Another thing which came up internally was to link "game series" together. While this is universally considered a good idea, it's not actually as obvious what constitutes a series as it may look at first glance. A couple of examples (in case you don't know some of the games, many are on the site):

• King's Quest 1 - 8: this, most definitely, is one series, isn't it?
• Siege - Ambush at Sorinor - Walls of Rome: very similar games from the same publisher; is this a series?
• Panzer General - Allied General - Fantasy General - Star General - Pacific General: is this a series? If all those games belong to the same series, how do you explain Panzer General II much later?
• Hi-Res Adventures: is this a series? Content-wise, they have nothing in common, they just share one engine and they were numbered by the publisher.
• Holiday Maker - Das Stundenglas - Stadt der Löwen - Die Kathedrale - Hexuma - Jonathan: all were tagged as "Artventures" by the same publisher, but they are actually games from two development teams with quite different gameplay styles (let's say 2.5 styles). So is this one series, two series' or no series? Maybe even Die Höhlenwelt belongs to one of the series', having been made by one of those two teams (but in a third style)?

Discuss!

Correct.



No, they are just similar games.



Evidently, Panzer General 1-2 should be linked as series regardless of the time gap, the rest goes into "similar" category.



In my opinion company, engine, hallmark titles and graphics shouldn't suffice to count the games as series. I'd say, the problem here is definitely in the way you term it - SERIES, which is way too abstract and all-inclusive. I suggest we use Sequels/Prequels instead. What defines sequels/prequels is above all shared storyline, settings and/or characters. The rest is just a hallmarked streak so to say, and should be simply regarded as "similar".



Again, if they aren't connected story- and character-wise then they are just "similar" games. Simple.

Alternatively, i would suggest another 2 ways of dealing with this issue:

1) Just categorize non-series games as "similar" as i have already suggested and prioritize the entire streak to stay on top of the list. Perhaps, also use a color highlight to single them out.

2) Implement another category alongside "Sequels/Prequels" and name it something like "Family games". Of course, what counts as part of the family or not is up to us to decide. If unsure we could always dump it into just "Similar" category.

Now, what worries me is that despite this thrifty allocation either one of "Family" and "Similar" categories may get a little bulky, and while we could still pick out the best matches for "Similar" category and filter out other less matching titles, there is nothing we can do about "Family", and the worst are cases like Sierra or Lucas Arts games.

Your notion of "series" being too inclusive sounds very convincing. Maybe starting with sequels will indeed be the way to go.

Next borderline issue, then:

Allied General was called Panzer General II in some countries by its own publisher. Later, there was a "real" part 2 came out. I would assume we can only cover sequel relations as in the original country of origin?

Sounds about right. If the title in question is secondary/alternative to original then it shouldn't count unless there are obvious links to what otherwise could be a prequel.

The panzer ones are all 1 series, the allied, pacific, etc ones are basically the first one but from the perspective of different forces, while panzer II is an actual sequel. More info on wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_General
You can also look at what games gaming sites throw together as a series, such as: http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/panzer-general-series

That grouping is really weird. If Allied and People's are in there, why not Fantasy or Pacific?

Rough first draft to straighten the data model out: /game/id%2C1094/King%27s+Quest+5%3A+Absence+Makes+the+Heart+go+Yonder%21.html.

Concerning styling, would it be preferable to have these in the same graphical manner as the similar games? I think so.

For me Bundesliga Manager is an Series too.

Sounds right, agreed.