“Can I play one more round?”—this question is part of everyday life in many families. About three out of four teens enjoy playing games regularly on their computers, consoles, smartphones, or online with friends. But what exactly is going on there?
It’s often hard for parents to keep track of everything: The video game market has grown enormous. There are currently more than 10,000 games available for the Nintendo Switch alone. Many games combine multiple genres or create entirely new categories. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to get a complete overview. Nevertheless, many games can be broadly categorized—which makes them easier to understand. Here, we’ll introduce five popular genres.
On game-creation platforms, children and teens find a kind of building block system that lets them develop their own games online and share them with others. A variety of worlds, objects, characters, and commands are available for this purpose. Users can get creative, invent games of varying sizes, and customize them to their liking. Within the community, they exchange ideas and games and play together. For many children, this is often their first introduction to programming and can even become a source of income. Well-known platforms include Roblox, Fortnite’s Creative Mode, and Meta Horizon Worlds. Parents should be aware that such platforms often feature strong incentives to make purchases, as well as risks associated with inappropriate content and communication with others.
Time, patience, and a sharp mind—that’s what players need for strategy games. Here, the goal is to make plans, solve problems, and keep your own objectives in mind. Sometimes players build cities and societies, tackle tricky challenges, or wage wars and battles, as in Minecraft Legends, for example. Unlike simulations, strategy games are usually designed for the long term. Players often play over many rounds, gradually expanding their knowledge and skills along the way. As a result, these games are better suited for more experienced players who are looking for less action but more challenges.
In role-playing games, players can truly step into someone else’s shoes. They take on the role of a character, experience the action through that character’s eyes, and navigate a fictional world. There, they complete tasks—known as “quests”—overcome battles, explore distant planets, or search for hidden treasures in mysterious worlds. This makes the gaming experience feel more immersive and personal than in simulations or strategy games. At the same time, the controls are usually more complex. The line between the game and reality can also be harder to distinguish, which is why role-playing games are generally more suitable for older children. For example, the most adventurous corners of the Minecraft world can be explored in Minecraft Dungeons.
In this genre, there’s one main activity: shooting. A shooter is a shooting game in which players move through a virtual world using virtual weapons, aim and shoot, eliminate opponents, and complete missions. Experiencing the gameplay from a first-person perspective is also known as a first-person shooter. However, these games can also be simulations or adventure games. The goal is usually to survive and successfully complete a mission. The graphics vary widely, ranging from cartoon-like to very realistic depictions of violence, which is why it’s important to take a close look. Many shooters are rated for older players only. Well-known realistic examples include Battlefield, Call of Duty or the cartoon-like Fortnite.
Not for the faint of heart: Horror games have one main goal—to scare, creep out, and terrify players as much as possible. To achieve this, they rely on startling effects, disgusting or eerie images and music, characters and scenes that appear suddenly, and dark stories. Horror games are, so to speak, the adaptation of horror movies into video games and can take the form of adventure games, simulations, or shooters. In most cases, players navigate a threatening environment and try to survive there. The visuals, effects, and atmosphere range from mildly creepy to extremely intense depictions. It’s especially important to pay attention to age ratings here. Also, closely observe how your child reacts to frightening content. Examples of horror games include Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Little Nightmares, and Poppy Playtime.
Open the drawer, close the drawer—and all the games are sorted? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The boundaries between genres are often blurred: Some games fit into multiple categories, while others are hard to categorize. Games can also be sorted by theme, technology, or difficulty level, for example.
That’s why you’ll find additional overviews of popular game and online game genres on Elternguide.online. But even the best classification is only a snapshot, because new offerings, technologies, and game concepts are constantly emerging.
Still, it’s worth getting to know the latest games and genres. Basic knowledge, joint research, and an interest in your child’s favorite games encourage family conversations. This fosters understanding and creates an opportunity to discuss risks and work together to find a healthy approach to gaming. The USK’s comprehensive and constantly updated encyclopedia of game genres is also a helpful resource in this regard.
