Often a term used for evenly dividing among the players, or between P Cs and their opposition. However, it may be applied to many things: character Effectiveness, player power, Screen Time, or player status and attention. It has no clear definition, and in general should always be qualified on what it refers to.

One common usage of the term Balance deals with the cost-Effectiveness ratios of similar attributes in point-based games. If two abilities (for example, "Martial Arts" and "Boxing") are easily comparable but the cost-effectiveness ratios are significantly different this is often referred to as an imbalance in design. Discussions of balance under this meaning tend to center on questions of the exact measure of Effectiveness of a given ability ("Martial arts doesn't do as much damage as Boxing but it has a better block so it's balanced." "No, the only time you need to block is when you can't soak the damage anyway and most boxers will be able to!" etc. )

References:

• Gamism: Step On Up