Not everyone plays video games, but most people can read. This glossary should help those with social lives understand common gaming terminology

By Ben Tenyes, The Glitch editor

Noob: A derogatory term for a new player, or someone not familiar with the game they are playing. Ex: You don’t know how to throw a grenade? You’re such a noob.

AFK: Away From Keyboard, used when playing with multiple people online. Used when you need to do something out of game. This term used to only be used by pc gamers who used keyboards. With the advent of online games on home console, the term evolved to just mean leaving the game momentarily to do something important. Ex: AFK guys, my mom needs me to take out the trash.

Easter Eggs: Hidden things in games put there by the games’ developers meant to be found by players. These can be subtle pop culture references, shout outs to fans of the game, even something like a wedding proposal (that actually happened).

Grinding: The act of repeating a specific task for various benefits to the player. Often players with grind to level up faster or grind to earn money faster. Ex: I finally bought that sports car in GTA Online! I spent 8 hours grinding till I got enough to pay for it.

NPC: Non Player Character. Every character in the game that isn’t controlled by the player.

Glitch: An error in the games code that can cause a lot of problems if it’s not fixed. Some glitches can even break a game. Ex: The game Red Dead Redemption had a glitch where NPCs would behave like the animals in the game (a video on YouTube shows a player riding a donkey lady).

DLC: Downloadable Content. Extra content for a game put out after its initial release. Most DLCs cost money, but can add a lot of new things to a game you already enjoy. DLCs could be a new character you can play as, a brand new story mission to play through, new weapons, new vehicles, etc. Ex: In the Red Dead Redemption DLC Undead Nightmare, you get to kill zombies in the Wild West.