METAGAMING

Using out-of-game information to affect in-game decisions. Depending on the game, this can refer to the status of other players (independent of how the player perceives it from in-game), accessing strategic details not available within the game universe, or deliberately acting outside of a game’s ruleset. Metagaming can be seen as detrimental or, paradoxically, part of the game, depending on the game and community in question.

“With its extreme and unforgiving focus on strategy, the Dark Souls series makes metagaming all but essential to your progress. Unless you’ve got the time and energy to learn everything from scratch.”