# Genres and tags for PlayDrop games

The required genre, optional subgenre, play mode, theme and mood tags a PlayDrop game can use, and how they place a game in browsing and search.

Source: https://www.playdrop.ai/create/learn/tags

Tags place a game in PlayDrop's genre pages, filters, search and recommendations. Choose the few that describe it accurately; wrong tags show the game to players who leave quickly.

## Rules

- Every game needs a genre: a `game-genre/…` tag, or `design.genre` set to a genre or subgenre.
- Tags are existing references written `group/tag`, such as `game-subgenre/sudoku`. Free-form tags are refused.
- At most 20 unique tags per game.
- When you choose a subgenre, keep its broad genre too: `game-genre/puzzle` with `game-subgenre/sudoku`.

```json
{
  "tags": ["game-genre/puzzle", "game-subgenre/sudoku", "game-feel/relaxed", "game-play-mode/daily-challenges"],
  "design": { "genre": "game-subgenre/sudoku" }
}
```

`design.genre` names the main category when a game fits several.

## Genres (game-genre)

```
family action adventure arcade board card casino casual educational fps idle music platformer puzzle rpg racing
role-playing shooter simulation sports strategy tower-defense trivia word
```

## Subgenres (game-subgenre)

```
brawler fighting obby endless-runner battle-royale open-world sandbox survival roguelike action-rpg escape-room
real-time-strategy turn-based-strategy deckbuilder tycoon city-builder life-sim farming clicker match-3 merge
bubble-shooter block-puzzle sorting jigsaw hidden-object 2048 sudoku solitaire mahjong chess checkers word-search
crossword driving drifting soccer basketball golf rhythm flying dress-up decorating cleaning-organizing incremental
collecting minesweeper
```

## How you play (game-play-mode)

```
single-player 2-player multiplayer online-multiplayer local-multiplayer co-op couch-co-op 1v1 party-games
challenge-a-friend daily-challenges instant-games mobile-games controller-games social turn-based-multiplayer
```

Play mode tags describe the game for players; the play declarations (`types`, `party`, `controller`) in [catalogue.json](https://www.playdrop.ai/create/learn/catalogue-json) are what PlayDrop uses to start parties and controllers. Keep both consistent.

## Themes (game-theme) and moods (game-mood)

```
fantasy sci-fi space horror zombies animals dinosaurs cars pirates superheroes memes cooking fashion robots numbers
pets
funny cute challenging story-driven asmr
```

## Design aspects

Besides `genre`, the optional `design` object names one tag for each aspect of the game, written `group/tag` like other tags, for example `"feel": "game-feel/relaxed"`. Each field accepts only its own group:

```
coreGameplay (core-gameplay): aim build collect defend dodge explore fly manage match merge platform race rhythm shoot solve sort survive
perspective (perspective): 2d-fixed-screen 2d-side-view 2d-top-down 2d-isometric 3d-first-person 3d-third-person 3d-top-down 3d-isometric
controls (game-controls): drag gamepad keyboard pointer swipe tap
visualStyle (visual-style): hand-drawn low-poly pixel-art realistic stylized
progression (game-progression): endless levels rounds score-chase story waves
feel (game-feel): chaotic cozy fast-paced playful relaxed snappy strategic tense weighty
```

## Read the live list

These lists change over time. A game can read the current tags with `sdk.assets.tags.list()` and `sdk.assets.tags.get(groupSlug, tagSlug)`. An upload with an unknown tag is refused with a message naming it.

## Related guides

- [catalogue.json](https://www.playdrop.ai/create/learn/catalogue-json): The catalogue.json fields PlayDrop games use: identity, listing, play modes, surfaces, sign-in, Instant, preloading, media, translations, scores and servers.
- [Listing art and video](https://www.playdrop.ai/create/learn/listing-assets): The listing images and videos a PlayDrop game can have, their paths, formats and orientations, and how to make art that works in feeds, search and previews.
- [Visibility and reach](https://www.playdrop.ai/create/learn/distribution): Choose who can open a PlayDrop game, how the account default and version publishing work, and how Boost, PlayTrade, Instant and search bring new players.