Words Worth Knowing: Stance
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 May 09, 2016.
What It Is: Stance = The (three) standardised positions a character can hold.
What It Means: The three stances are the three main body positions the player-character can hold. Though not universal, they are common to many action/adventuring or shooting themed games.
Why You Care: Knowledge of the three stances can help you understand what your child is talking about when discussing games. The three stances are:
Prone: Flat on the floor. Good for sniping and hiding, this option provides most cover against enemy fire, but usually badly afflicts movement speed. A character is prone, or is "going prone."
Crouch: A squatting position that affords a good mixture of manoeuvrability and cover behind low walls and objects. Most players will favour a crouched position the majority of the time.
Stand: Upright. The player makes their character stand upright and walk or run to cover and objectives.
