List of video game terms

Video games have a wide variety of jargon that may fly over a casual's head, so UnTrash Wiki took the time to write a list of video game words, from easy to understand to rarely used, and define them for the convenience of the casuals and the enjoyment of the people in the gaming atmosphere.

#
1v1 - When two players fight each other one-on-one. This is common terminology in shooter games.

B
Banning - Preventing a player from playing a multiplayer game due to their toxic actions on servers. Might last longer than a kick.

Battle - A fight in RPGs. Normally, battles are had in a multi-man format in which each team has more than one fighter on it.

Boss - "Boss" has more than one sense.


 * An enemy, typically greater in size than normal enemies, who is stronger than other enemies and must be defeated for progression in the game.
 * A very good player.

Broken - Used to describe any unbalanced or nonfunctional part of a game or even the game itself. This can be an insanely difficult (or simply impossible) enemy to kill, an OP weapon, or a glitch.

Buff - In RPGs, a buff is a positive effect given to players and enemies, commonly in battle, to give them an advantage over their opponent. Typically, buffs raise stats.

C
Cheating - "Cheating" has more than one sense.


 * When a player breaks the rules to gain an advantage. There are multiple methods of cheating, many of which are simple.
 * A similar sense to the one above, but it's allowed by the game using some sort of commands or set rules.

Command - A basic coding phrase, typically paired up with a slash in the beginning (/), that alters the gameplay in some way. This can be by changing the weather, giving an item to a player, and so on.

Controls - The way the controller moves the player character. They're one of the factors that may dictate the rating of a game based on how good they are. Bad controls can make the player character move too slow, too late to response to the controller's input, or plain dysfunctional. This shouldn't be confused with the physical controller itself.

D
Damage - Also shortened to "DMG" in RPGs. Damage is dealt to players and enemies with attacks to lower their health as much as possible.

Debuff - A bad effect applied to players and enemies. Well-known debuffs are burning, poison, and paralysis (or anything that has a similar function and goes by a different name).

E
Enemy - Anything the player is supposed to defeat. They may harm the player by simply touching them or with attacks.

F
"Fuck this game" - May be spoken when the player feels rage because of the game. It means they're currently frustrated due to a recurring problem, like constantly dying to the same enemy despite the player's numerous attempts to kill that enemy. This phrase has many variants.

Final boss - The last boss in a game. By far the most powerful enemy the player has come across so far. When defeated, the game is won. The final boss can have multiple forms, each form having a different attack pattern.


 * False final boss - A fake final boss who is normally easily defeated. This is soon replaced by the real final boss.

Friendly fire - Also called "blue fire", friendly fire is when a player (accidentally) harms or kills their own teammate. This may earn the killing teammate a penalty.

G
"Game over" - When the player's health reaches 0, they get this. A screen may accompany the message "Game Over" as well as the player character either feeling defeated or being dead. Game Over is rarely seen in modern games.

Griefing - When a player, called a griefer, repetitively and intentionally causes (in)direct harm to other players. It's considered bullying if the griefer targets a single player instead of generalizing their attacks. Griefing almost always leads to bans or kicks.

H
Hacking - Like with other forms of hacking, this is when a player edits the game's code likely to their advantage. If they're doing it to give themselves an advantage, it can be considered a form of cheating.

Health - The player character's life force. If it hits 0, the player might lose. Also referred to as HP (or Hit Points) in RPGs. Health is diminished if the player character ever takes damage and can be restored if they take medicine, drink healing potions, sleep, or do anything else that would heal them.

K
Kicking - "Kicking" has multiple senses.
 * An attack dealt with a fighter's foot or lower leg area, like the shin, onto enemies or objects.
 * Removing someone from a game temporarily. This can be a result of toxic actions or a server needing players to momentarily get off.

Kill - To end a player or enemy's life by diminishing their health to 0 with attacks.

Killsteal/kill steal - Killing an enemy (and reaping rewards) before an ally or other player after they did all the attacking.

L
Loading - When the game is preparing itself for play by getting together its elements like terrain, NPCs, and objects.

N
NPC - Short for "non-player character". This is any character the player does not normally control. The opposite of a PC.

O
OHK - Short for "one-hit kill". When only one hit is required to kill an enemy or player due to the attack being that powerful or the target being that weak. A related term is OHKO.

OHKO - Short for "one-hit knockout". It's like an OHK, but instead of one hit needed to kill, one hit is needed to knock the target out. This is an element seen in RPGs.

OP - Short for "overpowered". It's when something or someone has so much power, it ruins the balance of the game. An example of something that's overpowered is a sword that could OHK any enemy and has no downsides. "OP" is also used to describe anything that a whiny player finds hard to deal with due to its power despite not actually being so.

P
Player - Someone who plays a video game, let it be briefly or for a career.


 * Player character - An in-game character who the player must control. Also shortened to PC. The opposite of an NPC.

R
Rage - Anger towards the currently-played game. May lead to a rage quit if not dealt with properly.


 * Rage Quit - When someone quits the game they're playing (for a stress break or for good) because of their built-up stress caused by their constant failure.

S
Server - A connection between players that has them in a shared world where they may all interact with each other via real-time action.

Smurfing - When a very experienced player disguises themselves as a beginner player (possibly with a new account or character), joins beginner servers, and kills inexperienced and learning players.

Statistics - Also called "stats". Stats are parts of a fighter that can be raised or lowered. These stats have different functions. Common stats are strength, defense, and agility.

Superboss - A boss who is not required to be defeated for game progression but can be fought for helpful rewards.

T
Taunt - A dance or dance-like gesture done by a victorious player to enrage defeated ones. This can also come in the form of insults or smartassery lines.

Toxicity - Defined as troll-like actions or other harmful attacks on other players with griefing, insulting, or any other negative interactions. If someone is causing toxicity, they're called toxic.

Trolling - Intentional foul play in multiplayer games that is done to invoke anger from other players. A person who trolls is called a troll. Trolling can be done by...


 * Asking how to to basic things.
 * Being generally useless by doing ineffective things (like attack a wall), constantly committing suicide, or simply doing absolutely nothing.
 * Being immature in any sense of the word.
 * Cheating.
 * Consciously killstealing.
 * Harming or hampering your own teammates in whatever way possible.
 * Meming with bad or dead memes.
 * Obviously being too young to play the game.
 * Picking a fight with someone although they did nothing.
 * Smurfing.
 * Unnecessarily yelling, screeching (better if it's a ree), hollering, or singing in voice chat. Bonus Points if you can get everyone to yell "SHUT THE FUCK UP" within a minute.

U
Ultimate boss - The very final boss in a game series. When defeated, the game's story might end and the game is won. May be the most powerful boss in the entirety of the series.