1y ago

What are some game genres / styles you like that aren't being made anymore, or are being mde but not very often?

For me it's first person puzzle games. I can think of maybe a dozen off the top of my head that came out in the last decade. I especially enjoy when they're open world. The ability to just quit a puzzle that's stumped you and go try something else for a little bit is incredibly refreshing.

179 comments

Games that are made for the sake of making the game insread of being made to squeeze as much retention and money out of you as possible
Now thats a style that is becoming increasingly rare
- I contend that there are more games out there now that are made for the sake of making them than ever before. It's just that fewer and fewer of these games are AAA titles. The indy scene is really what are making these games nowadays.
  
  That or modding. Modded Minecraft is done purely because someone wanted to have the functionality of magic wands or engineering or resource processing in their lego game. It's completely unmonetized and gets extremely involved very fast. I fondly remember my nuclear reactor exploding and having to work around the irradiated zone. Good times.
  
  the indie scene may be greater for that but is also filled with the same money making trite and on top of that constantly copying each other and barely doing anything new.
- Just follow a YouTuber with similar tastes and play the indie games they play. AAA is creatively dead
  
  Thank you but I trust youtubers opinions as much as a gaming "journalist" which is to say, not at all

Sim games. Not THE sims but like SimTower, SimAnt, etc. There's been some attempts over the years but everyones missed the mark.

Old Bioware stuff, aka action RPG games that put importance to story, lore, companions, and my not-so-guilty pleasure: romance.
I have a lot of emotions about the upcoming DA: Dreadwold.
- You might like the game tyranny. Just finished playing it and it was quite enjoyable.
- You and me both friend, they know how much is at stake, yet I never hear good news coming out of the studio
- Absolutely, I would still play DA:O and even the storylines of SWTOR over some other games that bloat the main story with unnecessary parts because otherwise the game is not long enough.
  Please DA: Dreadwolf, do not suck.

Rhythm Games like Guitar Hero, Band Hero and DJ Hero. Those were fun.
- There are still plenty of them: DJMAX, Muse Dash, Spin Rhythm, Hatsune Miku Project Diva, Beatmania. Also there are tons of them on mobile.
- You might be surprised to hear that Konami, famed for focusing casino machines, was actually mistranslated on also focusing on arcade machines. There's still a whole rhythmgame scene, but unfortunately it's mostly centered around Japan. That's where DDR, beatmania, Gitadora (the series Guitar Hero/Rockband ripped off) are, including newer series like DanceRush and Maimai and whatnot. If you ever visit the higherscale independent arcades, you might find some unsanctioned imports with some even emulating the online functionality (with gacha, ofc...). Otherwise, your only hope in the states is Round1, which host official imports, and D&B which only has DDR.
  To add on to the other commenter, check out Osu!, ADOFAI, Rhythm Doctor, Hifi Rush, and a whole bunch of apps if you don't want arcades.
- Check out Clone Hero! I’m away from my computer, but there are archives that let you import all of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero songs. You can use/mod old controllers or even 3D print your own.

Simulation games, like the ones Maxis used to make (other than SimCity). SimEarth, SimAnt, SimTower, etc. Those were educational and fun.
I also once played a simulation game that realistically simulated running a shipping business where you shipped things by boat, sailing your fleet from port to port, dropping off your cargo and loading new cargo, giving the occasional bribe, etc. while avoiding bankruptcy. I think it was called "Port of Call." It was made a long time ago, and I haven't played anything quite like it since then.
- Yes, I totally agree with this. I would play these games so much growing up. Especially SimLife.
  I like sim games where you feel like you're experimenting with a scenario, not just trying to get the highest score or some win condition.
- SimAnt was awesome
  
  I still get that bass line from the bgm stuck in my head, all these years later.
- Oooh, reminds me of SimFarm 😃
  
  SimFarm was surprisingly fun.

Good RTSes. Last great one I played was Company of Heroes.
- My favorite is still command and conquer generals lol. Not the best in the series but I loved it. Still play it every once in awhile.
  
