Genre sounds like the simplest possible field to fill in on a game database entry. In practice, retro PC games break genre boundaries constantly, and a workable taxonomy has to plan for that from the start.
Hybrids Are the Rule, Not the Exception
Action-RPGs blend combat with character progression, immersive sims blend shooting with RPG systems and environmental puzzles, and strategy-RPG hybrids layer hero progression onto base-building — patterns covered directly in Best Retro Games of 2002 and Best Retro Games of 1996. A rigid single-genre field forces awkward, inaccurate choices on exactly the games most worth documenting carefully.
Primary Genre Versus Secondary Tags
A practical approach assigns one primary genre for broad browsing, while allowing secondary tags to capture hybrid elements without diluting the main categorization — letting a game surface under both "RPG" and "action" searches without pretending it belongs equally and completely to both.
Genre Definitions Shift Over Time
What counted as a distinct genre category expanded across the decade as new hybrids proved commercially viable — the real-time strategy genre barely existed as a defined category before Dune II in 1992, for instance. A good taxonomy allows for genres that did not exist yet at a game's original release to be applied retroactively where appropriate.
Taxonomy in Practice
See the full genre listings to see how this plays out across the catalogue, and read What Makes a Good Old PC Games Database for how genre fits alongside platform and publisher as structural fields.
