Game classification

For board games classification, see Board game § Categories.

Game classification is the classification of games, forming a game taxonomy. Many different methods of classifying games exist.

## Contents

* 1 Physical education
* 2 Video games
* 3 Classification by causes of uncertainty
* 4 Game theory
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 Further reading

## Physical education[edit | edit source]

There are four basic approaches to classifying the games used in physical education:[1]

Game categories
This is a classification scheme proposed by Nicols, who classifies games according to three major categories: the game's physical requirements (i.e. what the game requires in addition to the players -- equipment, size and nature of playing field, and so forth), the structure of the game (i.e. number of players, groupings of players, strategies, and so forth), and the game's personal requirements (i.e. what the game requires of the player -- motor skills, fitness levels, numeracy, social skills, and so forth).
Games for understanding
This is a classification scheme proposed by Werner and Alomond that classifies games according to their strategies. It divides games into target games (e.g. archery); net or wall games (e.g. tennis); striking and field games (e.g. cricket); and invasion games (e.g. football).
Core content
This is a classification scheme proposed by Allison and Barrett[2] that categorizes games by their form (i.e. whether they are novel games proposed by the teacher or children, or whether they are existing games already widely played), by the movement skills that they require, by the "movement concepts" and game tactics that they require, and by the educational results of the game.
Developmental games
This is a classification scheme proposed by Gallahue and Celand that classifies games into four developmental levels, as part of an overall educational strategy of applying, reinforcing, and implementing movement and sports skills. The levels, in ascending order, are "low-level", "complex", "lead-up", and "official sports".

## Video games[edit | edit source]

There are several methods of classifying video games, alongside the system of video game genres commonly used by retailers and player communities.

Solomon[3] puts forward a "commonsense, but broad" classification of video games, into simulations (the game reflects reality), abstract games (the game itself is the focus of interest), and sports. In addition to these he points out that games (in general, not just video games) fall into classes according to numbers of players. Games with two players encompass board games such as chess. Games with multiple players encompass card games such as poker, and marketed family games such as Monopoly and Scrabble. Puzzles and Solitaire are one-player games. He also includes zero-player games, such as Conway's Game of Life, although acknowledging that others argue that such games do not constitute a game, because they lack any element of competition. He asserts that such zero-player games are nonetheless games because they are used recreationally.

Another method, developed by Wright,[4] divides games into the following categories: educational or informative, sports, sensorimotor (e.g. action games, video games, fighting and shoot 'em up games, and driving and racing simulators), other vehicular simulators (not covered by driving and racing), strategy games (e.g. adventure games, war games, strategic simulations, role-playing games, and puzzles), and "other".[5]

A third method, developed by Funk and Buchman,[6] and refined by others, classifies electronic games into six categories: general entertainment (no fighting or destruction), educational (learning or problem solving), fantasy violence (cartoon characters that must fight or destroy things, and risk being killed, in order to achieve a goal), human violence (like fantasy violence, but with human rather than cartoon characters), nonviolent sports (no fighting or destruction), and sports violence (fighting or destruction involved).[5]

## Classification by causes of uncertainty[edit | edit source]

File:Causes of uncertainty.svg

Causes of uncertainty in a game

Games can be categorized by the source of uncertainty which confront the players:[7][8]

* Chance
* Combinatorics (the large number of sequences of moves)
* Different states of information among the players (each player knows only his own cards)

Based on these three causes three classes of games arise:

* Combinatorial games
* Games of bluffing and strategy
* Games of chance

## Game theory[edit | edit source]

Main article: Game theory § Game types

Game theory classifies games according to several criteria: whether a game is a symmetric game or an asymmetric one, what a game's "sum" is (zero-sum, constant sum, and so forth), whether a game is a sequential game or a simultaneous one, whether a game comprises perfect information or imperfect information, and whether a game is determinate.

## See also[edit | edit source]

File:Commons-logo.svg

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Game.

Main article: Outline of games

* Entertainment Software Rating Board
* Game of skill and Game of chance – another classification scheme
* Video game genre

