by controls and rules. Two games with the same sci-fi setting become a shooter if you fire guns, and a strategy game if you build bases.
In this post we pick seven major genres and walk through each one's definition, the games that first gave it shape, landmark titles and subgenres. At the end, there's an at-a-glance table and a look at today's trend of genres blending together.
How Are Game Genres Classified?
There are three main criteria for classifying genres:
- Core action: Do you jump and shoot, give orders, or fit pieces together?
- Flow of time: Does it play out in real time, or do players take turns?
- Progression and goals: Does your character grow stronger, does it end in a single session, or do you build and manage a world?
These criteria overlap. That's why genre names often combine two words, like "real-time strategy," "turn-based RPG" or "puzzle platformer." The categories below are best thought of not as definitive answers but as a common language many people use.
Action: Reflexes and Skill Front and Center
Definition
Action games are about overcoming obstacles and defeating enemies through quick decisions and precise controls. Winning or losing depends heavily on the player's reflexes and dexterity.
Origins and Landmark Titles
Most arcade games of the 1970s and '80s were action games in the broad sense. Taito's Space Invaders (1978) established the basic shooting game template, and Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. (1985) popularized the side-scrolling platformer of running and jumping. Capcom's Street Fighter II (1991) sparked the one-on-one fighting game boom, and id Software's Doom (1993) became the benchmark for first-person shooters (FPS).
Subgenres
- Platformer: Super Mario, Celeste
- Shooter: shoot 'em up (STG), FPS, TPS
- Fighting: Street Fighter, Tekken
- Beat 'em up / hack and slash: Final Fight, Devil May Cry
- Action-adventure: The Legend of Zelda series
RPG: Stories of Characters Who Grow
Definition
In a role-playing game (RPG), the player takes on a single character or a party, grows their stats through experience points and equipment, and follows a story. Numerical progression and choices are at its core.
Origins and Landmark Titles
Its roots lie in Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop role-playing game released in 1974. Attempts to bring its rules to computers continued on university mainframes through the 1970s, and in 1981 Ultima and Wizardry established the two main branches of PC RPGs. In Japan, Enix's Dragon Quest (1986) and Square's Final Fantasy (1987) cemented the format of console RPGs, the so-called JRPG.
Subgenres
- JRPG: Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy
- Western RPG (CRPG): Baldur's Gate, The Elder Scrolls
- Action RPG: Diablo, Dark Souls
- Tactical RPG (SRPG): Fire Emblem
- MMORPG: Ultima Online, Lineage, World of Warcraft
Strategy: Winning Through Resources and Judgment
Definition
In strategy games, rather than directly controlling units, you win by making decisions about gathering resources, producing and deploying. They rely more on your head than your hands.
Origins and Landmark Titles
Strategy games grew out of board wargames. They fall into two broad groups based on time. On the turn-based side, Sid Meier's Civilization (1991) became the flagship of the 4X genre, famous for the phrase "just one more turn." On the real-time side, Westwood Studios' Dune II (1992) laid out the real-time strategy (RTS) formula of harvesting resources, constructing buildings and producing units, which continued with Command & Conquer, Warcraft and Blizzard's StarCraft (1998).
Subgenres
- Real-time strategy (RTS): StarCraft, Age of Empires
- Turn-based strategy / 4X: Civilization, XCOM
- Grand strategy: Total War, Crusader Kings
- Tower defense: Bloons TD, Kingdom Rush
- MOBA: the Dota lineage born from Warcraft III custom maps, League of Legends
Interestingly, both tower defense and MOBA grew out of user-made maps for RTS games.
Puzzle: Finding Answers Within the Rules
Definition
Puzzle games are about solving problems within set rules using logic, pattern recognition and spatial reasoning. Compared with other genres, controls tend to be simple and sessions short.
Origins and Landmark Titles
Sokoban (1982), released by Japan's Thinking Rabbit, is the prototype of the logic puzzle in which you push boxes onto designated squares. Tetris (1984), created by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union, achieved worldwide success as a real-time puzzle of fitting falling blocks together, and its 1989 Game Boy version is counted as having sold more than 35 million copies. PopCap's Bejeweled (2000) opened the way for match-3, and Valve's Portal (2007) for physics puzzles.
