The Glossary Project

Because games is a complex subject, the language can be confusing. So I've assembled this glossary of terms, many of which are common but some of which are my own.

Aa-Al Achievement Action Action Win Activity Actor Adventure Game Advergame Aesthetic Agency Agile Development Agility Test Alert Alignment Ally Alongside Dialogue Alpha Alternate Reality Game	Am-Az Amusement Animator Anxiety Arbitrary Test Arc Arcane Action Area ARPU Art Art Brain Artist Aspirational Art Asset Audio Designer Augmented Reality Game Aura Authenticity Avatar	B Balance Bartle Test Beat Em Up Game Beauty Behaviourism Belief Engine Beta Beyond Fun Binary Information Blue Ocean Board Game Boredom Boss Bowfinger Syndrome Boundary Brain Branched Dialogue Brandification Build Business Model Busywork
Ca-Ch Camera Campaign Campaign Win Card Game Cardinal Sin Casual Game Catharsis Cause Ceremony Challenge Change Chaotic Cooperation Character Character Development Character Establishment Character Test Cheat	Ci-Con Clarity Class Clean Development Clone Cloud Gaming Colour Combat Test Competitive Dynamic Community Concurrency Conditional Rule Console Console Game Constraining Rule Context Contiguity Controller Conventional Rule Conversation Gap Conveyance	Coo-Cz Cooperative Dynamic Copywriting Covalent Mode Crafting Creative Constant Creative Dynamic Crossmedia Cruft Crunch Crystal Intelligence Cultural Test Culture Currency Customer Validation Cut Scene
Da-De DAU Death Decoration Deferred Reward Delight Delightful Attribute Deliverable Demo Denizen Depth Design Tension Determinism	Df-Dz Dialogue Box Difficulty Dimensionality Discrete Mode Disorientation Distance to Action Distraction Doll Dominant Tactic Downloadable Content Drama Drive Dynamic Dynamic Win Dysnergy	Ea-Eo Easy Fun Economy Edgecrafting Elegance Embodiment Emergence Emotional Validation Empathy Empowerment Enemy Encounter Enclosure Enchantment End-Game Endless Runner Game Endogeny Engagement Engagement Hierarchy Environment
Ep-Ez Ephemeral Game Epic Epic Win Episodic Game Escapism Evangelism Evergreen Experience Expertise Exploit Exploration Exposition Expression Extensible Action Extrinsic Motivator	Fa-Fi Fabula Fairness Fair Test Fantasy Fantasy Axis Fan Farmer Fascination Feature Feedback Fiction Fiero Fighting Game First Five Minute Trap First Person Camera First Person Shooter Fixed Point Camera	Fj-Fz Flag Floating Camera Flow Fluid Intelligence Force Projection Formalism Founderwork Four Lenses of Game Making Frailty Frame Frame Axis Franchise Franchise Fatigue Freemium Frequency Fringe Gamers Fun Functional Art
Ga Gamatography Gambling Game Game Design Document Game Designer Game Developer Game Director Game Feel Gamelet Gamelike Gameplay Game Time Game Writer Gamification Gating	Gb-Gz Genre Geographical Test Geography Geometry Global Gold Master Good Enough Graphics Grinding Grok Grounding	H Hard Currency Hard Fun Handheld Game Haptic Feedback Hardcore Game Harvesting Hazard Heads-up Display Heroics Heuristic Hidden Object Game Hollow Win Horror Game Hot Ticket Humor Hunter
Ia-Ins Icon Immediacy Immersion Imperfect Information Incidental Indicator Indie Game Infancy Influencer Input Inspiration Instance Institutional Art	Int-K Intellectual Property Interactor Interactivity Interest Graph Interrupting Turn Interstitial Intrinsic Motivator Intuition Test Investment Investment Story Invisibility Iteration Joy Kanban Kano Model Kink	La-Li Law Lean Legality Legitimacy Lens Lensing Level Level Designer Lever Life Light the Way Linear Attribute Linearity Linear Play Live Action Roleplaying Game Livestreaming Living Gallery Lizard Brain
