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Gamer's Glossary
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- Abstract Game
- A game, often designed for two players, that has no theme, little or no randomness, and usually a fairly simple set of rules. (Chess is an example.)
- Action Points
- In some games, "points" that are given to players each turn to devote to various actions, at their discretion.
- Analysis Paralysis
- A condition reached when a player insists on considering all possible options before taking their turn.
- Auction Game
- A game that features players bidding on resources as the main mechanism. Also called a bidding game.
- Beer and Pretzel Game
- A game so random that long-term strategies are nearly impossible, and with such a goofy theme that it is played as a humorous diversion rather than a real competition.
- BGG
- The abbreviation for the BoardGameGeek website.
- Bits
- Game components (player pieces, etc.) that are usually of high quality.
- Broken
- Used to describe a game which has problems and is not fun to play. (For instance, it might have leader runaway syndrome, or have a single strategy which always wins.)
- BSW
- The abbreviation for Brettspielwelt, a popular German website that offers real time play of many German-style games.
- Dexterity Game
- A game where the major skill needed is a physical action, such as flicking, balance, or deft manipulation.
- Downtime
- The time that a player spends doing nothing while waiting for other players to complete their turns.
- End-game
- The final time period in a game, which will usually determine the victor. Strategies during this period often vary slightly from strategies used during the earlier portion of the game.
- Expansion
- additional equipment for a game, usually sold separately. Expansions can be used to add a variant or an additional scenario, to add more players for the game, add new maps or tracks for a game, etc.
- Filler Game
- A game with very simple rules, strategies that do not require deep thought, and an extremely short (~15 minutes) playing-time. This type of game is frequently used between longer games.
- Gamer's Game
- A gamer's game is any game that demonstrates an elongated learning and experience curve, requiring multiple plays for the acquisition of strategic and/or tactical efficiency.
- German Game
- A game from Germany. Such games typically have relatively simple rules, short playing times, fairly high levels of abstraction and player interaction, and attractive physical components. Games not from Germany that otherwise meet the criteria are occasionally included in this group, but are more frequently described as 'German-like'.
- Kingmaker
- A player, himself in a losing position, that has the power to decide who will win a given game.
- Leader Runaway Syndrome
- A condition that occurs when a game can be played with a certain strategy that cannot be defeated. In this case, the other players in the game have no chance of winning.
- Mass Market Game
- A game often sold by mass market retailers, like WalMart, Toys 'R' Us or Target. Hasbro (Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley) and Mattel are large manufacturers of mass market games. Examples: Monopoly, Risk, Scrabble, Uno, etc.
- Meeples
- "Meeples" is a term that describes anthropomorphic playing pieces (image) in games, originally used to describe those used in Carcassonne. It is now more broadly used to refer to nearly any human-like pawn or figure in a game.
- Overanalyze
- To use an exorbitant amount of time to find an optimal move, especially when the resulting move is virtually equal to all other choices.
- Party Game
- A game that is designed for large groups of people and emphasizes social interaction, creativity, and/or volubility. Examples: Taboo, Charades
- Race Games
- A game that features players vying to be the first to complete a given course of travel as the main mechanism. Examples: Formula Dé, Candyland
- Replay Value
- A game's capacity to remain entertaining after several playings.
- Set Collection Game
- A game that involves collecting and the playing sets of items (cards, resources, etc.) Example: Rummy
- Theme (of a game)
- The topic or subject matter of a game.
- Tile-Laying Game
- A game that features the placement of components onto a playing surface (rather than moving components along the playing surface) as the main mechanism. Examples: Carcassonne, Samurai
- Trick-Taking Game
- A card game that features players each sequentially placing a card down to make a trick, which is then awarded to one of the players. Bridge, Spades, or Hearts are examples of this type of card game.
- Victory Points (VP)
- Sometimes pronounced either "Veeps" or "Vee Pees". Plural can be spelled VP's, VPs or just VP. Points accumulated for completing various actions which count towards victory. Some games use the term "points" to refer to other factors--movement points, action points, etc.
