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A game that uses a mixture of 2D & 3D techniques. Commonly used to describe the use of either 3D graphics restricted to a 2D perceptive, or 2D graphics used to fake the appearance of a 3D perceptive.
Bonus levels, rounds, or stages give players a chance to gain extra points, powerups, or lives. Occasionally bonus stages will play completely different than the rest of the game, like as a slot machine or pinball minigame.
Cartoon physics refers to games which do not conform to regular physics, but the "laws" are for a humorous bent rather than conforming to reality. Sometimes it ignores physical laws, like gravity, or tweaks them, like not being totally blown away by dynamite.
Using pre-rendered clay figures to display environments, characters, and objects. Often used to comedic effect.
A non-interactive sequence within a game most often used for plot advancement.
Some games just won't settle for laughs. Some games make you want to cringe as you're busting a gut.
Decapitation is the removal of the head of a person or animal.
When a prominent character is voiced by a member of the development team. The authors Clive Barker and Harlan Ellison are good examples of this.
Digitized sprites, popularized in the early 90s, were a form of graphics that used footage of real actors, Stop-motion frames of a figure/clay model or 3D renders of characters that were then made digital and put into the game.
Everything you need isn't always spelled out for you on the map. Sometimes even the map is not there till you go explore it.
A powerful release of energy. This energy is usually expelled in all directions very quickly, typically giving off orange or red flames.
Didn't your mother teach you not to do that?
That bad guy looks awfully familiar... probably because it's you. This is for games where you fight yourself or an evil version of yourself
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.
Flattening is taking something three dimensional, and somehow making it very thin almost two dimensional. It can be used for comedic effect or a character to use it to fight through tight spaces.
Game Over originally appeared in pinball machines, and later, arcade machines. When players lose at a game, it is game over.
Games that have been used as the basis for motion pictures.
A gigantic variant of the famous crustacean and the subject of a popular 00s internet meme.
Whether it be Mario vs. Bowser, Jedi vs. Sith, Link vs. Ganon, or Elves vs. Orcs, the forces of good are in an eternal battle with the hordes of evil.
A situation where the player-controlled character loses their life immediately. The quickness of that demise is often a stark departure from the balance of power, and sometimes the rules, established by the developers during the rest of the game.
Placing the player in an environment and making them feel alone. Games often use this for atmospheric effect.
A type of primate with tails; often monkeys are depicted as causing havoc the moment they are encountered.
Moral dilemmas presented to the player that often have a significant effect on the story or other characters.
Multiple endings is a term used to describe different outcomes or conclusions to a game based on the previous actions of the player.
Often in games striving for mysticism the player gets thrown into the game without being given a clear objective or any objective at all for that matter. This is often accompanied by vague introductions and confusing circumstances.
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.
Games that could be controlled via the PS1 mouse.
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.
Who needs 2D when we've got 3D? 3D, or 3 dimensions, is what we're used to seeing in almost every game these days, letting us do all sorts of awesome stuff like run in circles!
Common in old first person adventure games, the small pre-rendered movie that plays full screen to take the player from one static pre-rendered background to the next.
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