List of Computer and Video Games by Genre

This article gives a list of computer games and video games by category, i.e. arranged alphabetically by genre. Some categories/genres are briefly defined at the beginning of their respective sections.

Action-Adventure

Action-adventure games are those where action is the predominant aspect of gameplay, but puzzle-solving and the exploration of, and interaction with, the environment are also key to gameplay; as opposed to "pure" adventure games, where action sequences are the exception rather than the rule. With technological limitations on gameplay becoming less of an issue to game designers, more action games are overlapping into this category. (see also survival horror.)

Adventure
Exile (BBC computer game)
Demon Stone
Killer 7
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (video game)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)
Star Fox Adventures
SunDog: Frozen Legacy
Tomb Raider series

Adventure

(see also action-adventure and puzzle games)

Broken Sword
Colossal Cave Adventure
The Colonel's Bequest
Day of the Tentacle
Eleventh Hour'
Full Throttle
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
The Infinite Ocean
King's Quest series
Last Rose In A Desert Garden
Legend of Zelda series
The Longest Journey
LOOM
Maniac Mansion
Monkey Island series
Myst series
The Neverhood
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Schizm: Mysterious Journey
Space Quest series
The 7th Guest
Skyborg: Into the Vortex
Simon the Sorcerer series
Sentimental Graffiti
The Dig
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Zork series

Educational

Carmen Sandiego series
Giraffe
Granny's Garden
Hang Man
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing series
Number Munchers
The Oregon Trail series
Robocode
Star Wars DroidWorks
The Typing of the Dead

Fighting

Barbarian
Battletoads
Darkstalkers series
Dead or Alive series
Double Dragon series
Final Fight
King of Fighters series
Lugaru
Mortal Kombat series
Power Stone series
Soul Edge/Soul Calibur series
Street Fighter series
Streets of Rage series
Super Smash Bros. series
Tekken series
Virtua Fighter series
The Way of the Exploding Fist

First-person shooters

Game-controlled environment

This category includes games where the player's point of view does not change, and those where the player's movements are (usually) entirely predetermined by the game design ("rail shooters")

Area 51
Duck Hunt
Time Crisis series
Virtua Cop

Player-controlled environment

Area 51 (different from the above)
Avara
Battlefield series
Blood Series
Call of Duty series
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Delta Force series
Descent
Doom series
Duke Nukem 3D
Ethnic Cleansing
Far Cry
F.E.A.R.
Ghost Recon series
GoldenEye 007
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D
Halo: Combat Evolved series
Half-Life series
Hardwar
Hired Guns
Global Operations
I.G.I. series
Killzone
Kingpin: Life of Crime
Magic Carpet series
Marathon series
MechWarrior series
Medal of Honor series
Metroid Prime series
No One Lives Forever series
Operation Body Count
Quake series
Rainbow Six series
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centuari
Redneck Rampage
Serious Sam series
Undying
Unreal series
Wolfenstein 3D series
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
XIII

"Complete" list available at http://firstpersonshooters.org/

Vehicle Based

BattleTanx series
Descent series
Necrodome
Redline

Mech

MechWarrior series
Heavy Gear series

These titles may be FPS depending on your definition:

Damage Inc
Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Hardwar
Heavy Gear
Hidden and Dangerous
Hired Guns
Magic Carpet series
Special Force
Under Ash

God games

Some do not consider some games of this genre to be games at all, but rather "digital toys" or "software toys". Indeed, this is how Will Wright, the designer of the most popular video game of all time, The Sims, describes his games.

Black and White series
Populous
RollerCoaster Tycoon series
The Sims
SimAnt
SimCity series
SimEarth
SimFarm
Sim Park
Simutrans
Utopia, for Mattel Intellivision (1982)
Virtual U
Caesar III, a city builder game set in ancient Rome
Zeus, a city builder game set in ancient Greece
Pharaoh, a city builder game set in ancient Egypt
1503 A.D., a city builder game set in the New World (Americas)

Maze games

3D Monster Maze
Abashera
Gauntlet
Pac-Man
Scarab of Ra

Online games

Games played over the Internet with other human players in a shared environment. The gameplay is coordinated by a game server. While many games can be played on a computer network, online games are characterized by the game environment being persistent and shared among a significant number of players. The genre's expansion accelerated in 1995 when the internet became popular. Not all game types lend themselves easily to online gaming. The most typical ones are:

