Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

Chapter 11. Role-Playing Games

Computer role-playing games (CRPGs), like their cousin, the strategy game, are also another genre derived from pen-and-paper games. Role-playing games comprise an interestingly diverse genre, ranging from simple arcade-style games, such as the Diablo series, to ponderous graphical adventure style games, such as Anachronox. The two things that almost all role-playing games have in common are as follows:

• Configurable player-characters that improve with experience

• Strong storylines

For example, it could be argued that the arcade game Gauntlet and the role-playing game Diablo would be markedly more similar if Diablo did not include the capability to configure the player's character. Similarly, Anachronox would be considered ...