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genres/ — Genre Handbooks

Progress follows the 18-family / 112-genre framework (81 collected so far): one page per genre, all sharing a seven-section structure (positioning & core loop / experience goals & benchmark titles / design points / technical points / content scope & workload / getting started with a prototype / common pitfalls).

Volume 1 (10 genres)

Genre In one line
Platformer The three elements of game feel, camera design, teach–test–twist variation and jump-radius metrics.
Metroidvania The lock–key–revisit triad, connected maps and scope control.
Roguelite The double loop, controlled randomness and build diversity.
Tower Defense Path node graphs, the tower counter matrix, economy and wave curves.
Puzzle Mechanical restraint, wordless teaching and aha-moment design.
Visual Novel Branch governance, text-volume estimation and staging pacing.
Survival Craft The four-stage loop, restraint with pressure sources and unlock pacing.
Farming Sim The daily-schedule loop, crop matrix and social systems.
Bullet Heaven Short-run structure, build power spikes and on-screen density engineering.
Idle / Incremental Offline earnings, exponential curves and prestige systems.

Volume 2 (15 genres)

Genre In one line
Action RPG The two-layer loop of action game feel and progression systems; affixes and drop curves.
JRPG Turn-based combat, party progression and the volume of text and staging.
Twin-stick Shooter Separating movement from aiming, spatial pressure and the weapon matrix.
FPS The four elements of shooting feel, encounter design and the single-player/multiplayer engineering split.
Shmup Bullet-pattern design language, graze detection and a boss-pattern library.
Management Sim The management loop, numeric economy and information design.
City Builder The four-layer city simulation, agent models and negative feedback.
Colony Sim Individual-level simulation, story generators and event-pressure curves.
Deckbuilder Cost and effect curves, build combos and balance testing.
RTS Counter matrix, economy pacing and control feel.
Physics Puzzle Physics simulation as a mechanic, softlock prevention and tuning intuition.
Point & Click Adventure Inventory combination logic, dead-end avoidance and hand-drawn art volume.
Interactive Fiction The two schools of parser and choice-based; state tracking and text budgets.
Auto Battler Economy interest, shared card pools and positioning counterplay.
Sandbox Building Tools as the game, rule combinations and sharing mechanics.

Volume 3 (26 genres)

Genre In one line
Racing Feel translation, track-corner rhythm and opponent pacing.
Fighting Frame data, combo resources and input leniency.
Beat 'em Up Group-combat structure, the three-part hit-feel kit and wave design.
Rhythm Judgment systems, beatmap flow and audio calibration.
Party Game Low barrier, high chaos; minigame collections and joke design.
Co-op Complementary design, rescue mechanics and communication design.
MMO A realistic reckoning of the threefold cost; social and economic governance.
Social Deduction Information asymmetry, discussion pacing and anti-cheat.
Walking Sim Environmental storytelling, the player contract and staging costs.
Escape Room Puzzle graphs, tiered hints and multiplayer collaboration.
Battle Royale Circle-shrink pacing, loot economy and a realistic reckoning of the online-play barrier (colloquially known in Chinese as "eating chicken").
MOBA Lane economy, hero counters and the esports ecosystem.
Stealth Perception systems, dual-path design and failure tolerance.
Horror The fear-resource model, atmosphere and sound design.
Detective Clue redundancy, deduction interaction and aha-moment design.
Puzzle-Platformer Mechanic coupling, teach–test–twist variation and frustration prevention.
4X The four-X loop, fog exploration and strategy AI.
Sports Recreating the rules, simplifying calls and the licensing reality.
Raising Sim The raising loop, growth curves and event branching.
Vehicle Sim The sim/arcade divide, vehicle physics and career loops.
Space Sim Flight feel, the art of scale and generation density.
Match-3 Cascade feel, the numeric skeleton and no-moves detection.
Board Game Drawing the automation line, rules engines and asynchronous play.
TCG The collect-and-battle double loop and card-pool management.
Word Game Word-list engineering, daily puzzles and share design.
Trivia / Quiz Question-bank engineering, draw fairness and content cost.

Volume 4 (30 genres)

Genre In one line
Open World A structure, not a genre: density, guidance and the "small open world".
Extraction Shooter The four-ring search–fight–extract loop, risk psychology and the extraction economy.
Creature Collector (Pokémon-style) The collect–raise–battle–trade four-ring loop and its multiplying costs.
Action-Adventure The three pillars of exploration, combat and puzzles, and miniature-garden pacing.
Immersive Sim Networks of interacting systems and levels as sandboxes.
Survival Horror Resource scarcity, miniature-garden loops and enemy tiers.
Hero Shooter The two axes of gunplay × abilities, and the hero content engine.
Grand Strategy Nested systems, historical events and readability management.
Hack and Slash The one-against-a-hundred power-fantasy formula and on-screen engineering.
Dating Sim Affection systems, schedule management and per-route text volume.
Factory / Automation The four-ring automation loop, logistics throughput and blueprint tools.
Gacha RPG The collect–raise–team-building three-ring loop and long-term live-ops cadence.
Tactical Shooter Low-fault-tolerance information play and round economy.
Tactics / SRPG Turn order, class counters and permadeath.
Hypercasual The one-minute onboarding formula and a rapid level-production pipeline.
Endless Runner Minimal controls, procedural generation and the sense of speed.
Educational Dual-goal design and learning-outcome assessment.
Fishing The tug-of-war game, compendium collecting and the rhythm of waiting.
Life Sim Needs-driven schedules and identity expression.
Hidden Object Hidden-object mechanics, scene-art costs and narrative integration.
Hunting The track-and-ambush loop and the simulation/arcade divide.
Flight Sim Three simulation tiers, the peripherals ecosystem and scenery costs.
Train Sim Operational realism, route content packs and workshop support.
FMV Live-action footage costs and branch-editing governance.
Jigsaw Puzzle Puzzle-piece feel, image licensing and the relaxation positioning.
Music Creation The play-with-music loop and no-theory-required design.
Co-op Horror Multiplayer fear amplification and the investigate–extract loop.
Fashion Sim Outfit scoring, wardrobe content and show-off social features.
Extreme Sports Trick scoring, course generation and failure tolerance.
Asymmetric Multiplayer 1v4 design and dual balance metrics.

Other Genres (Continuously Expanding)

  • Hybrid and long-tail genres are added on an ongoing basis; nominations via Issues are welcome.

Prerequisite reading: