The digital age has brought more widespread popularity for gaming than ever before. Something that used to be the exclusive preserve of teenage boys has now been embraced by everyone.
That is true to such an extent that the value of the games market is expected to hit $546 billion within the next six years. It is booming in most countries, but particularly strongly within the United States, where it has been growing more rapidly than the national economy!
Market growth and demographic expansion have led to different niches springing up within gaming, all of which have loyal fans. This post will take a look at some of the popular gaming subsets and the best games that they have produced.
Table of Contents
Role-playing Games
RPGs are among the most absorbing and complex games on the market. Playing one will mean becoming a character within a fully realized digital world, which can be either a single or multiplayer game.
The aim is usually to carry out a quest, although there are often several levels with different tasks. Along the way, the player will take part in battles and face other obstacles.
The all-time best-selling games in this niche include Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls, with 30 million sales; The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, also with sales of 30 million; and Pokemon Red and Blue with 32.5 million sold. Pokemon is a genuine phenomenon, but the other two have captured the hearts of RPG fans through state-of-the-art visuals and challenging gameplay.
Strategy Games
The term ‘strategy games’ encompasses some very different games. Understanding strategy game basics can be more difficult than it sounds, for example, there are 4X ones, where the aim is to complete four tasks: exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination.
These are ultra-sophisticated games where the player is an imperialist who needs to fend off rival kingdoms in battle, access necessary resources and builds their empire through colonization. All of this must be done while thinking strategically about internal politics and culture.
Another very popular type of strategy game is an online casino. That can mean video slots or card games like blackjack. Of course, blackjack requires more strategy, but understanding the video slots basics will help you to get a plan in place for winning at slots games too.
Some of the top-selling strategy games include StarCraft, which succeeded because it combined long-term strategizing with thrilling bursts of action, and Rollercoaster Tycoon, which has sold more than 10 million thanks to cutting-edge 3D graphics and an unusual central idea.
Walking Simulator Games
A walking simulator game is one where everything is focused on the storyline. There is little action and no particular puzzles to solve, marking it as a unique gaming format.
Walking simulator basics advise the player to immerse themselves in its virtual world and find out the information they need to make sense of it. In practice, that usually involves the player studying objects, documents, and both audio and visual logs.
It is a genre that some gamers will find very boring while others become absorbed by it. If you love using the information in the game world to figure out mysteries, this is the niche for you.
Walking Simulator games can be anything from science fiction to sport-based. Perhaps the biggest of all is Death Stranding which incorporates more action than usual but also has a multiplayer mode where players can leave each other messages.
Sports Games
Sports games range from simulator ones where players become top soccer or NFL stars to ones where they are a manager or coach trying to build a winning team. The appeal of both ultimately lies in living out dreams vicariously.
Most sports fans long to be key players for their team or feel that they could do a better job than the person in charge of it and these games let them try. The official FIFA soccer simulation game is the best-selling, with 260 million sales, which reflects the huge global audience for soccer.
First-Person Shooter Games
The last of our list of popular game genres is the first-person shooter. These are games for playing with friends and the purpose is to outgun opponents in shootouts.
These are among the most explosive and fast-moving games and they appeal to people who have sharp reactions and reflexes. Typically, they also require very subtle control of the console to play them well.
There is little thought needed for first-person shooter games, it is all action and reaction, but that can be exhilarating. One of the best sellers is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, due to its action-packed missions and realistic imagery.
You are guaranteed to enjoy at least one of these gaming genres, so give them a go to find your niche.
