The Ultimate Board Game Glossary | 50+ Words You Should Know
Published at: 2025-12-25 12:15:51
Board games have become more popular than ever nowadays. From mechanics like deck-building, worker placement, and area control to concepts such as turn order, victory points, and player interaction, board game terminology can be confusing - especially for beginners.
That’s why we’ve created the ultimate board game glossary, featuring 50+ essential board game words you should know. Whether you’re a casual player or a dedicated tabletop enthusiast, this guide will help you better understand board game mechanics, rules, and strategies!
The Ultimate Board Game Glossary | 50+ Words You Should Know
Board Game
A tabletop game that involves pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked surface or "board" and often includes cards, dice, or other components.
Tabletop Game
A broad category of games played on a flat surface, encompassing board games, card games, dice games, and miniature wargames.
Meeple
A small, person-shaped wooden figure used as a player token, famously popularized by the game Carcassonne.
Eurogame
A style of board game characterized by indirect player interaction, economic themes, and a focus on strategy over luck.
Ameritrash (Thematic Game)
A genre of games that prioritizes theme, character development, and dramatic player conflict, often featuring dice rolls and miniatures.
Abstract Strategy Game
A game with no hidden information and minimal theme, where players rely entirely on logic and calculation, such as Chess or Azul.
Worker Placement
A mechanic where players claim specific actions on the board by placing a limited number of tokens or "workers" on them.
Deck Building
A gameplay mechanic where players start with a small set of cards and strategically add new cards to their personal deck throughout the game.
Engine Building
A strategy where players create a system of cards or abilities that become increasingly powerful and efficient as the game progresses.
Area Control
A mechanic where players compete to have the most units or influence in a specific territory to gain bonuses or points.
Cooperative Game (Co-op)
A game where all players work together as a team to defeat the game system itself rather than competing against each other.
Solo Mode
A specific set of rules or an automated AI opponent that allows a board game to be played by a single person.
Legacy Game
A game designed to be played over multiple sessions where the board, components, and rules are permanently altered based on player choices.
Campaign Game
A series of linked gaming sessions that tell a continuous story, often involving character progression and persistent consequences.
Party Game
A high-energy game designed for large groups that usually features simple rules, social interaction, and short playtimes.
Gateway Game
A board game with simple, approachable rules used to introduce new players to the hobby, such as Catan or Ticket to Ride.
Filler Game
A short, light game - usually lasting 15 to 30 minutes - played between longer, more complex board games.
Analysis Paralysis (AP)
A state where a player becomes overwhelmed by the number of available options, causing the game to slow down significantly.
Quarterbacking (Alpha Gaming)
A common issue in cooperative games where one dominant player tells everyone else what moves they should make.
Kingmaking
A situation where a player who cannot win the game makes a move that determines which of the remaining players will win.
Social Deduction
A genre where players attempt to uncover each other’s hidden roles or allegiances through logic and deception, like The Resistance or Secret Hitler.
Tile Placement
A mechanic where players lay down physical tiles to build the game board or create specific patterns to score points.
Drafting
A process where players choose one card or die from a shared pool and pass the remainder to the next player.
Action Economy
The strategic management of the limited number of actions a player is allowed to take during their turn.
Push Your Luck
A mechanic that rewards players for taking risks but penalizes them if they go too far and "bust."
Take That
A competitive mechanic where players directly sabotage or attack their opponents to hinder their progress.
Victory Points (VP)
The standard metric used to determine the winner in many modern board games at the end of the session.
Victory Condition
The specific requirement or goal that a player must achieve to be declared the winner of the game.
RNG (Random Number Generator)
A term used to describe the element of luck or randomness in a game, usually dictated by dice or card draws.
Dice Rolling
A fundamental mechanic used to generate random results for combat, movement, or resource acquisition.
Variable Player Powers
A feature where each player has a unique ability or starting resource that differentiates their strategy from others.
Hand Management
The strategic choice of which cards to play, keep, or discard to maximize efficiency over several turns.
Pick-up and Deliver
A mechanic where players must transport resources or passengers from one location on the map to another for a reward.
Hidden Movement
A game element where one player moves their piece secretly on a separate map or via cards while the other players try to track them.
Simultaneous Action Selection
A rule where all players choose their moves at the same time and reveal them simultaneously to prevent turn-order advantages.
Modular Board
A game board made of separate tiles or pieces that can be rearranged to create a different layout every time you play.
Miniature (Mini)
A highly detailed plastic or resin figure used to represent characters or units on the board.
Component
Any physical part of a board game, including the box, board, cards, dice, and tokens.
Token
A small cardboard or wooden piece used to track resources, damage, or specific game effects.
Player Mat
A personal board placed in front of a player used to organize their resources, cards, and character stats.
Rulebook
The document containing the official instructions on how to set up, play, and win the game.
Replayability
A measure of how different or engaging a game remains after being played multiple times.
Shelf of Shame
A community term for a collection of board games that a person has purchased but has not yet played.
Sleeving
The act of putting cards into plastic protectors to prevent wear and tear during shuffling and play.
Insert / Organizer
A tray or system inside the game box designed to keep components separated and organized for faster setup.
Complexity / Weight
A rating used to describe how difficult a game is to learn and how many strategic layers it possesses.
Zero-sum Game
A situation where one player's gain is exactly equal to another player's loss, common in highly competitive strategy games.
Asymmetric Gameplay
A design where players start with different resources, goals, or rules, creating a varied experience for each person.
Catch-up Mechanic
A rule designed to help players who are falling behind stay competitive and have a chance to win.
Table Presence
The visual appeal and physical space a game occupies when it is fully set up on a table.
Expansion
A supplementary product that adds new content, rules, or players to an existing base game.
Dexterity Game
A game that requires physical skill and coordination, such as flicking, balancing, or stacking components.
Dungeon Crawler
A genre where players explore a map, fight monsters, and collect loot, often inspired by role-playing games.
4X Game
A complex strategy genre defined by four main goals: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate.
Point Salad
A slang term for a game that provides many different ways to score victory points for almost every action taken.
Turn Order
The specific sequence in which players take their actions during a game round; this can be fixed (clockwise), variable based on performance, or determined by specific in-game initiative mechanics.
Player Interaction
The degree to which players' decisions and actions affect one another, ranging from direct conflict (like attacking) to indirect competition (like taking a resource an opponent needed).