Concepts

7195 Concepts: Grid; Compact

Feline Humanoid

Humanoids with feline characteristics. Feline humanoids are most commonly seen in Japanese games.

Appears in 92 games

First appeared in Catrap
Railroad Simulation

Games where laying track, driving trains, and growing companies have a long history in the strategy genre.

Appears in 48 games

First appeared in A-Train
Terminal Illness

A terminal illness is a sickness or disease with no cure. Barring a miracle, the afflicted will die because of it.

Appears in 13 games

First appeared in Metal Gear Solid
Firefly

Nocturnal beetle with luminescent abdominal organs.

Appears in 16 games

First appeared in Boulder Dash
Automation

Automation is the broad concept of assigning direction or goals to a game area (e.g. NPCs, units, rulers), so that they continue to perform appropriate action without intervention by the player.

Appears in 3 games

First appeared in Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei
Re-Numbered Franchise

Games usually have numbered sequels, like Final Fantasy I through XIII, but some series like to stop numbering their sequels, then number them over again. This is the concept of games that had a numbered series, then stopped, then got numbered again.

Appears in 19 games

First appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Southern Accent

Game characters whose voices are warmer than a belly full of bourbon. Whether it's the traditional drawl of a gentleman, or the backwoods vernacular of the redneck.

Appears in 14 games

First appeared in Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
Steam Cloud

Steam Cloud is a built in feature in some Steam games, it synchronizes game saves, settings and other data to the internet for access from any computer that has Steam installed.

Appears in 317 games

First appeared in Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars
Porcupine

Not a hedgehog!

Appears in 4 games

First appeared in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Skull Helmets

This concept is featured in games that have a character wearing a helmet with a skull graphic or picture on it. This does not pertain to characters who actually have skulls for heads.

Appears in 11 games

First appeared in Army of Two
SMART

SMART is dynamic movement system in Brink, which allows for the fluid navigation over objects in the environment.

Appears in 1 games

First appeared in Brink
Protest

A public declaration of disapproval, often an excuse for dissidents to cause riots and damage public property.

Appears in 5 games

First appeared in SimCity 3000
Riot

When many disgruntled people choose to go haywire on the system. Usually involves torches and pitchforks.

Appears in 11 games

First appeared in SimCity 2000
Iron Giant

Iron Giants are recurring monsters in the Final Fantasy franchise. They are clad in heavy armor and rely solely on physical attacks.

Appears in 14 games

First appeared in Final Fantasy II
Elevators That Mask Loading Times

Long elevator rides meant to hide the game loading.

Appears in 27 games

First appeared in Resident Evil
Nāga

Serpentine deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

Appears in 31 games

First appeared in Cleopatra no Mahou
Revolving Platforms

Platforms that revolve.

Appears in 10 games

First appeared in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Logo Box Art

Whether it's for minimalism or a lack of artistic effort a lot of games use only the games logo as it's boxart. Examples would include all Final Fantasy's after VII in PAL and Japanese territories, Gran Turismo 3, Portal, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Metal Gear Solid and more!

Appears in 38 games

First appeared in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Faux Credits

A game has "faux credits" when the credits start rolling, making the player think the game is over but then suddenly get interrupted to continue the game.

Appears in 23 games

First appeared in Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage
Lucario

Generation IV Fighting/Steel type Pokemon and the evolve form of Riolu.

Appears in 17 games

First appeared in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
Faux East Asia

A fictional location in video games inspired by or based on a real location from Far East Asia such as China, Korea or Japan.

Appears in 33 games

First appeared in Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II
Inner-Thoughts World

Whenever a game prompts the player to enter a character's mind, or a world where a character's thoughts are shown through the level design.

Appears in 13 games

First appeared in American McGee's Alice
False Death

When a character appears to have died a horrible death, makes a re-appearance later, shrugging it off like nothing happened.

