Gaming Glossary: FPS, Ping, Gacha, Battle Pass and More

Whether you play or you buy top-ups for someone who does, these terms come up constantly. Here they are without the jargon.

Performance and connection

• FPS (frames per second): how many images the game draws per second. Higher is smoother. Confusingly, the same acronym also means "first-person shooter".
• Ping / latency: how long your signal takes to reach the server and come back. High ping is why you "teleport" and shots do not register.
• Lag: the general symptom of slowness, whether from connection or device.
• Server / region: where the machine running the match is. Farther away means higher ping.

Money and items

• Skin: a cosmetic item. Changes appearance, not abilities.
• Battle pass: seasonal rewards unlocked by playing, usually with a free track and a paid one.
• Gacha: a random reward — you pay for a pull without knowing the outcome. From Japanese capsule machines.
• In-game currency: diamonds, gems, CP, UC, Robux — each game has its own, and it is what you buy when topping up.
• Bundle: a package combining several items for one price.

How games are described

• F2P (free to play): free to install, monetized through optional purchases.
• Pay to win: paying grants real competitive advantage, not just looks.
• Grind / farming: repeating tasks to gather resources or level up.
• Meta: the strategies or characters that are strongest right now.

Updates and community

• Nerf: weakening something in an update. Buff: strengthening it.
• Lobby: the waiting room before a match starts.
• UID / player ID: your identifying number. It is what a top-up needs — never your password.
• Cross-play: playing across different platforms (mobile, console, PC).

The term that matters most when buying

The player ID. It is public and lets a top-up reach your account without anyone touching it. If someone asks for your password on a game that tops up by ID, something is wrong.

Competitive play

• Ranked / rank: the mode where wins and losses move you through tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and so on). Ranks usually reset each season.
• MMR and SBMM (skill-based matchmaking): the hidden number the game uses to match you with players of similar skill. It explains why lobbies get harder as you improve.
• Smurf: an experienced player on a new, low-rank account. Considered unfair and banned in several games.
• Sweat / tryhard: a player who plays every match at full intensity. "Sweaty lobby" means everyone is doing that.
• Carry: to win a match mostly on your own while the team contributes little.
• Clutch: winning a round alone against several opponents.
• K/D: kills divided by deaths. The most quoted stat in shooters.
• Camper / rusher: a player who waits in one spot versus one who pushes aggressively.
• Bot lobby: a match filled with computer-controlled players or very new accounts.
• Main: the character or weapon you play most.

Aim, input and hardware

• Refresh rate (Hz): how many times per second the screen redraws. A 120 Hz phone can show 120 FPS; a 60 Hz one cannot, no matter the setting.
• Input lag: the delay between touching the screen or pressing a button and seeing the result.
• Hitbox: the invisible shape the game uses to decide whether a shot landed.
• TTK (time to kill): how long it takes to eliminate an enemy with a given weapon.
• Aim assist: help the game gives to controller or touch players to keep the crosshair on target.
• Gyro aiming: aiming by tilting the phone or controller.
• Packet loss: parts of your connection that never reach the server; feels like rubber-banding even with low ping.
• Trigger clips: physical buttons that clamp on the phone for shooting; tolerated in games that do not allow controllers.

More money and progression terms

• Pity: in gacha games, a guaranteed high-tier reward after a fixed number of pulls without one.
• Banner: a limited-time gacha pool featuring specific characters or weapons.
• Top-up / recharge: buying in-game currency. In many games it is done with your player ID; the rest is explained in how to find your player ID.
• Loot box / crate: a purchasable box with random contents; regulated in some countries.
• Season: a period of a few weeks or months with its own battle pass, ranks and events.
• Premium pass: the paid track of a battle pass (in Free Fire it is the Booyah Pass, which replaced the Elite Pass in 2023).
• Cosmetics: anything that changes looks only: skins, emotes, sprays, banners.
• Microtransaction: any small purchase inside a free game.
• Gifting: buying an item for another player from within the game; not every game allows it.

Accounts and safety

• 2FA: a second code besides the password. Available in Riot, Epic, Supercell ID, Roblox and Steam.
• Player tag: the ID format used by Supercell games, starting with #.
• Region lock: an account or currency that only works in the region where it was created; it decides which top-up you need.
• Cross-progression: the same account and progress on phone, console and PC.
• Ban / suspension: losing the account permanently or for a period, usually for cheating, unauthorized software or account trading.
• Chargeback: reversing a payment with the bank; games treat it as fraud and suspend the account until it is settled.
• Account sharing: letting someone else log in. Against the terms of Epic and most publishers.
• Phishing: fake pages or messages built to capture your login. The reason support never needs your code.

Genres and chat shorthand

• Battle royale: many players, one map that shrinks, last one standing (Free Fire, PUBG Mobile, Fortnite).
• MOBA: two teams of five push lanes to destroy a base (Mobile Legends, Wild Rift, Honor of Kings).
• RPG / gacha RPG: progression through characters and gear; in gacha RPGs you obtain characters by pulls (Genshin Impact).
• Sandbox: open games without a fixed goal (Minecraft, Roblox).
• Auto battler: you build a board and the fight plays itself (Teamfight Tactics).
• GG, AFK, noob, OP, ez: "good game", "away from keyboard", beginner, overpowered, "easy". OP is also used for items that need a nerf.
• Patch notes / hotfix: the list of changes in an update, and a small urgent fix between updates.

For the games we support and how each top-up works, see games.