Metagame

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If Traditional Games are generally about playing a game, metagaming is playing the game's system.

Basically, it means using knowledge outside of the game's system/rule set to try to gain an advantage. In roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, metagaming means utilizing information your character shouldn't have access to when making decisions, and is generally looked down upon as the lowest form of munchkinry. Other games like Diplomacy and Shadow Hunters actively encourage meta-gaming, since half the fun is trying to stay one step ahead of THAT SHITBAG MIKE WHO PROMISED HE WAS GOING TO HELP ME TAKE ANKARA HE PROMISED GODDAMN IT. Games aren't always separated from their respective metagame, and Mao is an example of a game that is sometimes considered a metagame.

Metagaming is quite a diverse concept. You have probably experienced metagaming when your sleazy uncle was being That Guy while playing Monopoly during a family get-together. Crafty metagaming is often hard to spot: doing a number of small but frustrating things during a game of Warhammer 40000 can make your opponent impatient and flustered, causing them to miss rules or skip moving units that would otherwise win them the game. The entire idea behind the "Poker Face" is rooted in metagaming. An example from video games would be the EV system in Pokemon: what was a mechanical representation of genetics and random affinities was exploited to gain better stats when fighting in tournaments. It wasn't a mechanic within the core gameplay, just something to personalize the experience, but it was seized upon and used to a player's advantage over another player.

Some people find metagaming to be quite fun when not used for an in-game advantage, but instead to troll other players (e.g. "I know what you did last summer...").