Early last year, people in the industry started talking excitedly about this game that could handle up to 7 players in a half hour. That was certainly the case with Antoine Bauza’s 7 Wonders. However, sometimes genuine hype truly exists. Hence, I’ve grown to dislike the word, because of the inappropriate and unfair way in which it’s usually used. The implication is that the game doesn’t deserve its lofty status and that its supporters are rating it on reputation, rather than its quality. Many gamers refer to a game as hyped when they don’t think it’s as good as the rest of the gaming world, a subtle insult that simultaneously puts down both the design and its misguided supporters. These days, though, a “hyped” game has come to be simply synonymous with a very popular one.
In common parlance, it means something that is extravagantly praised before it even makes its first appearance. “Hyped” is one of the most misused words in the gamer’s lexicon.
