power creep
Inevitable strength inflation
Power creep is the gradual increase in strength of new content in games, making older options obsolete.
Game developers release increasingly powerful characters, weapons, or abilities to drive engagement, which devalues previous purchases or achievements: The new expansion brought serious power creep—my old deck can't compete anymore.
The term extends beyond gaming to any system where standards escalate over time.
- endgameConcluding phase of competition
- buffAvid fan; also burnish
- damage numbersQuantified harm from attacks
- dominationSupreme authority held
- overpoweredExcessively dominant or conquered
imbalance · snowball effect · escalation · card game · advantage · min-maxing · game-breaking · optimization · expansion pack · pay to win · nerfs · difficulty spike · skill ceilings · synergy · spells · mana · grinding · plot armor
- gaming problemsbugs, glitches, lag, crashes, cheaters
- sequel tropessequel hook, post-credits scene, cliffhanger, escalation, legacy sequel
- writing flawstypos, spelling errors, plot hole, plot holes, cliche
- game balancenerfs, buffs, patches, meta, overpowered
- engagement hooksSkinner box, dopamine hits, near misses, loot boxes, gacha
power, creep, powers, powered, powering, powerful, powerless, powerfully, powerlessness