Online gaming has been prevalent for decades. Ever since the Internet became widely available, gamers have utilized it to play their favorite games with or against people from all over the globe. We have reached the point where many new titles are released solely for online gaming; without the option for a single-player campaign, you can play on your own. The latest phenomenon in online gaming is esports.

From an obscure start, esports now rivals some traditional sports in terms of popularity and viewers. There are tournaments and entire leagues where people compete in various games. If you want to become a part of this online gaming community, here are the most common types of online games you need to know about.

1. Action Games

Everybody loves action games. Since we played Donkey Kong as kids in arcades, action games have had a special place in our hearts. It is easy to see why they are so popular. Non-stop action forces you to keep 100% of your attention to the game while adrenalin pumps through your system. You can play many action games, including platformers, shooters, fighting games, stealth, survival, and several other subgenres.

Shooters usually come in two flavors, first-person shooters (FPS) and third-person shooters, depending on the character’s perspective on the screen. For a while now, shooters like Call of Duty and Counter-Strike have dominated the market, with millions of players logging in every day. Together with some other genres, these games are the backbone of esports, and each has multiple tournaments each year.

2. iGaming

One of the most popular genres of online games in the last two decades is social gambling or gaming. Since its humble beginning, social gambling games have become one of the primary forms of online entertainment on the planet. Among games you can find in them, online slots are the most prevalent. One of the reasons for their popularity is that they are pretty simple to learn, and that is why slot tournaments are hugely massive events.

Since everyone can learn how to play slot tournaments in a matter of days, they never lack players, especially when considering the rich prizes they offer. Other popular forms of gaming are online poker, roulette, and blackjack, digital versions of popular casino games. These games allow you to enjoy a thrill of a real casino but from the comforts of your home.

3. Action-Adventure Games

Adventure games were once considered a part of the action genre, but they have developed into their niche over the years, even though some still insist on calling them action-adventure. The main difference between action and adventure is that adventure games usually have a deeper story and focus more on character development instead of mindlessly killing enemy soldiers or hordes of zombies.

You also get to kill hordes of zombies in adventure games, but usually for different reasons. One of the most popular subgenres of adventure games is survival horror, established with Resident Evil franchises. There are Metroidvania games. The name is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania, popular titles that found this genre. Finally, we have pure adventure games, which come in many shapes and sizes.

4. Strategy Games

Strategy games allow us to release our inner armchair general and refight famous wars from the past. After all, most of us would do much better than those schmucks Napoleon or Julius Caesar. Jokes aside, generations of players have learned their history from strategy games, including names of important people, key dates, and of course, battlefield tactics. They differ in scope significantly, ranging from Hearts of Iron to Worms.

Modern strategy games put you in a role of a supreme leader, where you are in charge of every aspect of running a country, from research and development, over the economy, to fighting wars. The Civilization franchise is one of the earliest strategy games we had and is still popular today, with Civilization 6. Many of the tenants of strategy games, in general, come from this Sid Meyer’s masterpiece.

One of the best-known subgenres of strategy games is RTS, or real-time strategy games, a big part of the esports scene. Warcraft and Starcraft are probably the most popular titles here, but many still play old and venerable franchises like Command and Conquer and Age of Empire-Playing Games.

Action games may be the most popular genre, but role-playing games (or RPG for short) are close. There is something assuming alt-character and living their lives in a digital world that is too compelling for most of us to pass. RPGs trace their roots back to Dungeons and Dragons tabletop games, and the first video games in this genre were based on D&D lore.

The most popular form of online RPG is MMORPG. This cumbersome acronym stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing games, where thousands of players lead their characters and compete against each other. Today, we can play RPGs in various settings, from high fantasy to space operas. The list of the best MMORPG titles includes World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and Star Trek Online.

5. Simulation Games

As children, we all wanted to go flying around in a fighter jet or driving a tank. Simulation games let us do just that, with a varying degree of realism. Games like the Microsoft Flight simulator have taken this to the extreme. The degree of authenticity is so high that actual airlines use this game to keep their pilots in training, especially when practicing new procedures.

People build elaborate rigs that resemble airplane cockpits to the tiniest detail so that they can play it in the most realistic environment outside the real airplane. However, simulations don’t include just buzzing around in F-15 or destroying things from Abrams tank. Like sims, there are also life simulations to create entire families and lead them through their daily routines. Finally, we have construction and industry simulations, where you are in charge of whole cities and mega-companies.