[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":258},["ShallowReactive",2],{"navigation_docs":3,"-game-dev-game-categories":72,"-game-dev-game-categories-surround":253},[4,26,43],{"title":5,"path":6,"stem":7,"children":8,"page":25},"Using Parallax","\u002Fusing-parallax","1.using-parallax",[9,13,17,21],{"title":10,"path":11,"stem":12},"Getting Started","\u002Fusing-parallax\u002Fgetting-started","1.using-parallax\u002F0.getting-started",{"title":14,"path":15,"stem":16},"Project Structure","\u002Fusing-parallax\u002Fproject-structure","1.using-parallax\u002F1.project-structure",{"title":18,"path":19,"stem":20},"Working with the Agent","\u002Fusing-parallax\u002Fworking-with-agent","1.using-parallax\u002F2.working-with-agent",{"title":22,"path":23,"stem":24},"Deploying Your Game","\u002Fusing-parallax\u002Fdeploying","1.using-parallax\u002F3.deploying",false,{"title":27,"path":28,"stem":29,"children":30,"page":25},"Features","\u002Ffeatures","2.features",[31,35,39],{"title":32,"path":33,"stem":34},"Feature Overview","\u002Ffeatures\u002Foverview","2.features\u002F0.overview",{"title":36,"path":37,"stem":38},"Roadmap","\u002Ffeatures\u002Froadmap","2.features\u002F1.roadmap",{"title":40,"path":41,"stem":42},"Feature Requests","\u002Ffeatures\u002Frequests","2.features\u002F2.requests",{"title":44,"path":45,"stem":46,"children":47,"page":25},"Game Dev","\u002Fgame-dev","3.game-dev",[48,52,56,60,64,68],{"title":49,"path":50,"stem":51},"The Game Developer's Mental Model","\u002Fgame-dev\u002Fmental-model","3.game-dev\u002F0.mental-model",{"title":53,"path":54,"stem":55},"A History of Games","\u002Fgame-dev\u002Fhistory-of-games","3.game-dev\u002F1.history-of-games",{"title":57,"path":58,"stem":59},"Game Categories","\u002Fgame-dev\u002Fgame-categories","3.game-dev\u002F2.game-categories",{"title":61,"path":62,"stem":63},"Theme and Visual Design","\u002Fgame-dev\u002Ftheme-and-design","3.game-dev\u002F3.theme-and-design",{"title":65,"path":66,"stem":67},"Visual Design in Games","\u002Fgame-dev\u002Fvisual-design","3.game-dev\u002F4.visual-design",{"title":69,"path":70,"stem":71},"Theme in Game Design","\u002Fgame-dev\u002Ftheme-in-games","3.game-dev\u002F5.theme-in-games",{"id":73,"title":57,"body":74,"description":246,"extension":247,"links":248,"meta":249,"navigation":250,"path":58,"seo":251,"stem":59,"__hash__":252},"docs\u002F3.game-dev\u002F2.game-categories.md",{"type":75,"value":76,"toc":233},"minimark",[77,81,85,88,93,96,99,102,105,109,112,115,118,121,125,128,131,134,137,141,144,147,150,153,157,160,163,166,169,173,176,179,182,185,189,192,195,198,201,205,208,211,214,217,221,224,227,230],[78,79,57],"h1",{"id":80},"game-categories",[82,83,84],"p",{},"Genre labels are shorthand for player expectation contracts. When a player picks up\nan action game, they expect a certain kind of challenge. When they pick up a\nsimulation, they expect a different kind of freedom. Breaking those expectations\nwithout intent is a design problem.",[82,86,87],{},"The categories below are not a taxonomy of mechanics. They are buckets defined by\nwhat the player is primarily doing and what psychological need the experience is built\naround. A game can belong to more than one bucket. The categories help you ask the\nright design questions for your game.",[89,90,92],"h2",{"id":91},"action","Action",[82,94,95],{},"The player responds to immediate threats. Mastery is speed, accuracy, and reading\nthe environment fast enough to survive.",[82,97,98],{},"The designer's job: make challenge readable. Every obstacle should be understandable\nin the moment it kills the player. Unfair deaths break the contract.",[82,100,101],{},"Sub-families in this bucket: platformers, shooters, fighting games, hack-and-slash,\narcade games. They share the same core: physical challenge, real-time response,\nskill expression through execution.",[82,103,104],{},"What breaks it: invisible hazards, input lag, visual noise that hides information,\ndifficulty that relies on memorization rather than skill.",[89,106,108],{"id":107},"strategy","Strategy",[82,110,111],{},"The player plans ahead. Mastery is understanding the system well enough to build\nplans that outlast disruption.",[82,113,114],{},"The designer's job: create a system with multiple viable strategies. If one strategy\nis always correct, the game is a puzzle with extra steps, not a strategy game.",[82,116,117],{},"Sub-families: real-time strategy, turn-based strategy, tower defense, 4X (explore,\nexpand, exploit, exterminate). They share the same core: resource management,\ndecision-making under constraints, planning over time.",[82,119,120],{},"What breaks it: dominant strategies that make the depth irrelevant, decisions that\nmatter too little, no meaningful recovery from early mistakes.",[89,122,124],{"id":123},"role-playing","Role-Playing",[82,126,127],{},"The player becomes a character and grows that character over time. Mastery is a mix\nof build optimization and narrative investment.",[82,129,130],{},"The designer's job: give the player a world worth caring about and choices that feel\nmeaningful. The mechanical and narrative layers should reinforce each other.",[82,132,133],{},"Sub-families: JRPGs, CRPGs, action RPGs, roguelites with strong build systems. They\nshare the core: character progression, world exploration, investment in a persistent\nidentity.",[82,135,136],{},"What breaks it: a slow start that delays the character investment, stat complexity\nthat obscures whether choices matter, characters with no personality.",[89,138,140],{"id":139},"simulation","Simulation",[82,142,143],{},"The player recreates or manages a system. Mastery is understanding the simulation's\nrules well enough to control outcomes.",[82,145,146],{},"The designer's job: build