Glossary: common game tags and terms

[HanimeLover]

Glossary of tags and terms
Use these when tagging your threads and searching for games.

Game structure

• Kinetic novel — a story with no choices; you just read and watch.
  
• Linear — one main path with few meaningful choices.
  
• Branching — choices change routes and endings.
  
• Sandbox — free roam with locations, time of day and events you trigger in any order.
  
• Management / Simulator — run a shop, farm, agency, etc.
  
• Grinding — repeating actions to earn money, stats or affection. Often has cheat options.
  

Art and presentation

• 3DCG — renders made in 3D software (Daz, Honey Select, Blender).
  
• 2DCG — drawn art.
  
• Animated — contains animations, not just stills.
  
• Voiced — voice acting, full or partial.
  
• Text-based — mostly or only text.
  

Protagonist and relationships

• Male / Female protagonist — who you play as.
  
• Harem — the protagonist can be with several partners.
  
• Romance / Dating sim — relationships are the core of the game.
  
• Vanilla — consensual, affectionate, no extreme content.
  

Content warnings (always tag these)

• NTR — a partner is taken by someone else. Many players avoid it, so tag it clearly.
  
• Cheating / Sharing — infidelity, or partners shared with consent.
  
• Corruption — a character's personality changes step by step over the story.
  
• Femdom / Maledom — one partner dominates.
  
• Non-consent — must be tagged; follow the forum rules.
  

Status prefixes

• Completed — final version released.
  
• On Hold — developer is paused.
  
• Abandoned — developer stopped working on it.
  

Missing a term? Reply and we'll add it.