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Checkpoint
A point within the game whereby the game saves its current state whether it be for the purpose of a more convenient respawn point or a gameplay design (such as in racing).
Appears in 474 games
First appeared in Speed Race
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Super Speed
Super Speed is the ability for a character to travel at speeds normally unattainable by regular humans. Super speed can be a stock super power by characters such as the Flash & Sonic the Hedgehog, or a technologically enhanced ability like Nomad in Crysis.
Appears in 115 games
First appeared in Mayday!!
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Gold Farming
The practice of gathering a large amount of ingame currency mostly in an MMORPG, and then selling the currency to other players for real world cash. It has been forbidden outright in most MMOs.
Appears in 40 games
First appeared in Ultima Online
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Hand to Hand Combat
"Hand to hand. It is the basis of all combat." -Gray Fox
Appears in 607 games
First appeared in Heavyweight Champ
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Poison
Simulating the effects of a great variety of poisons, toxins, venoms and nerve agents can lead to many unique and interesting mechanics. A classic trope in games, Poison usually deals small amounts of damage to health over time.
Appears in 268 games
First appeared in Centipede
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Amnesia
An often used plot device where the main character wakes up and has lost all their memories. The game usually centers around getting your memory back or uncovering the events that lead to your confusion.
Appears in 194 games
First appeared in Psychic City
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Body Armor
Body armor in games acts as additional protection. In most cases, when a player takes damage that would completely affect their health, their body armor reduces the damage taken or takes the damage instead.
Appears in 151 games
First appeared in The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch
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Clone
A clone is a being created as a perfect genetic duplicate of another being, right down to the DNA.
Appears in 136 games
First appeared in Ghost House
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Immortality
Whether a character never ages or is invincible, immortality represents the inability to die. Sometimes this is a blessing, sometimes it is a curse. Either way it usually makes for an interesting game mechanic.
Appears in 58 games
First appeared in Tír Na Nòg
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Nuclear War
Nuclear war is a conflict in which nuclear weapons are used.
Appears in 65 games
First appeared in Zarth
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Comic Book Cutscene
The cutscenes are nothing but the pages of a comic book. Audio is usually dubbed over to give them a little more life.
Appears in 97 games
First appeared in Laplace no Ma
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Nanomachine
Spawned from Nanotechnology research and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems technology, nanomachines are mainly centered around Medicine and Biology. "Nanomachine" is the term for nanite machines that use the nanometer (one-billionth of a meter) to measure it's size.
Appears in 13 games
First appeared in Xenogears
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Robot
If a person is made of metal and has circuitry instead of a circulatory system, then their game belongs on this list.
Appears in 1013 games
First appeared in Berzerk
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Interactive Battle System
Allows the player to enhance an attack in a standard RPG battle by pressing a button or buttons in a pattern or at a specific time. Initially found in games such as FF6 and Super Mario RPG
Appears in 19 games
First appeared in Final Fantasy VI
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Guard Impact
A counter system in the Soul Caliber series that give the performer an opening in the opponent.
Appears in 7 games
First appeared in Soul Edge
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Lag
The delay between what you do and when it actually happens, latency can result in a lessened ability to enjoy a game or get high scores.
Appears in 20 games
First appeared in EverQuest
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Juggling
This is a concept in fighting or other action games of attacking an enemy in order to keep the enemy in the air, unable to fight back. This is also a tactic in tower defense games of keeping the enemy on the battlefield longer by manipulating towers.
Appears in 153 games
First appeared in Flashgal
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Parkour
Parkour is a type of athleticism that involves going from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Appears in 82 games
First appeared in Donkey Kong
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Revive
The concept of reviving somebody who is dead or down.
Appears in 204 games
First appeared in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
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Mii Support
Games that feature support for Nintendo's Mii avatars.
Appears in 123 games
First appeared in Deal or No Deal
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In-Game Map Editor
Map Makers or Editors are built-in tools that allow the average gamer to tweak or fully customize a map of their own, with no mod or programming skills required.
Appears in 322 games
First appeared in K.C. Munchkin!
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Grue
The grues are an adventurer-consuming monster from the Zork series and other Infocom games. They appear in the dark areas of the game and are a major threat to adventurers.
