Metagame

Quick meaning: Metagame is a noun meaning (countable) A game about games.

Meaning

(countable) A game about games.

More Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The exploitation of the rules etc. of some other game, at a higher level than simply playing the game normally; a game outside or peripheral to the actual gameplay.
2. (roleplaying games) Of a roleplayer, to make use of knowledge while roleplaying that they learned out of character, which their character does not know; often considered a form of cheating.
3. (countable, uncountable, video games) The conventions of a gaming community; the characters, weapons, techniques, etc, which are currently considered most viable in multiplayer gameplay, and the best practices for using them.

Example Sentences

Nomic is a metagame in which players can modify the rules as part of gameplay.

Even before the box is open, the metagame has begun. The metagame is the drama unfolding between the players. The metagame involves manipulating the emotions of your opponents. The metagame gives you the feeling of triumph that comes from collaborative problem-solving.

The textual chessboard at the beginning of Through the Looking-Glass (1871) makes this crystal clear, establishing the whole book as a game—or maybe a metagame—that unfolds through the act of reading, each chapter corresponding to a “move” by Alice’s profoundly overwhelmed pawn.

But usually when people refer to the metagame, they mean things such as unlockables or customizable features. The problem with metagames is that they almost always damage the games they surround. […] Metagames also often create motivations that conflict with the inherent motivations of the core game.

Word Forms

• metagames
• metagaming
• metagamed

Synonyms for metagame

Depending on context, synonyms include meta.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include meta, game, gameplaying, subgame, pseudogame, gameplay.

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