Online Role-Playing Games

AdventureQuest
Diablo series
Dungeon, (1975)
EverQuest
Final Fantasy series
MUDs
Neverwinter Nights
RuneScape
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series
Ultima Online
Vendetta Online
World of Warcraft

Online Shooters

America's Army
Battlefield series
Counter Strike
Halo (video game series)
Killzone
PlanetSide
Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror
Tribes 2
Unreal Tournament
World War II Online

Online Browser-based

Baseball Mogul Online
BattleMaster
Battle Mines
Game of God
Kings of Chaos
NukeZone
Nationstates
Ogame
OutWar

Online Real-time strategy

Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Perimeter (game)
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal
Warcraft III
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Time Of Defiance
Superpower 2
StarCraft
StarCraft: Brood War
Virus RTS Game

Platformers

Platformers, also called side-scrollers, view the game area from a side or "cutaway" perspective. In these games, the background or playing area smoothly scrolls as the player moves about, hence the name. These games are traditionally 2D, but some have employed 3D computer graphics effectively. Traditional elements of these games include running, jumping and some fighting. Side-scrollers were some of the first types of video games and are still popular today, usually with younger players.

Abuse
Alex Kidd
Castlevania series
Captain Claw
Commander Keen series
Contra/Probotector series
Crash Bandicoot series
Dig Dug
Donkey Kong
Duke Nukem I and II
Jak and Daxter
Kirby series
Gex series
Ghouls 'n Ghosts series
Gish
Lionheart
Lode Runner
Metroid series
Mega Man (Japan: RockMan) series
Pitfall
Prince of Persia series
Ratchet & Clank series
Rayman series
Sonic the Hedgehog series
Super Mario Bros. series
Wario Land series
Wonderboy series

Puzzle

Many games in the adventure and maze genres could arguably fit into this category as well. See list of puzzle-based computer and video games for a listing of puzzle games by type.

Ballance
Dr. Mario
The Incredible Machine series
Inhabitants
Lemmings
Marbol
Puyo Puyo
Tetris
Filler

Racing games

Simulation style

4D Sports Driving
ATV Off-Road Fury series
Colin McRae Rally series
Gran Turismo series
Grand Prix Legends
Motocross Madness series
MX Unleashed
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
Stunts
Streed Rod series

Arcade style

Armagetron
Carmageddon series
Final Lap
F-Zero series
Grand Theft Auto series
High Octane
Marble Madness
Mario Kart series
Out Run
Pole Position series
Project Gotham Racing
Road Rash
Sega Rally series
The Simpsons Road Rage
Test Drive series
wipEout series

Rhythm games

3DDX
Beatmania, Beatmania IIDX and variants
Britney's Dance Beat
Bust a Groove (Japan: Bust a Move)
Crackin' DJ
Dance Aerobics
Dance Dance Revolution series
Dance ManiaX
Dance:UK
Dance With Intensity
Disney's Jungle Book Groove Party
Djmax
DJ Wars
Donkey Konga
Dream Audition
DrumMania
EZ2DJ
EZ2Dancer
Feet of Fury
Flash Flash Revolution
Frequency and its sequel Amplitude
Gitaroo Man
GuitarFreaks
Guitar Jam
In the Groove
Daigasso! Band Brothers
Karaoke Revolution
Keyboardmania
Mad Maestro
Mambo A Go Go
Martial Beat
NeoDrumX
Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan
PacaPaca Passion
PaRappa the Rapper and sequel UmJammer Lammy
ParaParaParadise
Pop'n Music
Puyo Puyo Da
Pump It Up
Rez
Samba de Amigo
Shakkato Tambourine
Shamisen Brothers (三味線ブラザーズ)
SingStar
Space Channel 5 and its sequel
Spice World
StepMania
Stepping Stage
Taiko: Drum Master (aka Taiko no tatsujin)
Technic Beat
Technictix
Technomotion
TeknoWerk
Vib Ribbon
Virtual Orchestra Studio (VOS)

