Below is a table summarizing notable game ontologies and their primary focus areas:

Ontology Description Key Focus Areas
Game Ontology Project (GOP) A structured framework to categorize and analyze game elements, including gameplay, narrative, and mechanics. Game design elements, narrative, player interaction, mechanics.
LUDO Ontology Focuses on mapping the design and functionality of video games, supporting research and game analysis. Game rules, player actions, narrative structure, feedback mechanisms.
Playable Ontology Explores the relationships between different playable elements in a game, emphasizing interaction and engagement. Playability, player engagement, in-game systems, and progression.
RAGE Game Ontology Developed under the RAGE project, this ontology focuses on game assets, analytics, and educational game elements. Serious games, educational assets, player performance metrics.
Formal Ontology for Games (FOG) Uses formal logic to describe the rules, objectives, and structures of games for computational analysis. Rules, objectives, game states, formal systems.
Open Game Ontology (OGO) An open-source ontology aimed at categorizing and analyzing games based on design, genre, and player experience. Genre classification, player experience, mechanics.
Ontology for Interactive Narratives An ontology aimed at analyzing the structure and flow of interactive storytelling in games. Narrative structures, branching paths, player choice impact.
GAMETAX A taxonomy-driven ontology that organizes games based on gameplay mechanics and player interaction. Gameplay mechanics, player interaction, reward systems.
Serious Game Ontology (SGO) Categorizes serious games based on educational goals, application domains, and user engagement strategies. Educational goals, domains (healthcare, defense, etc.), player engagement.
Procedural Content Ontology Focuses on procedural content generation in games, analyzing how algorithms generate game assets and experiences. Procedural content, algorithm-driven design, dynamic environments.
Gamification Ontology Analyzes and categorizes gamification elements used in games and non-game contexts to motivate user behavior. Game mechanics, motivational elements, user engagement.
Ontology/Work Authors/Researchers Description/Focus Key Points/Disadvantages
Definition of Games Stenros (2017) Overview of the literature on defining games. General overview, not specific to game elements or layers.
Three Main Layers of Games Aarseth & Calleja (2015), Aarseth & Grabarczyk (2018), Mäyrä (2008), Hensel (2011) Higher-level ontological structures identifying distinct layers in games. Abstract and lacks granularity for formal classification of elements.
Models for Game Analysis Consalvo & Dutton (2006), Hunicke, LeBlanc, & Zubek (2004), Konzack (2002), Montfort (2006) Frameworks analyzing aspects of games and their surroundings (e.g., mechanics, aesthetics). Focused on analyzing rather than formally classifying elements.
Classification of Formal Systems Aarseth, Smedstad, & Sunnanå (2003), Elverdam & Aarseth (2007), Klabbers (2003), Zagal et al. (n.d.) Focuses on the underlying formal systems of games. May conflate layers or lack detailed granularity.
Classification of Game Parts Aarseth (2005, 2012), Costikyan (2013), Debus (2016), Järvinen (2003), Juul (2010a), Vella (2016) Identifies and classifies individual components of games (e.g., mechanics, entities, rules). Conflation of elements and layers; inconsistencies in detailed classification.
Types of Games Hinske et al. (2007), Mueller et al. (2008) Categorizes specific types of games (e.g., pervasive games, mixed-reality games). Limited applicability to general game ontologies.
Natural Language Processing in Games Ryan et al. (2015a, 2015b), Zagal & Tomuro (2010), Raison et al. (2012) Uses NLP (e.g., Latent Semantic Analysis) to cluster games based on textual descriptions. Black-box methods lack interpretability; cannot identify why games are similar.
Design-Oriented Ontologies Björk & Holopainen (2005), Dormans (2012), Elias et al. (2012), Salen & Zimmerman (2004) Practical classification of game elements for application in game development. Often informal, conflates meta-structures with individual components.
Game Ontology Project (GOP) Zagal et al. (n.d.), Fernández-Vara et al. (2005), Zagal & Mateas (2010) Most exhaustive hierarchical model of game elements. Contains out-of-date categories, internal inconsistencies, and conflation of actions (e.g., “to evade” as a purpose-driven action).
Unifying Game Ontology Author of the current study Focuses on describing game elements at the lowest level of complexity with high formality. Seeks to address issues in existing ontologies, such as conflation of layers and lack of granularity.