Words Worth Knowing: Fog Of War
Words Worth Knowing was a vertical I wrote weekly explaining key pieces of gaming jargon to parents, guardians and teachers, as part of the larger overall GameHub outreach effort. The column ran for nearly two years and resulted in around 60 WWK articles. GameHubHQ.com closed in late 2017. This piece originally appeared on Oct 26, 2015.
What It Is: FOW = Fog of War
What It Means: Fog of War is a convention used in many strategy games, whereby unexplored portions of the map are hidden under artificial fog. Only by venturing out into those areas can the player discover what is there and disperse the fog.
Why You Care: Fog of War allows game designers to hide surprises, tests and challenges for the player. Strategy games are all about the player planning and executing a series of winning moves, but the Fog of War forces the player to think of their feet and be reactive to new and unexpected events. An army may be lurking in the mists, or a new city waiting to be conquered. Fog of War keeps the player guessing and forces them to be prepared at all time. Games such as Warlock: Master of the Arcane use FOW mechanics to keep players on their toes.
