The definition of what a role-playing game (RPG) on a computer¹ is, is both vexed but also superficially unimportant in two ways. First, “It's just a computer game”; this objection is easily dealt with because not only are our hobbies important to us as humans and therefore valid subjects of enquiry², but video games are now worth nearly $200,000,000,000 a year—they are objectively big business. Second, on the surface it could seem as though defining an RPG ought not to have any effect on the world: the real entities that we group under the categorisation banner “RPGs” will vary in a scalar manner regardless of our descriptions. There will be entities that almost meet our criteria but miss out. There will be entities that only narrowly pass the threshold we set. These lists will vary based on which threshold we set, which will vary according to what our needs are for creating a list. RPGs as a category are subject to the forcing effect of decisions. When developers, publishers, critics, and consumers change their minds about what these genres mean, they then make decisions based on those beliefs which in turn nudge the real nature of the entities within those genres, the games. So these definitions have more than academic interest: they are important to us as humans; they are big business; and they have real consequences.

A point to emphasise is that describing a game as more or less of an RPG should not be a pejorative. RPGs have a somewhat high social status within the (low social status!) hobby of computer gaming due to their legacy as the past-time of the nerds who still dominate videogame culture, and due to being some of the mainstream computer games that come closest to resembling traditional norms of art qua art. However, this essay is just a categorisation exercise. It is not to say that a game that thoroughly mixes RPGs with other genres is thereby intrinsically inferior to a purer RPG. It is possible to assess how and why games fall into the RPG genre without treating this as a quality test.

Historical context

The genre is called “role-playing games” because of their descent from the table-top role-playing games of the 1970s and '80s, in particular Dungeons & Dragons.

The six elements of choice

I contend that when we talk about whether a game is an RPG we are talking about the degree of player agency it allows.

1. Narrative
2. Appearance
3. Approach
4. Equipment
5. World