"Shmup" is short for "shoot em up" and refers to a genre of video games that involve shooting and dodging obstacles and enemies. The term is often used to describe classic arcade-style games like Gradius, R-Type, and Metal Slug. On Steam, "shmup" is used to describe games that fall into this genre, such as Normal SHMUP, Crimzon Clover World EXplosion, and SHMUP Creator. Steam also hosts events like the "Steam Shmup Fest" and has curators like "Shmup Life" and "Shoot em up Database" that specialize in this genre.