Appears in 14 games
First appeared in Zork I: The Great Underground Empire
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Class Change
A page describing the concept of class change, otherwise referred to as changing classes or class promotion. Characters are able to change classes, either growing in strength from one class to the next or as a means of changing a characters range of abilities entirely.
Appears in 87 games
First appeared in The Magic of Scheherazade
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Temporary Invincibility
Whether by item or otherwise, temporary invincibility provides the user a brief moment where they are impervious to attack.
Appears in 233 games
First appeared in Pac-Man
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Fetch Quest
An industry game design convention that's appeared in many games over the years. The fetch quest involves sending the player out to collect a certain number of items, and return them to complete the quest. A staple of the RPG and Adventure game genre.
Appears in 255 games
First appeared in SwordQuest: FireWorld
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Slime
Slimes are a common "starter enemy" in RPGs, and serve as a mascot for the Dragon Quest series.
Appears in 68 games
First appeared in The Tower of Druaga
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Crude Renditions of Real People
Some of these games were trying to approximate the person's actual features with little success, and others stylized them on purpose. Either way, no one would confuse the resulting characters with the people they represent.
Appears in 63 games
First appeared in Custer's Revenge
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High Score
In many games there is a ranking system, the players with the highest point value are listed in a "high score" table.
Appears in 2233 games
First appeared in Duck Hunt
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Chocobo
Species of large yellow birds used as transportation in the Final Fantasy series. Chocobos have also starred in their own games.
Appears in 50 games
First appeared in Final Fantasy II
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Mimic
A box, chest, or similar reward beckons you to come near, but it is actually an enemy in disguise. Sometimes can be difficult to differentiate from a real treasure chest.
Appears in 84 games
First appeared in Ultima
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Mana
A meter measured much like HP that depletes when you use magic, and depending on the game, regenerates over time or can only be regenerated through rest or potions. Mana is usually displayed as a blue bar beneath it's red counterpart, the HP bar.
Appears in 216 games
First appeared in Moria
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Character Growth
A character in the game actually increase in size. This may be a temporary or permanent transformation.
Appears in 113 games
First appeared in Super Pac-Man
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Stat Tracking
The recording of data related to player performance or progress in a game. This feature is commonly found in RPGs or competitive multiplayer games. It does not include statistics in sports games, unless related to player performance.
Appears in 337 games
First appeared in Spy Daisakusen
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Bunny Hopping
A tactic commonly found in first-person shooters which involves a player jumping repeatedly.
Appears in 30 games
First appeared in Quake
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Romance
Romance in video games can either be interactive, in which the player attempts to woo another character, or an unchangeable part of the story of a given game.
Appears in 617 games
First appeared in Sheriff
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Antlion
An aggressive species of extra-dimensional insects, antlions are a common foe that Gordon Freeman encounters during his adventures across Half-Life 2 and its episodic installments.
Appears in 6 games
First appeared in Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
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Broken English
Broken English is English with improper spelling, grammar, or syntax, and is most commonly found within older video games as a result of poor English localization.
Appears in 89 games
First appeared in Super Golf
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Grinding
Constantly performing an in-game action to progress a certain attribute.
Appears in 254 games
First appeared in Vanguard
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Motion Blur
A post processing effect that blurs and streaks the entire frame. Loosely based on the behavior of real-world optics.
Appears in 198 games
First appeared in Magic Carpet
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Raid
In MMORPGs and similar games, a raid is a (generally large) group of people working together to accomplish a goal.
Appears in 61 games
First appeared in 10six Online
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Isometric Viewpoint
A parallel projection technique used in 2D sprite-based games to fake the appearance of 3D depth.
Appears in 623 games
First appeared in Zaxxon
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Tycoon
Gameplay that involves performing an entrepreneurial service in order to make money.
Appears in 169 games
First appeared in Lemonade Stand
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Destructible Environment
A destructible environment means the player has the ability to destroy his/her surroundings. This allows players to use the environment to their advantage.
Appears in 484 games
First appeared in Gun Fight
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Aftertouch
Aftertouch is a technique where the player is able to manipulate the path of an object that they would realistically have no control of, such as a fired bullet or a crashing car.
Appears in 15 games
First appeared in Bases Loaded
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