It's meant for one player but also for multiplayer.
The gameplay style is clearly simulation although it can be discussed
in some cases, as they are more arcade-like.
As examples, we find sages such as Gran Turismo,
Project Cars, or games such as Train Simulator.
Sports games genre is also a very important genre.
In some cases we could also divide them depending on the sport,
but here we will talk on them in a generic way.
Main mechanics are the ones that are specific in the sports,
although often there are managing mechanics
such as managing the trainer, or signings,
or managing the different teams' economy.
The control is usually complex.
This makes the experience more physical and cognitive.
To this we must add motivational aspects deriving from
competition, and emotional and social
also based on online competitions.
The target is wide, it depends on the kind of sport,
but it's usually linked to teen and adult males, depending on the
sport, also both genders, and mostly, there's a specific target
of hardcore games specialized in this kind of sports, especially in football
games or other sports that are more popular in other countries.
In the setting, they are obviously sports settings, but it is true that,
although they tend to realism,
there are also sports games that have more cartoonish or figurative environments.
Usually there's no story or it has no importance,
as it plays a secondary role.
Traditionally they were meant for an individual player but
multiplayer has almost become the main mode.
Regarding the gameplay style,
although it might look like all them should be simulation,
the most preponderant is an arcade-like simulation,
specially in the beginning, to help the new players' learning process.
After that, gameplay becomes a bit more hardcore,
and in some cases there is a bit more variation
offering a bit more casual experience and, sometimes,
a bit more realistic and simulation.
As examples, we have games and sages such as FIFA,
Virtual Tennis, NBA2K or Wii Sports.
Puzzle.
Puzzle is another genre with a lot of tradition in the
history of video games.
Here the main mechanics are analyzing and planning and
using certain objects.
The control is usually simple and the experience is mostly focused
on a cognitive work, of attention, perception, problems solving.
The target is variated, with a wide range: from very young players
to very traditional players, to casual players, to old players, etc.
Their setting is diverse.
There can be very realistic environments,
sci-fi ones,
fantasy ones and also figurative ones, with basic and simple figures.
The story has a relative importance.
Sometimes it doesn't even exist,
sometimes it's a simple support to gameplay.
It is made for both single player and multi player modes.
Their gameplay style is very arcade.
Sometimes it's quite casual to make it more affordable.
As examples, we have games such as Tetris, Candy Crush,
Limbo, Monument Valley, Portal, etc.
Puzzle as a genre is a clear example on how it has been used to complete other genres,
and currently, a lot of games implement puzzle mechanics,
in a more direct or indirect way, to complete their experiences.
To finish with the genres, we will talk on the casual one.
Here there's a little problem as actually the casual games
aren't a genre but a kind of gameplay.
And inside the so-called casual genre there are a lot of
different game types.
This is why mechanics are very different.
So, common elements are: reduced and simple control,
less physical experience, more social, emotional and motivational,
and it usually targets a non-experienced player.
It is more linked to mobile platforms and devices.
And their gameplay is casual, and if in
some games it becomes a bit more demanding, it's an arcade-like gameplay.
As examples we have games such as Fruit Ninja,
Angry Birds, or other games such as SingStar, Mario Party or Buzz.
These 3 games,
although they are for console, have had a great success on players which aren't
traditional console gamers, but casual players.
As we said before, it is very hard to put many games inside the casual genre.
It is more recommendable to talk on casual gameplays and make
different genres for music games, party games, etc.
These genres classifications are simply illustrative,
as the industry and the market are very unpredictable and change fast.
New genres come out and evolve as time goes by.
A lot of them begin as sub-genres and end up getting their own category,
such as music games,
which seemed video games that could be included in the casual genre.
Other genres lose importance as times change,
as happened during a time with some 2D platform games.
The most relevant trend during the last years is the genres mix.
Many games take other genres'
mechanics to use them in a complementary way to their main gameplay.
So, there are games which have shooting, jumping,
infiltration, puzzles, and even driving in the same title,
such as the GTA saga or some Uncharted.
Another trend of high bucket titles during the last years
has been inserting customization, stealth and infiltration mechanics,
apocalyptic and terror aesthetics and very cinematographic cameras.
This genres mix favors the apparition of new terms
such as adventure and action,
and makes it difficult to fit some games in only one genre.
To finish,
we must say that, independently of the genre, all the recent
games are trying to adapt gameplay in aim to get
more profit on the online multiplayer game and on the players social networks.
