A Biological Classification of Video Games

Fair warning, this post became a lot longer and more involved than I intended. Proceed at your own risk.

In class, we discussed cultural genre as a potential equivalent to biological classes. Of course, the conclusion we came to was that they truly aren’t equivalent — but is there a way to form a classification of video games similar to how we classify animals?

History of Animal Classification

As we can see, the classification of animals starts off very, very broad, with the first step being life. The domain refers to what type of cellular structure an organism has. Animals are actually only found in the third level, kingdom (i.e. the animal kingdom), where plants and fungi break off. From there, we narrow down the type of animal based on more and more specific traits, until finally reaching species. Though this isn’t shown on this particular graphic, we know that there is one more step. Within the species, there are individuals.

Here’s where we run into a problem with our comparison of genre and biological classifications. Our concept of a video game’s “genre” is much too broad, and encompasses too many specifics, as well as too many different kinds of specifics. For instance, arcade games and science fiction (sci-fi) games are considered to be two different genres, despite the fact that they describe entirely different features and can easily overlap. I will only be considering ludic genres, not narrative genres, meaning I am only taking into account the function of a game instead of the story it tries to tell.

Another issue is the fact that biological classifications are based on what an animal evolved from, not necessarily just what features they have. Convergent evolution is the notion that two animals that come from two different ancestral lines can end up looking and acting very similar due to facing similar evolutionary pressures.

So in order to classify video games in the same way we classify animals, we have to create a gradually-narrowing set of rules, and we have to take into account where or how these games originated.

That’s a lot to consider right off the bat, though, so let’s start with the easiest possible assignments.

Process of Classification

First, we have to consider the least specific features of a video game, before it becomes a video game.

Instead of life, a game must first have existence. After that, it must be an interactive experience. Finally, games diverge from other types of play.

After that, games diverge into different types of mediums. In this post, I’m defining those mediums as physical games (such as sports or tag), board games (such as chess or Monopoly), and digital games (aka video games).

We’ve finally reached the broad definition of what a video game is, but how do we organize video games further? We could divide video games by what platform they’re available on, such as PC, console, handheld, or mobile. But nowadays, many video games exist on many different platforms. So, in this extended metaphor, a game’s platform is closer to an animal’s biome or environment; it isn’t part of the animal’s lineage, but it does define where that animal can survive.

That question stumped me for a bit, so instead, I went all the way down to the opposite end of the chart. What are the most specific units of video games? That would be its title, which in this case, stands for species. Encompassing that is the series or franchise that each game belongs to, acting as the game’s genus.

Now, what comes above series? Some might say the game studio, or the company that developed that video game. However, we run into a similar issue as with platforms. Many companies collaborate in order to make video games, and sometimes games that begin with one company are transferred to another when they are sold or reach an advanced stage of development. Instead, I equate a video game’s game studio to an animal’s evolutionary pressures. Animals may evolve differently based on what resources exist and what competition they face for those resources. Similarly, video games will have certain features depending on the game studio’s budget, expertise, and other current projects.

After overthinking this too much in ways that are difficult to put into words, here’s what I settled on:

While we cannot say, for instance, that roleplay games only exist under the umbrella of linear games, we do know that open-world roleplay games and linear-world roleplay games have very different programming and development, regardless of any aesthetic or narrative similarities.

In the end, here’s my final chart of video game classification:

It is certainly not exhaustive, nor entirely conclusive. There are many arguments to be made for reordering timing, world, and playstyle, or phrasing them in different ways, and I would love to hear them. But it is, in my opinion, a step towards a much narrower and more specific way of thinking about ludic genre in video games.