Study the 28 vocabulary terms below. Then continue to the activities.
- 1up
- Achievement
- Autosave
- Avatar
- Bonus stage
- Boss
- Camping
- Character class
- Checkpoint
- Content rating
- Continue
- Cooldown
- Easter egg
- XP (experience points)
- Fast travel
- Grinding
- Inventory
- Loot box
- OP (overpowered)
- Power-ups
- Quick save
- Side quest
- Spam
- Spawn
- Speedrun
- Strafing
- Turtling
- Wallhack
Noun (concept)
an extra life in a video game
In Nintendo's Mario franchise the 1up concept is represented by a green and white spotted mushroom.
Noun (concept)
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
Chasing achievements can be a fun distraction in a video game, but this is never a substitute for decent gameplay.
Noun (concept)
a periodic game mechanism, designed to avoid tedious restarts from the beginning of a level
The most common autosave spots in video games are at checkpoints and before boss fights.
Noun (concept)
a graphical icon or sprite which represents a particular person or player
The term "avatar" comes from the Sanskrit word for “descent” and refers to the earthly incarnation of a god.
Noun (thing)
a special level of a video game where the player can earn extra points or power-ups
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)
an especially large and powerful opponent found at the end of a game level
A standard video game will feature a boss fight at the end of every level.
Noun (concept)
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
Camping is not normally an effective strategy against bots who already know where the player is.
Noun (concept)
a game character's primary race, skill, or profession, often used to differentiate one's inherent abilities, strengths, and weaknesses
In fantasy RPG games common character classes include: warrior, wizard, mage, and thief.
Noun (concept)
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
Well-placed checkpoints add structure to longer video games while reducing player frustration.
Noun (concept)
a game classification or recommendation suggesting suitability for a given target audience
Two of the most common content rating systems for video games are PEGI in the European Union and ESRB in North America.
Noun (concept)
a common game mechanic giving the player the option to retry a level instead of starting over from the beginning
Modern games usually allow unlimited continues, whereas classic ones often had a countdown timer or else severely limited the number.
Noun (concept)
the period of time a player needs to wait while a special power is recharged
Cooldowns are often used to enhance balance in gameplay so players cannot simply spam their most powerful moves.
Noun (concept)
an undocumented feature hidden inside a video game by the programmers (for whatever reason, but usually to be funny, self-promoting, or vulgar)
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)
a unit of measurement used to determine the "maximum health" or "level" of a playable character
Gamers typically increase character XP by completing missions or overcoming obstacles such as defeating enemies.
Noun (concept)
a popular video game mechanic, often used in larger games, to avoid the tedious process of "traversing the entire map over and over again".
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)
repeating the same gameplay task over and over again, in order to gain a small amount of loot, health, or XP
No matter how awesome the UX and gameplay mechanics, most gamers will eventually tire of grinding (also known as farming).
Noun (concept)
a game feature allowing players to view all the items they have bought, collected, or earned
Games with the widest array of inventory items tend to be RPGs such as Zelda, Mass Effect, or Final Fantasy.
Noun (concept)
a virtual item which can be opened to reveal a random gift such as a weapon, potion, or skin
Loot boxes are very controversial in children's games as they are seen by some as akin to gambling.
Adjective
a game item, that grants an obviously unfair advantage, especially when compared to other similar items.
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)
in-game items that give a player temporary special abilities such as extra defence or invisibility
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)
a handy game feature, allowing a player to save one's progress with a single keystroke.
The F6 key is the most common key to quick save a game.
Noun (concept)
an optional game objective intended for those with additional time or desire to gain more XP, loot, or just have fun doing extra stuff
Some AAA game titles such as Zelda BOTW, GTA 5, and Borderlands 3 have more than 50 side quests.
Verb (infinitive)
to repeatedly press the same button, or repeat the same action, over and over again as fast as you can
The boy told his mother that she needed to spam the A button in order to run faster in the party game.
Verb (infinitive)
to suddenly appear out of nowhere in a video game
Characters in multiplayer games typically spawn or respawn in designated map areas called spawn points.
Noun (concept)
a rather hardcore gameplay variant in which the goal is to finish the game or level as quickly as possible
Apart from sheer skill, some gamers utilize glitches or even unpatched bugs to achieve their record-breaking speedruns.
Noun (thing)
a gameplay tactic, involving moving and shooting sideways while facing the enemy, in an attempt to do critical damage while avoiding enemy fire
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)
a defensive gameplay strategy, which attempts to avoid conflict at all costs
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)
an illegal hack used by trolls and cowards, which allows them to see enemy positions through solid walls.
Players caught using wallhacks or aimbots in CS:GO are normally subject to permanent bans.