History
The use of levels in video games dates back to Namco's shoot 'em up Galaxian, released in 1979 during the golden age of video arcade games. The term level used during this era of arcade video games represented a difficulty phase or defined section of a given game, as in Galaga (stage 2) or Dungeon.
Another early example of the term "level" is from early role-playing games, where it referred to level of a dungeon—the setting most such games were played in. Players would begin at the bottom (level 1), and proceed through increasingly numbered levels (of increasing difficulty) until they reached their freedom at the top, or they would start at the top (which would also be level 1), and proceed through increasingly numbered (and difficult) levels until they reached the treasure at the bottom.
As games became more varied and specialized, terminology has arisen in level design as shorthand to describe a specific type of game section or segment that are often seen in certain genres or accommodate to specific game designs.
Read more about this topic: Level (video Gaming)
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