Video games have continually been a very prominent part of popular culture since the rise of arcade games like Pong in the 1970s. In fact, since the 1970s, video games have continuously been on the cutting edge of technology with implementations like motion input sensors and the now growing popularity of VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) technology. Beyond the realm of your physical interactions with the game, games have also become increasingly complex with their basic gameplay. Games like pong involved simply timing and paying close attention to the singular pixel that bounced back and forth along the screen.

Today, games tend to involve a lot more complex and strategic thinking. This weapon has this much strength, this much defense, and uses up this much AP (action points). This armor offers a strong defense but takes away from your speed. This weapon is incredibly accurate but recharges every minute. This character has these abilities, which are great for strength and defense, but this weaker character can heal with magic instead of having to dig through items.

That may sound like a lot of gibberish to some of you but, luckily for you, I have been playing RPGs (role-playing games) since I was a little girl. So, without further ado, allow me to take through the basics of RPG’s.

1. They’re all different, but use similar formulas.

Saying a video game is different from another video game seems like a no brainer, but it is very important to remember. Some terminology differs across different games, controls end up being different from one game to another even if they’re in the same series, and of course the stories will be, mostly, completely different. While all of this is extremely true, the point still remains that these games share a very similar formula.

Through crazy random happenstances, the main character goes through an extreme trial and has to find a way to reclaim something they lost. In Kingdom Hearts, for example, Sora must go across different worlds to reclaim his own and his best friends. In Final Fantasy, Cloud goes on a journey to reclaim his identity and his motivation for life. Mario has to go save the princess again; the list really goes on and on. The important thing to remember from this is that RPG’s are uniquely similar and are to be approached as such.

2. Choose how you want to play.

Many RPG’s will allow you to “choose” your fighting style or the focus of your fighting. For example, in Kingdom Hearts before you really start the game, it takes you through a tutorial and has you pick a shield, a sword, or a staff (wand). These are representative of defense, strength, and magic. Whichever you choose gives you a boost in that category. If you choose the sword, for example, you’ll get more strength off the bat which will help you farther in the game.

In this particular game, you are then prompted to drop one item. I usually drop the staff because, well, dropping the shield would mean a lower defense which can be increasingly difficult to compensate for later in the game. These also give your character a technical “class”, which is also pretty prominent in most other games, to the point of being the actual options like:

The Fighter: Using the example above, the Fighter would be the sword. Fighters are often on the front lines and the main offense. They are highly skilled in strength and are there to fight, fight, fight. They’re focused on physical attacks and abilities, are typically lacking in magical abilities and only have a moderate defense. They will deal the most amount of damage in a fight but will also typically take the most too, so it’s important to keep them well defended.

The Mage: That is actually where the Mage typically fits in. The Mage would be best matched to the staff, as they have the highest magical abilities and thus make for a great defensive tactics with powerful spells that can inflict long lasting damage and effects like poison, blindness, and binding. The Mages pick up the slack that the fighters leave behind.

The Healer: Finally, the Shield would best represent the Healer. Healers are there for supportive magic and to make sure the other members of the party don’t, you know, die in the middle of a really intense and important battle. While their supportive magic does not offer much in the area of strength and a decent, at best, defense, they are still incredibly valuable assets so that you don’t have to go rummaging through your pockets or bags to avoid something as inconvenient as a death.

3. XP

XP stands for “experience points”. As these points are collected, the player is “leveled” up and given strength/magic/defense boosts, the ability to use different items, and more over all skill.

4. HP

HP stands for “health points”. These points act as indicators for how much life you have left. Some games will give you actual point values while others may display little hearts or other symbols to indicate your health. Keep a close eye on this number. If you’re like me and tend to put 100% into your offense and almost nothing into your defense, make sure you’re always getting the maximum possible max level health.

For example, in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, you should make it a point to collect as many heart containers as you can. Then, you will have a lot of them, and it will take longer to kill you.

5. MP

MP stands for “magic points”. These points are representative of the amount of energy you use up when casting spells. If your gameplay relied heavily on using magic, then you’re going to want to make sure that you pay close attention to these points.

6. AP

AP stands for “action points”. These points are normally used when equipping different skills and/or abilities. These are the points that represent the amount of energy you’d exert while performing different jumps and using different abilities. This is also where strategic and analytic thinking comes in to play. You have to think about which abilities you use and need the most.

With that, I think I can confidently say that your small introduction to the terms and basic workings of RPGs is complete! That’s not to say that you’re ready to go off and skip all the game tutorials and kill everything in sight (in fact with something like Undertale that is an extremely bad idea) but it does give you a little bit of background information that you don’t have to read every single last word of those long tutorials.

Just remember that RPGs are all different! Many of them don’t abide directly by the character class system, but they will still have characters that fit those roles. Not every single game will use an XP system, and each one has its own quirks and glitches. Have fun with all of them (as much as you can anyways), and don’t give up!