Tabletop Glossary
Welcome adventurers, to the tabletop – where deck building has nothing to do with the patio, and worker placement isn’t part of a recruitment agency. If the terminology used to describe the games we know and love can feel like trying to learn a new language, let our glossary demystify the terminology, and have you speaking tabletop in no time at all
Words by Emma Garrett
Gateway Game
A game that is easy to learn, fun to play, and gets new players hooked on the hobby.
Borrowing a term from the world of narcotics is a little on the nose for many gamers. Much like gateway drugs, gateway games can change your life. Your social circle dwindles in part, and expands in new directions, as does the way your mind works. Both cut a sizeable chunk out of your bank balance. Taking the metaphor back to its origin, these are the games that draw you in. The ones that you take off the shelf for a little fun and find it wasn’t just a shelf, it was one of those doors in glamorous libraries. Suddenly you find yourself through the gateway, wading into a wonderland of possibilities you could never before have imagined.