  Generals with Zero Hour is fantastic, and I actually think it's the best in the series. While I think Company of Heroes is better, it's still a very good game.
- I've been playing Beyond All Reason, a free RTS that's like Supreme Commander or Total Annihilation. The game handles 8v8 team games quite well, I've never played on such large teams in a RTS game, it's fun.
  
  I'll go check that out, but I recall I wasn't fond of the economy generation in Supreme Commander.
- Used to play a lot of RTS, both single and multiplayer. The last one I bought was the new AoE game. It did scratch a bit of the itch, but on the whole was a letdown. Before that it was Iron Harvest, which was visually pleasing but clunky. I am still looking for an RTS I can really get lost in.
  Any recommendations?
  
  @Pantoffel supreme commander is my all time favorite and "beyond all reason" is a free game, developed by the community that shares some elements.

MUDs. Text based (generally RPG) games with incredibly immersive story telling, near infinite levels of character customization, and many even feature ways for players to build on the world itself.
I’m surprised it’s not more popular amongst D&D enthusiasts.
In its hey day, people spent thousands of dollars just to boost their characters on massive for-profit MUDs like those created by Iron Realms. But smaller MUDs like Ancient Anguish were just as quality.
Sadly they’re going extinct. Only a few MUDs are still actively maintained.
- I started reading Mort (Terry Pratchett) and it reminded me of the Discworld MUD I played with my friends in the 90s, on dial-up, all crowded around a single 13" CRT. I looked it up, and it's still running!
  
  That’s awesome! I’ve noticed it on lists of top voted MUDs for a long time, but never quite got into that particularly flavor.
- Huh, that must be where the original name for Runescape (DeviousMUD) came from. Didn’t know it was a whole genre of games
  
  Granted it’s not text based, so I could definitely be wrong.
  
  Whoa that’s a nice piece of trivia. Did some googling and it definitely has roots in MUDs, but Andrew obviously had higher ambitions visually. That’s cool.

Third person puzzle games with an engaging story like the Space Quest series, or The Dig. Also It Came From The Desert.
- Do you have thoughts on the WadjetEye games? I've found a few of them quite engaging, particularly the later Blackwell games though I've heard good things of Unavowed.
  The Cat Lady is also a gem but terribly dark.
- I am still very much in love with It Came From The Desert.

3D Platformers. We get maybe one or two every few years, and most of them are usually pretty short. last big one was probably A Hat in Time. if y'all know more beyond that let me know. just grabbed Koa and the 5 Pirates of Mara.
so desperate for one i'm considering learning how to make 3D games so i can make my own lol
- Hat in Time is probably the last big indie 3d platformer, but I'd say Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a decent 3d platformer, unless you meant collectathon style 3d platformer a la what Rare made on the N64 etc. since you mentioned Hat.
- I assume you've played or heard of Yooka-Laylee. There's also Clive n Wrench. Neither of those are great though.
  I haven't heard of Koa before, but it looks interesting. I'll have to check it out.
  But I really want a new Banjo game, however I doubt that ever happens at this point. I recently started working on my own Banjo clone in the Godot game engine because I don't see anyone making the kind of game I'm looking for.
- There definitely is a lack of actually good ones in the modern era. Poi and Grow Home are some good ones you may not have heard of.

First-person shooters, the way they were made in the 6th and 7th gens. A campaign, probably co-op, probably with split-screen or LAN, with some versus multiplayer that repurposed some slightly-remixed locations from the campaign that you can play with approximately 4-8 players. That's all you need. Sometimes we still get some great FPS campaigns, like Half-Life: Alyx, but I haven't really gotten the kind of co-op or versus multiplayer I've been looking for for over a decade. Not everything needs to be a live service. It can be a flash in the pan multiplayer that's so good that you break it out when you have a few friends over or in a Discord call. Not every multiplayer FPS needs to be an e-sport with an online population of tens of thousands of players to matchmake with in ranked.
I also don't really get racing games for me anymore. Star Wars: Episode One Racer, Burnout Revenge, and F-Zero GX truly spoke to me, and there were a few others that were close, but for the most part, if your racing game isn't basically Mario Kart or full of real licensed cars in real places, it doesn't get made. And the ones that aren't Mario Kart don't usually get split-screen multiplayer either, which is a must-have for me. I did get Trail Out in the recent past, which is very good, and there's that game Aero GPX on the horizon to potentially give me my F-Zero fix, but the actual racing games I'm looking for are so few and far between.
Fortunately, this list used to be much longer, and all the other holdouts, like Advance Wars-esque tactics games, Resident Evil 1-esque survival horror games, Commandos-esque stealth tactics games, and a few others have all gotten their itches scratched.
- What's a 6th and 7th gen? I think I'm too PCMR to understand that
  
