Portal:Games

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A game is a structured type of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).

Games are sometimes played purely for enjoyment, sometimes for achievement or reward as well. They can be played alone, in teams, or online; by amateurs or by professionals. The players may have an audience of non-players, such as when people are entertained by watching a chess championship. On the other hand, players in a game may constitute their own audience as they take their turn to play. Often, part of the entertainment for children playing a game is deciding who is part of their audience and who is a player. A toy and a game are not the same. Toys generally allow for unrestricted play whereas games present rules for the player to follow.

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role. (Full article...)

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Star Fleet Battles (SFB) is a tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the Star Trek setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current edition is published by Amarillo Design Bureau as Star Fleet Battles, Captain's Edition.

Star Fleet Battles is a ship-to-ship warfare simulation game, which uses cardboard counters to represent the ships, shuttles, seeking weapons, terrain, and information on a hexagonal map. It is a game system for two or more players (there are some solitaire scenarios). Typically, a player will have one ship in a game, though they can control an entire fleet, if they can keep track of the paperwork and options involved; multiple players can play as teams, with each team splitting up the work of running a squadron or fleet, or a 'free-for-all' fight can be run. Ships represented in the game are typically starships from such classic Star Trek powers as the Federation, Romulan Star Empire, Klingon Empire, or purely Star Fleet Universe creations such as the Hydran Kingdom or Interstellar Concordium. (Full article...)

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...that Tom Hanks was in a 1982 TV movie called Mazes and Monsters about a group of college students and their interest in the eponymous role-playing game?
...that the golden age of arcade video games began with the release of Space Invaders in 1978?
...that the most famous boardwalk in the United States is probably the one in Atlantic City, New Jersey, thanks to its association with the Monopoly board game?
...that Pepsi offered a Harrier fighter jet in their Pepsi Billion Dollar Sweepstakes game and the Pepsi Stuff game?
...that 1956 was the first time when a computer was able to play a chess-like game, Los Alamos chess (pictured)?

General images

The following are images from various game-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
Image 2Typical MUD interface for God Wars II (from Role-playing game)
Image 3A group playing a tabletop RPG. The GM is at left using a cardboard screen to hide dice rolls from the players. (from Role-playing game)
Image 4The number of board games published by year (1944–2017), as listed on BoardGameGeek. Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange. (from Board game)
Image 5Mamluk playing card (king of cups), c.15th century (from Card game)
Image 6Backgammon is a game of skill. Strategy can give players advantages, but there is also an element of chance. (from Game of skill)
Image 7Parcheesi is an American adaptation of a Pachisi, originating in India. (from Game)
Image 8The board game Monopoly is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages. (from Board game)
Image 9Ancient Egyptian senet game board inscribed for Amenhotep III with separate sliding drawer, from 1390 to 1353 BC, made of glazed faience, dimensions: 5.5 × 7.7 × 21 cm, in the Brooklyn Museum (New York City). (from Game)
Image 10Royal game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600–2400 BCE (from Board game)
Image 11The modern German board game Catan is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009. (from Board game)
Image 12The Mansion of Happiness (1843) (from Board game)
Image 13A ball-in-a-maze puzzle requires fine motor skills. (from Game of skill)
Image 14Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty) (from Board game)
Image 15A fantasy LARP group (from Role-playing game)
Image 16Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. (from Game)
Image 17Senet, one of the oldest known board games (from Board game)
Image 18Preferans, a trick-taking card game version popular in Croatia (from Card game)
Image 19A selection of pieces from different games. From top: Chess pawns, marbles, Monopoly tokens, dominoes, Monopoly hotels, jacks and checkers pieces. (from Game)
Image 20The Card Players by Lucas van Leyden (1520) depicting a multiplayer card game (from Game)
Image 21An adventurer finds a teleportation portal while exploring a dungeon in the role-playing video game Falcon's Eye. (from Role-playing game)
Image 22Students using dice to improve numeracy skills. They roll three dice, then use basic math operations to combine those into a new number which they cover on the board. The goal is to cover four squares in the row. (from Game)
Image 23The Card Players, 17th-century painting by Theodoor Rombouts (from Card game)
Image 24Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano (from Board game)
Image 25Association football is a popular sport worldwide.
Image 26 Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript (from Board game)
Image 27Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of damah (from Board game)
Image 28Playing Cards, by Theodoor Rombouts, 17th century (from Game)
Image 29Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board (from Board game)
Image 30Historically, card games such as whist and contract bridge were opportunities for quiet socializing, as shown in this 1930s magic lantern slide photo taken in Seattle, Washington. (from Card game)
Image 31Young girls playing a board game in the Iisalmi library in Finland, 2016 (from Board game)