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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mii Support

Games that feature support for Nintendo's Mii avatars.

Appears in 123 games

First appeared in Deal or No Deal

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Character Gets Big

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

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

Bunny Hopping

A tactic commonly found in first-person shooters which involves a player jumping repeatedly.

Appears in 30 games

First appeared in Quake

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

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

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

Grinding

Constantly performing an in-game action to progress a certain attribute.

Appears in 254 games

First appeared in Vanguard

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

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 Defender of the Crown

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

Tycoon

Gameplay that involves performing an entrepreneurial service in order to make money.

Appears in 169 games

First appeared in Lemonade Stand

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

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

Friend Code

A safeguard method of adding friends to friends lists on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Appears in 27 games

First appeared in Metroid Prime: Hunters

Backtracking

Backtracking is the act of navigating through previously explored areas, usually for the purpose of progressing in an objective-based adventure game. Players who are lost may also backtrack to reorient themselves.

Appears in 305 games

First appeared in Rogue

Launch Title

Games released coinciding with new hardware.

Appears in 460 games

First appeared in Table Tennis

Cheat Code

Special codes or button combinations used to gain powers or advantages in a game. Generally hidden.

Appears in 557 games

First appeared in Frogger

Web Integration

Many popular multiplayer games (particularly for PC) may integrate player or clan/guild information into a web interface to be accessed from anywhere. The player may also be able to see your current achievements on his or her game.

Appears in 14 games

First appeared in Lux

Heartless

Heartless are creatures from Kingdom Hearts that lack Hearts.

Appears in 13 games

First appeared in Kingdom Hearts

Tactical Turn-Based Combat

Gameplay type emphasizing deliberately paced tactical battle where each side politely takes turns moving and attacking one another through varied forms of combat.

Appears in 511 games

First appeared in Tanktics: Computer game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front

Customization

Customization in games that allow users to change various parts of their equipment or moves to fit their gaming style.

Appears in 277 games

First appeared in The Screamer

Advisor

The inferred primary antagonists of Half-Life 2 and its Episodic expansions.

Appears in 3 games

First appeared in Half-Life 2

Headcrab

Spider-like parasitic animals from an unknown universe with amazing powers of genetic transformation. Introduced in the original Half-Life, headcrabs come in several varieties, all of which are incredibly dangerous to unsuspecting or unprepared humans.

Appears in 13 games

First appeared in Half-Life