  6th is GameCube/Xbox/PS2. 7th is 360/PS3.
- As for the antigrav racers you mentioned, have you checked out BallisticNG? It leans more towards Wipeout than F-Zero, but even as a huge GX fan (and looking forward to Aero GPX myself) I've really enjoyed it. I believe it does have splitscreen as well, though I haven't tried it personally.
  
  It couldn't hurt to try it out, but I always liked F-Zero more than Wipeout. At least it looks to be as fast as F-Zero.

Arena shooters!
I encourage anyone from southeast asia to join my xonotic server ;)
- Similarly FPS-Z games like Tribes (Ascend, Vengeance, 2) and Legions Overdrive.
  Fortunately MidAir 2 is almost here. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1231210/Midair_2/
  
  Didn't know this was a thing! What are they doing different from the original Midair? There was some hype for the first one but that seemed to fall off pretty quickly.

The First Person Stealth Sim genre (Thief, Dishonored, etc) has been getting very little love in the last few years. Sadly the Arkane games don’t embrace it anymore; while great Prey was borderline as you really couldn’t control the stealth in many sections, and Deathloop and Red Rain are primarily short action games.
- Have you played the two most recent deus ex games? HR is my personal favorite but I liked MD more for its atmosphere and level design. Both are primarily 1st person but switch to 3rd person when using cover.
  
  I have, though even MD is getting on for 7 years old now. I don’t think that the series lived up to it’s roots in either title. I found myself feeling very constrained by them; I don’t necessarily mind if I have to play a character (Corvo is great as a Tabula Rasa) but Adam Jensen and his backstory are so fundamentally unlikeable.
- Although they're somewhat different the modern Hitman trilogy scratches this same itch for me (especially turning some of the guidance in the UI off and exploring the levels yourself, they're actually designed well for that). Gloomwood is in early access but is shaping up really well and is inspired by classic Thief.

Stealth games. The last one for me was MGS5, I loved it even with its shaky story line. Hitman is really nice but it feels more like a puzzle game if that makes sense.
- I concur. Hitman can be a somewhat true stealth game but the design steers you away from "free form" stealth with its mission stories. I like the idea but the puzzles are too small, few short steps to the goal.
  I hope for Metal Gear Delta to succeed, not only because I have a soft spot for MGS3 but also to revive the genre.
- Have you played Mike Bithell's Volume?
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume_(video_game)
  
  No I did not, thanks I'll look into it!

Turn based strategy. As others have said, RTS'es, as well, but TBS. Yes, Civ series isn't dead, but everything else seems to be. Master of Magic (1994) is literally one of my favorite games of all time (none of the sequels or successors measure up). Colonization, also 1994, (warning, MANY ethical issues) had a great logistic and economic model... (Just ignore eeeeeeverything about the white-washing of history/slavery/indentured servitude/genocide.) Alpha Centauri. Maybe I'm just old.
- I spent my teen years around X-Com and the sequels. When Firaxis released the new games, I spent hundreds of hours on them, but haven’t seen any games quite like them in the last decade or so.
  
  @sparklmotion @GrayBackgroundMusic Xenonauts for a modern xcom. The sequel is in early access and is fantastic. Terra Invicta is a slightly different take.
  For MoM Age of Wonders IV is really good.
  
  There's still nothing like XCOM:Long War, but fortunately the aliens are always waiting to take another swipe. Maybe this time I won't rush mec.
  Also I really like Wildermyth. It scratches the XCOM itch but your soldiers retire and have kids and can leave you for more reasons that just because you fucked up. And they can turn into were bears
- I've been playing a lot of Terraformers and Slipways -- they scratch a similar itch for me but only take an hour total
- Do you know about Songs of Conquest?

