Sometimes is hard to tell what is the difference between Monster Taming as a genre and a game with monster taming elements.
It's easy to say that any game that has a "tamer" or "trainers" that rely on monsters with a world as it is but with this creatures living with humans.
This is not about saying that any monster taming must have RPG or turn based systems. We can say that Monster Taming is genre of video games in which players have, as the main mechanic of the game, controlling, caring and interacting with various beings. Usually these creatures evolve or growth according to the decisions you make (building your own team, selecting which creatures you want, how can they evolve, and more).
Now, even though the "Monster" is in the name, this includes a variety of creatures like: demons, animals, mutants, humans, zombies and anything you can think of.
Usually monster taming games create a world that is based on the creatures of the game, which also builts the world of the game as well. This means that the beings of the game are not just tools or things that you can battle with.
The idea behind of having personalities or building this world is to create a bond with this creatures like the one we have with our pets, and as we progress through the game, we know that the time we are playing is translated into growth of our creatures (increasing stats, evolving, being more powerful, etc.)
The monster taming genre is also referenced as "monster collector", "monster tamer", "creature collector", "monster catching", "monster battler" and more!
But overall, the most common word for this is "monster taming", which is ideally the want we want the gamer community to start using as the default.
Here we want to list and mention the main features that make a monster taming unique and distinguishable from other genres.
This is a common thing in games, but what we really want here is the progress to be reflected in our creatures, by increasing stats, evolving, unlocking new things as it achieves a specific level, or just growing.
The point here is for the players to make them feel that the core progress in the game is the growth of the creatures.
Another key for any monster taming genre. The games want the player to develop a relationship with the creatures, so that they pick their favorite and get the "I made it, I got the final form" feeling at some point during the game. This satisfaction creates a connection between the creature and the player, which makes the game more emotional.
The monster taming genre might not be one of the most known or popular game genres, but the idea or elements of the genre are used in many other games genres. The most common example is Pokemon, which is a JRPG with a lot of monster taming elements (because your pokemon evolves as it levels up and you progress in your journey).
These does not apply to all games in this genre, but are those common concepts that comes to the mind of most gamers when you mention a "monster taming" game or also mechanics that are introduced in many games of the genre.
Essentially, we have two or more creatures with stats and special attacks facing each other, but taking turns to select the best attack according to the situation. The complexity of the stats, buffs, and other battle features depend on the game.
A battle where through player interaction, the creature or being attacks and it has no restriction of when to attack, defend or basically perform any action.
Having a team of creatures usually helps to select creatures and have a team based on that. This helps some games create the mechanic of team vs team, which creates a whole new world of mechanics and strategies to fight against other players.
Of course, as the name suggest, some games have the mechanic of catching the creatures you want and also look for specific stats, evolution paths or other that involves changes in each creature.
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