Games are one of the most popular forms of entertainment, enjoyed by individuals of all ages. A game is a well designed structured form of play, often undertaken for fun or entertainment, and at times used as a teaching tool. Games are very different from work, which normally is done for monetary gain, and from literature, which is almost always an expression of personal or aesthetic impressions. Games fall into three main categories: Role Playing Games (RPG), Computer Role Playing Games (crpg) and Adventure Games.
Computer Role Playing Games (csrs) are massively multiplayer online role playing games, where the players control a character in an interactive fiction, participating in situations that are entirely computer generated. The player takes on the role of that character within a persistent virtual world, affecting the results of actions they take and the progress of the story. Action is rendered with graphics and sound, using sophisticated engines providing complex interaction between the characters, their environment and other players. The action is sometimes resolved with either fighting or cooperative action, although some crs games offer dice roll systems for resolving outcomes.
Text-Based Adventure Games are games where the focus is on narrative and visual storytelling, rather than gameplay. These include adventure games, visual novels, board games, card games, word puzzles, musical instruments and trivia games. As the narrative in these games is driven by the players’ interpretation of the text within the games, the result can be either highly interactive, with multiple players interacting at a single table or extremely linear, with the text presenting a fixed, non-interactive story and the players acting according to a pre-established system. Some texts allow the player to manipulate the plot, the characters and the various scenarios through the use of commands such as “use object”, “use item”, “put character into an unconscious state” and so on.
Role-Playing Games (RPGs) is primarily text-based, with the focus on achieving a specific goal through the means of various interactive means, to use a great deal of imagination to generate new ways of solving problems. The most popular RPGs include Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Dragon Age and the older Mages series. These RPGs feature characters exploring a virtual world, overcoming puzzles and combating enemies while seeking to achieve a specific goal. A further subgenre of RPG is the visual novel. These are narrative-based games that are primarily visual, with many requiring the use of flash technology to create a world and story.
Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games in which players must attack their opponents using a variety of computer-generated tactics, strategies and weapons. Most multiplayer online battles are first person shooters using the PC to view the battlefield from a third person perspective. Some games in this genre include Age of War, Territory War, District Fighter 3, StarCraft, Command and Conquer 3 and Supreme Court. The most popular RTS games include Fall of Rome, Starcraft 2, Age of Empire and Crysis. The visual aspect of these games is highly dynamic, allowing the player to experience intense battles through terrain, time periods and camera angles.
While idle games are mainly entertaining, they are also able to provide the player with valuable brain exercise. The reason for this is simple: the gaming mechanics of these games require players to think critically and come up with strategic decisions during play. When you’re engaged in a strategic battle, you’ll be required to make choices based on your goals, desires and capabilities. In order to win, players should examine their own behaviors and those of the game environment. Gaming experts suggest that gaming is an effective mechanism to release positive emotions such as excitement, creativity and resourcefulness.