Metagaming

Achievements — system-level awards for certain game­play goals — are explicit metagames. Many players find that they are substantially less rewarding than the metagames they create for themselves.

After all, part of the fun of a meta-game is not know­ing if it’s even technically possible to accomplish your goal.

It’s “Jump the van over the river: 30 points” vs. “Can I get this beat-up van with a popped tire to go fast enough to jump over that river? Let’s find out!” One is follow ing instructions, the other is invention.

— Sleepover, San Francisco (via marco)