Appears in 29 games

First appeared in Final Fantasy IV
Hero Worship

Non-player characters in video games will often submit to hero worship of the player's character in order for the game to make the player feel truly important. It is commonly-used in the Fable and Mass Effect franchises.

Appears in 14 games

First appeared in Sanitarium
Modern Day Mythology

This is the concept of a figure from ancient mythology being recast into modern times. Sometimes they are meant to resemble their classic incarnations, while other times they completely change to match the times.

Appears in 14 games

First appeared in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Yoshi

A bipedal dinosaur species known for its great appetite and egg-laying abilities.

Appears in 36 games

First appeared in Super Mario World
Roc

Enormous legendary bird(s) of prey.

Appears in 22 games

First appeared in Angband
Grapple Tying

A lot of games have grappling hooks, but only a few take it to the next level and allow you to grapple two things at once and tie them together. This maneuver makes no sense in reality, but makes for some devastatingly silly gameplay moments.

Appears in 4 games

First appeared in Rocket Jockey
Drive-By Intro

When a game brings you up to speed while showing you the local sights

Appears in 18 games

First appeared in Half-Life
Surface Projected Information

Popularized by Splinter Cell: Conviction during its development, this technique involves projecting information, such as objectives and controls, onto the surfaces of a virtual environment.

Appears in 2 games

First appeared in Heavy Rain
Klixen

Klixen are beetle-like creatures that are native to the Krogan homeworld, Tuchanka. They are capable of breathing fire, and upon death, they explode.

Appears in 1 games

First appeared in Mass Effect 2
Thresher Maw

Thresher Maws are very large, wormlike creatures that live underground. They spit toxic acid at their prey, and are considered highly dangerous.

Appears in 2 games

First appeared in Mass Effect
Follow

Common in many MMORPGs, a follow command allows the player character to follow another automatically. Useful for grabbing a drink, a smoke, or bathroom break!

Appears in 13 games

First appeared in Sorcerian
Multi-Phase Boss

A Multi-Phase Boss is a boss that undergoes a significant and instantaneous change in abilities, attack speed, and/or attack pattern during the fight. These bosses do not fully regain health between forms and appearance changes are usually minimal, if at all.

Appears in 64 games

First appeared in Shadow of the Ninja
Prestige Points

Would an experience point by any other name level up your character as sweet?

Appears in 5 games

First appeared in Dead Rising
Gun Smoke

The smoke that rises out the barrel of a gun.

Appears in 31 games

First appeared in Metroid Prime
Nug

Nugs are large omnivorous creatures resembling a cross between a rabbit and a pig. They are typically used for food, but can also be kept as pets.

Appears in 2 games

First appeared in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Gas Bag

Gas Bags are a species of benign creatures found on Eden Prime. They appear to release a toxic cloud of gas upon death.

Appears in 1 games

First appeared in Mass Effect
Pyjak

Pyjaks are monkeylike creatures. They tend to rapidly infest any ecosystem they are exposed to, annoying the populace of those worlds to no end.

Appears in 2 games

First appeared in Mass Effect
Rakghoul

Rakghouls are hideous mutant creatures that populate the undercity slums of Taris. They often hunt in packs.

Appears in 2 games

First appeared in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Varren

Varren are omnivorous reptilian creatures that behave in similar fashion to dogs. They are often used as attack animals by Krogan and Batarians.

Appears in 3 games

First appeared in Mass Effect
Bullet Sponge

A bullet sponge refers to a non-player character or object that takes an unusually large number of bullets or other projectile to destroy (e.g. Tank in Left 4 Dead franchise).

Appears in 18 games

First appeared in Perfect Dark Zero
Lamia

In greek mythology, a vampiric snake woman. Or in many other cases, vampiric snake women.

Appears in 25 games

First appeared in Final Fantasy II
Claydol

Claydol is a Ground and Psychic type Pokémon that evolves from Baltoy.

Appears in 25 games

First appeared in Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire

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