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Game » consists of 10 releases. Released Apr 28, 1993
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.
The concept of moving blocks around to certain areas such as highlighted squares, or switches, or in order to get past a maze.
Necessary to sustain life in organic creatures, the crimson fluid known as blood tends to make appearances when the body's structure is compromised in some way, a very, very common occurrence in videogames.
Games that are little more than extensive cinematic sequences in which the player has little interaction with what is happening onscreen. This notion of a cinematic game is epitomized by laserdisc arcade classics such as Astron Belt, Dragon's Lair and Bega's Battle.
A non-interactive sequence within a game most often used for plot advancement.
The concept of purchasing media and having it delivered over the internet. No physical representation of this content is given, and although the content resides on the user's hard drive they are typically granted a license to the product, rather than ownership of it.
Electricity is commonly used as a damage-introducing element causing inanimate objects to become harmful (electrified water, floors, cables, etc). It can also refer to a power wielded by characters that generates sparks, is conductive to metal surfaces, forks or branches, and is often blue in color.
Physical props, clues, or trinkets included within game boxes by Infocom in the 1980s. They were often used to convey in-game information, add value, or as early copy protection.
First-Person is a vantage point that attempts to simulate looking through a game character's eyes. It is most commonly found in first-person shooters, racing games, and visual novels, and to a lesser extent in other genres, such as RPGs, 3D platformers, and adventure games.
Flashbacks take a player into a flashback sequence. Often playable, but not always.
FMVs are pre-rendered videos used in place of real-time graphics. Using FMV was an attempt to make videogames look "more like movies", sometimes with CGI animation and others with live-action actors speaking directly to players. The downside is that FMV requires a lot of disk space, and live-action FMV in particular can look terrible by comparison.
General MIDI (also known as GM or GM 1) is a standardized specification for electronic musical instruments that respond to MIDI messages. It is used in the large majority of older DOS and Windows games.
These spooky entities are the spirits of the dead, returned from beyond their graves for generally sinister purposes. There's generally about even odds whether a particular ghost will be helpful or malevolent towards the living, but some ghosts just want to be left alone entirely.
A feature in some games on the GOG.com service. Unlocked only while using the GOG Galaxy client.
A digital distribution platform that focuses on providing DRM-free computer games, both old and new.
Cutscenes involving real actors on a set or in front of a chroma key screen.
A game where you eventually receive a map of an area. Like in Metroid Prime you have map download stations to get a map outline of the area. This is the same concept in the exploring Castlevania games.
Ever since Pac-Man, games have had us navigating mazes.
Sometimes one playable character just isn't enough.
An implementation of lore that is meant to flesh out the game world, without becoming a hindrance to the overall pacing of the game itself.
Point and click is an interface featured in a specific kind of adventure game, where players click on objects and characters to interact with them.
Puzzles may need to be solved before the player can progress to the next section of the game. Often it may not be clear to players exactly what the puzzle is, or whether the an in-game items needs to be attained before it is even possible to solve it.
A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object.
Players must repeat a series of inputs, dictated by the game, in order to progress. It is very similar in nature to Simon Says, or more accurately, the electronic game, Simon.
An eight legged arachnid. Some make webs to catch prey and some are poisonous. None have made a web grand enough to be called a parlor, though.
A digital distribution service owned by Valve Corporation. Originally created to distribute Valve's own games, Steam has since become the de facto standard for digital distribution of PC games.
Games set in, or focused primarily around, the years between 1930 and 1939.
Games that conclude with a screen displaying "The End" or a variation thereof, such as "Fin."
It's the designer's go-to guy. If they want to steer a player in a given direction they'll lock an in game door and force the player to find a way to either unlock it or find an alternate route.
A distinctive song associated with the game (often played during the introduction/end credits). Note: This concept deals just with songs with lyrics, as opposed to instrumental pieces.
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