a system coherent enough that the player can form mental\nmodels of how it works. Opaque systems frustrate rather than challenge.",[82,148,149],{},"Sub-families: city builders, management games, life simulations, farming games,\nvehicle simulations. They share the core: rule-based systems the player learns to\nmaster, creative control within constraints.",[82,151,152],{},"What breaks it: too many variables with no feedback on which ones matter, a lack\nof visible consequence for the player's decisions, systems that feel random rather\nthan learnable.",[89,154,156],{"id":155},"puzzle","Puzzle",[82,158,159],{},"The player solves. Mastery is pattern recognition, lateral thinking, and the\nwillingness to approach a problem from a new angle.",[82,161,162],{},"The designer's job: construct an environment where insight is both possible and\nsatisfying. The puzzle should feel like a conversation between the player and the\ndesigner's logic.",[82,164,165],{},"Sub-families: pure logic puzzles, spatial reasoning games, physics-based puzzles,\nmystery games with deduction mechanics. They share the core: a problem, a constrained\nset of tools, and a satisfying solution.",[82,167,168],{},"What breaks it: arbitrary solutions that could not be reasoned to, hint systems that\nskip the insight moment, puzzles that require memorization instead of thinking.",[89,170,172],{"id":171},"adventure-and-narrative","Adventure and Narrative",[82,174,175],{},"The player explores and follows a story. The primary experience is discovery and\nemotional investment, not mechanical mastery.",[82,177,178],{},"The designer's job: make the world feel worth exploring and the story worth following.\nThe player should feel that their presence in the world matters, even in a scripted arc.",[82,180,181],{},"Sub-families: point-and-click adventures, walking simulators, visual novels, narrative\nRPGs. They share the core: story as the primary payload, environment as storytelling,\natmosphere over challenge.",[82,183,184],{},"What breaks it: actions that contradict the story's tone (ludonarrative dissonance),\nbreaking immersion with jarring UI or mechanical interruptions, a story with no stakes.",[89,186,188],{"id":187},"sandbox-and-creation","Sandbox and Creation",[82,190,191],{},"The player builds. The game provides tools and rules; the player provides goals.\nMastery is creative expression within the system's constraints.",[82,193,194],{},"The designer's job: give players enough to create their own objectives and enough\nfeedback to know when they are succeeding at those objectives. The designer is making\na creative platform, not a directed experience.",[82,196,197],{},"Sub-families: open-world builders, crafting games, level editors, god games. They\nshare the core: player-defined goals, expressive tools, systems that respond to\ncreative input.",[82,199,200],{},"What breaks it: too many options with no onboarding, creative tools that feel\nimprecise, a lack of feedback that the player's creations are interesting or valid.",[89,202,204],{"id":203},"horror-and-survival","Horror and Survival",[82,206,207],{},"The player manages tension and resource scarcity. Mastery is knowing when to\nengage and when to avoid, and keeping the cost of mistakes low enough to continue.",[82,209,210],{},"The designer's job: build pressure that feels controlled, not random. Fear is most\neffective when the player understands the threat well enough to dread it.",[82,212,213],{},"Sub-families: survival horror, atmospheric horror, survival games, battle royale.\nThey share the core: resource pressure, threat management, tension as the primary\nemotional register.",[82,215,216],{},"What breaks it: arbitrary deaths, horror that loses its impact through repetition,\nresource systems so punishing that recovery is impossible.",[89,218,220],{"id":219},"sports-and-competition","Sports and Competition",[82,222,223],{},"The player develops a competitive craft. Mastery is a combination of mechanical\nexecution and strategic knowledge of the competitive space.",[82,225,226],{},"The designer's job: create a system deep enough for competitive play while keeping\nit accessible enough for new players to find early success. The skill ceiling should\nbe high; the floor should be reachable.",[82,228,229],{},"Sub-families: sports simulations, racing games, fighting games (also fits action),\ncard games with competitive modes. They share the core: a defined competitive frame,\nmastery through repetition, skill expression against another player or a well-designed\nopponent.",[82,231,232],{},"What breaks it: execution barriers that gate access to basic fun, balance problems\nthat reduce the viable option space, no path for new players to understand what\nthey are doing wrong.",{"title":234,"searchDepth":235,"depth":235,"links":236},"",2,[237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244,245],{"id":91,"depth":235,"text":92},{"id":107,"depth":235,"text":108},{"id":123,"depth":235,"text":124},{"id":139,"depth":235,"text":140},{"id":155,"depth":235,"text":156},{"id":171,"depth":235,"text":172},{"id":187,"depth":235,"text":188},{"id":203,"depth":235,"text":204},{"id":219,"depth":235,"text":220},"How genre labels work as player expectation contracts, and what breaking them means for your design.","md",null,{"sync":250},true,{"title":57,"description":246},"-rYrcahK2T8FK7D-2g9ME6T49kzlrWcFjftMamFrMdQ",[254,256],{"title":53,"path":54,"stem":55,"description":255,"children":-1},"Five thousand years of play, from the temples of ancient Egypt to the bedroom studios of the indie era.",{"title":61,"path":62,"stem":63,"description":257,"children":-1},"Why theme is not art style, and how visual design materializes the emotional contract with the player.",1781007575749]