metagame

metagame means A game about games. It carries an Arena rating of 1428, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, metagame ranks #84 of 13,218 for The Improbable, #296 of 13,218 for Most Incisive Words, #329 of 13,218 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,813 of 13,218 for Most Malleable Words.

Why “metagame” is a great word

The strategic layer of knowledge, community conventions, and rule exploitation that exists beyond or about the formal rules of a game. From the Greek prefix meta- ("beyond, about") + game. Unlike strategy, which operates within the sanctioned boundaries of play, or cheating, which constitutes a deliberate rupture of them, the metagame is the ambient pressure of the ecosystem itself—the unlegislated consensus of what is optimal, fashionable, or unsporting. It is the week’s predicted deck in a tournament, the unspoken pact to avoid a tiresome tactic among friends, and the specific pressure when a player uses out-of-character knowledge. It is the invisible architecture of play, built not by the designer, but by the relentless human need to systematize even our diversions.

Etymology

From meta- + game.

noun

A game about games.“Nomic is a metagame in which players can modify the rules as part of gameplay.”
The exploitation of the rules etc. of some other game, at a higher level than simply playing the game normally; a game outside or peripheral to the actual gameplay.“But usually when people refer to the metagame, they mean things such as unlockables or customizable features. The problem with metagames is that they almost always damage the games they surround. […] Metagames also often create motivations that conflict with the inherent motivations of the core game.”
The conventions of a gaming community; the characters, weapons, techniques, etc, which are currently considered most viable in multiplayer gameplay, and the best practices for using them.

verb

Of a roleplayer, to make use of knowledge while roleplaying that they learned out of character, which their character does not know; often considered a form of cheating.

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

metatheory 86% match — A theory about a theory. vs metagame →
metalevel 84% match — The level of discourse that concerns the discourse itself; a level incorporating that same level. vs metagame →
metarule 84% match — A rule that governs the application of other rules. vs metagame →
metadiscussion 84% match — Discussion about the rules or nature of discussion itself. vs metagame →
metacommunication 83% match — Communication or discussion, especially involving academic analysis, about communication itself. vs metagame →
metastory 83% match — An overarching story having other stories embedded within it. vs metagame →
gamesmanship 83% match — The use of legal but unsporting tactics to gain an advantage over one’s opponent. vs metagame →
metatext 82% match — Text that describes or discusses text. vs metagame →