metagaming

English

Etymology

From meta- +‎ gaming.

Noun

metagaming (uncountable)

1. The playing of metagames.
2. (roleplaying games) The act of a roleplayer making use of knowledge that they have learned out of character (and which their character does not know) while they are in character; often considered a form of cheating.
   • [2017, Amanda K. Allen, “Social Networking, Participatory Culture and the Fandom World of Harry Potter”, in Gail Ashton, editor, Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, Bloomsbury Academic, →ISBN, page 284:

     Other terms are specific to the role-playing experience, such as […] 'Metagaming', in which players act on information that they, as players, know, but which their characters could not know (or have not yet learned).]

Verb

metagaming

1. (roleplaying games) present participle and gerund of metagame