Most gamers lean toward one of four types from Richard Bartle’s 1996 player taxonomy. Achievers want goals and trophies, Explorers want to see what’s around the next corner, Socializers play for the people, and Killers (really, competitors) want to beat someone. Knowing your type is a quick way to stop downloading games you’ll delete by Friday. Below are the four types, a short self-test, and mobile games that suit each.
Where do the Bartle types come from? #
Richard Bartle co-created MUD1 in 1978, one of the first online multiplayer worlds. In 1996 he published a paper called Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs, sorting players by what they enjoyed. He placed them on two axes: whether you’d rather act on things or interact with them, and whether you care more about the game world or the other players.
- Achievers act on the world: they want to win at it.
- Explorers interact with the world: they want to understand it.
- Socializers interact with players: they want to spend time with them.
- Killers act on players: they want to beat them.
Game designers still use these types to decide which features to build. For you, they work better as a shopping guide.
The four types at a glance #
| Type | What you enjoy | What bores you | Mobile games to try |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achiever | Goals, medals, completion | No way to measure progress | Flappy Kittens, Geometry Dash, Stardew Valley |
| Explorer | Secrets, strange worlds, how things work | Grinding the same level | Monument Valley, Florence, Slay the Spire |
| Socializer | Friends, chat, sharing moments | Solo games with nobody to show | Among Us, Neko Atsume 2, NYT Games |
| Killer | Beating real people, rankings | Easy wins against the computer | Clash Royale, Brawl Stars, Chess.com |
A quick self-test #
Pick the answer that comes to mind first.
- You finish a game’s story. What next? (a) Go back for 100%. (b) Hunt for secrets you missed. (c) Talk a friend into playing it. (d) Try the online mode.
- Your favorite kind of moment: (a) A trophy or medal popping up. (b) Finding a hidden area. (c) Laughing with friends. (d) Beating a player who’s better than you.
- What makes you quit a game? (a) No clear goals. (b) Nothing left to discover. (c) Nobody you know plays it. (d) No real opponents.
- The screenshot you’d share: (a) A high score. (b) A beautiful view. (c) A group photo or a funny chat. (d) Your rank.
Mostly (a) means Achiever, (b) Explorer, (c) Socializer and (d) Killer. Almost everyone gets a mix, so your top two answers matter more than your single “type.” The online “Bartle test” quizzes you’ll find were written by other people after the paper, not by Bartle, so treat any quiz as a rough guide.
Games for Achievers #
Achievers love visible progress: a number going up, a collection filling in, a medal you didn’t have yesterday.
Flappy Kittens (Flappy Cat on Google Play) is built around exactly that. Every run ends with a medal based on your score, from bronze at 8 up to diamond at 100. There are 17 achievements that pay out fish treats, 14 cats to collect, and three of those cats can’t be bought at all. You earn Sir Goldfur by reaching 50, Nebula by reaching 100, and Prism with an ×8 combo. Collect every cat and a Deep Space world opens up.
Geometry Dash ($3.99) has thousands of player-made levels and stars to gather. Stardew Valley has a museum to fill and a community center to restore.
Watch out for: daily login streaks and “collect them all” events in free games. They’re aimed squarely at Achievers, and they’re how a game turns your love of completion into a chore.
Games for Explorers #
Explorers want to be surprised. They’ll happily lose if they learn something new about how the game works.
Monument Valley builds its puzzles out of impossible architecture. Florence tells a whole relationship in half an hour without dialogue. Slay the Spire is exploration of a different kind: a card system deep enough that you keep finding combinations after hundreds of runs. Alto’s Odyssey has a Zen Mode with no score at all, just the dunes.
Watch out for: burning through content. Explorers finish games fast, so premium games with a clear ending often suit them better than endless free ones.
Games for Socializers #
Socializers play for the people. The game is almost an excuse.
Among Us works for 4 to 15 players, online or on the same Wi-Fi. Neko Atsume 2 lets you visit other players’ yards. Daily puzzles like Wordle and Connections are social in a quieter way, because comparing results in a group chat is half the fun. Our list of mobile games to play with friends has more, including how to turn any score game into a pass-the-phone contest.
Watch out for: obligation. Team chests, “send a life to a friend” requests and guild events can make a game feel like a job you can’t quit without letting people down.
Games for Killers (competitors) #
Bartle’s name for this type sounds harsh, but on mobile it mostly means competitors: people who want a real opponent.
Clash Royale and Brawl Stars from Supercell are built on quick matches against real players. The Chess.com app gives you rated games against people at your level. If you’d rather compete with a number, any game with a clear score works, and our hardest mobile games list gives competitors a lot to prove.
Watch out for: paying for power. In a competitive free game, the player who spends more can win by default. Our guide on how to spot pay-to-win games shows the warning signs before you install.
Are there better models than Bartle’s? #
Bartle’s types were made for text-based online worlds in the 1990s, not for phones, and they don’t cover things like story or creativity well. Quantic Foundry’s free Gamer Motivation Profile is a newer alternative. It’s an online survey that scores you on more motivations than Bartle’s four, such as story, strategy and design, and shows how you compare with other people who took it.
A few limits are worth keeping in mind with any model:
- Most people are a mix. You might be an Achiever in arcade games and an Explorer in puzzle games.
- Your type shifts with your mood. A tired Tuesday calls for different games than a free Saturday.
- It isn’t a personality test. It describes what you enjoy in games, not who you are.
Frequently asked questions #
What are the four Bartle types? #
Achievers, who want to win and collect; Explorers, who want to discover; Socializers, who play for other people; and Killers, who want to compete against and beat other players. Richard Bartle described them in a 1996 paper about online multiplayer worlds.
What is the most common type of gamer? #
There’s no reliable count. Bartle’s paper described types, not percentages, and online quiz results only reflect the people who chose to take them. Most players score as a mix of two or three types.
Can your gamer type change? #
Yes. Plenty of people are Socializers in their teens and Achievers or Explorers later, or switch depending on how much time they have. Take the self-test again in a year and you may get a different answer.
Is there an official Bartle test? #
No. Bartle’s paper didn’t include a questionnaire. The quizzes online were written by other people, and they’re fine as a bit of fun, but they aren’t a scientific measure.