My Top 10 - Video Game Genres

If you've played video games for a few years, you know that there are some types of games that simply need to be average to make you happy. We're all usually pretty open to multiple genres, but we also know that some are simply better than others. Here's my list, what's yours?

10 Simulation
Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim City, Tropico
I had Roller Coaster Tycoon on my dad's computer, and I would spend hours on this thing. Sometimes I was legitimately making a popular theme park, others I'd play the tyrant by destroying active roller coasters and imprisoning/drowning customers who were complaining.

Sim games are always a good way to wind down by building an economy and watching as it runs its course. It's also probably the only genre where I'll play a "bad guy," because it's the only genre that gives a decent reward and penalty for being a jerk.

9 Real-Time Strategy
Age of Empires, Starcraft
Age of Empires was the only game I had on one of my earlier computers. I knew all the cheat codes for it, I could hold my own online, and I played through the campaigns and AI opponents countless times. I learned strategies without consulting online resources (something I'm practically incapable of today), and I made a few local friends who also happened to play the game.

The games are more fast-paced that I care for anymore, but I still enjoyed playing through some of Starcraft II, and a friend is currently working on talking me in to buying the updated Age of Empires. There's something so thrilling about starting a map with a few workers and growing it in to a juggernaut that crushes all opposition.

8 MMORPG
World of Warcraft, Rift, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning
I've played WoW off and on for 8 years. That's a lot of time to play a single game, but MMOs evolve so much that sometimes only the world stays the same. The games certainly aren't time friendly, often requiring you to spend hours just to reach the real part of the game (content for max-level characters). Still, when I can find a group of friends to play with, it's a great way to get my fix for cooperative gameplay.

7 Shooters
Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead, Borderlands, Earth Defense Force
"Shooters" is a pretty broad term, and often games have something extra tacked on (like how Borderlands is also an RPG). Still, there are some games that exist purely to let you shoot stuff. I enjoy Call of Duty purely for the competitive multiplayer, but games like Earth Defense Force and Borderlands are great for those times when you want to relax and pull a trigger for awhile. I personally prefer my single-player experience to be unrealistic (zombies, mutants, aliens), but when it comes to competitive shooters, give me an SMG and a belt full of grenades and I'm happy.


6 Side-Scrolling Action
Mega Man, Contra, Sonic
I rarely play these anymore, but whenever I do spend time on one I'm never disappointed. There's nothing fancy to these - you walk to the right, kill stuff, go right again, collect stuff, right some more, boss battle. It's pure, it's easy to understand, and it's always a challenge.

5 RPG
Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, Fallout, Chrono Trigger
I like a good story, I like getting gear and special items, and I like stats. Hence, I will forever love RPGs. However, if you've paid attention to my Rest Time Reviews you know that I don't like games that don't give me a return on my time spent, hence RPGs only being #5. When I was in high school these were hands down my #1 genre - get rid of action bogging down my story. Let me fight enemies, get gear, and save the world! As you'll notice by the end of this list, most of my games need some semblance of character progression and story, I just can't spend another 50 hours running aimlessly through games like Skyrim where it could be 15 minutes before I happen upon something.


4 Action RPG 
Dark Souls, Diablo, Bioshock
The perfect blend of RPG and "always something to do," Action RPGs are quickly climbing this genre list. These games need to include good character progression to be worth anything, and I'm slowly coming around to the idea of a game's story being structured around going from Point A to Point B, rather than setting you loose in a huge world and letting you find the story yourself. The latter is much more rewarding, but the former often has much better gameplay mechanics and memorable boss battles.


3 Card Games  
Magic the Gathering, Ascension
Perhaps more of a niche genre than the rest of these, TCGs and deck-building games in a digital format are still a great way to play the game you want without spending the money you don't have. TCGs like Magic or Pokemon may not give you as much deck-building freedom as you'd find in the real world, it's still a nice way to spend 20 or 30 minutes. Console-based card games are a harder sell, but anything I can play on my iPad will catch my attention because it lets me spend 10 or 15 minutes playing a game I enjoy in almost any location.

As a side note, it's also a great way to enjoy the game if you don't play very often. Before I joined my gaming group the only time I ever played Magic was through Duels of the Planeswalkers. I've also become a bit interested in deck building games where you and your opponent share a card pool and build your decks mid-game. Rather than paying $40 for a game I'm not sure about, I paid $0 and found that I really don't mind them!

2 Action/Adventure
Tomb Raider, The Last of Us (I may buy a PS3 just to play this), Dead Island
I never thought I'd love action games so much, but the ones I've played lately have been astounding. As long as a game isn't so chaotic that I can't track what's happening, I appreciate the adrenaline-fueling excitement an action game can create. Maybe I'm running through a crumbling building in Tomb Raider, getting my vengeance in Darksiders, or saving Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda. Action/Adventures are always sure to please just because there's rarely a time when you're not scaling a wall, fighting a bad guy, or discovering a new item to help you climb a wall to fight a bad guy.


1 Turn-Based Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics, Advanced Wars, Shining Force, X-COM, Hero Academy
This isn't even close to the previous entries. TBT games have been my favorite games ever since I found Return to Krondor back in 1999. These games always have you snapped to a grid, and you and your opponent take turns moving your characters and attacking one another. It's like an elaborate game of chess, with different weapons, spells, items, potions... all with a hidden dice mechanic to determine hits, misses, and critical hits. The games are always so strategically rewarding, and there's always something to upgrade right until the credits roll.

TBT also work great for short play sessions. A single battle usually takes 5-10 minutes, so all your other time is usually spent upgrading characters or going through cut scenes. There's no needless travel, and even if you have to "grind" levels to get your characters powerful enough to progress, the battles you fight are always enjoyable.

Honestly, it's hard for me to find a tactics game I don't like. And like shooters, TBT usually have something extra added on to them (usually an RPG), but it's that feeling of having a defined battlefield with terrain and varying units that bring the thrill. It can have a huge battlefield like X-COM or Fire Emblem, or be more confined like Final Fantasy Tactics and Hero Academy. When I can plan my strategy, move my pieces, outwit my opponent, and leave just a little bit to chance, I am one happy gamer.


See you tomorrow!

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