Game

A game is an (often, but not always recreational) activity involving one or more players. This can be defined by either a goal that the players try to reach, or some set of rules that determines what the players can or can not do. Games are played primarily for entertainment or enjoyment, but may also serve as exercise or in an educational, simulational or psychological role.

Definition

Although many animals play, only humans confirmably have games. Whether some animals are intelligent enough to game is debatable, though a game has ritualistic elements (such as rules and procedures) that are voluntarily acted upon, rather than as a result of instinct. The existence of rules and criteria that decide the outcome of games imply that games require intelligence of a significant degree of sophistication.

Non-human animal species may, however, engage in games whose rules and sophistication may be of such a nature as to be incapable of detection by humans in their present state of knowledge. It would, for example, seem incongruous that large brained species such as many Cetaceans and the larger hominids did not play games. Our inability to observe and understand such games should not be taken as a confirmation that they do not exist. Some courtship displays by some species of bird, such as the Black Grouse, appear to have a component which, from an anthropolgical view, might appear to be a game in which there are clearly winners and losers.

Games can involve one player acting alone, or two or more players acting cooperatively. Most often involve competition among two or more players. Taking an action that falls outside the rules generally constitutes a foul or cheating.

All through human history, people have played games to entertain themselves and others. There are an enormous variety of games; for specific information about different types of games, see the links at the end of this article.

Although Games have been played for thousands of years, many people do not know as much as we believe about them. Things such as how they were invented and why are all matters of the human races of knowledge not yet understood today in the 21st century.

Games in philosophy

In Philosophical Investigations, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein argued that the concept "game" could not be contained by any single definition, but that games must be looked at as a series of definitions that share a "family resemblance" to one another. Games were important to Wittgenstein's later thought; he held that language was itself a game, consisting of tokens governed by rough-and-ready rules that arise by convention and are not strict.

Stanley Fish, looking for a clear example of the sorts of social constructions, cited the balls and strikes of baseball as example. While the strike zone target is governed by the rules of the game, it epitomizes the category of things that exist only because people have agreed to treat them as real. No pitch is a ball or a strike until it has been labelled as such by an appropriate authority, the plate umpire, whose judgment on this matter cannot be challenged within the current game.

Anthropology of games

Games, being a characteristic human activity strongly determined by custom and the frequent subjects of folklore, have been the subject of anthropological investigations.

Classes of games

While many different subdivisions have been proposed, anthropologists classify games under three major headings, and have drawn some conclusions as to the social bases that each sort of game requires. They divide games broadly into:

• Games of skill, such as hopscotch and target shooting;
• Games of strategy, such as checkers, go, or tic-tac-toe;
• Games of chance, such as craps, snakes and ladders and poker.

In addition to these basic classifications, there are mixed games; such as football and baseball, involving both skill and strategy, and poker, involving strategy and chance. Baseball Hall of Famer Casey Stengel addressed the illusion of luck dominating skill in his sport when he remarked, "I had many years when I was not so successful as a ballplayer, as it is a game of skill."

Games of pure skill are likely the oldest sort of game, and are found in all cultures, regardless of their level of material culture. They are associated with cultures that place a high value on individual performance and prowess.

Games of strategy require a higher material basis. They are associated with cultures that possess a written language: not surprising, since most strategy games are based on mathematics and feature the manipulation of symbols. They often require special equipment to be played. They are associated with hierarchical societies that place a high value on obedience.

Games of chance appear at a variety of levels of material culture; what they seem to share generally is a sense of economic insecurity. They are associated with cultures that place a high value on personal responsibility, keeping one's word, and maintaining personal standing in the face of misfortune; in other words, with "cultures of honor".

Games and sports

There is no clear line of demarcation between games and sports. Generally, sports are athletic in nature, and have an element of physical prowess, but then so do many games. For cultural anthropologists, the distinction between games and sports hinges on community involvement. Sports often require special equipment and playing fields or prepared grounds dedicated to their practice, a fact that often makes necessary the involvement of a community beyond the players themselves. Most sports can have spectators. Communities often align themselves with players of sports, who in a sense represent that community; they often align themselves against their opponents, or have traditional rivalries. The concept of fandom began with sports fans. Games amuse the players; sports amuse a broader public; in advanced material cultures, sports can be played by paid professionals. When games like chess and go are played professionally, they take on many of the characteristics of a sport.

One-person games

One-person games or one-player games are sometimes called solitaire games, but this term can be easily confused with the peg game and the card game of same name.

Types of one-player games include:

• many arcade games
• most computer and video games
• juggling
• most types of puzzles (logical, mechanical, mathematical, etc.)
• solitaire card games

Types of games

• Alternate reality game
• Ball games
• Board games
• Business games
• Car games
• Card games
  • Collectible card games
• Casino games
• Children's games
• Clapping games
• Computer and video games
  • Computer board games
  • Computer puzzle games
  • Online games
    • Online skill-based games
    • MUDs
    • MMORPGs
• Conversation games
• Counting-out games
• Creative games
• Dice games
• Drinking games
• Educational games
• Economics games
• Game shows
• Games of chance
• Games of dare
• Games of logic
• Games of physical activity
• Games of physical skill
• Games of skill
• Games of strategy
• Games of status
• Global Positioning System-based games
• Group-dynamic games
• Guessing games
• Letter games
• Locative games
• Mathematical games
• Mental Games
• New Games
• Open gaming
• Party games
• Parlour games
• Pencil and paper games
• Play-by-mail games
• Playground games
• Political games
• Pub games
• Puzzles
• Quizzes
• Role-playing games
• Singing games
• Spoken games
• Street games
• String games
• Table-top games
• Tile-based games
• Theater games
• Traditional games
• Unclassified games
• Wargames
• Win-win games
• Word games