Video Games
Landmark video games organised by genre — action, RPG, strategy, simulation, adventure, puzzle and sandbox — from Super Mario Bros. to Minecraft and Elden Ring.
48 sports in video games.
Age of Empires
The definitive historical RTS — build villages, harvest resources, research techs and conquer as one of history's great civilisations.
Among Us
Social-deduction game — crew mates complete tasks on a spaceship while impostors try to kill them and blend in.
Beat Saber
VR rhythm game — slash flying colour-coded blocks with lightsabers in time with music. Massive hit of the VR era.
Call of Duty
Long-running military first-person shooter franchise spanning WWII, modern warfare, Cold War, and futuristic settings — with a massive multiplayer scene and the free-to-play battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone.
Call of Duty: Warzone
Free-to-play Call of Duty battle royale — up to 150 players fight for survival on maps like Verdansk and Al Mazrah.
Candy Crush Saga
Match-three mobile phenomenon — swap coloured candies to match rows or columns of three or more.
Civilization
'Just one more turn' — build a civilisation from 4000 BCE to the Space Age; win by conquest, science, culture or diplomacy.
Dance Dance Revolution
Konami's foot-stomping arcade rhythm game — hit the four arrow panels in time with the music.
Diablo
The prototypical action-RPG — click monsters, get loot, level up, repeat. Diablo IV shipped 2023.
Donkey Kong
Nintendo ARCADE PLATFORMER — Shigeru Miyamoto, 1981. Player controls JUMPMAN (later MARIO) climbing girders + ladders to rescue LADY (Pauline) from DONKEY KONG. Introduces MARIO to world; establishes PLATFORMER genre; sparks Nintendo's video game empire. Famous 'Kill Screen' at Level 22. Iconic speedrun/high-score competitive scene (Billy Mitchell + Steve Wiebe rivalry documented in 'The King of Kong' 2007).
Doom
The game that defined first-person shooters — hunt demons on Mars with an arsenal from pistols to BFGs.
EA Sports FC
The world's most successful football (soccer) simulation — annual release by EA Sports. Renamed from FIFA to EA Sports FC in 2023 after EA-FIFA partnership ended. Ultimate Team mode dominates gameplay; over 150M lifetime FIFA/FC players; largest sports simulation esport.
Elden Ring
Open-world Souls-like — enormous, punishing fantasy world by Hidetaka Miyazaki with lore by George R.R. Martin.
Fall Guys
60-player battle-royale party game — bean-shaped players race through candy-coloured obstacle courses.
Final Fantasy
The world's most-famous JRPG series — mostly-unrelated numbered fantasy epics with crystals, airships and chocobos.
Fortnite
Free-to-play battle-royale shooter in which 100 players parachute onto a shrinking island, gather weapons and materials, build defensive structures, and fight until only one player or squad remains.
Galaga
Fixed-shooter sequel to Galaxian — dogfight formations of alien insects that dive-bomb your ship.
Grand Theft Auto
Open-world crime game series — steal cars, run heists, terrorise cities. GTA V is the second-best-selling game ever.
Grand Theft Auto V
Open-world action-adventure crime game and online multiplayer platform set in a satirical Los Angeles, developed by Rockstar and one of the best-selling and highest-grossing entertainment products in history.
Guitar Hero
Plastic-guitar rhythm game — hit the coloured button as scrolling notes reach the target and play along to famous rock songs.
Half-Life
Story-driven first-person shooter — theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman survives an alien invasion of Black Mesa.
Madden NFL
Iconic American football simulation by EA Tiburon — named after legendary coach/broadcaster John Madden. Annual release; official NFL + NFLPA license makes it the ONLY licensed NFL simulator. Ultimate Team + Franchise + Face of the Franchise modes; huge esports scene (Madden Championship Series).
Metroid
Sci-fi exploration platformer — Samus Aran hunts space pirates through interconnected non-linear alien worlds.
Minecraft
Sandbox video game in which players explore a procedurally-generated 3D world of textured cubes, mine resources, craft items, build structures, and survive against mobs in a variety of game modes.
Mortal Kombat
Iconic ULTRA-VIOLENT fighting game franchise by NetherRealm Studios (formerly Midway). Original 1992 arcade — first game with digitized actors + graphic FATALITIES. Directly caused CREATION OF ESRB rating system 1994. Latest: MORTAL KOMBAT 1 (2023). Competitive esports scene — MK1 PRO KOMPETITION.
Myst
The 1993 adventure game that sold CD-ROM drives to households — solve environmental puzzles on beautiful alien Ages.
