- Accompanist (role)
- Ad libitum
- Agenda
- Aleatoricism
- Aspect
- Balance
- Bartle types
- BCG
- (Cognitive) flow
- Conductor (role)
- Constellation
- Constructor (role)
- Co-optionality
- Cue cards
- Dice
- Dimension
- Downbeat
- Downtime
- Elegant Game
- Emergence
- End Condition
- Event (musical event)
- Extended technique
- Facilitator
- Fighting
- Flow
- Found sound
- Gameplay flow
- Genre
- Heteronomous Music
- Horizon of intent
- Improvisation rite
- Insert game
- Inspire cards
- Instrument Preparation
- Judge (role)
- Karaoke
- King-making
- Learning curve
- Ludomusical dissonance
- Meaningful Choice
- Mechanic
- Music game
- Non-idiomatic music
- Notation Cards
- Open work
- Parameter
- Pervasive Game
- Player (role)
- Prompter (role)
- Psychographics
- Quarterbacking
- Rhythm cards
- Rhythm game
- Roles
- RPG
- Rule Cards
- Speedrun
- Stacking
- Trading
- Transition
- Upgrade
- Victory condition
- Xenochrony
- XP
- Yes, and...
Included in Create set/collection.
Game is balanced when it's mechanics don't lead to the dominance of a single scenario.
Usage (narrow and broad)
In the most narrow sense game balance is tied to competitive games and is examined in the context of winning. Is a player (for example the one to go first) gets a higher chance of winning the game, regardless of their skill?
The usage above is balance as fairness, and these two words in some context may work as synonyms. But in a broader understanding of balance, there are more options. Imbalance can appear at any layer of the game when an element is too desirable for players in comparison to alternatives. Players seemingly stop having a meaningful choice in the matter when only one option is "good". From the design point of view, it's usually better to give players choices that strategically are equally desirable.
The analysis of applying different types of balance to a music games can be found in:
Game pieces as games — article in the journal Improvised Music - Open Scores.
Useful lingo
This is not an advice on current gaming slang — it's rich and evolving beyond the scope of this section. These terms are now in common use, even if they were part of the slang decades ago.
The imbalanced ("imba"), too strong elements might be called "OP" (over-powered) — you need to "nerf" them. On the other hand, elements that are seemingly too weak, need to be "buffed", then they start being "viable".
To adjust for the advantage systematically you can also use "catch-up" mechanics. And be aware that a game feels less balanced if a "snowballing" effect occurs.
When designing
Here are some examples of topics that are worth considering when making a music game and are possible to approach in the context of balance:
— Can different types of instrument participate on equal footing? Usual suspects are percussion, vocals, and electronic instruments.
— Does the music always feel the same in different playthroughs? Or maybe it is so dissimilar every time that it has no identity?
— Can the person that has no experience in music have an attempt at the game? What skills it requires and what it allows to develop?
Other game design terms:
If you think anything should be added to this subpage, please drop a hint or a link for future editors.