Styles of Play - Family Gaming Database

Styles
of Play

Style of Play is the way you can engage with a particular game. This might be with another person in the same room, with an online team or competing against the computer. These are the ways we can play games on our own or with other people.

Video games are unlike other types of media because they are an encounter between an interactive experience and a person. Style of Play is one of the four ways we help you find the sorts of interactions that are the best fit for your family:

Style of Play: How you want to play games together (Split-Screen, Co-operative, Competitive, Online).
Game Genres: Which interactions and game structures you enjoy (Adventuring, Racing, Puzzling, Strategising).
Game Components: The elements that you play with and the kind of world you are playing in (Dice, 3D, 2D, Cards).
Curated Lists: What themes you want to engage with (Trust, Identity, Justice, Hope, Love).

Along with finding games for a particular system, these two aspect of video games combine to offer almost endless ways of playing games together, particularly when you consider different numbers of players and whether you play online or in the same room.

If you are looking for different styles of games for your family, or trying to identify what it is about your favourite games that make them a brilliant fit, considering Style of Play is really helpful. Different play-styles help identify the human side of the video game fun, so you can both understand it and find new options.

Co-Play Styles of Play

This is a special group of Styles of Play that capture how a child develops their play of a game. Unlike other Styles of Play, these relate to a specific scenario and context rather than being dictated by the game itself.

Child Watching Game (Onlooker Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Child Mimicking Game (Parallel Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Child Plays Without Goals (Unoccupied Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Child and Parent Play Together (Cooperative Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Child Plays with Parent Help (Assisted Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Child Helps Parent Play (Associative Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Child Plays Independently (Independent Play)

STYLE OF PLAY

Competitive Styles of Play

These relate games that focus on the competitive side of video games. Whether that's esports titles, or simply games that are great for families to compete against each other, they are all player versus player experiences.

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

Cooperative Styles of Play

These relate to games that are played cooperatively. Where one player aims to work with another human player in the game.

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

Digital Stories Styles of Play

These relate to games that tell stories in different ways. Like novels, picture books, movies and theatre, video games can create narratives. However, they do this in new and unexpected ways. They uncover some different styles of storytelling in video games.

Linear Narrative

STYLE OF PLAY

Branching Conversations

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

STYLE OF PLAY

Equipment Styles of Play

These relate to games that work with specific peripherals, controller and equipment that enable people to play with each other in different ways.

Go Online With Multiple Players On One Console

STYLE OF PLAY

Multiplayer With Portable Devices In The Same Room

STYLE OF PLAY

Multiplayer Online Cross-Platform

STYLE OF PLAY

Shared-Screen

STYLE OF PLAY

Split-Screen

STYLE OF PLAY

Sequence Styles of Play

These Styles of Play define different ways that games sequence of turns. This describes how play is ordered and how players organise themselves to play the game.