Spoilers ahead: for the puzzle and the movies/games
This page reveals all categories and answers for this puzzle. It also discusses plot details, story endings, and other spoilers for some of the movies/games shown.
easy
Sports team management sims
[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]
The player is not taking the final shot. The job is contracts, lineups, calendars, scouting, and the slow terror of a season going sideways.
medium
Repair work is the whole loop
[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]
These games make fixing the job: diagnose, unscrew, replace, test, get paid, then do it again because apparently everything is broken.
hard
Surreal fast first-person shooters
[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]
The shared language is speed, first-person violence, and hostile style. These games look like someone overclocked an arcade cabinet and then yelled at it.
tricky
Art-making games
[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]
Painting and making art are not flavor here. The act of creating the image is the play, whether the result is tender, strange, or a mess you can invoice.