by Bruce Whitehill
How is a game different from a toy?
A toy is a plaything that usually can be used in different ways, that can be played with either alone or with others in a non-competitive way, and that has no specific time period associated with play.
A game, on the other hand, normally has a set of rules governing play, including a fixed beginning and end, and a competitive element in which a player tries either to beat an opponent or to get a higher score than in the previous game. In some games, you are, in a sense, playing against the game’s designer, trying to reach a goal before time runs out or the game ends. Naturally, there are many games which use toy-like devices, and many toys that include a description of a game that can be played with them.
TYPES OF GAMES
Games can be classified into five basic groups according to the style of construction: card games, board games, skill and action games, computer and video games, and activity or “parlor” games. Naturally, some games contain elements of more than one group.
Almost all board and card games and many skill & action games are also referred to as “table games.” Almost all games, except for some parlor games, require some materials — often special materials applicable to that game only.
Card Games. A card game is a game which uses a deck of playing cards, such as RUMMY, or one which uses special cards, such as OLD MAID. Games such as AUTHORS (invented in 1861) and OLD MAID were made by many different companies, whereas other popular card games were owned by one company. PIT and ROOK, for example, have been made since 1904 and 1906 respectively by Parker Brothers.
Board Games. A board game is a game which uses a carved or illustrated surface, called a gameboard, on which the game is played; for most commercially produced board games, a printed sheet is pasted onto a piece of cardboard. The board may be three-dimensional (made out of a plastic mold or with wood or die-cut cardboard) or flat, the latter being either a one-piece board or folded (usually one fold, but sometimes as many as three); the board is usually removed from the box and placed on a table, but some games are played in the box or even on the box cover. Because of the standardization of paper sizes and printing processes, some of the folded gameboards of the 1870s were exactly the same size as the standard 18 1/2″ x 18 1/2″ gameboards of today. Earlier American boards were made of wood, paper, and linen (cloth).
Most board games are designed to be played with two to six players. In terms of method of play, there are two main styles of board games: race games and positioning games. Race games can be divided into three primary types: path, track, and circuit. In a path game, players start at one point and race along one or more circuitous paths to a finishing point (as in CHUTES AND LADDERS or UNCLE WIGGILY); similarly, in a track game, players, with one or more playing pieces, race to be the first one to get all the pieces around the board once (as in BACKGAMMON and PARCHEESI or any horse race game). A circuit game allows players to continue circling the board until one player amasses whatever is required to win (as in MONOPOLY).
Positioning games are usually played on some sort of grid, where playing pieces may be placed either on the intersections of the lines (as in GO) or in the spaces between them (as in CHECKERS and OTHELLO). Games of this type usually require a player to block, capture, or eliminate an opponents pieces, but some games, such as CHINESE CHECKERS, are a mixture of blocking and racing.
Skill and Action Games. A skill and action, or dexterity game is one which requires the players to perform a physical activity. TIDDLY WINKS, target games, and many marble games and games with tops fall into this category. JACKS and PICK UP STICKS require good hand-eye coordination. Some games are almost all action and very little skill; these can be called merely “action” games. An example of an action game is a game which relies on a spinning top but where the player has no control over the top’s direction.
Computer or Video Games. Computer or video games are electronic games–games that use “chips” or images on a screen. Usually, no tangible playing pieces are required, and often the player can play alone, trying to better a previous score or competing against the machine rather than another player. The internet has added a new dimension to such games.
Party Games or Parlor Games. Party games or parlor games are “activity” games which may not require any special materials and may be played by almost any number of people. The term “parlor game” comes from the social party games that were played in the parlor (forerunner of the “den”) in the last century. A common parlor game of the period, FORFEITS, required players to answer questions or perform a stunt; if a player was unsuccessful (as most players were) that individual had to pay a penalty–usually reciting prose or poetry, imitating someone, or acting out something.
Popular parlor pastimes over the past century have included CHARADES, TWENTY QUESTIONS, and CATEGORIES, various trivia and question and answer games, and the more recent DICTIONARY GAME. During the 1980s many of these games were made into commercial ventures, with major companies adapting an old idea, then packaging and selling the parlor game in a box. The game play for such successes as PICTIONARY, TRIVIAL PURSUIT, and SCATEGORIES could all be traced to early parlor games.
