Word.ws English Dictionary

gamecraft

gamecraft noun: skill in the strategy and tactics of playing a game or games, as opposed to the physical skills of strength, dexterity, accuracy, etc.

Noun

gamecraft (uncountable)

  1. Skill in the strategy and tactics of playing a game or games, as opposed to the physical skills of strength, dexterity, accuracy, etc.
    • It is true that now and again, but very seldom, what I should call honest gamecraft like “bowling with the head” may be pursued dangerously near to downright cheating.1936, The National Review - Volume 107, page 776
    • Most of his work involves gamecraft – dealing with through balls, distribution and organising the defence.2014, Alex Welsh, The Soccer Goalkeeping Handbook 3rd Edition, page 117
  2. Artistry in the organization and elements used to design a game or storyline.
    • Using Gadamer's game terminology, the kind of artistry that Sayers describes is a form of gamecraft, wherein the artist is able to draw us into the “play” of the poem, film, novel, or play.2012, Philip Tallon, The Poetics of Evil: Toward an Aesthetic Theodicy, page 60
    • Most virtual-world gamecraft portrays underground rivers as static features to be negotiated, much the same as magic mountains or pits to doom.2021, Richard J. Heggen, Underground Rivers, page 395
  3. Skill and knowledge about hunting and managing game.
    • While the woodcock and wilson's snipe are fated to disappear as civilization robs them of their restricted feeding-grounds, Bob White, if protected by the enforcement of judicious game laws, will thrive in the midst of cultivated lands, and will continue to test the gamecraft and marksmanship of...1883, Alfred Marshall Mayer, Sport with Gun and Rod in American Woods and Waters, page 669
    • […] men and women of fine physique, considerable intelligence and with a wonderful skill in gamecraft and all that pertains to obtaining the essentials of their existence — food and water.1930, Sir Ewen MacLean, A B.M.A. Odyssey, page 40
  4. A type of dominance competition practiced by werewolves that focuses on cleverness, wit, and cunning.
    • There are three primary means of establishing dominance: the facedown, the gamecraft and the duel.1994, Mark Rein-Hagen, Robert Hatch, Bill Bridges, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, page 36
    • In gamecraft, the Garou compete in a contest of skill or wits: a riddle contest, a chess match or the like. Gamecraft is usually considered a valid means of establishing dominance when facing mental conundrums.1995, Campbell, Savage Attack, page 90

Examples of gamecraft in a sentence

  • Nineteenth-century children showed no such ability to cross gamecraft barriers.1959, Brian Sutton-Smith, The Games of New Zealand Children, page 164:
  • regular competitive games against better teams of higher quality (so long as the gulf in quality is not too big) sharpens sides, teaches them how to organise themselves, gives them gamecraft.2013 March, Jonathan Wilson, “Eat Them Like Bread”, in The Blizzard - The Football Quarterly, volume 8, page 115:
  • The captain merely smiled and said, “It is a bit of gamecraft, Doctor.2016, Michael J. Martinez, The Daedalus Incident Revised:
  • “Here are those trappers, lady, well trained and stout of heart, In woodcraft wise, in gamecraft wise, their lives at my behest.”2013, Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids, Stories of the Buddha: Being Selections from the Jataka, page 171:

Origin of gamecraft

From game + -craft.

Questions about gamecraft

What does gamecraft mean?
Gamecraft means skill in the strategy and tactics of playing a game or games, as opposed to the physical skills of strength, dexterity, accuracy, etc.
How do you use gamecraft in a sentence?
Nineteenth-century children showed no such ability to cross gamecraft barriers.
What part of speech is gamecraft?
Gamecraft is a noun.

Words near gamecraft in the dictionary

  1. gamecatchers
  2. gamechanger
  3. gamechangers
  4. gamecock
  5. gamecocks
  6. gamecraft
  7. gamed
  8. gamed on
  9. gamed out
  10. gamed the system
  11. gameday

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gamecraft (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “gamecraft.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gamecraft. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.