A list of terms commonly used in, or relating to, strategy games.
A
AoE
Area of Effect, a weapon or ability that targets units in a region, rather than a specific target, for example an explosion or stun grenade.
C
Cooldown
Time after activating an ability or item before it can be reactivated.
E
Eco
Short for economy, the collection and management of player resources.
ELO
A player rating system for multiplayer games, ELO is often used to refer to points accumulated or lost when winning or losing ranked matches. Named after its creator, Arpad Elo.
F
Fog of War
A video game mechanic for hiding unexplored or out-of-sight territory. Areas that are unexplored are often concealed entirely, whereas explored regions that are out of sight of the player's units may show the terrain but not enemy activity in that area.
G
GG
Good game. Commonly used at the end of a match
GGWP
Good game, well played.
H
HP
Short for hit points that represent a unit or building's health.
L
LoS
Line of Sight, the area visible to a player's units or buildings.
O
Obj
Objective, a task the player must complete such as capturing a base or eliminating an enemy.
R
Rally Point
A location for grouping newly created units. In Land and Castles, knights that are idle (not guarding or moving) will group at this coordinate.
RTS
Real-time strategy, a type of strategy game with live simultaneous gameplay, as opposed to turn based strategy (TBS) games. Land and Castles is a RTS game.
Rush
An aggressive strategy to attack an enemy early, before they have time to build a defence. High risk, high reward.
S
Spawn
The moment or location a new unit is created.
T
TBS
Turn-based strategy, a type of strategy game with turn based gameplay, as opposed to real-time strategy (RTS) games.
Tech Tree
A visual structure that organizes technologies into related categories. Unlocking one technology often leads to others, forming paths like the branches of a tree.
Turtling
A defensive strategy of fortifying and hiding within one's base, like a turtle hiding within its shell.
W
WP
Well played.
X
XP
Experience.
Z
Zerg
To swarm or rush an opponent, relying on numbers to overwhelm the enemy rather than individual unit power or complex strategy. This term originates from the video game StarCraft where the Zerg faction is known for overwhelming their enemy with large numbers of weaker units.
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4X
A genre of strategy games where players explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.