Unit 31: Vocabulary

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Noun (concept)
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1up
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an extra life in a video game
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"In Nintendo's Mario franchise the 1up concept is represented by a green and white spotted mushroom."
Noun (concept)
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Achievement
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an optional goal in a video game to show a player's dedication, skill, or persistence; also known as a trophy, a badge, or a challenge
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"Chasing achievements can be a fun distraction in a video game, but this is never a substitute for decent gameplay."
Noun (concept)
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Autosave
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a periodic game mechanism, designed to avoid tedious restarts from the beginning of a level
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"The most common autosave spots in video games are at checkpoints and before boss fights."
Noun (concept)
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Avatar
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a graphical icon or sprite which represents a particular person or player
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"The term "avatar" comes from the Sanskrit word for “descent” and refers to the earthly incarnation of a god."
Noun (thing)
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Bonus stage
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a special level of a video game where the player can earn extra points or power-ups
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"The first bonus stage of the classic arcade game, Street Fighter II, featured a shiny new car that the player must completely destroy to earn extra points."
Noun (person)
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Boss
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an especially large and powerful opponent found at the end of a game level
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"A standard video game will feature a boss fight at the end of every level."
Noun (concept)
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Camping
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a gameplay tactic where a player hides and waits for another player to walk by — so they can shoot them in the back without being seen
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"Camping is not normally an effective strategy against bots who already know where the player is."
Noun (concept)
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Character class
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a game character's primary race, skill, or profession, often used to differentiate one's inherent abilities, strengths, and weaknesses
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"In fantasy RPG games common character classes include: warrior, wizard, mage, and thief."
Noun (concept)
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Checkpoint
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a milestone, or "autosave area" in a video game, where a player's character respawns after a death or starts off after reloading the game
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"Well-placed checkpoints add structure to longer video games while reducing player frustration."
Noun (concept)
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combo (combination)
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an advanced move or series of "unbreakable" moves initiated by hitting a perfect sequence of controller actions
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"Video game combos are often difficult to remember and complete correctly when needed."
Noun (concept)
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Content rating
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a game classification or recommendation suggesting suitability for a given target audience
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"Two of the most common content rating systems for video games are PEGI in the European Union and ESRB in North America."
Noun (concept)
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Continue
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a common game mechanic giving the player the option to retry a level instead of starting over from the beginning
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"Modern games usually allow unlimited continues, whereas classic ones often had a countdown timer or else severely limited the number."
Noun (concept)
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Cooldown
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the period of time a player needs to wait while a special power is recharged
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"Cooldowns are often used to enhance balance in gameplay so players cannot simply spam their most powerful moves."
Noun (concept)
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Easter egg
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an undocumented feature hidden inside a video game by the programmers (for whatever reason, but usually to be funny, self-promoting, or vulgar)
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"Programmer Warren Robinett is credited with inventing the term 'Easter egg' after he included a secret room into Atari's 1980 game, Adventure."
Noun (concept)
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XP (experience points)
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a unit of measurement used to determine the "maximum health" or "level" of a playable character
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"Gamers typically increase character XP by completing missions or overcoming obstacles such as defeating enemies."
Noun (concept)
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Fast travel
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a popular video game mechanic, often used in larger games, to avoid the tedious process of "traversing the entire map over and over again".
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"Fast travel (also known as warping) is convenient for players, but can also negatively affect a game's sense of scale or distance."
Noun (concept)
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Grinding
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repeating the same gameplay task over and over again, in order to gain a small amount of loot, health, or XP
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"No matter how awesome the UX and gameplay mechanics, most gamers will eventually tire of grinding (also known as farming)."
Noun (concept)
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Inventory
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a game feature allowing players to view all the items they have bought, collected, or earned
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"Games with the widest array of inventory items tend to be RPGs such as Zelda, Mass Effect, or Final Fantasy."
Noun (concept)
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Loot box
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a virtual item which can be opened to reveal a random gift such as a weapon, potion, or skin
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"Loot boxes are very controversial in children's games as they are seen by some as akin to gambling."
Adjective
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OP (overpowered)
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a game item, that grants an obviously unfair advantage, especially when compared to other similar items.
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"The UX team decided to include a new OP weapon for players who struggled to complete the game level in less than three consecutive tries."
Noun (concept)
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Power-ups
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in-game items that give a player temporary special abilities such as extra defence or invisibility
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"1980's Namco classic, Pac-man, was one of the first games to use power-ups, thus allowing the hunted to temporarily become the hunter."
Noun (concept)
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Quick save
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a handy game feature, allowing a player to save one's progress with a single keystroke.
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"The F6 key is the most common key to quick save a game."
Noun (concept)
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Side quest
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an optional game objective intended for those with additional time or desire to gain more XP, loot, or just have fun doing extra stuff
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"Some AAA game titles such as Zelda BOTW, GTA 5, and Borderlands 3 have more than 50 side quests."
Verb (infinitive)
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Spam
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to repeatedly press the same button, or repeat the same action, over and over again as fast as you can
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"The boy told his mother that she needed to spam the A button in order to run faster in the party game."
Verb (infinitive)
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Spawn
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to suddenly appear out of nowhere in a video game
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"Characters in multiplayer games typically spawn or respawn in designated map areas called spawn points."
Noun (concept)
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Speedrun
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a rather hardcore gameplay variant in which the goal is to finish the game or level as quickly as possible
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"Apart from sheer skill, some gamers utilize glitches or even unpatched bugs to achieve their record-breaking speedruns."
Noun (thing)
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Strafing
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a gameplay tactic, involving moving and shooting sideways while facing the enemy,  in an attempt to do critical damage while avoiding enemy fire
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"Strafing is often a highly-effective and brutal technique — in fact the word "strafe" comes from the German word "strafen", which means "to punish"."
Noun (concept)
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Turtling
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a defensive gameplay strategy, which attempts to avoid conflict at all costs
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"Weaker players may end up frustrated with turtling tactics and leave, but stronger players will persevere and end up dining on turtle soup for dinner."
Noun (thing)
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Wallhack
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an illegal hack used by trolls and cowards, which allows them to see enemy positions through solid walls.
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"Players caught using wallhacks or aimbots in CS:GO are normally subject to permanent bans."
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