The Sims are the inhabitants of an imaginary world. They speak "Simlish" and pay for goods and services with "Simoleans." Creating characters and helping them go about their daily lives — as unspectacular as it sounds, "The Sims" is the best-selling PC game franchise of all time. It is considered a pioneer of the "sandbox" genre, which gives players almost total freedom to do what they want.

"Counter-Strike" hit the gaming scene in 1999 and has since become synonymous with the "first-person shooter" genre. The hugely popular game, in which terrorists battle counter-terrorists, is not without its critics, who claim the violent content has had a negative psychological impact on teens — including several real-life school shooters.

Burning rubber on the streets of the United States, stealing cars and committing armed robbery — different titles of this aggressive game have earned an Adults Only rating. Despite this, fans claim "Grand Theft Auto" is about more than just violence: It paints a picture of US society in which the "American Dream" fails many and even manages to push petty criminals into a life of gangster crime.

In 1980 Pac-Man, the greedy, round-headed monster with the big mouth, was born in Japan. The aim of the game is to gobble down as many points as possible, while staying out of the way of the colorful ghosts who are always hot on Pac-Man's trail. The simple yet addictive game kept players coming back for more — making it ideal for arcades.

Super Mario, the little Italian with the blue dungarees, red cap and bushy mustache, is perhaps the most recognizable video-game character in history. The stout plumber and his friend Luigi are pioneers of the "platform" video game, in which characters spring between different levels, collecting points and avoiding mishaps. These days Mario can also be found on the racing track in "Mario Kart."

"Pokémon Go" made headlines in 2016 as one of the first games to use location-based augmented reality technology — making it look like digital elements within the game were actually part of the real world. The free app was downloaded over 500 million times that year. While some condemned the game and its Pokémon-hunters as a public nuisance, others praised the app for getting gamers off the sofa.

"Minecraft" is the best-known example of an "open-world" game — in which players are free to explore a virtual world, rather than having to follow a linear gameplay. Users "mine" blocks and use them to construct buildings in a virtually infinite 3D landscape. Players who are not sure what to do with this creative freedom can choose to fulfill pre-defined missions.

Another 80s classic, "Tetris" is built on the simple premise of racing the clock to piece different shaped blocks together in a certain way. The game was created by a young Soviet engineer in 1984 and fast became a hit in arcades and for home computers. However, its real moment in the spotlight came when Nintendo released it as one of the first games for the hand-held Game Boy console.

Every year since its initial release in 1993, a new version of "Fifa" (named after the world governing body of football) has hit the market. Each version strives to be that little bit more realistic than the last — keeping the game at the forefront of sport simulation gaming. It also doesn't hurt the game's image to have cover stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The most downloaded "freemium" game series of all time involves catapulting angry birds into the fortress of the green pigs to retrieve stolen eggs. The runaway success of the mobile app led to a spin-off TV series and feature film. But the birds suffered a PR setback when NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed how state security services were able to gather data about the game's users.