GAME DEV PRELIMS

Game Platform

The system or environment where a game is played. The handout identifies arcade, console, computer, online, handheld, mobile, and tabletop platforms.

Arcade

A stand-alone game system usually found in public places such as malls and amusement parks. Controls commonly include buttons and joysticks.

Console

A gaming system usually used at home and connected to a television.

Proprietary

A platform controlled by its hardware manufacturer, such as Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo, which controls what software is developed for the system.

Computer

Games played on desktop computers or laptops. Development can be more complex because computers have different systems and non-standard hardware setups.

Online

Games played using a computer or console connected to the Internet. Large online games may support thousands of players and use several servers.

Handheld

A lightweight and portable gaming console with a built-in screen, controls, and speakers.

Mobile

Games designed for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and portable media players. Mobile connectivity can support wireless multiplayer gaming.

Tabletop

Games played on top of a table, including board games, card games, dice games, and pen-and-paper games.

Time Interval

A time-dependent element that affects the pacing of a game and whether gameplay is more reflexive or reflective.

Turn-Based

A time interval where players take turns. The time for each turn is usually unlimited, allowing players to plan their moves.

Real-Time

A time interval where there are no turns and gameplay happen continuously without pauses between players' actions.

Time-Limited

A compromise between turn-based and real-time gameplay where players have a limited amount of time to complete their turn, or the entire game may have a time limit.

Player Mode

The way players participate in a game based mainly on the number of players and how they play or connect.

Single-Player

A mode where only one human player plays the game. Other characters may be controlled by artificial intelligence.

Two-Player

Also known as head-to-head, A mode where two players either compete against each other or work together against a common enemy.

Local Multiplayer

A mode where players are in the same location and play on the same machine and screen using separate controllers or input devices.

LAN-Based Multiplayer

A multiplayer mode where players use separate devices connected through a Local Area Network without sharing the same screen or input device.

Online Multiplayer

A multiplayer mode where players connect their devices through the Internet and share the same game. Thousands of players may participate simultaneously.

MMORPG

An online role-playing game involving many players, persistent 24 hours per day and notes that they may use a subscription model where players pay monthly to continue playing.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

Meaning for the acronym MMORPG?

Entertainment

goal where games are developed mainly for enjoyment, stress relief, or relief from boredom. Players may participate through activities such as role-playing, physical movement, and problem-solving.

Social

A goal where games encourage interaction between players, opponents, or teammates, ranging from two-person games to large online games.

Educational Games

Games designed to teach while entertaining the player.

In-Game Knowledge Acquisition

Learning or accessing knowledge about subjects such as geography, mathematics, or reading within the game itself.

Recruitment and Training

The use of games by organizations such as the military, government, and corporations to recruit people or develop skills through training.

Simulation Game

A game that attempts to replicate processes, environments, or objects that exist in the real world.

Health and Fitness Games

Games used for purposes such as psychological therapy, physical rehabilitation, and physical fitness.

Exergame

A game specifically related to exercise and fitness.

Games for Change

Games created to raise awareness about beliefs, attitudes, values, lifestyles, causes, or social issues such as poverty, human rights, global conflict, and climate change.

Aesthetics and Creativity

A game goal focused on creative expression, artistic appreciation, or allowing players to create and share artistic ideas.

Marketing and Advertising

A game goal focused on promoting a product, service, or brand to consumers.

Advergame

A game specifically designed as an advertising tool that usually features an advertiser's brand.

Advertainment

A form of online marketing where a site created around a brand contains entertainment such as games and discussion forums.

Genre

A category of games based on a combination of subject matter, setting, screen presentation or format, player perspective, and gameplay strategies.

Action Game

A fast-paced genre usually focused on quickly defeating enemies while avoiding being defeated. It emphasizes reaction time, reflexes, and quick judgments.

Platformer

An action subgenre where players move quickly through an environment by jumping, dodging obstacles, and sometimes collecting items.

Shooter

An action subgenre focused on combat between the player and other characters, usually using guns or other weapons.

First-Person Shooter

A shooter where the player views the game from the character's first-person perspective. The character is usually not visible, although the player's weapon can be seen.

Third-Person Shooter

A shooter where the player can see their own character together with the game world, giving a wider perspective than a first-person shooter.

Racing

An action subgenre where the player controls a vehicle and races against opponents while trying to move as quickly as possible without losing control.

Fighting

An action subgenre where players control characters and use combinations of moves to attack opponents and defend against their attacks.

Adventure

A genre focused on stories, exploration, collecting, navigating mazes, decoding messages, and solving puzzles. It generally gives players more time for reflective thinking.

Action-Adventure

A hybrid genre combining the fast reflexive movements of action games with the stories and conceptual puzzles of adventure games.

Casino

An electronic version of gambling games such as roulette, craps, poker, blackjack, and slot machines.

Puzzle

A genre focused mainly on solving a puzzle or series of puzzles, usually without controlling a character and with little or no story.

Role-Playing Game

A genre with strong storylines where player-characters improve throughout the game by gaining strength, experience, money, and equipment.

Simulation

A game that attempts to reproduce real-world systems, machines, or experiences using real-world rules.

Vehicle Simulation

A simulation where the player operates complex machinery or vehicles such as jet fighters, ships, or tanks.

Sports and Participatory Simulation

A simulation where players experience an activity as participants, such as playing or coaching in a sport that follows real-world rules and strategies.

Process Simulation

A simulation based on real-world systems or processes where the main goal is usually to build, create, or manage something instead of defeating an enemy.

Construction and Management Sim

Another term for a process simulation in which players build and manage systems or processes.

Strategy

A genre where players manage limited resources and make decisions to achieve a goal, often based on comparing resources and decisions with an opponent.

Turn-Based Strategy

A strategy game where players have time to make separate decisions about what resources to create, when to deploy them, and how to use them.

Real-Time Strategy

A strategy game that runs continuously in real time, requiring players to make decisions under constant time pressure.

Micromanagement

Micromanagement

Multitasking

Managing or paying attention to several activities or sets of resources at once, which is especially important in real-time strategy games.

Massively Multiplayer Online Game

An online game where hundreds or thousands of players can interact in the same game world simultaneously through the Internet.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

An MMO that uses role-playing game mechanics.

Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter

An MMO that uses first-person shooter gameplay.

Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy

An MMO that uses real-time strategy gameplay.