Lj-Lz Local Game Logistics Test Look Loop Loop Win Looting Lore Lose Loss Point LTV Luck Test Ludeme Ludology Ludonarrative Dissonance	Ma-Md Machine, The Magic Circle Magical Engineering Market Marketing Story Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Massive Multiplayer Game Masterwork Mastery Match Match-Three Game MAU Maximum Mastery	Me-Mim Meaning Mechanic Mechanical Bull Mechanical Test Mega-Publisher Memetic Evolution Memory Test Meta-Game Meta-Mode Meta-Rule Metcalfe’s Law Meter Metric Microconsole Mid-Game Milestone
Min-Mz Mind Mini-Game Minimum Viable Product Mobile Game Modal Mode Momentum Morality Test Moron Motion Movable Camera Muggle Multi-Modal Multiplayer Game Multiplayer Singularity Multiple Loop Music Game Mystery	N Natural Action Narrative Narrativism Negative Win Nested Mode Never-Ending Quest Niche Niggle No-Brainer Node Nonlinear Play Non-Test Notgame Novelty Novice Nudging Numina	O Object Obligation One Shot Economics Opacity Open Beta Opening Open Web Game Optimality Orphaned Game Outcome Over-Delivery
Pa-Ph Parallel Game Parallel Loop Participation Patch Pay To Play PC Game Pellet Pen and Paper Roleplaying Game Penalty Perceptual Test Perfect Information Performance Permutation Play Persistent Mode Persuasive Game Phase Physicality Physics	Pi-Po Pinch Point Pick Up the Gun Pirate Plane Platform Platform Amnesia Platformer Platform Shift Platform Story Play Play Brain Player Character Plot Point Point and Click Adventire Portfolio Publisher Positive Win Possession Post-Platform	Pp-Pz Pre-Alpha Pressure Prize Procedural Generation Producer Profit Progression Projection Prompt Property Prototype Publisher Pushable Camera Puzzle Game
Q-Rel Qualification Test Quality Assurance Quasi-Mode Query Quest Mode Queued Turn Reaction Test Reading Realism Reality Real Time Recursion Red Ocean Relationship Release Release Candidate Relic Genre	Rem-Rz Remarkable Resolved Turn Resonance Resource Retention Reward Risk Robot Robustness Rock Star Role Roleplaying Roleplaying Game Rotating Camera Rule	Sa-Se Sandbox Play Save Point Scale Scenario Scenario Win Scientism Score Scripting Scroll Scrolling Camera Scrolling Shooter Scrum Secret Sauce Seeding Self Serial Loop Serious Game Session Set Piece Setting
Sf-Sk Shooter Shoot 'Em Up Game Signifier Sim Game Simple Turn Simplicity Simulacrum Simulation Simulationism Single Franchise Publisher Single Loop Single Player Game Skill Skill Atom Skill Game	Sl-Sto Small Pond Social Fun Social Game Social Graph Sociality Soft Currency Space Speedrun Spirit Sport Starving Artist State Stewardship Story Storysense Storyteller Storytelling	Stp-Sz Strategy Strategy Game Strategy Tax Studio Style Subculture Sub-Mode Subscription Suicidal Play Surrounding Space Sweet Spot Switch Symphonic Cooperation Synchrony Synergy
Ta-Th Tablet Game Tactic Talking Tangibility Task Task Win Techthulhu Temporany Tension Territory Test Tetrism Thauma Thaumatism Theme Threshold Attribute Thrill	Ti-Tz Time Token Tolerance Tolerance Test Tool Toy Toyplay Traction Tracking Camera Transference Transition Transmedia Traveling TRC Tribe Trigger Turn Turn Based Game Twitch	U Urgency Ur-Medium Theory User Interface User Story Unfair Test Uniformity Unique Selling Point
V Vacuuming Value Vanity Metric Variable Variant Mode Verb Vertical Slice Very Good Veteran Victory Videogame Virality Virtual Good Virtual Promenade Virtual World Visceral Fun Vision Voice	W Waterfall Development Weird Controls Win Wireframe Work World Worldmaker	X-Z Zine Zinester Zone