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Your Guide to Gaming Genre Acronyms and Initialisms

If you’re a particularly astute person, you may have noticed that we’ve all been accruing a lot of free time recently, time which—due to certain global events—must be spent at home. While there are countless downsides to this situation, it has been a boon for gaming of all varieties. Folks who would have once uttered the word “game” in the same tone as the word “rat” are turning to gaming for the first time in their lives. Whether it be free-to-play shooters, online Among Us parties or virtual casino evenings courtesy of the ever-reliable BetRivers promo code, gaming in all of its flavours is reaching all-new heights of popularity.

Of course, with such an influx of new gamers washing up on our shores, it’s a good time to reflect on how impenetrable the hobby can be. For a start, there are the dozens of acronyms and initialisms to puzzle out. You can’t take three steps around the gaming industry without tripping over an “RTS” and falling face-first into some “RPGs” and a spare “FPS”. What do they all mean? Well, dear reader, it’s about time you found out! If you’re new to the hobby, or if you just know someone else who is, this is your guide to gaming acronyms and initialisms!

Genres

FPS: First-Person Shooter

You shoot people, things and/or animals. Also, the action takes place from a first-person perspective. Pretty simple stuff.

TPS: Third-Person Shooter

This initialism isn’t used quite as frequently as its first-person counterpart. It simply refers to a style of shooting game in which you see the character you’re controlling from… well, a third-person perspective!

RPG: Role-Playing Game

RPG is an incredibly broad and hard-to-define genre. Primarily, it’s characterised by a focus on storytelling as well as an exposure of the figures and statistics driving the game. There are countless tropes and conventions that are associated with the genre—turn-based combat, an epic story and fantasy elements—but none of these are necessary to make an RPG.

JRPG: Japanese Role-Playing Game

This refers to RPGs made in Japan. Why do they receive a different initialism? Well, simply because there are a different set of conventions which define RPGs made in the land of the rising sun.

RTS: Real-Time Strategy

Real-time strategy games involve controlling a situation (usually a war of some kind) from an eye-in-the-sky perspective while the action unfolds far below you.

VN: Visual Novels

Visual novels are digitally illustrated and/or animated text-based stories which you “play” through. There’s usually minimal interactivity involved with this genre. Just like with real novels, the story is the main appeal. Unlike real novels, however, there is often voice acting to go along with the text.

MMO: Massively Multiplayer Online (Game)

These are a style of game in which players in their hundreds, thousands or more inhabit the same in-game world.

Feel clued-up? You should! You’re ready to take on gaming with a newfound knowledge of what all those letters actually stand for. There are more acronyms and initialisms to explore, but these are the ones you’re most likely to encounter in your first forays into the gaming world. Perhaps we’ll venture a little further down this road in the future. Until then, farewell and safe gaming travels!