Ways to use this list
- Movie night with mixed ages: tap Family night, spin a genre, then let the youngest choose the actual film from that genre.
- Genre challenge for the year: turn on Remove the winner and spin every Friday; you will have watched all 31 genres in about seven months.
- Watchlist rescue: clear the wheel, paste in the films you keep saving for later, and with Remove the winner on, each spin crosses one off for good.
- Media studies: spin a genre, then groups list its conventions, such as typical settings, music and characters, and pitch a one-minute trailer that uses them.
- Double spin: press Pick a decade and spin, then go back to the genres for a pairing such as 1950s science fiction or a 1980s adventure.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (31 entries)
- Comedy – made to make you laugh, from slapstick to satire
- Action – chases, fights and stunts at full speed
- Adventure – a quest or journey, often to faraway places
- Animation – drawn, computer-made or stop-motion
- Drama – serious stories about people and the choices they make
- Horror – made to scare, with dread and sudden shocks
- Thriller – rising tension and danger, often against the clock
- Mystery – a puzzle the audience tries to solve along with the hero
- Crime – criminals, detectives and the cases between them
- Heist – a crew plans and pulls off a daring theft
- Spy – secret agents, codes and gadgets
- Science fiction – future worlds, space travel and new technology
- Fantasy – magic, myths and imaginary lands
- Superhero – people with special powers who protect others
- Romance – a love story at the heart of the film
- Romantic comedy – a love story played for laughs
- Musical – the characters sing and dance to tell the story
- Documentary – real people, places and events
- Family – made for all ages to watch together
- Coming-of-age – growing up and finding your place
- Sports – an athlete or a team chasing a win
- Biopic – the life story of a real person
- Historical – set in the past, with the costumes and customs of the time
- War – soldiers and civilians in wartime
- Western – cowboys, outlaws and frontier towns of the American Old West
- Disaster – survivors facing storms, earthquakes and other catastrophes
- Martial arts – stories built around kung fu, karate and other fighting styles
- Film noir – shadowy 1940s and 1950s crime films, mostly in black and white
- Silent film – from cinema's early decades, told with pictures, music and title cards
- Mockumentary – a comedy filmed as if it were a real documentary
- World cinema – a film in another language, watched with subtitles
Questions people ask
Can I put actual movie titles on the wheel?
Yes: clear the list and type your watchlist, one title per line. The wheel holds up to 100; bigger lists switch to Quick pick.
How do we pick fairly as a group?
Let everyone add one or two films, then spin. To give the person who missed out last time an extra chance, write Title *2.
Can we play a best of 3?
Yes. Choose 🥇 Best of 3 under the button: the genre that wins two spins is the one.
What is the difference between a horror film and a thriller?
A horror film sets out to frighten you, often with monsters, ghosts or something unexplained, and it lingers on dread and shocks. A thriller is built on suspense: will the hero escape, solve it or stop it in time? Plenty of films sit right on the line between the two.
What is film noir?
French for "black film", a name French critics gave to dark American crime dramas of the 1940s and 1950s. Expect hard-boiled detectives, deep shadows, rainy city streets at night and characters you can never fully trust.
How many movie genres are there?
There is no official number. Most lists start with about a dozen main genres, such as comedy, drama, action, horror and science fiction, then split them into many sub-genres. Lots of films mix two at once, like a science fiction thriller.