3-D printer: a machine that makes a physical object from a three-dimensional model by laying down many thin layers of a material.
adventure game: a video game in which players participate in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving.
agent: a player of a game. This can be a person, a computer, or the game itself.
Alzheimer’s disease: a form of dementia that grows worse through time and affects memory, thinking, and behavior.
American dream: an American ideal that says material prosperity means success.
anagram: a word or phrase made by changing the order of the letters in another word or phrase.
archaeologist: a scientist who studies ancient peoples through their bones, tools, and other artifacts.
archaeology: the study of ancient people through the objects they left behind.
aristocrat: a member of a ruling or wealthy class of people.
artifact: an object made by people from past cultures, including tools, pottery, and jewelry.
artificial intelligence (AI): the intelligence of a computer, program, or machine.
augmented reality (AR): a game that inserts real-world images into the game environment or interacts with real-world objects.
avid: eager and enthusiastic.
Aztecs: a Native American people who established an empire in central Mexico between 1300 to the 1500s.
banish: to send someone away from a country or place as an official punishment.
BCE: put after a date, BCE stands for Before Common Era and counts down to zero. CE stands for Common Era and counts up from zero. These nonreligious terms correspond to BC and AD. This book was printed in 2019 CE.
brainstorm: to think creatively and without judgment, often in a group of people.
brick-and-mortar: a term that means a physical store.
calligraphy: the art of beautiful writing.
caudate nucleus: a structure in the brain that plays roles in different types of learning.
chariot: a small cart with two wheels and a platform, pulled by horses.
civilization: a community of people that is advanced in art, science, and government.
collectible card game (CCG): a type of strategy card game with specially designed cards that the player can collect to customize their deck; also called a trading card game.
concept: an idea.
connoisseur: an expert judge in matters of taste.
consumer: a person who buys goods and services.
cooperative: a game that requires players to work together.
critique: a judgment that expresses an opinion about something.
crowdfunding: a way of raising money for a project that involves many people each contributing a small amount.
Crusader: a European soldier who took part in one of the wars fought in the Middle East during the eleventh through thirteenth centuries.
curator: a person who collects and organizes items in a museum.
data: information, facts, and numbers from tests and experiments.
debut: to introduce.
deck building: a game mechanic where the player selects cards to build a custom set of cards.
deduction: using logic or reason to figure out or form an opinion about something.
dementia: a group of brain diseases that cause the gradual decline in a person’s ability to think and remember.
descendent: a person related to someone who lived in the past.
digital: involving the use of computer technology.
distribution: the way a product is divided up or shipped out to stores.
distributor: a company that buys a product from a manufacturer and sells and delivers it to a store.
dopamine: a neurotransmitter that produces feelings of pleasure.
drought: a long period of little or no rain.
Ebola: a virus that causes a rare and deadly disease.
ebony: a hard, heavy wood.
economic: having to do with the resources and wealth of a country.
electrode: a conductor through which electricity enters or leaves an object, substance, or region.
endorphins: a group of hormones released in the brain that reduce feelings of pain and improve mood.
epidemic: a disease that hits large groups at the same time and spreads quickly.
escape room: a physical adventure game in which players solve puzzles and figure out clues in order to escape a room.
Eurogame: the term for board games designed in Europe, primarily in Germany.
flow: to move in a steady, smooth way; a state of mind where we feel and perform our best.
foretold: predicted.
freelance: a person who hires out his services independently without working under the control of one boss.
Great Depression: a severe economic downturn during the late 1920s and 1930s that spread around the world.
Hindu: a follower of Hinduism, a group of religious beliefs, traditions, and practices from South Asia.
hobby game: a specialty game played by people who are passionate about it.
holograph: a special kind of picture that is produced by a laser and looks three-dimensional.
independently: on one’s own or without help.
inequality: differences in opportunity and treatment based on social, ethnic, racial, or economic qualities.
infantry: soldiers trained to fight on foot.
inherent: part of the basic nature of something.
interactive: having a two-way flow of information.
intuitive: having the ability to know or understand things without proof.
investor: a person who gives a company money in exchange for future profits.
iterative process: the process of arriving at a result through repeated rounds in which the product or idea is made a bit better in each round.
lapis lazuli: a deep-blue stone.
