The Ludarium Guild of Game Guides · Toolkit
The Jargon Translator
Hobby words, and the plain words to say instead when you teach a newcomer.
Every hobby word is a small cost to a newcomer: one more thing to decode while they are trying to learn. Use the left column to understand a word. Use the right column at the table instead of the word.
Mechanics
| Word | What it means | Say this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Action selection | Each turn you pick one action from a short menu of choices, and that is your turn. | “On your turn, pick one of these four things to do.” |
| Area control | Players compete to have the most pieces in places on the map. Whoever has the most in a place usually scores it or controls it. | “Whoever has the most pieces in a region owns it, so try to outnumber everyone there.” |
| Auction | Players bid against each other for something, and the highest bid wins it and pays. | “We go around and offer money for this. Raise the price or drop out, and the last one in gets it.” |
| Cooperative | Everyone plays on one team against the game itself. You all win together or lose together. | “We're all on the same side tonight, and the game is trying to beat us.” |
| Deck building | Everyone starts with a small, plain deck of cards and adds better cards over the game. Your deck gets stronger as you play. | “You start with a weak pile of cards, and every turn you can buy a better one to shuffle in.” |
| Dice rolling | Dice decide some of what happens, so luck plays a part. | “Roll these, and the numbers tell you what you get.” |
| Drafting | Players take turns picking from a shared set of options. You pick one and pass the rest along. | “Pick one card you like and pass the rest to your left.” |
| Engine building | You build up a set of things that make more stuff for you each turn, so later turns are bigger than early ones. | “Early on, buy things that give you more things. By the end, your turns get big.” |
| Hand management | Choosing well what to play, what to keep, and when, from the cards you hold. | “These cards are your options. Think about which to use now and which to save.” |
| Legacy | A game you play as a series of sessions, where the rules and pieces change for good as you go. Stickers go on the board and some cards get torn up. | “This game changes every time we play. What we do tonight sticks for next time.” |
| Pick up and deliver | You collect goods in one place and carry them to another place that wants them. | “Grab cargo here and drop it off where someone needs it.” |
| Push your luck | You keep going for a bigger reward, but each step risks losing what you have built up that turn. | “You can keep going for more, but if it goes wrong you lose this round's points. Stop whenever you like.” |
| Roll and write | Someone rolls dice and everyone uses the result to fill in their own sheet with a pencil. | “Each roll, everyone picks how to use the numbers and marks it on their own sheet.” |
| Set collection | You score by gathering groups of matching or related things. | “Collect sets of the same kind. Bigger sets score more.” |
| Social deduction | Some players have secret roles, and the table tries to work out who is who by talking. | “A few of us are secretly on the other side. Watch what people do and figure out who.” |
| Tile laying | You place tiles to build a shared map or your own area, and how they fit together matters. | “Draw a tile and add it so it fits next to the others.” |
| Trick taking | Each player plays one card, and the best card wins that set of cards, called a trick. Like Spades or Hearts. | “Everyone plays one card, and the highest card of the color that was led takes the pile.” |
| Variable player powers | Each player has a special ability or rule that the others do not have, so everyone plays a little differently. Also called asymmetric play. | “Your character has a special trick nobody else has. Read it and we'll see how it helps.” |
| Worker placement | You put one of your pieces on a spot to claim that action. Once a spot is taken, others usually cannot use it this round. | “You get a few people. Each turn, send one to a spot on the board to do that job, and nobody else can go there this round.” |
Turns and rounds
| Word | What it means | Say this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Action economy | How many useful things you can do in a turn or a game. Extra actions are valuable. | “Anything that lets you do one more thing on your turn is a big deal.” |
| First player token | A marker that shows who goes first. In some games it moves each round, or you can take it as an action. | “Whoever has this goes first. It moves around as we play.” |
| Phase | One part of a round. Many games split each round into steps done in the same order every time. | “Every round goes in the same order: first we do this, then this, then this.” |
| Round | One full pass around the table, or one set of steps everyone does, depending on the game. | “Once everybody has had a go, that's one round.” |
| Tempo | Being a step ahead of others in timing, so you get to things first or force them to react to you. | “Getting there first matters here, so a quick move now can beat a big move later.” |
