THE WORDS OF PLAY / 16 TERMS

Learn the words through games.

The words on store pages carry a lot of information about how a game feels. Here is what each one means, what to notice while playing, and where to find it in our collection.

Roguelike / roguelite

A structure where each attempt reshuffles the layout or rewards, and failure sends you back to the start. "Roguelite" usually describes games where some progress or unlocks carry over to the next attempt.

What to notice Whether a loss immediately suggests what you would change next time. That impulse is the heart of the form.

Find it in the collection

Hades II Steam description: “rogue-like dungeon crawler”
Dead Cells Steam description: “roguelite”
Slay the Spire Steam description: “card games and roguelikes”
Balatro Steam description: “The poker roguelike”
Noita Steam description: “magical action roguelite”

Deckbuilder

A system where you add and remove cards during play, growing a deck of your own. Instead of starting with a finished deck, your accumulated choices become your strategy.

What to notice How much it matters to decline a card, not just to take a strong one.

Find it in the collection

Slay the Spire Steam description: “single player deckbuilder”
Balatro Steam description: “deckbuilder”
Inscryption Steam description: “deckbuilding roguelike”

Metroidvania

Exploration action set in one interconnected world, where each new ability or tool opens paths you could not take before. The name comes from two defining series.

What to notice Whether you start remembering dead ends as places to come back to.

Find it in the collection

Dead Cells Steam description: “metroidvania inspired”
ANIMAL WELL Steam description: “dense, interconnected labyrinth”

Time loop

A structure that repeats the same stretch of time. Items and circumstances reset, but what you have learned stays with you, so knowledge itself becomes progress.

What to notice Whether your first move after a reset is different from last time.

Find it in the collection

Outer Wilds Steam description: “trapped in an endless time loop”
Blue Prince Steam description: “every dawn unveils a new mystery”

Knowledge-based progression

Games where understanding, rather than new gear or bigger numbers, is what lets you go further. They are also the games most easily spoiled by reading a guide first.

What to notice Whether getting unstuck means changing how you think rather than how you play.

Find it in the collection

Outer Wilds Steam description: “open world mystery”
Chants of Sennaar Steam description: “decipher ancient languages”

Procedural generation

Building maps, layouts or challenges from rules rather than placing them by hand. Because each session differs, in-the-moment judgment matters more than a memorized route.

What to notice Whether you are developing principles that still work on a layout you have never seen.

Find it in the collection

Into the Breach Steam description: “randomly generated challenge”
Deep Rock Galactic Steam description: “procedurally-generated destructible environments”
Noita Steam description: “procedurally generated world”

Emergence

Simple rules combining into events that no designer scripted one by one. Two players can come away with completely different stories to tell.

What to notice Whether the moments you did not see coming stay with you, as failures or as triumphs.

Find it in the collection

Noita Steam description: “every pixel is physically simulated”
RimWorld Steam description: “Generates stories by simulating”
Baba Is You Steam description: “cause surprising interactions”

Automation

Turning work you once did by hand into machines and production lines that run on their own. Once something keeps running, the next puzzle is finding where it gets stuck.

What to notice Whether simply watching a system you built feels rewarding.

Find it in the collection

Factorio Steam description: “building and creating automated factories”

Turn-based strategy

Strategy where sides take turns. Reading the board and predicting the next move matters more than reflexes.

What to notice How many futures you picture before committing to a move.

Find it in the collection

Into the Breach Steam description: “turn-based strategy game”

Couch co-op

Playing together in the same room, on one screen. Being close enough to talk becomes part of the game.

What to notice Whether you remember the conversation more than the game itself.

Find it in the collection

Overcooked! 2 Steam description: “classic couch co-op”
It Takes Two Steam feature: Shared/Split Screen Co-op
Stardew Valley Steam feature: Shared/Split Screen Co-op
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition Steam feature: Shared/Split Screen Co-op
Chicory: A Colorful Tale Steam feature: Shared/Split Screen Co-op

Remote Play Together

A Steam feature that lets you play same-screen multiplayer with friends over the internet. Valve says only the host needs to own the game. Because it streams video, the experience depends on your connection.

What to notice Check the delay on your friend's side once before a long session.

Find it in the collection

Cuphead Steam feature: Remote Play Together
UFO 50 Steam feature: Remote Play Together
Overcooked! 2 Steam feature: Remote Play Together
Chicory: A Colorful Tale Steam feature: Remote Play Together

Valve's description of the feature ↗

Environmental storytelling

Telling a story through objects and places rather than dialogue or exposition. Whether you read it is left to you.

What to notice Whether picking up an object makes you wonder whose it was.

Find it in the collection

Unpacking Steam description: “learning clues about the life you’re unpacking”

Visual novel

A form built mainly from text, images and sound. There is little to operate, but your choices and reading pace shape the experience.

What to notice What you were feeling at the moment you stopped turning the page.

Find it in the collection

Schrödinger's Call Steam description: “a visual novel”

Skill checks and TTRPG-style roleplaying

Roleplaying where dice or skill values decide whether an action or conversation succeeds. As in tabletop RPGs, failure becomes another branch of the story.

What to notice When a check fails, do you want to retry or see what happens next?

Find it in the collection

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut Steam description: “unique skill system”
Citizen Sleeper Steam description: “Inspired by the flexibility and freedom of TTRPGs”

Early Access

A way of selling a game before it is finished. Content may change, and neither the timing nor the shape of a full release is guaranteed.

What to notice Before buying, read the store's Early Access section and recent update history.

Find it in the collection

Lethal Company Steam genre: Early Access

Hit-stop

Freezing motion for a few frames at the moment of impact. That tiny pause reads as weight and contact. It is a different technique from screen shake.

What to notice Whether a hit feels heavy even though you never noticed it stop.

Compare it frame by frame in our lab →