The tribes series, or z-axis games, where you are able to move up and down as well as the traditional x-y movement you see in virtually all games. Usually set as shooters, they are fast paced movement games that have a huge skill curve which is why they aren't made that often. Super fun when you get the hang of it though
Example
https://youtu.be/xOK3n8j7czA
- Mid-air 2 Is inching towards release.
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/1231210/Midair_2/
  I've got alpha access and can assure you it does a great job of bringing the good ol' days of Tribes 2 back. Though there is a ways to go.

Party-based RPGs like Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity. I absolutely love this style of game, but it feels like there are precious few titles to choose from. Anyone know of any hidden gems?
- There a youtube channel and a steam curator called Mortismal Gaming who loves CRPGs. Their shtick is also completing games at 100% before popping a review, and they are churning out new material at an amazing pace. Check it out for some decent coverage on the genre.
  As for a maybe hidden gem, Age of Decadence looks pretty good. I have not played it yet, but the genre seems to match, and the premise is solid.
  Expedition Rome is well appreciated too, even if it leans more toward tactical battles.
- Well, you're in luck; they're releasing Baldur's Gate 3 in a few days ;P
- Have you checked out Pathfinder Kingmaker and Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous? Those are relatively new.
- It's not hidden, but I thoroughly enjoyed divinity original sin II. If you don't want turn based combat it might be worth checking out the Pathfinder games.
- Have you checked out Caves of Lore? It's a great party based rpg with deep lore and created by a single developer. It reminds me of Jeff Vogel's work a bit.
  
  No, I've never heard of it. Thanks for the suggestion!
- Tyranny, Kingmaker, Wrath of the Righteous, Tower of Time. Also anything by Spiderweb Software -- my favorite is Geneforge
- Solasta is a pretty faithful recreation of dungeons and dragons 5e, although the story/writing is not the best (may have improved in the later dlc, I've not gotten around to playing it yet). The combat is fun, though.
  
  I have just one gripe with Solasta -- it's incredibly slow movement. You have to mod it.

Grid-based, dungeon crawler RPG (a mouthful, I know). The most recent titles in this genre I remember are the Mary Skelter trilogy, but the first game is about 10 years old already.
- Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 are good ones. I’m sure you’ve come across those ones though.
- I may be in the completely wrong genre, but have you played pillers of eternity? I played a few hours of the second one and thought it was great.
  
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/629690/Vaporum/
  I think he means stuff like this.
- Gridders my beloved. This curator on steam might be of use.

Sandbox MMORPGs, like Eve Online or Ultima Online. The vast majority of MMORPGs since at least WoW (potentially even before that with games like Dark Ages of Camelot, etc) have been Theme Park MMOs. Which are fun; I've played plenty and still do play them. But I think the sandbox is more fun. Certainly has more possibilites.
- Outlands is breathing some new life into UO.
  
  Oh yeah? I haven't played UO since 2003/2004, and I've largely stayed away from the free shards. Just had boring experiences in the past. But I might give this a try. Idk why, but I've been itching to check it out again. thanks!

Like Myst? I love those. Have you tried The Witness?
- Yes the witness and the Talos principle are two of my favorites
  
  If you haven't heard, Croteam have announced The Talos Principle 2.
- Cyan released Firmament not long ago, FYI
- Quern - Undying Thoughts tickled that genre for me. As did Haven Moon and The Eyes of Ara.

As an RTS player who only ever plays for the story and does not care about multiplayer at all, new RTS games with a decent story and gameplay are kind of thin on the ground these days.
I can't even play C&C RA2 anymore because I can't get it to run on my PC. Tried several guides, but it refuses to run properly.

Good vehicular combat games.
- I want to play EarthSiege 2 again. I even still have MS SideWinder 3D joystick that twists!

Games like Populous or Mega-lo-mania.
- Black & White
  
  God games in general

Don't see a lot of plain fast paced arena shooters these days. There's The Master Chief Collection which kinda works but also isn't, you know, new.
- There's been a huge resurgence of boomer shooters and arena shooters in the last 5 or so years. Off the top of my head I can think of Dusk, Ultrakill, Gunfire Reborn, Nightmare Reaper, Roboquest, Warhammer Boltgun, and new Doom (2016/Eternal), all of which get at least an 8/10 from me. There are many more of various quality.
  
