Domino and tile games
Domino games are similar in many respects to card games, but the generic device is instead a set of tiles called
dominoes,
which traditionally each have two ends, each with a given number of
dots, or "pips", and each combination of two possible end values as it
appears on a tile is unique in the set. The games played with dominoes
largely center around playing a domino from the player's "hand" onto the
matching end of another domino, and the overall object could be to
always be able to make a play, to make all open endpoints sum to a given
number or multiple, or simply to play all dominoes from one's hand onto
the board. Sets vary in the number of possible dots on one end, and
thus of the number of combinations and pieces; the most common set
historically is
double-six, though in more recent times "extended" sets such as
double-nine have been introduced to increase the number of dominoes available, which allows larger hands and more players in a game.
Muggins,
Mexican Train, and
Chicken Foot are very popular domino games.
Texas 42 is a domino game more similar in its play to a "trick-taking"
card game.
Variations of traditional dominoes abound:
Triominoes are similar in theory but are triangular and thus have three values per tile. Similarly, a game known as
Quad-Ominos uses four-sided tiles.
Some other games use tiles in place of cards;
Rummikub is a variant of the
Rummy
card game family that uses tiles numbered in ascending rank among four
colors, very similar in makeup to a 2-deck "pack" of Anglo-American
playing cards.
Mah-Jongg is another game very similar to
Rummy that uses a set of tiles with card-like values and art.
Lastly, some games use graphical tiles to form a board layout, on which other elements of the game are played.
Settlers of Catan and
Carcassonne
are examples. In each, the "board" is made up of a series of tiles; in
Settlers of Catan the starting layout is random but static, while in
Carcassonne the game is played by "building" the board tile-by-tile.
Hive, an abstract strategy game using tiles as moving pieces, has mechanical and strategic elements similar to
chess, although it has no board; the pieces themselves both form the layout and can move within it.
Pencil and paper games
Pencil and paper games require little or no specialized equipment
other than writing materials, though some such games have been
commercialized as board games (
Scrabble, for instance, is based on the idea of a
crossword puzzle, and
tic-tac-toe
sets with a boxed grid and pieces are available commercially). These
games vary widely, from games centering on a design being drawn such as
Pictionary and "connect-the-dots" games like
sprouts, to letter and word games such as
Boggle and
Scattergories, to solitaire and logic puzzle games such as
Sudoku and
crossword puzzles.
Guessing games
Main article:
Guessing game
A guessing game has as its core a piece of information that one
player knows, and the object is to coerce others into guessing that
piece of information without actually divulging it in text or spoken
word.
Charades
is probably the most well-known game of this type, and has spawned
numerous commercial variants that involve differing rules on the type of
communication to be given, such as
Catch Phrase,
Taboo,
Pictionary, and similar. The genre also includes many
game shows such as
Win, Lose or Draw,
Password and
$25,000 Pyramid.
Video games
Video games are
computer- or
microprocessor-controlled
games. Computers can create virtual spaces for a wide variety of game
types. Some video games simulate conventional game objects like cards or
dice, while others can simulate environs either grounded in reality or
fantastical in design, each with its own set of rules or goals.
A computer or video game uses one or more
input devices, typically a
button/
joystick combination (on
arcade games); a
keyboard,
mouse or
trackball (
computer games); or a
controller or a motion sensitive tool. (
console games). More esoteric devices such as
paddle controllers have also been used for input.
There are many genres of video game; the first commercial video game,
Pong, was a simple simulation of
table tennis.
As processing power increased, new genres such as adventure and action
games were developed that involved a player guiding a character from a
third person perspective through a series of obstacles. This "real-time"
element cannot be easily reproduced by a board game, which is generally
limited to "turn-based" strategy; this advantage allows video games to
simulate situations such as combat more realistically. Additionally, the
playing of a video game does not require the same physical skill,
strength or danger as a real-world representation of the game, and can
provide either very realistic, exaggerated or impossible physics,
allowing for elements of a fantastical nature, games involving physical
violence, or simulations of sports. Lastly, a computer can, with varying
degrees of success, simulate one or more human opponents in traditional
table games such as
chess, leading to simulations of such games that can be played by a single player.
In more open-ended computer simulations, also known as sandbox-style
games, the game provides a virtual environment in which the player may
be free to do whatever they like within the confines of this universe.
Sometimes, there is a lack of goals or opposition, which has stirred
some debate on whether these should be considered "games" or "toys".
(Crawford specifically mentions
Will Wright's
SimCity as an example of a toy.)
Online games
Main article:
Online game
From the very earliest days of networked and time-shared computers,
online games have been part of the culture. Early commercial systems such as
Plato were at least as widely famous for their games as for their strictly educational value. In 1958,
Tennis for Two dominated Visitor's Day and drew attention to the
oscilloscope at the
Brookhaven National Laboratory; during the 1980s,
Xerox PARC was known mainly for
Maze War, which was offered as a hands-on demo to visitors.
Modern online games are played using an Internet connection; some have dedicated
client programs, while
others require only a
web browser. Some simpler browser games appeal to demographic groups (notably
women and the
middle-aged) that otherwise play very few video games.
Role-playing games
Role-playing games, often abbreviated as RPGs, are a type of game in
which the participants (usually) assume the roles of characters acting
in a fictional setting. The original role playing games—or at least
those explicitly marketed as such—are played with a handful of
participants, usually face-to-face, and keep track of the developing
fiction with pen and paper. Together, the players may collaborate on a
story involving those characters; create, develop, and "explore" the
setting; or vicariously experience an adventure outside the bounds of
everyday life. Pen-and-paper role-playing games include, for example,
Dungeons & Dragons and
GURPS.
The term
role-playing game has also been appropriated by the video game industry to describe
a genre of video games.
These may be single-player games where one player experiences a
programmed environment and story, or they may allow players to interact
through the internet. The experience is usually quite different from
traditional role-playing games. Single-player games include
Final Fantasy,
Fable,
The Elder Scrolls, and
Mass Effect. Online multi-player games, often referred to as
Massively Multiplayer Online role playing games, or MMORPGs, include
RuneScape,
EverQuest 2,
Guild Wars,
MapleStory,
Anarchy Online, and
Dofus. As of 2009, the most successful MMORPG has been
World of Warcraft, which controls the vast majority of the market.
Business games
Main article:
Team building
Business games can take a variety of forms, from interactive board
games to interactive games involving different props (balls, ropes,
hoops, etc.) and different kinds of activities. The purpose of these
games is to link to some aspect of organizational performance and to
generate discussions about business improvement. Many business games
focus on organizational behaviors. Some of these are computer
simulations while others are simple designs for play and debriefing.
Team building is a common focus of such activities.
Simulation
The term "game" can include simulation
or re-enactment of various activities or use in "real life" for various purposes: e.g.,
training, analysis, prediction. Well-known examples are
war games and
roleplaying. The root of this meaning may originate in the human prehistory of games deduced by
anthropology from observing
primitive cultures, in which children's games mimic the activities of adults to a significant degree:
hunting,
warring,
nursing, etc. These kinds of games are preserved in modern times.
