# The Genome of Games

> An ontology of video game mechanics. 168 mechanics, 618 games and 394 companies from 1962 to 2025, with 4,366 recorded links. Every mechanic has one credited origin game and a traceable chain of ancestors reaching back to a root.

Built and maintained as an independent research project. Data and prose are CC BY 4.0; attribution with a link is required. Source and raw JSON: https://github.com/MAKaminski/genome-of-games

## What "origin" means here

Origin means the first notable *shipped* implementation, not invention, and not the version that popularised it. Contested cases are flagged on the page rather than asserted — kill.switch (2003) shipped over-the-shoulder aim two years before Resident Evil 4, and this dataset credits the earlier date while saying so. Read https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/methodology/ before citing anything.

## Known limits

- Coverage skews to Western PC and Japanese console history; arcade-era Japan, PC strategy and mobile interaction design are thinner than they should be.
- `adopts` links are illustrative and deliberately incomplete: they show an idea spread, not everywhere it spread.
- Wikipedia links are verified permalinks; MobyGames and Giant Bomb links are site searches.

## Core pages

- [Methodology and limits](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/methodology/): how origins are assigned, what each link type means, where the data is weakest. Read this first.
- [All mechanics](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/): the 168 mechanics, grouped into 15 families.
- [All games](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/games/): 618 titles, 1962–2025, each showing what it introduced and what it inherited.
- [All studios](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/studios/): 394 developers and publishers with spinoffs, renames and acquisitions.
- [Interactive graph](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/graph/): pan and zoom the full lineage; deep-linkable as /graph/?node=<id>&trace=1.
- [Newsletter](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/newsletter/): free updates, or a $10/month newsletter.
- [MCP server](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/mcp/): query this dataset directly from an agent. Streamable HTTP at https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/api/mcp/, no key required, eight tools including full lineage tracing.

## Mechanic families

- [Space & Locomotion](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/space-and-locomotion/): 23 mechanics. How the playable world is shaped and how you move through it.
- [Camera & Input](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/camera-and-input/): 13 mechanics. Where the eye sits and how intent reaches the character.
- [Combat & Conflict](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/combat-and-conflict/): 16 mechanics. The grammar of hitting, blocking, aiming, and dying.
- [Physics & Simulation](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/physics-and-simulation/): 10 mechanics. When the world obeys rules instead of scripts.
- [Progression & Persistence](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/progression-and-persistence/): 17 mechanics. What the game remembers about you between deaths and sessions.
- [Procedural Generation](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/procedural-generation/): 5 mechanics. Content authored by algorithm rather than by hand.
- [World Systems](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/world-systems/): 10 mechanics. Time, weather, ecology, and NPCs that live without you.
- [Stealth & Perception](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/stealth-and-perception/): 7 mechanics. Enemies that can fail to notice you — and the systems that model it.
- [Narrative](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/narrative/): 14 mechanics. How fiction is delivered and how much of it the player authors.
- [Interface & Meta](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/interface-and-meta/): 10 mechanics. Maps, markers, logs, and the scaffolding around play.
- [Multiplayer & Social](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/multiplayer-and-social/): 17 mechanics. Other humans, from the same couch to the same shard.
- [Strategy & Tactics](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/strategy-and-tactics/): 5 mechanics. Commanding many things at once, in real time or in turns.
- [Rhythm & Audio](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/rhythm-and-audio/): 5 mechanics. Sound as a mechanic rather than a garnish.
- [Creation & Modding](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/creation-and-modding/): 5 mechanics. Handing the authoring tools to the player.
- [Economy & Business Model](https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/features/economy-and-business-model/): 11 mechanics. How the game asks to be paid, and what that does to design.

## Citation

"<Mechanic name>." The Genome of Games, an ontology of game mechanics. https://genome-of-games.vercel.app/feature/<slug>/