RPG stands for "role-playing game." It is a game genre. You play a character. You make choices. You level up. You follow a story. The genre comes from tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons. Video games adopted it. Final Fantasy, The Witcher, Skyrim. They are all RPGs. They are about immersion.

RPGs are about stats. You have strength, intelligence, charisma. You have skills. You have inventory. You have quests. You have dialogue trees. You have multiple endings. The game is a world. You live in it. You shape it. You become someone else. That is the appeal.

Related terms

• MMORPG: massively multiplayer online RPG.
• JRPG: Japanese RPG.
• CRPG: computer RPG, often Western.
• XP: experience points.

RPGs are a genre for dreamers. They are for people who want to escape. They are for people who want to be a hero. They are for people who want to explore. The genre is huge. It has many subgenres. It has many fans. It is not going away. It is still growing. It is a world within a world.