Some of the very first games I’ve played are in the platform genre. Back in the day I would play Spyro on the PlayStation. I recently have been playing a lot more platform games because this seems to be favored by more indie companies. These include: Super Meat Boy, Bastion, Mark of the Ninja, and Limbo. I also enjoy platform games when combined with other genres, such as RPGs and Strategy, such as Sanctum or Thief. The most basic mechanic of platform games is there needs to be some sort of platforms and movement between them, generally with jumping. This can range from easy moments, such as in Spyro, to more complex combinations, such as in Super Meat Boy or even Assassin’s Creed. Another major mechanic is that the games usually have some sort of puzzle element, whether it is a jumping style puzzle (Super Meat Boy) or a more timing/skill based puzzle (Mark of the Ninja). One reason I keep playing platform games is because they are so prevalent in the gaming industry and very flexible to combine with other genres. I find the puzzles to be very fun, but also at times intensely frustrating.
Another major genre that I enjoy is First Person Shooters (FPS). While I prefer games that are a mixture of another genre and FPSs, I still enjoy many of more pure FPS games. These include games like Portal, Spec Ops: The Line, and Bioshock. The two major mechanics are: the player is the character and thus the viewpoint is from the characters eyes and there needs to be some sort of weapon or object the player can use or shoot. These game are always a lot of fun either to play online or together with friends. These games, like with platform games, are also combined a lot with RPG and Action games, which allows for a lot of variation between FPS games. For me I can get much more immersed into a game when it seems like I am the character and I can appreciate the story all the more from that.
Strategy games are also among my favorites. These include older games like Empire Earth and other traditional Real Time Strategy games to lesser strict strategy games like League of Legends. Strategy games I like to play always have some sort of enemy that you are racing against you to see who can destroy who first and some sort of customization of your army or character so you can play in many different styles. Why I keep playing these types of games would be the constant challenge and the ability to keep trying and testing new ideas on how to defeat the enemy.
While I could only go into detail about three genres, I really enjoy just about any genre of game. I really enjoy playing many different types of games and especially games that combine a bunch of genre mechanics together, such as Skyrim, which combines FPS, RPG, and Puzzle games together. I feel like it can take the best of a lot of the genres and make a more full and better game from that.