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Game Review Tags

Nov 28, 2023, 10 min read

All tags used on game pages have the “gr-” prefix, to distinguish them from other parts of the garden.

Basic Tags

  • #gr-greatest-hits are like gold medalists; celebrated classic games that are popular for a reason. You can also think of this tag as “good games that are actually good”.
    • Ones that appear in the top 100 on videogamecanon are a good start.
  • #gr-hidden-gems are games you might not have heard of that are better than you would expect. I use this mostly for games of previous gaming generations that have been forgotten for whatever reason, even if they used to be popular.
    • Any game specifically covered in a YouTube video that has more than 100,000 views is disqualified from being called a hidden gem. This doesn’t count soundtrack videos.
  • #gr-best-in-multiplayer are games that are much better when played with a person you like.
  • #gr-supports-multiplayer are games that have a multiplayer mode worth checking out.
  • #gr-hm are “honorable mentions”; the main list’s overflow. There are games that I can’t really recommend going out to play casually, but have some interesting impact or history to them. Games with this tag are excluded from the main lists.
  • #gr-rpg is a recommended game that meets the RPG criteria, moving it to the RPG lists instead of the main lists.
  • #gr-rpghm is an “honorable mention” of a notable RPG, but not one that I recommend as readily as others within that era.

Gameplay Tags

Action

  • #gr-2d-shooter - Games where you use ranged weapons to take place in the action in a 2D environment. This includes the likes of Mega Man, Smash TV
  • #gr-3d-shooter - Games where you use ranged weapons to take place in the action that allow you to view and navigate a 3D environment. This includes FPS games and third-person “over the shoulder” perspectives.
  • #gr-shmup - A particular kind of 2D shooting game where you shoots at a large number of enemies while dodging patterns of relatively slow-moving fire. Games with this tag are not also tagged with#gr-2d-shooter .
  • #gr-platformer - Games where the core objective is to move your character between points in an environment of uneven terrain and suspended platforms using acrobatic maneuvers that you have expressive control over. (“Run and gun” games are tagged as shooters and platformers)
  • #gr-fighting - Games focused on “evenly matched” hand-to-hand combat between two or more characters, often with mechanics like blocking, grappling, and the ability to chain attacks into combos. Often designed for competitive play between two players.
  • #gr-brawler - Games focused on hand-to-hand combat where the player takes on many opponents simultaneously. Often designed for cooperative or single-player play.
  • #gr-racing - Any action game where you participate in a racing competition, whether it involves arcade-style simplicity or realistic simulation.
  • #gr-action-adventure- Action games that also include significant elements of exploration, puzzle-solving, item management, or interactive storytelling. This is both subjective and quite broad. “Metroidvanias” are action-adventure games that are also platformers.
  • #gr-maze-game - A 2D action game taking place entirely in a maze, where players have to do things like escape monsters, outrace an opponent, or navigate all areas of the maze within a time limit. Players often don’t have actions other than movement. Maze games where planning ahead is important are also tagged#gr-puzzle . Classic examples include Pac-Man and Wizard of Wor, while more recent ones include Super Bomberman R and Pix the Cat.

Strategy

In video games, “strategy” almost always refers to a game that simulates large-scale military conflict. A game where you strategically run a business or manage a peaceful community is tagged as#gr-management-sim . Abstract games like chess, Go, or Azul where you must plan ahead in order to score points or complete a goal might be#gr-puzzle or#gr-cardboard . This is a narrower meaning for strategy than the word as applied to board games.

  • Real-Time vs Turn-Based: A real-time game is one where you have to make decisions in a constantly changing game state. A turn-based game is one where you have ample time to deliberate. I classify games that unfold in continuous time but pause for key events as turn-based. Real-time games where you merely have access to a manual pause are still tagged as real time.
  • Strategy vs Tactics: These terms are often confused in video games. I’ll use a simplified definition: in strategy games, you can easily produce units and build more buildings. In tactics games, you can’t. In strategy games, you win by controlling more “money” resources and creating an efficient production pipeline. In tactics games, you win by using your limited forces effectively, controlling key defensive terrain, and using every individual unit to its maximum effect.
    • Even so, the distinction is blurry—in a strategy game like StarCraft, effective tactics allow a small force to take on a nominally stronger opponent. You can create more units in most missions of Advance Wars, but its resource economy is very simple, and figuring out ideal ways to solve its tactical puzzles is key to progressing through the campaign.
  • #gr-real-time-strategy - The genre of Age of Empires, StarCraft, Total Annihilation, and Command & Conquer. These games typically allow players to gather resources, construct bases, research upgrades, and produce new fighting units. The scope of strategy is usually smaller than in turn-based strategy games. This tag includes simpler tower defense games like Bloons and Plants vs Zombies.
  • #gr-real-time-tactics - A real-time game with focus on complex battlefield tactics using a relatively small number of units.
  • #gr-turn-based-strategy
  • #gr-turn-based-tactics
  • #gr-4x - “eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate.” A strategy game where a player controls an empire and is in a competition to develop its economy and technology to reach one of the game’s victory conditions or eliminate every other player. Usually turn-based, but might be real-time or a mix.

