I vanligt parlans är ett "Powered by the Apocalypse" -spel ett spel som använder samma upplösningsmotor av Apocalypse World, av Vincent D. Baker, eller är på något sätt igenkännligt inspirerad av eller liknar den.
Med andra ord är det ett sätt för människor att kategorisera Apocalypse World hacks.
Trots att det här är den uppfattade definitionen, som vanligtvis används i en stor del av Internet, inklusive taggbeskrivningen på denna sida och Wikipedia, är PbtA i själva verket något annorlunda.
Vincent och Meguey Baker uppgav att:
"Powered by the Apocalypse" isn't the name of a category of games, a set of games' features, or the thrust of any games' design. It's the name of Meg's and my policy concerning others' use of our intellectual property and creative work.
[...]
Here's the policy:
If you've created a game inspired by Apocalypse World, and would like to publish it, please do. If you're using our words, you need our permission, per copyright law. If you aren't using our words, you don't need our permission, although of course we'd love to hear from you. Instead, we consider it appropriate and sufficient for you to mention Apocalypse World in your thanks, notes, or credits section.
It's completely up to you whether you call your game "Powered by the Apocalypse." If you'd like to use our PbtA logo in your game's book design or trade dress, ask us, and we'll grant permission for you to do so. This isn't a requirement of any sort.
[...]
Again, "Powered by the Apocalypse" isn't the name of a kind of game, set of game elements, or even the core design thrust of a coherent movement. (Ha! This last, the least so.) Its use in a game's trade dress signifies ONLY that the game was inspired by Apocalypse World in a way that the designer considers significant, and that it follows our policy wrt others' use of our creative work.