Video Game Studies – Types of Gaming genres

A game is basically a structured type of play, normally undertaken for fun or entertainment, and at times used as an academic tool. Games are quite different from homework, which are often carried out for monetary remuneration, and from literature, that is more often an expression of historical or aesthetic views. Game studies seek to understand how games affect society, both in the domestic and international levels and how they may be used to support educational, psychological, or even military ends.

games

For this field to become a recognized one, it must have certain characteristics that all games share. Mainly, its aim should be to develop a player’s ability to interact with the environment, using the game mechanics to facilitate this. The second aim should be to produce a fictional world that stimulates thought, both through plot and gameplay. The third aim should be to entertain, not to pass a judgment. In short, a game has to have good game mechanics, interesting storyline, as well as enough content to keep players engaged, but not so much that they become glued to the screen.

The different types of game mechanics are divided into two categories: those that can be consciously implemented by the player and those that are imposed by the game itself. Consciously implemented mechanics are those that depend on the developer’s personal knowledge and skills, while imposing mechanics are those that the player is given no choice in the matter. Examples of the former are action-adventure games that require the player to react to various situations and may include a number of side quests to complete. On the other hand, most video games nowadays combine both conscious and unconscious gameplay, requiring the player to manipulate the characters of the game through the use of context clues and environmental cues. A typical game will have action set in a virtual world, and the objective is to explore and find a way to end the game.