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action game

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action game

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Also known as action video game, action

video game genre

Wikidata facts

Instance of
video game genre
Subclass of
video game
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topic's main category
Category:Action games
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via Wikidata · CC0

~26 min read

Encyclopedic overview

An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and platform games. Multiplayer online battle arena and some real-time strategy games are also considered action games.

In an action game, the player typically controls a character often in the form of a protagonist or avatar. This player character must navigate a level, collecting objects, avoiding obstacles, and battling enemies with their natural skills as well as weapons and other tools at their disposal. At the end of a level or group of levels, the player must often defeat a boss enemy that is more challenging and often a major antagonist in the game's story. Enemy attacks and obstacles deplete the player character's health and lives, and the player receives a game over when they run out of lives.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “action game” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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