Starcraft is a series of RTS games which consist of three species battling for supremacy and survival in a distant region of space. While each species has their own advantages, they also have their own limitations; no one species has a clear advantage over another. The value of the basic gameplay comes from the large variety of each species' units. Conflicts between two species often are not the same from one to the next, as the variety of each unit changes the face of each battle.

While the standard multiplayer elements of the game consist of a melee form of gameplay the series expands into a plethora of additional modes, many being user-generated. The standard melee mode expands into Free-For-All (FFA), team melee and several other modes, increasing the complexity and variety of each standard game.

User-generated modes expand with the implementation of Use-Map-Settings (UMS/Custom/Trigger) maps. The principles of these modes consist of maps with layered triggers and appropriate terrain layouts. The combination of all the triggers change the face of the gameplay to the degree similar to that of a mod. Early modes involved simple objectives such as killing units to gain resources, which are further spent to improve your spawning units. Some examples of more complex modes include Turret Wars, Zone Control, Starship Troopers, Monster Rancher and plenty others.

The popularity of the Starcraft series has grown to that of a world-wide competitive game, worthy of the highest caliber of gamers. The primary competitive interest lies in the simple melee modes, tournaments growing to such heights as having finals being televised on major networks. The game series remains a staple of the competitive scene to this day, despite the first title having a release date in 1998.