Cover system

Part of a series on
Action games
Subgenres Action-adventure Metroidvania Battle royale Fighting Beat 'em up Hack and slash Platform fighter Platform Rhythm Action RPG Shooter Artillery Arena First-person Hero Light gun Third-person Tactical Shoot 'em up Bullet hell Twin-stick Sports Racing Stealth Survival Vehicle sim
Topics Capture the flag Cover system First-person shooter engine Free look Quick time event WASD keys
Lists List of battle royale games List of beat 'em ups List of fighting games List of first-person shooters List of freeware first-person shooters List of third-person shooters List of survival games List of light-gun games List of maze video games List of platform games
v t e

A cover system is a video game gameplay mechanic that lets certain areas of virtual space, usually in a three-dimensional map, can provide game characters an protective zone to hide from detection or reduce ranged damages, which can be quite dynamic and/or variable in games with destructible environments. The mechanism is commonly seen in shooter games, stealth games, real-time tactics (RTT) games and, to a lesser extent, real-time strategy (RTS) games, and is a digital adaptation of the real-life military tactic of defilade behind obstacles, for purposes of attaining defensive advantage against enemy direct fire, suppressive or area of effect attacks.