What makes a game an RPG: the 7 elements every RPG game has

Published October 23, 2026 · 3 min read

A game is an RPG when you control a character who grows through your choices: they earn experience, level up, improve their stats and gear, and change the course of the story. Without character progression and decisions that matter, it is an action or adventure game with RPG elements, not an RPG.

What defines an RPG?

RPG stands for role-playing game (the full meaning is in our article What is an RPG). In a video game, what defines the genre is not fantasy, swords or a top-down view: it is the bond between you and a character who evolves. Everything else revolves around that.

The easiest way to recognize an RPG is to ask: is my character today different from yesterday because of what I did? If the answer is yes, you are looking at an RPG.

The 7 core elements of an RPG game

1. A character of your own: you create or take on someone with a name, a look, a race and a class or specialty.
2. Progression: experience points (XP), levels and new skills. The character gets stronger by playing, not just because you got better at the game.
3. Stats and numbers: strength, intelligence, health, mana, damage, defense. The rules decide the outcome, the way dice do in a tabletop RPG.
4. Choices that matter: which class to follow, which talents to learn, who to side with. Two people playing the same game end up with different characters.
5. Story and quests: a world with a past, characters and tasks that give you a reason to keep going.
6. Loot and gear: items dropped by enemies, weapons and armor that change how you play.
7. A world to explore: towns, roads, caves and dangerous regions that call for a stronger character.

Quick test: is this game an RPG?

• Does the character level up or earn points to spend? A yes counts for a lot.
• Can you build the character your own way? A yes is a strong RPG sign.
• Do enemies drop items that make you stronger? Another point.
• Is there a world with quests, rather than levels in a row? One more.
• Take the numbers away: is it still the same game? If so, it is probably action or adventure with RPG elements.

Three or more "yes" answers and you can safely call it an RPG.

An RPG, or a game with RPG elements?

These days almost every game has an experience bar, a skill tree or rare items. That is not enough. In a shooter or racing game "with RPG elements", progression is a seasoning: take it out and the game still stands. In a true RPG, progression is the main course: what you do exists to make the character grow, and a stronger character opens up new parts of the world.

The types of RPG video games

• Action RPG: combat happens in real time; you aim and dodge.
• Turn-based RPG: each side acts in turn, with time to think.
• Tactical RPG: positioning on the map decides the fight, like a board game.
• Online RPG and MMORPG: the world is shared with other people over the internet and keeps going when you log off.

The seven elements show up in all of them; what changes is the pace of combat and how many people share the world with you.

The 7 elements inside Echoes of Aora

Echoes of Aora is a free online RPG that opens in your browser, on PC or phone. Here is each element in the game:

• Character: you are a mage; you pick a race (humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, fairies and more) and a school of magic, such as Fire, Frost, Nature or Shadow.
• Progression: experience, levels, new spells and a talent tree.
• Stats: health, mana, damage and defense, with real-time combat right on the map.
• Choices: your school, your talents and which creatures to capture to fight at your side.
• Quests: a quest panel with the route marked on the map.
• Loot: defeated enemies leave a corpse and a bag on the ground; gear is upgraded by the smith in the cities.
• World: 22 biomes, walled cities and regions that get more dangerous the farther you go, with other mages playing at the same time.

Where to start

The best way to understand what makes a game an RPG is to play one. Open echoesofaora.com, create your free account and build your mage: on the Isle of First Steps you will see progression at work within the first few minutes.