Glossary for Game Designers

Glossary for games designers

Write an explanation of the following frequently used game design words or phrases.

AAA list games – Triple A games that are the highest budget, highly anticipated games. Often times, these games will be attached to an existing franchise.

Abstract - Something that is not grounded in reality.

Adapter - Someone who is able to quickly settle into something, regardless of the changes that are thrown at them.

Analogue – Tabletop games that are not played with technology.

Asymmetric - When something within a game is not equal on both sides.

Atmosphere – Atmosphere is the feeling you get from the game, based on the things that can immerse you in the game, such as the soundtrack and visuals.

Auction or Bidding Game -  A game that is dependent on players trying to purchase something by putting money up for the item.

Avatar – Something that represents a player in game. This is usually a character that the player controls.

Bell Curve - Something that is used to measure the probability of something happening within a game.

Beta (beta-test) – A beta is a form of testing that a lot of game developers use. It allows you to play an early version of the game, with the intent often being to find out things that are wrong with the game so that it can be patched for the final release.

Blind-testing – When you test something without having any prior knowledge. Doing it this way allows you to have no bias.

Camping – When a person stays in a place for a long duration in order to gain an advantage over another person.

Casual game – A game that doesn’t require a lot of commitment towards it in order to get good.

Challenges – A part of the game that gives the player a chance to take part in a competitive situation where they must overcome something, usually based on a certain set of rules such as a time limit or a score requirement they must achieve.

Character class – The type of character that you pick. Depending on what you pick will often affect different attributes that are available t oyou

Cinematic – A game that presents its content in a very polished, almost movie-like fashion.

Cooperative Games – A game that allows two or more players to work together during the gameplay.

Copyright – Copyrighted games will have protection on certain parts of the media that is within that game so that another game cannot copy an idea. As an example, if a game had a character was obviously modelled on Mario without permission from Nintendo, then this could be a violation of Nintendo’s copyright protection.

Cut Scene – A pre rendered cinematic scene that is intended to show the audience part of the story.

Design Document - A description of the game that will allow the different sectors of people who are tasked with creating the game bring the final product to life.

Dice-fest - When a game is dominated by dice rolling.

Direct Conflict - Something that is in clear opposition of each other.

Downtime - The time when the player is not actually playing the game.

Drafting game - When a system is used to pick certain things depending on the mechanics of the game. As an example, in the NBA players are drafted depending on how poorly the teams finish in their league the previous year.

Education – When the player is taught something during the course of the game.

Filler game – A part of the game that isn’t necessary, and is only there to pad the length of the game.

Fluidity – How flexible and smooth something in a game is.

Genre – A category that you place a piece of work into.

Immersion – The ability to connect to the world of the game in a way that lets you forget about the technical details of the game because you connect to the experience instead.

Improviser - When something is not planned within a game.

Incremental - Something that is not consistent, as it is changed often.

Indirect Conflict - If a game has more than one player, a player may unintentionally affect something involving another player.

Leader Bashing - Ganging up on the leader in a game to prevent him from completing his objective.

Metagame – When player apply out-of-game information to gain an unfair advantage in a game when they otherwise would not have had that knowledge.

Milestone – When a player reaches a significant part of a game.

Patent - A form of protection that is taken to keep other people from copying or taking credit for your idea.

Pharming – A form of online fraud that is very similar to phishing. The information is often stolen from people through fake websites which will try to trick the user.

Platformer - A platformer where the art style is 2D. Often times the objective will be to move from side to side.

Play Balance - The fairness that is present in a game. Without balance, the game will often deemed to have problems because of how one sided certain things can be.

Player Interaction - Something that is present in the game that reacts to the player's input.

Playtest/Playtesting – When you play a game with the intent to see if it functions how you’ll want it to function for the official release.

Prototype – An earlier stage of something.

Sandbagging - When someone pretends to be in a worse position than they actually are.

Sandbox – An open world game, where the player can complete missions or objectives within the game without having any restrictions on the set missions that they must complete.

Self-published – A game that is published by the person who has created it.

Service Mark - Legal protection that helps protect a company's brand.

Simulation – Something that tries to recreate something based on certain factors.

Skirmish Games - A game that is not tied to a campaign or anything else, as they are singular games.

Social (Networking) Games - Games that are primarily based on Social Networking sites such as Facebook.

Strategic – A strategic game is a game that can be won through planning and thinking, rather than technical skill.

Symmetric - When something within a game is equal on both sides.

Techno-fetishism - Used to refer to when technology is the main focus in a game, the gameplay sometimes suffers.

Technological Immersion - When technology immerses the player in with the intent to connect the player to the game like they are actually there.

Theme – The theme is the subject matter and category that you can identify something by.

Trademark – An image that is recognisable as being signature to something and allows you to identify as it.

User Interface - The layout of the things that you see on the screen.

Virtual Reality – Something that allows you to enter an immersive environment that is simulated through a physical presence

Volatility - How wide ranging something can be, often used to describe something's value.

List of acronyms

AI – Artificial Intelligence

ARG – Alternate Reality Gaming

CCG – Collectible Card Game

CDG – Card Driven Game

FPS – First Person Shooter or Frames per Second

IP – Independent Project

LARP – Live Action Role Playing Game

MDA – Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics

MMO – Massive Multiplayer Online

MUD – Multi-User Dungeon

NPC – Non Playable Character

PBM/PBEM – Play by Mail/Play by E-Mail

PC – Player Character or Personal Computer

RPG – Role Playing Game

TCG – Trading Card Games