  I'm sorry, I should've been more specific: Multiplayer Arena Shooters. I'm a Ultrakill evangelist.
  
  Since you haven't mentioned Ion Fury, I'm going to add it to that list. Not interesting for PC since they wanted PvP but it's a great Build engine shooter.
- Quake champions might be of interest
  Edit lol just looked at the player counts, maybe not. Eh, I had fun with it for a while though.
- If you're looking for the Quake brand of arena shooters, I feel like you're getting a lot of those these days. If you're looking for the era just after that, which Halo would fall in, I'm also looking for that type of game, so the nostalgia that fuels indie game design is probably only a few years away from delivering us that sort of game again. Maybe that new TimeSplitters or Perfect Dark game will be good.
- Toxikk, but multiplayer playerbase died pretty quickly.

Arcade / over the top racing games like Motorstorm and Split Second.
Wreck Fest is close but needs more crazy scenery or setpieces.
- Recently picked up 'arf of rally'. It somewhat scratches that itch with it's handling but eh...
  There's just the itch that hasn't been scratched properly since Midnight Club 3 and Midnight Club Los Angeles.
- Split/Second was such a great game.
- I absolutely loved Split Second!

I liked the point and click games when they were 2d hand drawn and not (3d) rendered. It seems to be a thing that has now been lost to time.
- submachine?
  
  Are those still playable? Loved those, great vibe!
  
  Interesting! Not exactly what I would think of but this seems right up my alley. Thank you!
- Wadjet Eye still makes them, no? There's still a few, they're not totally gone. I always keep an eye out for them on Steam.
  
  Wadjet Eye games are soooo good.

Shitty mobile gatcha games produce a lot of brain drain the gaming industry that's for sure.

I love this thread, so many people are recommending games to each other. Nice to see.
My answer is games like Skyrim where it's a sandbox but you can pick up different quests. I know there's a proper name for them but it escapes me.
I know there's GTA which is a similar type but I want a more twee fantasy vibe
- Open world RPG? They are probably the most common single player AAA experience released these days. Bethesda does work in a bit of "immersive sim" qualities to their games though, which is often what makes them feel so sand-boxy.

Vehicle Combat games might be getting a comeback with the WH40k game and the Twisted Metal movie coming out.
Tempus Rising might kick off a C&C style RTS revivial.

Action sports games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, 1080, Wave Race, Steep, and more. I mentioned Steep because it's the latest mainstream attempt but I feel like it never really found it's footing.
- have you played rider's republic?

The Settlers games have not been Settlers games after the fourth one. Except of course the remake, but that also was a very long time ago.
- Fourth? The last real Settlers was Settlers 2.
- I tried playing the third and fourth installment, but they couldn't hold a candle to the second one imo.

Games like whatever tf Jet Set Radio Future is
Also collect-a-thon platformers like back in the day, I still really enjoy those.
- Oo do I have a surprise for you. Get a load of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk.
  
  Oh shit. I've known about this game for a long time now and have had it on my wishlist, but didn't realize it comes out in like 2 weeks!

I'm not sure if I have ever seen a game use the Mega Man X formula. I have definitely seen some follow the Mega Man formula, but I liked the X formula with the health upgrades, armor upgrades, energy tanks, etc. hidden in the levels. I think the market for this formula would be pretty small, because I think most would agree that the Metroidvania formula is a straight upgrade. But I kind of like the smaller, independent levels.

First person on-rails shooter. Space Harrier. Sin and Punishment.

Music games that are based around a story, like Parappa the Rapper/Um Jammer Lammy, Gitaroo Man 🎵💖
- Gitaroo Man is fantastic. We need more games where you can defeat enemies using the power of your rock.
  Brutal Legend also, although not the same genre by a long shot.

For me are mystery and clue games such as Myst and 7th Guest. The scenery and thought of adventure that these titles used to bring as very rare and although Goragoa was quite recent, it was far too short.
- Oh man, I remember 7th Guest that game was so cool - a video game with live action cut scenes! That was the same genre as Rama (1996)

I miss classic arcade style games and puzzles.
I want more games like Resogun and Geometry Wars. And I'd love to see more of Archer Maclean's Mercury.
- I want more games like Resogun and Geometry Wars
  Have you tried Nex Machina? By the same devs as Resogun, and it's great no-nonsense arcade gameplay. Assault Android Cactus is another game of that type I really enjoyed too.
  
