Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Through the Lens:
Video Games
In this chapter, we'll be taking a look at various genres of games, in
order to develop the accuracy of our lens further. Genres are always
a bit of a tricky thing to nail down exactly, and there are all kinds of
diff ering opinions out there about which games belong in which genres.
Some people don't consider
Super Smash Brothers
a fi ghting game.
Th ere's great disagreement about whether or not
Diablo
is a role-play-
ing game. Further, there are some “genres� that are simply too broad to
have any meaning, such as action, or to a lesser extent, strategy. For this
reason, I'll be defi ning the genres as I see i t. But don't worry—I'll also
include an explanation illustrating what I mean by these genre names.
I'll have suggestions for designers regarding these games as well—
what pitfalls to avoid, and how we can look outside the box of these
genres to create truly new gameplay experiences. If you're designing a
game that even sort of fi ts into one of these genres, reading the relevant
section should be helpful. If you're looking for ideas, there are many
here, ready to be pursued!
Problems Common to Most Genres
When I began writing this chapter, I jumped right into the i rst section on
individual genres: “Brawlers.� I wrote it, and then when I started to move