Latin: the language of ancient Rome and its empire.
legacy: something that happened or comes from someone in the past.
legion: a large group of soldiers in ancient Rome.
license: to sell the right to publish to a publisher. The author typically gets royalties, or a percentage of the profits, from sales.
logic: the principle, based on math, that things should work together in an orderly way.
makeshift: a temporary substitute or device.
manufacturing: making large quantities of products in factories using machines.
marketing: communicating in different ways to make a business known.
mass market: products that are sold on a large scale.
mechanic: a specific element or type of game play.
merchant: someone who buys and sells goods.
metagame: all the elements of a game the player can participate in.
morality: the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
morals: a person’s standards of behavior or beliefs.
neuroscientist: someone who studies the development and function of the nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and nerve cells throughout the body.
neurotransmitter: a brain chemical that carries information throughout the brain and body.
novelty: something that is new or unusual, also something that’s popular for a short period of time.
nucleus accumbens (NAc): a region of the brain relating to addiction.
oblong: a stretched-out rectangle with round corners.
oxytocin: a chemical released by your body that makes you happy when you interact with people you like.
packaging: the wrapper and all the parts of a container that holds a product.
pandemic: the outbreak of disease when it spreads across more than once continent. Also the name of a game invented by Matt Leacock.
papyrus: paper made from the papyrus plant, used by the ancient Egyptians.
patent: a government license that gives an inventor or creator the sole right to make and sell a product or invention.
payoff: a good result gained from doing something.
pharaoh: a ruler of ancient Egypt.
playtest: the process of testing a new game for bugs and design flaws before bringing it to market.
plaything: a form of entertainment that people interact and play with. It can be a toy, game, or puzzle.
posh: expensive, upper class.
prestigious: something inspiring respect and admiration.
principle: an important idea or belief that guides an individual or community.
product engineer: a person who designs and develops something that will be sold.
promote: to make people aware of something, such as a new product, through advertising, or to make something more popular or well known.
prototype: an early version of a design used for testing.
psychologist: a person who studies the mind and behavior.
pyramid of needs: a way to organize human needs into most-important and less-important categories.
raja: a king or prince in India.
rampage: uncontrolled and usually violent behavior.
reform: a change to improve something.
resource: something that people can use.
rosette: a design shaped like a rose.
royalty: money paid to the creator of something for every unit sold.
sanction: to approve.
Sanskrit: the primary language of Hinduism.
serotonin: a neurotransmitter with a wide variety of functions in the body. It contributes to feelings of well-being and happiness.
settlement: a place where a group of people moves to start a new community.
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS): a contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness that causes flu-like symptoms.
simultaneous: at the same time.
smart home: a house in which all electric devices are monitored or controlled by a computer.
solidify: to make something more solid or stronger.
species: a group of living things that are closely related and can produce young.
spiritual: relating to the mind and spirit instead of the physical world.
staple: something that is used often.
startup company: of or relating to the starting of a new business or company.
strategy: a careful plan for achieving a goal. Also, the skill of making and carrying out those plans.
suit: all the cards that have the same symbol, such as hearts or spades, in a deck.
tactics: a carefully planned action or strategy to achieve something.
tarot cards: special cards used to tell fortunes.
technology: the tools, methods, and systems used to solve a problem or do work.
theme: a central, recurring idea or concept.
three-dimensional (3-D): something that appears solid and can be measured in three directions, length, width, and depth.
trump: a playing card or suit that’s chosen above others to win a trick when a card of a different suit is played.
user experience: the experience of a person using a product.
ventral tegmental area (VTA): a group of nerve cells in the midbrain responsible for releasing dopamine.
vice: a bad behavior or habit.
Vikings: a group of seafaring pirates and traders from Scandinavia who migrated throughout Europe between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
virtual reality game: a game designed for a wearable screen that makes players feel as though they are inside the game itself.
virtue: any good quality or trait.
virus: an extremely small particle that causes disease and is spread from person to person.
war game: a game based on military experiences.
wholesale: large quantities of an item bought at a cheaper price in order to resell at a higher price.
Use this chart to find the metric equivalents to the English measurements in this book. If you need to know a half measurement, divide by two. If you need to know twice the measurement, multiply by two. How do you find a quarter measurement? How do you find three times the measurement?
|
English |
Metric |
|
1 inch |
2.5 centimeters |
|
1 foot |
30.5 centimeters |
|
1 yard |
0.9 meter |
|
1 mile |
1.6 kilometers |
|
1 pound |
0.5 kilogram |
|
1 teaspoon |
5 milliliters |
|
1 tablespoon |
15 milliliters |
|
1 cup |
237 milliliters |