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ David P. Swain; David L. Gallahue; Frances Cleland Donnelly (2003). Developmental Physical Education for Today's Children. Human Kinetics. pp. 571–573. ISBN 0-7360-3388-2.
2. ^ Rink J. (2001). Investigating the Assumptions of Pedagogy in Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Human Kinetics Publishers Inc. pp. 112–128 Vol 20, No. 2.
3. ^ Eric Solomon (1984). Games Programming. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-521-27110-X.
4. ^ Wright, John C; Huston, Aletha C; Vandewater, Elizabeth A; Bickham, David S; Scantlin, Ronda M; Kotler, Jennifer A; Caplovitz, Allison Gilman; Lee, June H; Hofferth, Sandra; Finkelstein, Jonathan (January 2001). "American children's use of electronic media in 1997". Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 22 (1): 31–47. doi:10.1016/S0193-3973(00)00064-2.
5. ^ a b Victor C. Strasburger and Barbara J. Wilson (2002). Children, Adolescents and the Media. Sage Publications. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-7619-2125-7.
6. ^ Funk, Jeanne B; Buchman, Debra D (February 1995). "Video Game Controversies". Pediatric Annals. 24 (2): 91–94. doi:10.3928/0090-4481-19950201-08. ISSN 0090-4481.
7. ^ Jörg Bewersdorff (2004). Luck, Logic, and White Lies: The Mathematics of Games (PDF). AK Peters. p. xi. ISBN 1-56881-210-8.
8. ^ Hugo Kastner (January 2014). "100 Highlight among games" (PDF). WIN the Games Journal. 38 (460): 36–37. ISSN 0257-361X.

## Further reading[edit | edit source]

* Amund Tveit; Gisle B. Tveit (2002). "Game Usage Mining: Information Gathering for Knowledge Discovery in Massive Multiplayer Games" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2003.
* David Bunker; Rod Thorpe; Peter Werner (1996). "Teaching Games for Understanding: Evolution of a Model" (PDF). The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 67. Archived from the original on 10 March 2004.
* Deborah P. Vossen (21 April 2004). "The Nature and Classification of Games" (PDF). Avante. 10 (1): 75–77. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2009.
* Lindley, C. A. (3 October 2003). "Game Taxonomies: A High Level Framework for Game Analysis and Design". Gamasutra.
* Maja Pivec; Anni Koubek; Claudio Dondi (2004). Guidelines for Game-Based Learning. Pabst Science Publishers. pp. 54–57. ISBN 1-59326-072-5.
* Sebastian Pape; Laura Dietz; Peter Tandler (2 April 2004). "Single Display Gaming: Examining Collaborative Games for Multi-User Tabletops" (PDF). Fraunhofer Integrated Publication and Information Systems Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2007.
* Tim Hopper; Rick Bell. "Games classification system: Teaching strategic understanding and tactical awareness" (PDF). Cahperd. 66 (4): 14–19.

* v
* t
* e

Video game genres

* List of video game genres
* Lists of video games by genre

Action|

* Beat 'em up
* hack and slash
* Fighting
* platform
* Maze
* Pac-Man clone
* Platform
* endless runner
* Shooter
* first-person
* third-person
* light gun
* shoot 'em up
* arena
* hero
* tactical
* Survival
* battle royale

File:Video-Game-Controller-Icon-IDV-green-history.svg

Action-adventure|

* Grand Theft Auto clone
* Immersive sim
* Metroidvania
* Stealth
* Survival horror

Adventure|

* Graphic adventure
* Escape the room
* Interactive fiction
* Interactive film
* Visual novel

MMO|

* MMOFPS
* MMORPG
* MMORTS
* MMOTBS
* MUD

Role-playing|

* Action role-playing
* soulslike
* Dungeon crawl
* Roguelike
* Tactical role-playing

Simulation|

* Construction and management
* business
* city-building
* Theme park
* government
* Falling-sand
* Life simulation
* dating sim
* Virtual pet
* God
* Sports
* social simulation
* American football
* Association football
* Australian rules football
* Baseball
* Basketball
* Cricket
* Ice hockey
* Volleyball
* Rugby union
* Fighting
* professional wrestling
* Sumo
* Golf
* Snowboarding

Strategy|

* 4X
* Auto battler
* Multiplayer online battle arena
* Real-time strategy
* time management
* Real-time tactics
* Tower defense
* Turn-based strategy
* Turn-based tactics
* artillery
* Wargame
* grand strategy wargame

Vehicle simulation|

* Flight simulator
* amateur
* combat
* space
* Lunar Lander
* Racing
* kart racing
* sim racing
* Driving simulator
* Submarine simulator
* Train simulator
* Vehicular combat

Other genres|

* Deck-building
* roguelike deck-building
* Digital tabletop
* digital collectible card
* Erotic
* Eroge
* Exergame
* Horror
* Incremental
* Music
* rhythm
* Non-game
* Party
* Programming
* Puzzle
* hidden object
* sokoban
* tile-matching
* Typing
* Chess
* Shogi
* Alternate reality
* Quiz

Related concepts|

* AAA game
* Advertising
* advergame
* Arcade game
* Snake
* Art game
* Audio game
* Casual game
* Christian game
* Crossover game
* Educational game
* FMV
* Gamification
* Indie game
* Multiplayer video game
* Nonlinear gameplay
* open world
* sandbox game
* Nonviolent video game
* Online game
* browser game
* online gambling
* social-network game
* Pervasive game
* Serious game
* Toys-to-life
* Twitch gameplay
* Virtual reality game
* Video game clone
* Co-op game

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