| Turn order | The order players take their turns in. Some games change it every round. | “We go clockwise, starting with you.” |
| Upkeep | A housekeeping step, often at the start or end of a round, where you refresh, pay, or reset things. | “Before the next round, we all do a little cleanup: refill this and pay for that.” |
Cards
| Word | What it means | Say this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Discard pile | The face-up stack where used or thrown-away cards go. | “Done with a card? It goes face up on this pile.” |
| Draw pile | The face-down stack you take new cards from. Also called the deck. | “New cards come off the top of this stack.” |
| Hand limit | The most cards you can hold. If you go over, you discard down to the limit, usually at a set time. | “You can hold up to this many cards. Any extra go back.” |
| Mulligan | Throwing back your starting hand and drawing a new one, sometimes with a small cost. | “Don't like your first hand? You can swap it once.” |
| Tableau | The cards you have played in front of you, which stay out and usually help you for the rest of the game. | “Cards you play stay in front of you and keep helping you.” |
| Tap or exhaust | Turning a card sideways to show you have used it. It comes back at a set time, often your next turn. | “Turn this card sideways once you've used it. It's ready again next turn.” |
Scoring and winning
| Word | What it means | Say this instead |
|---|---|---|
| End-game trigger | The thing that starts the end of the game, like a track filling up or a pile running out. Often play finishes the round after it. | “When someone reaches this, we finish the round and then count up.” |
| Kingmaking | When a player who cannot win still decides who does, by choosing whom to help or hurt. | “If you can't win, it's fine to just play your best move. Nobody has to pick the winner.” |
| Point salad | A game where almost everything you do scores a few points in a different way, so there are many paths to win. | “Nearly everything here gets you points, so do what looks fun and you'll score.” |
| Runaway leader | A player who gets ahead early and keeps getting further ahead, because being ahead makes it easier to stay ahead. | “If someone pulls way ahead, it's worth teaming up to slow them down.” |
| Tiebreaker | The rule that decides the winner when scores are equal. It differs from game to game. | “If we tie, the one with more of these wins.” |
| Victory points | The points that decide who wins. Most points at the end wins. | “Whoever has the most points at the end wins. These are the points.” |
Table talk
| Word | What it means | Say this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Ameritrash or thematic game | A game built around story, theme, and drama, often with dice, fighting, and big swings. Ameritrash is an old hobby nickname; thematic game is the kinder term. | “This one is about the story, so expect big moments, lucky rolls, and some chaos.” |
| Analysis paralysis | When a player gets stuck thinking about a move for a long time because there are so many options. Often shortened to AP. | “Take your time. If it helps, tell me the two moves you're stuck between.” |
| BGG | BoardGameGeek, a large website with a database of board games, forums, and ratings. | “There's a big website where people rate games, if you want to find more like this one.” |
| Euro | A style of game, first popular in Germany, with little luck, little direct conflict, and many ways to score points. | “Nobody attacks anybody in this one. We're each building our own thing and comparing points at the end.” |
| FLGS | Friendly local game store, the hobby shop where people buy and often play games. | “There's a game shop nearby where you can try games before you buy them.” |
| Gateway game | A game that is easy to learn and fun for new players, often someone's first modern board game. | “This one's quick to learn, and it's a nice first step into newer games.” |
| House rule | A change to the official rules that a group agrees to use at their table. | “The book says one thing, but tonight let's play it this way. Everyone okay with that?” |
| Meeple | A small wooden person-shaped playing piece. The word blends my and people. | “These little wooden people are your pieces.” |
| Quarterback or alpha player | In a team game, one player who tells everyone else what to do on their turns. | “We can all share ideas, but on your turn, you make the call.” |
| Rules lawyer | A player who holds the table closely to the exact rules, sometimes more than the moment needs. | “Let's play it this way for now and check the book after the game.” |
| Take that | Moves that directly hurt another player, like stealing from them or wrecking their plans. | “Some cards let you mess with other people. It's part of the fun, not personal.” |
| Weight | How complex or heavy a game is to learn and play. A light game is simple; a heavy game has many rules and long turns. | “This one's on the lighter side, so we'll be playing in a few minutes.” |
theludarium.com/academy/guild · The game is the reason. The people are the point.