50 Video Gaming Terms & Lingo Every Gamer Needs to Know

Photo by Fredrick Tendong on Unsplash

Do you know what MMO, FPS, AoE, FTW, and DPS stand for? Don’t worry — you’re not alone if you don’t know. Those terms and the 45 more in the list below are video gaming terms and lingo, but they’re not so hard to understand.

If you’re a newcomer to the video gaming world, you may find yourself completely lost in a sea of new video games, terms, and definitions and an ocean of acronyms. Additionally, avid gamers often forget how complicated it can be for newcomers to figure out the language.

With this handy dictionary of video gaming lingo, you’ll be well versed in gamer-speak and ready to communicate with other players in your favorite online games.

Video Game Genres

There are nine different basic game types, each with a completely different gameplay style, goals, and level of intensity.

Third-Person Shooter (TPS): A shooter game where your vantage point is a camera behind the character you control.
First-Person Shooter (FPS): A shooter game that puts you inside the character you control.
MMO: A massively multiplayer game where hundreds or thousands of players share the same persistent online world.
RPG: A single-player role-playing game where you level-up a character over time to take on more powerful foes.
MMORPG: A massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
MOBA: Multiplayer online battle arena — a fast-paced, highly competitive game where you command a single hero or champion as part of a team.
RTS: Real-time strategy games. Fast-paced tactical action games
SIM: Simulation games simulate real experiences, such as racing or flying.
CCG: Collectible card games are digital versions of classic card games.
4X: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate games are strategy games where the goal is to take over the world.
Sandbox: A non-linear game with an open world that you can explore freely.

Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash

Video Gaming Terms, Slang & Lingo

You’ll encounter many different terms in video games that may or may not be easy to understand. This glossary should help you quickly make sense of the jargon.

1-Up	An extra life
Adds	Additional monster summoned by one you’re fighting
Aggro	When a monster is aggravated and focused on you
AFK	Away from keyboard
Aimbot	A cheat mechanism that auto aims for you
AoE	An area of effect attack, meaning an attack with a 360 degree spread
BoA	Bind on account. An in-game item that is tied to your account
BoE	Bind on equip. An in-game item that you can’t trade after you’ve equipped it
Bots	A computer-controlled AI player; sometimes used as an insult referring to new, unskilled players
Buff / Debuff	A buff adds powers to your character; a debuff removes powers from your character
Camp	To hide and wait for enemies
CB / OB	CB – Closed Beta, OB – Open Beta. Both are games that you can try before they’re properly released for sale
CD	Cooldown: the recharge time after using a special power
DPS	Damage per second: a calculation of how much damage per hit and how fast you attack
Dungeon	A closed-off area of a game with powerful enemies and big rewards
EXP / XP	Experience points: the points you earn for completing tasks to increase your character level
FoV	Field of view: the range of peripheral vision on screen
GG	“Good game”
Glitches	A bug in the game that may give a player an advantage.
Grind	Completing repeated tasks to gain XP points
HP	Health/Hit Points: the measurement of how much life your character has left
HUD / UI	Heads-up Display / User interface: the display of your player status, skills, and spells
KDR / KR	Kill-to-death ratio/kill ratio is the number of enemies you killed compared to the number of deaths you had
Lag	A network or rendering delay that slows your game’s response time
Loot	Items that drop from enemies or that you find while exploring
Mod	A mod is a modification that alters the game in some way
MP	Mana / Magic points allow you to perform magical abilities
Nerf	A game update that limits the power of a strong weapon or ability
NPC	A non-player character that often furthers the story of the game
Noob/Newbie	An inexperienced newcomer to a game
Ping	The time measurement in milliseconds between the player’s console/computer and the host server
OP	Overpowered: a weapon or ability that is disproportionately powerful compared to other game items
PvE	Player vs Environment; when you fight a non-player enemy
PvP	Player vs Player; when you fight another player’s character
QTE	A Quick Time Event is a video game section that requires timed button presses
Ragequit	When you quit a game in rage after losing a match
Raid	A raid is a team-based mission, usually in a unique dungeon, including significant boss encounters
Skin	A cosmetic change to the appearance of your character
Tag	A player’s online name. In MMORPGs, tag also refers to identifying a target enemy from a group

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