Game mechanics terms explained in plain English
The rules a game runs on, from how long an ability takes to recharge to what happens when your character falls.
Every game is built from mechanics: the rules that decide what you can do, what happens when you do it and what the game does back. Tutorials, patch notes and friends talking about a game all use a shared vocabulary for these rules, and knowing a handful of the words makes everything easier to follow.
Moment-to-moment rules
Some mechanics govern the next few seconds of play. A cooldown is the wait before an ability can be used again. A hitbox is the invisible shape the game uses to decide whether an attack connected, and i-frames are the brief moments, often during a dodge, when your character cannot be hurt. Aggro describes which player an enemy has decided to attack, and a QTE asks you to press a prompted button during a cinematic moment.
Failure, saving and second chances
Other mechanics shape how a game handles failure. A checkpoint is a point you return to after losing, and to respawn is to come back into play. Permadeath removes that safety net entirely, which is a defining feature of the roguelike. New Game Plus lets you replay a finished game while keeping some progress.
How worlds and progression are built
Larger mechanics describe structure. An open world lets you roam freely, and a sandbox gives you tools with few set goals. Procedural generation builds levels from rules instead of by hand. Crafting turns materials into items, and a skill tree lays out the abilities you can unlock. An NPC is any character the game controls, while an MMO puts thousands of players in one shared world.
None of these terms is specific to one game, which is why learning them once pays off across many. Each entry in this section explains the word, gives a plain example and notes anything parents may want to know. Where a mechanic is central to a whole genre, the entry links to that genre’s page.
Every mechanics entry
- AggroAggro is the attention of enemies: whoever has aggro is the character the enemies are currently trying to attack.
- CheckpointA checkpoint is a point in a level where the game records your progress, so you restart there rather than from the beginning.
- CooldownA cooldown is the waiting time after using an ability before you can use it again.
- CraftingCrafting is making new items in a game by combining materials you have gathered.
- CutsceneA cutscene is a non-interactive scene, like a short film clip, that tells part of a game’s story while you watch.
- HitboxA hitbox is the invisible shape a game uses to decide whether an attack or object has touched something.
- I-framesI-frames, short for invincibility frames, are the brief moments during a move when your character cannot be hurt.
- MMOAn MMO, or massively multiplayer online game, is a game where very large numbers of players share the same persistent online world.
- New Game PlusNew Game Plus is a mode that lets you replay a finished game from the start while keeping some of your items, levels or abilities.
- NPCAn NPC, or non-player character, is any character in a game controlled by the computer rather than a person.
- Open worldAn open-world game lets you roam a large, connected map freely and choose where to go and what to do next.
- PermadeathPermadeath means that when your character dies, they are gone for good and you must start again.
- Procedural generationProcedural generation is when a game builds levels, maps or items automatically from rules, rather than having every part designed by hand.
- QTE (quick time event)A quick time event is a moment, often during a cinematic scene, when you must press a shown button within a short time to succeed.
- RespawnTo respawn is to reappear in the game after being defeated, usually at a set location.
- SandboxA sandbox game gives you tools and freedom to create, experiment and set your own goals rather than follow a fixed path.
- Skill treeA skill tree is a branching menu of abilities that you unlock step by step as your character grows stronger.