  I did play Nex Machina. Forgot about that, it was so long ago. It was good, but Resogun was better. I think I tried Assault Android Cactus but barely lasted a couple of minutes. Don't remember why.

Basically Telltale games. I include first Life is Strange in that because they managed to out-Telltale the Telltale. I love my games basically as an interactive story.
Edit: Also Heroes of Might & Magic. I want more good ones, 6 & 7 sucked tremendously.

If you haven't played Talos Principle, it might be up your alley as a first-person puzzle game. And a sequel is planned for later this year!

I haven't played a second strand type game

Lode Runner

I wish there were more stealth games being released, especially AAA.
- Yeah I loved Blacklist, even the multiplayer was an interesting evolution of the asymmetrical style the splinter cell series is known for. Since then? 👻

I realize this is getting hyper-specific, but party-based dungeon crawlers that are true 3d and not grid-oriented. Really, the only example aside from Wizardry 8 (that I'm scared to try because it looks like way too much effort and investment for a not-great return) is the Might and Magic series circa Win95, and specifically 6, 7, and 8, all built off the same, almost pseudo-3D engine. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something very satisfying for me in that gameplay loop of clearing out dungeons via potshots and backpedaling, selling the loot to level and train your party, and moving on to the next one. The push and pull of skirting groups of enemies so they don't take swipes at you when they get too close, the thrill of picking up fireball from the advanced magic shop and just nuking low-level mooks, the ecstasy of learning town portal and Lloyd's beacon and never having to think about travel again.
I think part of the reason these games don't really get made anymore is that they were always kind of a weird middle ground between first person Action-Adventure-RPGs and top down party-based TTRPG engines, and those genres are fully expressed today by a number of games.
- Barony sounds somewhat similar to what you described, but it's more rogue like and is singleplayer/ online coop
  
  Kind of - the customization options run a little deeper in M&M. You could pick up 6, 7, and 8 for less than $30 on GOG. $10 at most for the pack that includes 1-6, and I'd say of those three, 6 offers the best experience.

Tower Defense Games
Linear First Person Puzzle Games
- We're living in a golden age of tower defense games. Sanctum 2, elements td, dungeon of the endless/endless dungeon, rogue tower, dungeon defenders awakened, orcs must die 3, bug tdx, tiledeck td ...... Seriously there are so many. Even Path of Exile has a tower defense mode.

Things like C&C. If you know current ones, let me know. I didn't really research anymore. Most of what I've seen in the past had some random new spin on it.
- I've heard good things about Beyond All Reason, although I haven't had a chance to properly try it myself yet.
  
  Screenshots look interesting. I'll may take a look, thanks :)
- Friend of mine just released Terrytorial Disputes. Not exactly C&C, but heavily inspired with a mix of tower defense. It's got a free demo if you want to check it out
  
  Hmm, tbh I'd like something with more refreshed graphics :) But it certainly looks like CNC, even the logo, haha. I'll may still take a look.

If you like puzzle games have you played the entropy center? Its better than portal IMO
- I don't know what kind of game entropy center is, but puzzle is IMO not a wholly useful term, since there are different kinds of puzzles and portal falls into the physics puzzle subgenre. There probably are other fpp that aren't based around physics, but I can't think of any right now.

Hack and Slash DMC type games. I want linear games with stages! (I know Bayonetta exists)

I spy games
- Like, hidden object games? Alawar and Artifex Mundi still crank several of them out each year I think. They've gone from only having hidden object scenes to being point and click adventure games with hidden object scenes. For thr most part pure hidden object games have all but vanished.
  edit: you might like hidden folks, hidden through time, and looking for aliens. I think it's all the same company but they are true hidden object games with large areas to search.
  
  When i typed this comment I think I just wanted to playthis game again. I played it years ago and it has a lot if nostalgia

I miss wintermaul in wc3. Nothing quite like it.

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