Board game glossary: common terms explained

Board game communities use shorthand for mechanics, components, and styles. This glossary covers terms you will see on boxes, in reviews, and at game night.

Meeple

A small wooden person-shaped playing piece. The term comes from "my people" and is now used for many stylized wooden tokens.

Eurogame

A strategy-focused game that often emphasizes indirect interaction, resource management, and scoring points over direct conflict or heavy luck.

Ameritrash

A playful label for games that prioritize theme, combat, dice, and dramatic moments over pure efficiency and minimal luck.

Worker placement

A mechanic where players assign limited pieces to board spaces to take actions. Popular spaces may be blocked by opponents.

Engine building

Gradually assembling combinations of cards, tiles, or abilities that produce increasingly powerful effects as the game progresses.

Drafting

Selecting cards or tiles from a shared pool, often passing the remainder to other players, so everyone builds from the same options.

Area control

Competing to dominate regions of a map by placing units, tokens, or influence markers.

Cooperative (co-op)

A game where all players work together against the game system to achieve a shared win—or lose together.

Legacy

A campaign-style game where sessions permanently change the board, components, or rules, telling a story across multiple plays.

Victory points (VP)

A common scoring track where players earn points from various actions; the highest total usually wins.

Deck building

Starting with a small deck of cards and adding new ones during play to create stronger combinations over time.

Roll-and-write

Rolling dice (or drawing cards) and marking results on a personal scoresheet; many players can play simultaneously.

Hand management

Deciding which cards to play, keep, or discard from a limited hand to maximize future options.

Set collection

Gathering groups of matching cards or tiles to score bonuses or unlock abilities.

Modular board

A setup built from interchangeable tiles or pieces so the map changes from one game to the next.