A video game genre is a classification assigned to a video game based on its core gameplay (type of interaction) rather than visual or narrative features. A video game genre is normally defined by a set of gameplay challenges considered independently of setting or game-world content, unlike works of fiction that are expressed through other media, such as films or books. For example, a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of where or when it takes place.

As with nearly all varieties of genre classification, the matter of a specific game's genre is open to subjective interpretation. An individual game may belong to several genres at once.

 

Note:   The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article Video game genre, which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.