Video game

An interactive game in which a player uses input devices to control images and actions displayed on a screen. Its rules and feedback are implemented through software.

Game engine: Software that provides reusable systems for rendering, physics, audio, and other parts of a game. It coordinates many of the systems that turn player input into on-screen action.
Game mechanics: The rules and procedures that define player actions and their effects in a game. Mechanics specify what players can do and how the game responds.
Cathode-ray tube amusement device: An early electronic game patented by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1948. It used a cathode-ray tube to simulate aiming at targets, decades before home consoles.
Serious game: A game designed primarily for purposes such as education, training, or public awareness. It uses game structures to pursue goals beyond entertainment.
Board game: A game played with pieces or markers moved across a defined surface according to rules. It shares rule-based play but usually resolves actions without software or screen output.
Rendering (computer graphics): The process of generating an image from a scene description and its visual properties. Rendering converts a game's virtual world into the images displayed on screen.
Game design: The practice of creating a game's rules, structure, content, and player experience. It organizes mechanics and presentation into a coherent playable experience.
Tennis for Two: A 1958 electronic tennis game displayed on an oscilloscope at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Its interactive display showed how scientific equipment could become a game.
Educational video game: A video game designed to support learning or instruction. It places teaching goals inside interactive challenges and feedback.
Tabletop role-playing game: A collaborative game in which players portray characters and describe actions under shared rules. A human game master often handles rules and outcomes that software computes in video games.

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