Video Games: Action-adventure

The action-adventure genre is a broad label for games that combine elements from adventure and action genres. Common features include an inventory system, puzzle-solving, action-focused challenges, and story elements reliant on the player's progress. These games are often focused on player immersion and choice. Games with "open world" settings encourage players to explore and experience the game's narrative at their own pace.

Metroidvania is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania, the two series that established the genre's core elements of gated exploration and non-linearity. These platforming games are set in a single interconnected map with locked areas, requiring a specific item or ability to move forward. Players travel across the map multiple times, frequently backtracking in order to progress.

Rogue-like (or rogue-lite) is a high-difficulty dungeon crawl with hack-and-slash combat and looped gameplay. Since levels are procedurally generated, each loop is a unique experience. Where rogue-likes and rogue-lites deviate is the death mechanic. Like their namesake Rogue, rogue-likes have permadeath, where each death results in a complete reset. Rogue-lites focus on carryover between runs, with the player slowly accumulating more abilities with each death.