Key concepts
Short definitions of the terms used in the Gizmo knowledge base. Details are in the linked articles.
Programs
Term | What it is |
Gizmo Server | The main component: tracks time and money, monitors gaming stations and guests, stores the settings. It must run all the time — as a Windows service or a console application. See Gizmo Server |
Gizmo Manager | The operator's and administrator's workspace: the floor, sales, settings, reports. It opens in a browser, and you can work from several devices at once. See Gizmo Manager |
Gizmo Client | The shell on gaming PCs: replaces the Windows desktop and gives the guest access to games, the shop and their account. See Gizmo Client |
Gizmo Companion | Connects the server to the POS hardware at the point of sale and more. See Gizmo Companion |
Database | Stores all club data: guests, balances, prices, sales history. Gizmo works with Microsoft SQL Server or PostgreSQL. See Databases |
People and places
Term | What it is |
User | A regular guest with an account. Holds purchased time products, deposit, loyalty points and personal files. See Customer accounts |
Guest (guest account) | A one-time guest without registration. The account is created automatically and goes to the default guest group of the host group. Unused time products and deposit of a guest account are lost when the balance is closed |
Operator | A club employee with an account for working in Gizmo Manager. An operator account cannot be used as a guest account. See Operator card |
Host | A gaming station where a guest sits: a PC with Gizmo Client or an endpoint |
Endpoint | A gaming station without Gizmo Client — a console, a pool table and so on. It is created manually. See How to add a console or another gaming station |
Branch | A separate club in a chain that runs on one server. See Multiple clubs on one server |
Register | A point of sale that Companion and the POS hardware are linked to. See How to connect Companion and set up a register |
Groups and profiles
Term | What it is |
User group | A set of rules for guests: how they pay for time, which hosts they can access, credit, discounts, loyalty points. A guest belongs to only one group. See User groups |
Host group | Combines the gaming stations of one zone: sets their app group, security profile and skin. A host belongs to only one group and must belong to one: without a group, Gizmo Client will not connect to the server |
App group | A set of apps available to the guest. It is assigned to a host group or a user group |
Layout | A plan of where the seats are on the Map, for example a floor or a zone. A seat can be on several layouts. See Map |
Tariff | Rules for paying for time: the hourly rate, the starting and minimum charges, steps and schedules for different hours of the week. See Tariffs |
Security profile | A set of Windows restrictions for the guest: hidden drives, blocked programs, policies. See Security profiles |
Sessions
Term | What it is |
User session | The time from the guest's login to logout. Moving to another seat does not interrupt the session. A guest can have only one session at a time |
Suspended session | A session whose login command has already been sent to the host, but the host has not connected to the server yet: it is off or booting. Such a session is marked with an exclamation mark |
Pending session | A session on a host that lost its connection to the server unexpectedly. If the connection comes back, the session continues; otherwise it is closed when the timeout runs out — see Shell |
Billing period | The period during which time is charged: it starts when the guest logs in and ends when an invoice for the time is issued — automatically or through Close Balance. If the guest logs in again before that, for example after a PC restart, the period continues and the starting charge is not taken again. See Invoices |
Money
Term | What it is |
Invoice | A list of purchased items. It can be unpaid, partially paid or fully paid. Products and time products go into the invoice at the moment of sale, and per-minute time — when the balance is closed |
Product | A shop item. Its price is in money, in points or both |
Time product | A product that contains gaming minutes. It can have an expiration period and restrictions by host group and time. See Time packages |
Bundle | Several products and/or time products sold as one item, usually cheaper than separately |
Deposit | Money the guest has put into their account. It can pay for purchases and for time by tariff |
Balance | The state of settlements with the guest: deposits minus unpaid invoices and time. A negative balance is a debt. See Time, deposit and balance -- FAQ |
Loyalty points | The club's internal currency: earned for purchases and time, spent on products and time products. See Loyalty points for customers |
Payment method | How a purchase is paid: cash, card, deposit, points, online payment. See How to set up payment methods |
Credit | Permission for a user group to buy or play on credit. See How to enable postpay |
Close balance | Settling up with the guest: an invoice for the time is issued, the guest pays all unpaid invoices by any methods, and their session is closed |
Voiding an invoice | Canceling a sale. Only the whole invoice can be voided; the payment can be refunded |
Shift | An operator's working period at the register. All register operations after the shift is opened belong to it. See How to manage shifts in the Manager |
Apps
Term | What it is |
Executable | The launch shortcut of an app in the shell: path, arguments, deployments, PUF, licenses, tasks. See What happens when an application is launched |
Personal user files (PUF) | Folders from the guest's PC (for example, game saves) that Gizmo stores on the server and returns to the guest on any PC. See How to keep guests' game progress between sessions |
Personal storage | The guest's virtual drive whose files are stored on the server |
Deployment | Copying game files from the server to the client PC before launch. See Deployment -- how it works and FAQ |
License profile | A set of club launcher accounts that Gizmo hands out to guests. See How to set up club accounts in game launchers |
Task | An action that Gizmo performs automatically on an event: a script, launching a program, redirecting a folder, a notification. See Useful task scripts |
Variable | An alias for a path or value in the |