metagame

plural metagames

1. countableA game about games.

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

   1 more example

   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.

   2016 March 12, Matt Margini, “How 'Alice in Wonderland' Influences Video Games”, in The Atlantic

2. countableuncountableThe 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.

   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.

   2019, Ellie Dix, Board Game Family: Reclaim your children from the screen, Crown House Publishing Ltd, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   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.

   2012, Keith Burgun, Game Design Theory: A New Philosophy for Understanding Games, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 98

   The “real-life” activities of EVE community members are a striking example of when a game begins to evolve into another type of simulation. In this instance, the metagame becomes a kind of political simulation that starts to manifest itself more off the screen than it does within the virtual society.

   2015 March 10, Nicholas O'Brien, “The Real Politics of a Virtual Society”, in The Atlantic

   But the thing with Elden Ring, as with all the Souls titles before it, is that the metagame – the stuff that goes on around the actual on-screen action – is as important as the game itself. This is an arcane, esoteric universe where players must work together on discord channels and message boards to figure out the best courses of action.

   2022 March 8, Keith Stuart, “Pushing Buttons: Get lost in Elden Ring’s maddening, engaging world”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

3. countableuncountablevideo gamesThe 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.

   Synonyms: meta

present singular third person metagames · participle present metagaming · participle past metagamed · past metagamed

1. roleplaying gamesOf 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.