Terms starting with A
AAA game
An informal label for a big-budget game produced and promoted by a large publisher, usually with a big development team, high production values and an extensive marketing campaign.
Accessibility options
Settings that let players adjust a game to suit different physical, sensory or cognitive needs, such as remapping controls, enlarging text, adding subtitles, changing colours or altering difficulty.
Achievement
A reward, often shown as a badge or trophy, that a game or platform grants when a player completes a specific challenge, such as finishing a level or defeating a particular enemy.
Action RPG
A role-playing game in which combat happens in real time, with the player directly controlling attacks, dodges and abilities, rather than choosing commands from a menu and waiting for turns.
Action-adventure
A broad genre combining real-time action, such as combat or platform jumping, with exploration, puzzle solving and a story, usually set in a connected world that the player gradually opens up.
Adventure game
A game that centres on exploration, story and puzzle solving, in which the player collects items, talks to characters and works out how to progress rather than relying on fast reflexes.
AFK
Short for away from keyboard, a message or state meaning that a player is temporarily not paying attention to the game or has stepped away, often announced in chat.
Aggro
Short for aggravation or aggression, the attention of an enemy: a character is said to have aggro when computer-controlled opponents have chosen to target them for attack.
Aim assist
A feature that helps a player aim by gently pulling the crosshair towards a target, slowing the cursor near enemies, or correcting small errors, mainly to make controllers easier to use.
Aim down sights
A control that lets a player raise a weapon to look through its sights or scope, narrowing the field of view and improving accuracy at the cost of movement speed.
Aimbot
Cheating software that automatically aims a player's weapon at opponents, giving an unfair advantage in shooting games and breaking the rules of almost every online game.
Ammo
Short for ammunition, the supply of bullets, arrows, shells or other projectiles that a weapon needs to fire, usually shown as a number and often limited to create tension.
Analog stick
A small thumb-operated lever on a controller that detects direction and how far it is pushed, allowing smooth movement and camera control instead of simple on-off presses.
Anti-aliasing
A graphics technique that smooths the jagged, stair-step edges that appear on diagonal and curved lines in digital images, making objects look cleaner and more natural.
Anti-cheat
Software and systems used by game developers to detect and prevent cheating, such as hacked programs, unfair automation and tampering, so that online matches remain fair for honest players.
Arcade
A venue, or the type of coin-operated machine found there, where people pay to play video games, usually fast and simple games designed for short sessions and high scores.
Area of effect
An attack, spell or ability that affects everything within a certain region, rather than a single target, such as an explosion that damages every enemy standing close to its centre.
Asset flip
A game made quickly and cheaply largely from pre-made assets bought or taken from online stores, with little original design, and sold as if it were a properly developed product.