Role-Playing Games

Alternate Reality series
Ambermoon
Amberstar
Anachronox
Arc the Lad series
Arcanum
Astonia
Avernum series
Bahamut Lagoon
Baldur's Gate series
Bard's Tale (1985) series
Bard's Tale (2004)
Breath of Fire series
The Changeling
Chrono Cross
Chrono Trigger
Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War
Diablo series
Dot.Hack series
Dragon Quest (aka Dragon Warrior) series
Dragon Wars
Drakengard
Dungeon Master series
Dungeon Siege series
EarthBound\Mother series
The Elder Scrolls series (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion)
Exile (aka Avernum) series
Fable
Fallout series
Final Fantasy series
Fire Emblem series
Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures
Gateway to the Savage Frontier
Geneforge series
Gold Box D&D series
Golden Sun
Grand Theft Auto series
King of Dragon Pass
Kingdom Hearts
Lufia (Japanese title: Estopolis) series
Magebane
Mars Saga
Might and Magic series
Mount & Blade
Neverwinter Nights series
Ogre Battle series
The Palace
Paper Mario
Phantasy Star series
Planescape: Torment
Pok?on series
Quest for Glory (aka Hero's Quest) series
Radical Dreamers
Rudora no Hihou (ak.a Treasure of the Rudras)
SaGa series
Seiken Densetsu series (Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana etc.)
Star Ocean series
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Suikoden series
Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars
Tales series (Namco's Tales)
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Treasures of the Savage Frontier
Ultima series
Wasteland
Wild ARMs series
Wizardry series
Ys series
Yu-Gi-Oh series
Xenogears
Xenosaga series

MMORPGs

Roguelikes

Ancient Domains Of Mystery
Angband
Castle of the Winds
The Dungeon Revealed / The Dungeon of Doom
Hack
Iter Vehemens ad Necem
NetHack
Moria
Rogue
Tyrant

Shooters

Centipede
Dr. Blob's Organism
Missile Command
Phoenix
Space Invaders

Shoot 'em ups

1942
3D Defender
Abadox
Agony
Aero Blasters
Alpha Mission
Apidya
Asteroids
Bangai-O
Bio-ship Paladin
Darius series
Disposable Hero
DonPachi
DoDonPachi
Dr. Blob's Organism
Dragon Breed
Earth Defense Force
Fantasy Zone
Galaga
Gradius series
Ikaruga
Jets'n'Guns
Lethal Xcess
Mr Heli
Nanostray
Parodius series
Project-X
R-Type series
Radiant Silvergun
Raiden series
Raptor
Return Fire
Sinistar
Smash TV
Spacewar (not a true shoot-em-up; 1962 multiplayer deathmatch)
Spheres of Chaos
SolarStriker
Stardust series
Star Fox series
Thunderforce series
Transbot
Twinbee series
Tyrian
Wings of Death
Xenon series
XPilot
Zaxxon
Zero Wing

Simulation Games

Simulation, or simulator, games attempt recreating the experience of controlling a some kind vehicle, like a ship, airplane or car, often as realistically as practically possible, taking into account physics and other real-world limitations.

Ace combat
FlightGear
Flight Unlimited series
Microsoft Flight Simulator series
Orbiter
Silent Hunter
Stunt Island
X-Plane

Space simulation

Space simulations tend to be much like flight simulations but generally have to take many liberties to adapt the "true" physics of spaceflight to be more player-friendly.

Freespace series
Elite
Frontier
First Encounters
Escape Velocity
EVE Online (a massive multiplayer online game set in space)
Freelancer
Galaxy Trek
Hegemonia: Legions of Iron
Homeworld
Homeworld: Cataclysm
Homeworld 2
Independence War (aka I-War)
Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos
Nexus: The Jupiter Incident
Noctis (simulates a galaxy of stars, planets and moons for pure exploration)
Starflight
Starlancer
Star Trek: Bridge Commander
Star Fleet Command
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Star Wars: Starfighter
Tachyon: The Fringe
TDZK
Wing Commander and Privateer series
X: Beyond the Frontier
X2: The Threat
X-Wing series
X-Wing
TIE Fighter
X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
X-Wing Alliance