Subgenres
- Falling-block puzzle: Tetris, Puyo Puyo
- Match-3: Bejeweled, Candy Crush Saga
- Logic puzzle: Sokoban, Minesweeper, Picross
- Physics puzzle: Angry Birds, Cut the Rope
- First-person puzzle: Portal, The Witness
Simulation: Imitating Reality or Systems
Definition
Simulation games let you experience a simplified version of a real-world activity or system, such as flying a plane, running a city or managing a farm. Many have no set win condition.
Origins and Landmark Titles
Flight simulators were the early standouts, and Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982) began a long series that continues today. Will Wright's SimCity (1989) showed the direction of a game you "nurture" rather than "win," and the same designer's The Sims (2000) broadened the genre into life simulation about people's everyday lives.
Subgenres
- Flight and driving simulation: Flight Simulator, Gran Turismo
- Construction and management: SimCity, RollerCoaster Tycoon
- Life simulation: The Sims, Animal Crossing
- Farming / cozy games: Stardew Valley
- Raising simulation: Princess Maker
Adventure: Exploring and Unraveling Stories
Definition
Adventure games advance the story through exploring spaces, talking to characters and combining items. Observation and deduction matter more than combat.
Origins and Landmark Titles
The text game Colossal Cave Adventure, released around 1976, is where the genre's name comes from. Graphic adventures such as Sierra's King's Quest and LucasArts' The Secret of Monkey Island led the way through the 1980s and '90s, and Cyan's Myst (1993) became hugely popular for letting players explore photo-like still images.
Subgenres
- Text adventure
- Point-and-click: The Secret of Monkey Island
- Visual novel: Ace Attorney, Steins;Gate
- Escape room games
- Narrative adventure: Telltale's The Walking Dead
Roguelike: Starting Over Every Time
Definition
As the name suggests, a roguelike is a game that resembles Rogue (1980). Its defining features are randomly generated maps (procedural generation) and permanent death (permadeath), meaning you start over from scratch when your character dies.
Origins and Landmark Titles
Rogue was created for Unix around 1980 by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman, then students at UC Santa Cruz. This lineage continued with games such as NetHack (1987), and at the International Roguelike Development Conference held in Berlin in 2008, a definition known as the "Berlin Interpretation" was drawn up, bundling elements like random dungeons, permadeath, turn-based play and grid-based movement.
Since then, games borrowing only some of these elements have multiplied. Games like Spelunky (2008), The Binding of Isaac (2011), FTL (2012), Slay the Spire (2017), Dead Cells (2018) and Hades (2020) blended them with real-time action or card games and let some progression carry over after death. These are sometimes called "roguelites."
Subgenres
- Traditional roguelike: Rogue, NetHack
- Action roguelite: The Binding of Isaac, Hades, Dead Cells
- Deckbuilding roguelike: Slay the Spire
- Survivors-like: Vampire Survivors
Genres at a Glance
| Genre | Core action | Early landmark titles | Major subgenres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action | Reflexes and control | Space Invaders (1978), Super Mario Bros. (1985) | Platformer, FPS, fighting |
| RPG | Growth and story | Ultima and Wizardry (1981), Dragon Quest (1986) | JRPG, action RPG, MMORPG |
| Strategy | Resources, positioning, judgment | Civilization (1991), Dune II (1992) | RTS, 4X, tower defense, MOBA |
| Puzzle | Logic and patterns | Sokoban (1982), Tetris (1984) | Falling-block, match-3, physics puzzle |
| Simulation | Experiencing and managing | Flight Simulator (1982), SimCity (1989) | Management, life, flight |
| Adventure | Exploration and deduction | Colossal Cave Adventure (1976), Myst (1993) | Point-and-click, visual novel |
| Roguelike | Repeated attempts | Rogue (1980), NetHack (1987) | Roguelite, deckbuilding |
Genres Keep Blending and Emerging
Games released today rarely fit neatly into a single genre. Hades is both an action game and a roguelike, and Slay the Spire is both a card game and a roguelike. MOBAs like Dota started from RTS maps and added RPG-style progression.
Most new genres arise from combinations like these. Someone releases a game that blends the fun of two genres, it becomes a big hit, similar games follow, and a new name sticks. It's also common for a landmark title's name to become a genre name, as with "Metroidvania" (Metroid + Castlevania) and "Soulslike" (games resembling Dark Souls).
So it's best to treat genre names as signposts rather than boxes that confine games. Knowing which genre your favorite game belongs to makes it much easier to find your next game with the same kind of fun.