Meta Game

The game about the game. In game development, it’s often cited that it’s all about the meta game. It often has it’s own rules, is player organized, and is an emergent behavior (not intentionally designed).

Examples:

  • When playing fantasy baseball, you compete directly, but the real fun is the meta game of trash talking your friends and finding interesting narratives.
  • A board game tournament, even though you might lose a few matches, as long as you made it to the next round you were pleased. The tournament is the meta game.