Types of Games
- Arcade Games: Games played on a special booth in a public arcade.
- Audio Games: Games specifically designed to be played without the use of graphics.
- Forum Games: Games played in the style of text adventures, requiring a computer.
- Parlor Games: The oldest genre of social games, requiring no special equipment.
- Tabletop Games
- Board Games: From Monopoly to chess, the classic test of skill and wits between friends and foes alike.
- Euro Game: A recent style in board gaming, first becoming widely popular with the mid-1990s success of The Settlers of Catan.
- War Games: Board games that attempt to simulate realistic military conflict. Many are infamous for having Loads and Loads of Rules (and cardboard counters). Advanced Squad Leader is probably the most famous example.
- Card Games: From poker to Magic: The Gathering, a way to win money and while away the empty hours.
- Collectible Card Games are a recently popular variant.
- Poker is a particularly famous card game.
- Tabletop Miniatures: The intersection of Board Games and Collectible Card Games, featuring Hero Clix, MechWarrior, Mage Knight and others. They often employ Turn Based Strategy.
- Tabletop RPGs
- Board Games: From Monopoly to chess, the classic test of skill and wits between friends and foes alike.
- Pinball Games: Formerly a type of Arcade Game, but the rise of home collectors and Digital Pinball Tables means pinball is more often played outside of arcade-type venues nowadays.
- Video Games: The most recent variety. Video games throw you into enthralling or addictive worlds where you forget yourself for a brief period. Any of the above categories can be translated to this format. Originating with Arcade Games, subgenres include Text, Adventure, MUDs, MMORPGs, RTS, FPS, and more.
- Platform Games
- Role Playing Games
- Strategy Game: Games that require strategy or tactics to win.
- Construction and Management Games
- Turn-Based Strategy: An ancient type of game made popular again.
- Real-Time Strategy: A more modern incarnation of the strategy game.
Games by Origin
Tropes common to games in general:
Categories:
- Area of Effect
- Artistic License – Statistics
- Calling Your Shots
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- Crazy People Play Chess
- Deep-Immersion Gaming
- Diminishing Returns for Balance
- Emergent Gameplay
- Fake Balance
- Fake Difficulty
- Fake Longevity
- Human Chess
- Instant-Win Condition
- Joke Character
- Kingmaker Scenario
- Let's Mock the Monsters
- Loads and Loads of Rules
- Massive Race Selection
- Master Console
- New Rules as the Plot Demands
- No Export for You
- No Plot? No Problem!
- Not the Intended Use
- Obvious Rule Patch
- Player Archetypes
- Power Equals Rarity
- Prestigious Player Title
- Promotional Powerless Piece of Garbage
- Sanity Meter
- Scavenger Hunt
- Scrabble Babble
- Sliding Scale of Cooperation vs. Competition
- Sliding Scale of Objective vs. Subjective Games
- Smart People Play Chess
- Splash Damage
- Splash Damage Abuse
- Square Race, Round Class
- Surprise Checkmate
- That One Rule
- Variable Player Goals
- Variant Chess