Sports

Activision Boxing
Activision Tennis
All Star Baseball 2003
Arch Rivals
Auto Racing (Intellivision)
Backyard Sports series
Baseball, (1971)
Baseball Mogul series
Championship Manager
Earl Weaver Baseball series (EA Sports)
FIFA Soccer series (EA Sports)
Ghetto Pong
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D
Hardball series
High Heat Baseball series
Intellivision World Series Baseball
Jose Canseco Baseball
Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball
Kick Off
Knockout Kings series (EA Sports)
Madden NFL series (EA Sports)
Major League Baseball (Intellivision)
Motocross (Intellivision)
Mutant League series
NASCAR Racing series (EA Sports)
NASL Soccer (Intellivision)
NBA Jam series (EA Sports)
NBA ShootOut series
NFL Football (Intellivision)
NHL series (EA Sports)
Pete Rose Baseball
Pong
Premier Manager 2005/2006
Rumble in the Rink
Tecmo Super Bowl series
Tiger Woods Golf series (EA Sports)
Tony La Russa Baseball series

Stealth Action

Metal Gear series
Splinter Cell series
Thief series
Tenchu series

Strategy

General Strategy

Core Wars
Defender of the Crown
Lords of Conquest
Wargame Construction Set

Real-time strategy

Age of Empires series
Age of Mythology series
Armies of Exigo
Battle Realms
Blitzkrieg series
Close Combat series
Codename Panzers series
Command and Conquer series
Commandos series
The Corporate Machine
Dark Reign
Dune II
Dungeon Keeper series
Earth 2150 series
Europa Universalis series
Ground Control series
Homeworld series
Krush Kill and Destroy series
Metal Fatigue
Myth series
Outlive
Outpost Kaloki X
Perimeter
Populous series
Railroad Tycoon
Red Alert
Rise of Nations series
The Settlers series
StarCraft & add-on
Stronghold (castle building) series
Stronghold (D&D)
Sudden Strike
Superpower 2
Syndicate series
Total Annihilation
Total War series
Warcraft series
War of the Ring - based on Lord of the Rings novel

Turn-based

Age of Wonders series
Alpha Centauri
Ascendancy
Battle Isle series
Battle for Wesnoth
Battles of Norghan
Chaos series
Civilization series
Colonization
Dominions II: The Ascension Wars
Empire Deluxe
Final Fantasy Tactics
Fire Emblem series
Galactic Civilizations
King of Dragon Pass
Heroes of Might and Magic series
Jagged Alliance series
Master of Magic
Master of Orion series
Nintendo Wars series
Patton Versus Rommel
Shattered Union
Shining Force
Stars!
VGA Planets (for play-by-email)
War: Age of Imperialism
Warlords series
Worms series (includes action game elements)
X-COM (UFO) series

Hybrid strategy

Strange Adventures in Infinite Space
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space

Survival Horror

Survival Horror games focus on fear and attempt to scare the player via traditional horror elements such as atmospherics, death, the undead, blood and gore. Most of these games include third- or first-person shooter elements.

Alone in the Dark series
Clive Barker's Undying
Clock Tower series
Dino Crisis series
Fatal Frame (Project Zero) series
Resident Evil series
Silent Hill series
Sweet Home (believed to have originated the genre)
System Shock series

Third-Person Shooters/Third-Person Action

Third-person shooters (TPS) employ a specific perspective for the player. This is normally just behind and above the game character, but it is sometimes an isometric perspective.

American McGee's Alice
BloodRayne
Dynasty Warriors
Grand Theft Auto series
Heretic II
Hitman series
Mafia
Max Payne series
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Space Harrier
Tomb Raider series
Splinter Cell series

Miscellany

Animal Crossing
Katamari Damacy

Collectible Card Game

Magic: The Gathering has had computer versions for some time.
There is also a Pokemon Trading Card game for the GameBoy Color.

Traditional

Most popular board games, card games, and the like have been computerized to some degree or another. Computer game programs can be worthy opponents and can help you improve your skill at traditional games.

Chess, Checkers, Othello (a.k.a. Reversi), and Backgammon have world class computer programs.
Mah-jongg and related games are immensely popular in Japan.
Maqiupai
I-go, popular in Asia.

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