RPG

RPG definition: development, combat, inventory. See more.

  • #gr-action-rpg is an RPG where your timing and reflexes matter, usually because you have real-time continuous control over your character. Examples include Torchlight, Dark Souls, and Odin Sphere.
  • #gr-real-time-rpg is an RPG with real-time combat but gives you the tools to automate or pause the action. Examples include Final Fantasy XII, Fallout 3, and Baldur’s Gate.
  • #gr-turn-based-rpg is an RPG where the action unfolds in a strictly turn-based manner and characters can’t generally act simultaneously. Examples include Dragon Quest XI, Darkest Dungeon, and XCOM.

Simulator

  • #gr-management-sim - A game where you run a business, government, or community and try to make it thrive using limited resources within an ongoing simulated process. This includes city-builders, tycoon games, farming games, and colony management games.
  • #gr-vehicle-sim - A game that simulates the operation of some kind of vehicle, be it real or fictional, from the perspective of its pilot or driver. They focus on presenting the vehicle in a realistic manner (or a believable fantasy) and may allow you to adjust the degree of realism you want in your experience (collision physics, fuel management, navigation aids).

Roguelikes

  • #gr-trad-roguelike - A game resembling Rogue; that is, a 2D turn-based hack-and-slash dungeon crawl with a high degree of randomness and procedural generation, emphasis on statistical character development, and use of run-based play (permadeath) with minimal persistent elements between runs. This includes Angband, NetHack, Tales of Maj’Eyal, and so forth. You can argue that these are a kind of RPG or Strategy game, but this list doesn’t classify them as such.
  • #gr-modern-roguelike - Any game that that uses roguelike elements such as run-based play and procedural generation, but might have action-based gameplay, character development between runs, objectives that differ from the standard hack-and-slash, etc. This includes Spelunky, Hades, FTL: Faster Than Light, Slay the Spire, and so on.

Other Tags

  • #gr-pure-adventure - Games that focus on people, plots, and puzzles, often with a simple “point-and-click” interface. I call them “pure” because they don’t include elements of action or strategy. Grim Fandango is a pure adventure game, while Ocarina of Time is not.
  • #gr-puzzle - any game where you primarily solve puzzles using logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, or spatial reasoning. This includes games that require quick thinking such as Puyo Puyo as well as more laid-back experiences.
  • #gr-cardboard - Video games that adapt an existing card or board game to digital form, or simulate one that could exist.

Theme Tags

  • By setting time period
    • #gr-ancient - games set in a bronze age or iron age culture, such as Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt.
    • #gr-post-classical- games set in post-classical history from about 500 CE to 1500, such as Medieval Europe or the Three Kingdoms period in China.
    • #gr-modern-history - games set during the time of Europe’s Renaissance or Industrial Revolution periods; about 1500 CE to 1945.
    • #gr-contemporary - games set in a world like ours from 1945 to the present time, including the near-future.
    • #gr-futuristic - games set in a speculated future, with a high tech feeling.
    • #gr-space - futuristic games featuring space travel.
  • #gr-historical - attempts to represent a historical setting more-or-less accurately.
  • #gr-horror - any game that feels like horror fiction, seeking to elicit an entertaining fear or disgust, regardless of the type of gameplay.
  • #gr-fantasy- games that make the impossible seem real, often with a narrative inspired by human myth and in a fictional universe. Contrast with “historical”.
  • #gr-sci-fi - games that have some grounding (even loosely) in science and logic, with a story that explores the consequences of scientific advancement or new discoveries.
  • #gr-war - games set in a real or fictional military conflict where you play as a soldier, general, or military technician. Fantasy or far-future wars aren’t included.
  • #gr-crime-and-mystery - games about crime or its detection.

Gamer Profile Tags

These tags describe the kind of gamer I think will enjoy the game, based loosely on survey categories from Quantic Foundry. (See Ten Player Profiles)

Developer Region Tags

List when the developer’s primary region is known.

  • #gr-na-dev - Developed in Canada, the United States, Mexico, or elsewhere in North America.

  • #gr-sa-dev - Developed in Brazil or elsewhere in South America.

  • #gr-uk-dev - Developed in the United Kingdom.

  • #gr-eu-dev - Developed somewhere in continental Europe, not including Russia.

  • #gr-rus-dev - Developed in Russia.

  • #gr-aus-dev - Developed in Australia or Oceania, not including Hawaii.

  • #gr-jp-dev - Developed in Japan.

  • #gr-cn-dev - Developed in China, including Hong Kong.

  • #gr-kr-dev - Developed in South Korea.

  • #gr-sea-dev - Developed in one of the countries of Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia or the Philippines.

  • #gr-west-asia-dev - Developed in one of the countries of Western Asia, Central Asia, or South Asia. This includes India, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Uzbekistan, among others.

  • #gr-north-africa-dev - Developed in one of the countries of North Africa, from Morocco to Sudan.

  • #gr-ssa-dev - Developed in one of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, such as Nigeria or Ethiopia.

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