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Sure, these days have almost every game sporting the newfangled 3D, but way back when, everyone had to live with plain old 2D. 2D, or two dimensions, limit the game to scrolling backgrounds, but some games even now make use of this basic concept.
Alternate realities are worlds that exists next to, in parallel of, or in place of our own.
When the main protagonist is thrusted into a foreign dimension or alien world, usually due to a freak accident. The protagonist must then explore that world while trying to find a way back home.
A mechanic used mainly in Japanese RPGs of both the action and turn-based variety.
Bosses are enemies that fight you at the end of a level or at a significant point in the story.
A boss fight is a culminating challenge that pits the player against one or more enemies representing a greater threat and/or difficulty than those previously faced. These scenarios typically feature unique antagonists.
Chiptunes are musical compositions that are synthesized by a computer or console sound chip.
CQC and CQB are close range combat techniques.
The concept of a helpless female character in desperate need of rescuing by the protagonist, in most cases from a villain, or from a form of impending doom.
One or more events from someone's past that negatively affected them. Plenty of video game characters have such pasts.
Darkness is used in games to restrict access, increase tension, or just to set a mood. Often the player has access to a light source that can mitigate its effect.
Environments cycle between day and night, often with effects on other aspects of the game.
Demons are generally creatures of evil, usually from Hell, who are often totally untrustworthy even when they're not murdering everyone and destroying everything in their path.
It's all in the family.
Some games portray cutscenes as portraits of characters talking to each other.
Games that fit this category involve characters that can traverse different dimensions.
Carefully exploring a large, labyrinthine area full of enemies (i.e., a dungeon) in the hopes of finding treasure, leveling up, or completing a specific task. Having their roots in tabletop games, video game dungeon crawls are found almost exclusively in RPGs.
To elude, escape, or get away from. Some games require players to escape from some people or things to perform some objective or avoid death.
This concept is for games where at least one of the main characters is female.
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.
"Hand to hand. It is the basis of all combat." -Gray Fox
More effective than any hospital. These games let you heal damage; ranging from a black eye to a gunshot wound, just by having a snack.
Health is a value that gauges how much damage players can take in a game before they die or pass out. Also known as life in some games. Health is usually represented by a bar or a percentage instead of an exact amount. Found in most non sport games
Whether it be a close up shotgun blast, far away sniper rifle, explosive, or backstab, the "one hit kill" is a popular kill strategy. Usually hard to master and even harder to avoid, the instant kill is loved and hated by gamers everywhere.
A gameplay mechanic allowing players to store their items and freely carry them around.
Horror games influenced predominantly by the look, feel, and themes of Japanese horror cinema, or non-horror games that allude to the cultural horror aesthetic. J-Horror, or psychological horror, is sometimes classified as a sub-genre of survival horror.
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.
The most basic infantry unit in the Terran army from the StarCraft series.
Non-linear level design where the player is able to freely traverse the game world and choose where and when to visit certain areas in the game.
An overworld is a simplified view of the game world that allows players to freely move to different locations or levels.
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