by Bruce Whitehill
An editorial published March 2007 in Knucklebones games magazine
I have been writing about games for Knucklebones for over a year now, so it seems time that I finally explained what a game is. Oh, so you think it’s that clear-cut, do you? Well, exactly how do you define a game, and how does a game differ from a backyard activity or a toy?
My super Webster’s tells me that “game” comes from “gwhemb-,” which is to “leap merrily.” It goes on to say that game can refer to any form of play or amusement or recreation or sport, or—my favorite—frolic. So first we have to agree that we are not talking about a sport or a play activity that requires no equipment. Technically, we need a descriptive adjective to narrow down the game in question to its type, such as a board game or card game. In past centuries, the term “table games” was used. But, of course, that doesn’t allow for games played on the living room rug or the playroom linoleum. And how do you distinguish such games from those played out of doors? We need to constrict our definition a little bit further, such as by using “boxed games,” meaning that we’re talking about something that requires specific implements that are packaged together. Played any good boxed games lately?
The key is that a game, in the sense we are using it, is a pastime played with implements, and that has a set of rules, a fixed beginning and end, and a competitive element as well, in which a player tries either to best an opponent or, in a solitaire game, score higher than in the previous game. That’s clearly different from a toy—a plaything that usually can be used in different ways, that can be played with alone or in a non-competitive way, that has no precise set of step-by-step rules by which to play, and offers no specific time period associated with play. Naturally, there are many games that use toy-like devices as implements, and many toys that include the description of a game that can be played with them.
And what about a classification of games? How do you distinguish one type of game from another? How do you describe a game so one can clearly understand what elements are involved and how the game plays? One way is to classify a game by its intended audience. The major groupings are children’s games, family games, and adult games. “Children’s” game is obvious, as long as you know at what age childhood ends. “Adult” game refers to those that are not generally played by children—although in some circles, an “adult game” is one that is purchased in a specialty shop and probably played by few grownups. I used to think a “family” game was a game for children that Mom and Dad didn’t mind playing so much, but the quality of that category has increased so that there are now many family games loved by all.
The easiest classification of games is according to the main implements in the game. This is where the major distinction is made between a board game and a card game. Of course, there are board games with cards, and card games that use a small board, but it’s the main ingredient that earns the title. Then there are also dice games, like YAHTZEE, and video games that fit under electronic games (all games can fall into sub-headings under the two main categories of electronic and non-electronic games), and what used to be VCR games that were played on a video cassette recorder; they never did too well, and soon the VCR will be extinct. Now we have computer games, from “PC” (personal computer) and video games that use special equipment, to games you can access on the internet. Not quite what you can play with friends at the kitchen table.
Besides board games and card games, the other two major categories used by game companies and players are skill-and-action games and parlor, or party, games. But these classifications don’t tell you much about the components. The implication is that a skill-and-action game requires some three-dimensional unit or assortment of pieces, the object being to overcome obstacles as you roll, push, propel, place, toss, balance, bend, slide, shoot, spin, hammer, or finger-kick some piece into, onto, under, over, across, or around something else. In effect, something requiring some physical activity, the outcome being determined by the skill of the player’s action. (Some skill-and-action games, like many games with spinning tops, actually are almost all action and require relatively little skill.)
Similarly, a “parlor” game or party game suggests one in which a group of at least five people and as many as, say 12, often divided into teams, out-think, out-shout, or out-maneuver the other team or players, usually using special cards and lots of words. I always wondered how a party game that’s listed as “for 6 or more players” would play with about 55. Though still competitive, parlor games are not meant to be taken too seriously, and humor is often the key to the game’s enjoyment. I think the home parlor—or at least the word—will soon go the way of the parlor car (leaving us only the ice cream parlor, the beauty parlor, the funeral parlor, and maybe the pizza parlor), so it might be best to use the term “party game.”
In describing skill-and-action and party games, we’re now getting into how a game plays. But that takes us to another system of classification. There are, for instance, tile-laying games (DOMINOES, MAH-JONGG, CARCASSONNE), positioning games (GO, CHECKERS, OTHELLO), and race games; here there is a further taxonomy, such as a path game (CHUTES AND LADDERS), a track game (PARCHEESI), and a circuit game (MONOPOLY) where players continue around the track until certain conditions are met.
Games are often classified into the dichotomy of strategy games and luck games. European games, and now some American ones, often indicate the level of strategy (or complexity) and the level of luck for a game. Many avid strategy players simply avoid games with dice or cards.
Material also comes into play when defining games. There is a separate category of wood games, which immediately conjures up images of solid pieces meant to be moved strategically across solid gameboards, or large skill-and-action gameboards, favoring tree leavings over the usual molded plastic. Cloth games (PIN THE TAIL…), metal (tin) boards, pewter pieces, and such can all be used to help define a particular type of game. I have one FISHPOND game that calls for placing the weighted fish into a tub or bucket of water—but no water is sold with the game.
Getting back to card games, a further distinction has to be made between a game which uses a normal deck of playing cards, such as gin rummy, and one which uses special cards, such as OLD MAID, GO FISH or UNO. Games like UNO, owned by one company, are called “proprietary” games. As for board games (a lithographed or printed sheet pasted onto a piece of cardboard), besides the material, the number of folds comes into play: most gameboards have one fold, but there can be one-piece boards (either part of the box bottom or removable from the box), or multifold, split boards, such as those found in “bookshelf” style games. Incidentally, the traditional single-fold, square, 18 1/2″ x 18 1/2″ gameboard of today is the same size as the boards used by Milton Bradley in the 1870s. Very early gameboards were often etched in stone, or drawn in the dirt or sand, but these have proved difficult to ship.
So the next time you open your game of Monopoly, I hope you will appreciate that it is a family board game circuit game with a single-fold litho-on-cardboard board, proprietary cards, paper money, dice, metal and wood or plastic playing pieces (all in a plastic parts tray), requiring two to eight players, lots of luck, some strategy, and patience (if your desire of duration is a typical 35-minute game). Whatever you play, enjoy your next game—and don’t forget to frolic.
