256 Color Game vs 16bit or 32bit

[Vverano7]

I am reading the AGS intro page (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/ags/tutorial/ags/1/). I don't understand what the difference is between a 256 color game or a 16/32 bit color game. What is the difference? And why is the 16/32 color bit often regarded as a better option? Doesn't the 256 color game give more colors?
Thank you.

[Gurok]

It is important to make the distinction between palette size (256 colours) and bit-depth (16-bit, 32-bit). I think you are perhaps confusing these two.

256 colour mode is also known as 8-bit colour. This is a paletted mode where you get 256 colours (2^8 = 256) chosen from 16,777,216 possible colours.
16-bit colour gives you 65,536 colours (2^16 = 65536).
32-bit colour gives you 16,777,216 colours (2^24 = 16777216) and 8 bits for transparency -- the alpha channel.

32-bit colour is regarded as the best option, generally. It has better support on newer video hardware, you can do alpha blending and you won't run out of colours or have your images look posterised after an import.

256 colour has niche applications. Some people use it to do palette cycling effects.

16-bit colour is pretty much an anachronism at this point. It has mixed support on new video hardware and now that memory is plentiful, offers no clear benefits over either of the other modes in my opinion.

[Crimson Wizard]

To add, this is not a AGS-specific question, it relates to computer images in general. Information about color modes meaning can be found anywhere in the web, for example these articles:
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/colordep.htm
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001557.htm

[Snarky]

If you're confused by the distinction between bits and colors, you can think of it by analogy to salary: What is better, earning $60,000 a year or earning a 6-digit salary? Well, 6 digits is at least $100,000, so that's higher, even though 60,000 is more than 6.