NBA 2K
Definitive basketball simulation by Visual Concepts (2K Games) — annual release; 5-on-5 NBA basketball with realistic physics, all 30 NBA teams + international leagues. NBA 2K League (2K esports) partnered with real NBA — first sports league to own official esports league. MyTeam + MyCareer flagship modes.
Pac-Man
Iconic ARCADE MAZE game — Toru Iwatani, Namco 1980. Yellow character eats DOTS through maze while avoiding 4 GHOSTS (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde). Power pellets let Pac-Man temporarily eat ghosts. First video game character in popular culture. Best-selling arcade game of all time (~400,000 units, $2.5B+ 1980-2010). Speedrunning/high-score competitive scene ('perfect game' = 3,333,360 pts).
Pinball
Physical arcade coin-op game — steel ball propelled through PLAYFIELD by SPRING-LOADED PLUNGER + controlled by FLIPPERS. Score points by hitting BUMPERS, TARGETS, RAMPS, HOLES. Origins in 18th century French BAGATELLE; modern electromechanical pinball 1930s USA. Golden age 1970s-90s. IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) competitive scene. Machines are ICONIC ART FORMS.
Pokémon (Video Games)
Legendary Japanese role-playing video game franchise (1996-present) by Game Freak/Nintendo — players capture, train, and battle 1000+ fictional creatures ('Pokémon') across turn-based RPG adventures — best-selling media franchise in history ($150+ billion revenue).
Portal
Genre-defining physics-puzzle game — you shoot portals through walls to move yourself. And the cake is a lie.
Roblox
Massively multiplayer online game creation and gameplay platform where users build, share, and play millions of user-generated 3D 'experiences' — from social hangouts to obstacle courses to full RPGs.
Roblox
User-created games platform — millions of player-made experiences from obbies and tycoons to horror and roleplay.
SimCity
The city-building simulator that started them all — zone residential, commercial and industrial, and try to keep the citizens happy.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega's answer to Mario — a blue hedgehog runs at supersonic speed through loop-the-loop Zones.
Space Invaders
Seminal ARCADE SHOOTER — Tomohiro Nishikado, Taito 1978. Player controls LASER CANNON at bottom defending Earth from advancing 55-alien grid. First mainstream video game shooter; ONE OF FIRST 'KILLER APP' arcade games. Massive Japanese success (100 YEN COIN SHORTAGE in Japan 1978-79 from Space Invaders play). Launched video game industry as mass phenomenon.
Street Fighter
Iconic fighting game franchise by CAPCOM. STREET FIGHTER II (1991) revolutionized fighting genre — 8 selectable characters, special moves via combos, arcade dominance. Direct ancestor of EVO Championship + entire FGC (Fighting Game Community). SF6 (2023) latest mainline. Massive competitive esports scene — CAPCOM CUP with $2M+ prize pool.
Super Mario Bros.
Legendary Nintendo platformer series starring Mario the plumber — jump, run, and battle enemies through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser; defined the platform game genre.
Tekken
Iconic 3D FIGHTING GAME franchise by BANDAI NAMCO. Original 1994 arcade — first fully polygonal fighter. Realistic MMA-inspired martial arts styles per character (Karate, Muay Thai, Judo, Capoeira, Boxing, etc.). LATEST: TEKKEN 8 (2024). Massive competitive esports scene — TEKKEN WORLD TOUR $2M+ prize pool. South Korea + Pakistan dominant.
Tetris
Legendary Soviet-designed puzzle game (1984) in which players rotate + place falling tetromino shapes into complete horizontal lines to clear them — one of the best-selling video games ever with 520+ million copies sold across all versions.
The Elder Scrolls
Open-world Western RPG series — vast provinces of Tamriel to explore in first-person freedom.
The Legend of Zelda
Foundational action-adventure series — Link explores Hyrule, solves dungeons, and rescues Princess Zelda.
The Sims
Life simulator — build homes, guide little people (Sims) through jobs, relationships and every daily need.
Time Crisis
Namco's light-gun rail-shooter series — foot-pedal cover system and a plastic pistol against terrorist henchmen.
Total War
Turn-based grand strategy meets real-time battles — command entire empires, then command their armies in real time.
Wordle
Web word game — guess the daily 5-letter word in six tries; green means right letter right place, yellow means right letter wrong place.
World of Warcraft
The definitive MMORPG — millions of players adventuring across Azeroth for two decades.
XCOM
Turn-based tactical squad game — defend Earth from an alien invasion, permadeath, one shot at a time.