In multiplayer games, griefing is when someone deliberately ruins the fun for other players, not to win but to annoy them. It covers wrecking another player's builds, blocking their path, or knocking them off a ledge, usually breaking the spirit of the game even when the rules technically allow it.
How griefing works in practice
Griefing is about the other player, not the game itself. The goal is your reaction, so a griefer counts it as a win when you get frustrated and quit.
It takes different shapes in different games. In a building game it's smashing your work, in a survival game it's camping your spawn, and in team games like MOBAs it can mean feeding kills to the enemy on purpose.
Most of it stays inside the rules. That's what makes griefing tricky, since the game often allows the action even when it breaks fair play.
Games where griefing shows up
Anime Slap Tower on Roblox builds the whole loop around it. Shoving other players off a tower obby is the main verb, and up to 32 people can knock each other down on the way up.
Minecraft is the game we see the word attached to most. In a shared block world another player can smash or burn down what you spent an hour building, which is the classic griefing story, so multiplayer Minecraft lives or dies on who you let in.
Lewis Doddy is a content writer specialising in clear, research-backed guides. His work focuses on giving readers honest comparisons, real numbers, and practical takeaways they can actually use.
Tired of losing your run to a griefer?
Take a break and earn on HeyCash with surveys and game offers at your own pace. First cash-out at $5 (5,000 points), then $1.