Posted June 17, 2016
Every now and then, the topic of "what is an RPG" comes up in some thread. Here, I am not going to talk about that (at least not in the OP), but rather talk about other genres and what their defining traits are:
Action: Game plays in real time, with player skill and reflexes determining the outcome of actions. In particular, whether an attack hits is determined by a collision check. Generally, players control a single character at a time in these games.
Puzzle: The game is, in a sense, abstract; however, there are defined rules that are consistent. Puzzles can be hand-crafted or random, and said games can be turn-based or real-time; contrast D.R.O.D. and Tetris, for example. (I classify Tetris, and similar games, as action puzzle games because they run in real-time.) Note that Solitaire card games (such as Knondike) are examples of random turn-based puzzle games.
Adventure: Adventure games are defined by the large number of special case interactions. For example, whether you can climb an object is a property of the individual object; there isn't some general rule about climbing. Similarly, pure adventure games lack combat systems; if a fight is to occur, often you need to perform a certain action to win; if you don't perform that action, you typically die.
Strategy: Strategy games are those where the player controls multiple units, and where the placement of those units is an important factor in the strategy. (Note that this category includes Chess.)
Any thoughts on this? In particular, can anyone think of any games for which these definitions break down?
Action: Game plays in real time, with player skill and reflexes determining the outcome of actions. In particular, whether an attack hits is determined by a collision check. Generally, players control a single character at a time in these games.
Puzzle: The game is, in a sense, abstract; however, there are defined rules that are consistent. Puzzles can be hand-crafted or random, and said games can be turn-based or real-time; contrast D.R.O.D. and Tetris, for example. (I classify Tetris, and similar games, as action puzzle games because they run in real-time.) Note that Solitaire card games (such as Knondike) are examples of random turn-based puzzle games.
Adventure: Adventure games are defined by the large number of special case interactions. For example, whether you can climb an object is a property of the individual object; there isn't some general rule about climbing. Similarly, pure adventure games lack combat systems; if a fight is to occur, often you need to perform a certain action to win; if you don't perform that action, you typically die.
Strategy: Strategy games are those where the player controls multiple units, and where the placement of those units is an important factor in the strategy. (Note that this category includes Chess.)
Any thoughts on this? In particular, can anyone think of any games for which these definitions break down?
