The term flavor text was originally coined in March 1993 for Magic: The Gathering by the game's production manager, Dave Howell.
[1] In most cases, the flavor text attempts to add depth or background to the item, providing a form of context.
Some Magic: The Gathering cards' flavor text comes from public domain sources such as Shakespeare's plays and poetry.
The term "flavor text" may also refer to a blurb describing or offering clues to a puzzle.
Part of the challenge for such puzzles is determining the solving method, which is often non-obvious and can involve cutting and folding paper, deciphering shapes or patterns using braille or Morse code, substituting rhyming words, etc.