A

Action: In coding, an action is any task the program or the player takes 

Audience: The people who play your game. Defining your audience and their needs is important to good game design. 

Avatar: The character you control in a game. It represents you as a player in the game world

B

Brainstorm: A way to get the ideas in your brain flowing freely and to generate ideas fast and furious

Boss: A powerful enemy in a game, usually found at the end of a level or section. They are harder to beat than other game characters

C

Checkpoint: A save point in a game. If your avatar loses a life, you restart from the last checkpoint

Class: In coding, a class is like a blueprint for creating something specific. It's a set of instructions that tells the computer how to build a certain type of object

Command: In coding, a command is like an instruction you give to a computer. It tells the computer to do something specific

Component System: In digital design, the component system is the set of graphical templates that are used repeatedly through levels in the game. Components can be buttons, menus, character sets and skins that are reused again and again 

Condition: In coding, condition is like a question the program asks itself to trigger something. "Has time expired?" "Has player unlocked all rooms?"

Convert: To change from one thing to another. Code can be used to convert a number to a word or image 

Cutscene: A short movie within a game that tells part of the story. You usually don't control your avatar during a cutscene

D

E

Event: In coding, event is something that happens in the program. A trigger or result of a trigger. If a player falls in a pit, that is an event. If a player jumps, that is an event. If the time runs out, that is an event\

Expression: A set of code used together (like a sentence is a set of words) 

F

Friction: A tactic for increasing challenge

FTUE (First Time User Experience): The first 3-5 minutes of gameplay which needs to hook player and explans goals of the game and how to achieve them

G

Gameplay: How a game plays. This includes the rules, challenges, and how you interact with the game world

Generative Level Design: AI used to automatically create game levels pulling from a content source to enhance replayability 

H

HUD (Heads-Up Display): The information shown on the screen while you play. This might include your health, score, and items

I

Iterate: To modify or change your design or game to improve it, to adjust and improve 

J

K

L

Leaderboard: A score board in your game 

Level: A section or stage of a game. Games are often split into different levels

Logic: The rules of the game that makes the game experience or features work, the definition of rewards and penalties 

Loot table: A loot table is like a list of possible treasures that the enemy can drop. It's like a menu for the game to choose from

Loop: A set of actions taken repeatedly in a level or game to complete a task (a core loop is the primary set of game actions) 

M

Mechanic: The actions (verbs) and rules that define a game. Action verbs that define the game like collecting, exploring, trading and solving can be game mechanics

Mockup: A demo or prototype of a game level, mechanic or feature to demonstrate how it looks and works

N

Narrative: The story that the player characters experience in the game

NPC (Non-Player Character): A character in the game controlled by the computer, not a player. They might give you quests or help you

O

Objective: The goal of a game or level. It's what you need to do to win

Onboarding: A mechanism to introduce your player to the game and orient them into the gameplay

P

Parallax: Animation technique  to make foreground appear to move more quickly than background imagery used to depict movement and perspective in 2-D and 3-D animations

Parsing: To take something apart, to break down into detail

Platform: The system you play or make a game on, like a computeror GDevelop

Platformer: A game format that often includes parallax animation in which the player runs and jumps horizontally across screen to jump on and avoid objects 

Playtest: A pretend playsession where you observe others playing your game to see what needs to be fixed or embelleshed

Pixel: A tiny square of color. Computer screens are made up of many pixels, and they create the images you see

Power-Up: Something that gives your avatar a special ability, like extra speed or strength

Procedural content generation: A mathematical/algorithmic way of creating game data based off rules 

Prototype: A quick and dirty version of your game that can be used to get feedback and share a vision. Typically not a fully designed game. 

Q

Quality Assurance: A critcal part of game design to systematicallt test usability, find bugs, inconsistencies and report glitches, often woven in to development sprints to ensure quality is reviewed continually

Quest: A mission or task you need to complete in a game

R

RNG (Random Number Generator): is a way to make randoms things happen in a game by selecting a number from a list. This could be used to create surprise and luck in a game 

Respawn: To come back to life in a game after your avatar is defeated

S

Scene: Where the action takes place in a level 

Score: A number value that tracks progress or success in a game

Side Quest: An optional mission in a game. You don't have to complete it to finish the main story

Storytelling: A key attribute of many games to help depict the narrative of the game and create compelling experience 

Syntax: In coding, each programming language will have its own rules and structure is called syntax. Like grammar rules with written languages

T

Tabletop: A game format which is played with physical objects usually with a board and pieces

Tutorial: Teaches you how to do something

U

V

Value: A value in coding is a number assigned to an object

Variable: In coding, a variable is like a container that holds information. This information can be anything, like a number, a word, or even a whole sentence and be reused later or changed. A leaderboard might display a score, which is a variable that changes throughout the game.  

Virtual World: The digital space where a game takes place

W

Worldbuilding: The process of creating a game's story, characters, and setting

X

XP (Experience Points): Points you earn for completing tasks or defeating enemies. They often help your avatar level up or get stronger

Y

Z