| Convention | Description | Examples | Visual Representation |
| Avatars | Onscreen figures of player identification | Pac-Man, Mario from the Mario Bros. series, Sonic the Hedgehog, Link from Legend of Zelda | |
| Bosses | Powerful enemy characters that represent the final challenge in a stage or the entire game | Ganon from the Zelda series, Hitler in Castle Wolfenstein, Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog, Mother Brain from Metroid | |
| Vertical and Side Scrolling | As opposed to a fixed screen, scrolling that follows the action as it moves up, down, or sideways in what is called a “tracking shot” in the cinema | Platform games like Jump Bug, Donkey Kong, and Super Mario Bros.; also integrated into the design of Angry Birds | |
| Isometric Perspective(or Three-Quarters Perspective) | An elevated and angled perspective that enhances the sense of three-dimensionality by allowing players to see the tops and sides of objects | Zaxxon, StarCraft, Civilization, and Populous | |
| First-Person Perspective | Presents the gameplay through the eyes of your avatar | First-person shooter (FPS) games like Quake, Doom, Halo, and Call of Duty | |
| Third-Person Perspective(or Over-the-Shoulders Perspective) | Enables you to view your heroic avatar in action from an external viewpoint | Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed, and the default viewpoint in World of Warcraft | |