Research Guides: International Games Week: Types of Games

Types of Games: Examples

These are examples of games that are typically categorized as board and related games.

Monopoly
"Own it all as a high-flying trader in the fast-paced world of real estate. Tour the board in a quest to own the hottest properties, railroads and utilities. Invest in houses and hotels, then watch the rent come pouring in. Make deals to trade with other players and also look out for bargains at auction."
Scrabble
"Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles bearing a single letter onto a board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares."
Taboo
"Taboo is the game of unspeakable fun! Can you get your team to say Brain Freeze? What if you can't say Ice Cream, Headache, Eating, Cold or Fast? Not so easy now, is it? When you play Taboo, the obvious clues are strictly taboo! You have to give creative, carefully-worded clues to get your team to guess words fast. But don't mention unmentionables, or you'll get the squeaker and lose the point!"
Trivial Pursuit
"Featuring classic gameplay and gameboard, this game contains 2,400 questions in 6 categories: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art and Literature, Science and Nature, and Sports and Leisure. Players move around the board answering questions. When a player lands on a category space, they'll earn the corresponding colored wedge if they answer the question correctly. The first player to collect 6 different colored wedges and answer a final question correctly wins!"

These are examples of games that are typically categorized as card games.

Cards Against Humanity
"Cards Against Humanity is a party game for horrible people. Unlike most of the party games you've played before, Cards Against Humanity is as despicable and awkward as you and your friends. The game is simple. Each round, one player asks a question from a black card, and everyone else answers with their funniest white card."
Magic: The Gathering
"In a game of Magic, you and your opponent are Planeswalkers, powerful mages each armed with a deck of Magic cards representing lands, creatures and spells. Each player summons creatures and casts spells, trying to knock the other down from 20 to 0 life and win the game."
Munchkin
"Munchkin is the mega-hit card game about dungeon adventure . . . with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. You and your friends compete to kill monsters and grab magic items."
UNO™ Card Game
"UNO™ is the classic and beloved card game that’s easy to pick up and impossible to put down! Players take turns matching a card in their hand with the current card shown on top of the deck either by color or number. Special action cards deliver game-changing moments as they each perform a function to help you defeat your opponents."

These are examples of games that are typically categorized as roleplaying games.

Call of Cthulhu
"Call of Cthulhu is a roleplaying game of mystery and horror, in which players take on the role of investigators to uncover the secrets of the cosmos. In the course of a game, the investigations may find themselves battling against crazy cults and horrors from beyond space."
Dungeons & Dragons
"The first Dungeons & Dragons game was played back when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson chose to personalize the massive battles of their fantasy wargames with the exploits of individual heroes. This inspiration became the first fantasy roleplaying game, in which players are characters in an ongoing fantasy story. This new kind of game has become immensely popular over the years, and D&D has grown to include many new ways to vividly experience worlds of heroic fantasy."
Fate Core System
"Fate Core is a flexible system that can support whatever worlds you dream up. Have you always wanted to play a post-apocalyptic spaghetti western with tentacle monsters? Swords and sorcery in space? Wish there was a game based on your favorite series of books, film, or television, but it never happened? Fate Core is your answer."
Pathfinder
"The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game puts you in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil!"

These are examples of games that are typically categorized as video and computer games.

Call of Duty
"Call of Duty® returns to its historical roots with Call of Duty®: World War II, a blockbuster experience from Sledgehammer Games. From the beaches of Normandy to the Hürtgen Forest, experience a dramatic story highlighting some of the most dramatic and iconic moments of World War II as a young soldier who is facing the unforgiving reality of war alongside his brothers in arms."
Legend of Zelda
"The Legend of Zelda is a high-fantasy action-adventure video game series created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka."
Super Mario
A game set in the Mushroom Kingdom, where Mario and Luigi must save the kingdom and Princess Toadstool from the Koopa Army, whose leader is King Bowser.
Tomb Raider
"Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration includes the critically acclaimed Rise of the Tomb Raider, nominated for over 75 “Best Of” awards, in which Lara Croft becomes more than a survivor as she embarks on her first Tomb Raiding expedition to the most treacherous and remote regions of Siberia."
World of Warcraft
"Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Adventure is all around you. Will you become one of Azeroth's legends? Everything you need to take that first step is right here."