Platformer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A category of interactive games where players control a character that traverses platforms by performing jumps and maneuvers to overcome challenges
2. A style of gaming that involves guiding a character across different levels by executing jumps and avoiding obstacles found on various platforms
3. A type of video game focused on moving a character through levels by jumping between flat surfaces and avoiding hazards

Etymology: The word "platformer" is about as transparent as English compounds get: "platform" with the agentive suffix "-er," meaning one that does or is something. Here the suffix comes down a long road. It descends from Latin "-arius," which passed through Old French "-ier" and reached Middle English as "-er," while a separate Old English "-ere" carried a parallel form of the same ending. English speakers therefore have been attaching this suffix to nouns for centuries, and "platformer" simply joins it to "platform." The base word "platform" is older and had a literal sense before it described any game. It originally meant a flat, raised surface, such as a stage or a level area for standing on. The game sense grew from the image of a character standing on, moving between, and leaping from one such raised surface to another. Games built around that idea became common enough that a name was needed for the genre, and "platformer" filled it.

Synonyms: platform game, 2D game, side-scrolling game, jumping game, arcade game