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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The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game (WoW TCG) is an out-of-print collectible card game based on Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The game was announced by Upper Deck Entertainment on August 18, 2005 and released on October 25, 2006. Players can play against each other one-on-one, or can join others in order to defeat dungeon/raid "bosses" based on those in the MMORPG. In March 2010, Upper Deck lost the license from Blizzard Entertainment. The license was acquired by Cryptozoic Entertainment later in the month, with the company announcing that planned card sets would be released.

On August 23, 2013, Blizzard Entertainment announced that the TCG would be discontinued, and that they would not be renewing the game's license. In March 2014, Blizzard released Hearthstone, an online collectible card game featuring many of the same characters, abilities and artwork. (Full article...)

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...that in 1967, Mac Hack became the first computer chess program to defeat a person in tournament play?
...that a reviewer called the narrator in the game Defenders of Ardania (pictured) "booze-obsessed", with a voice that sounds like "a Dalek doing an impression of Sean Connery"?
...that snooker player Stephen Maguire won his first ranking tournament at the 2004 European Open in Malta?
...that the Crawford-Gilpin House is alleged to have once changed owners due to being lost as a wager in a poker game?
...that The Big Bang Theory episode "The Santa Simulation" features a Christmas-themed Dungeons & Dragons game?

General images

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

Image 1The 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 2A 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 3The modern German board game Catan is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009. (from Board game)
Image 4Mamluk playing card (king of cups), c.15th century (from Card game)
Image 5The board game Monopoly is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages. (from Board game)
Image 6Young girls playing a board game in the Iisalmi library in Finland, 2016 (from Board game)
Image 7Students 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 8The Mansion of Happiness (1843) (from Board game)
Image 9Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty) (from Board game)
Image 10Playing Cards, by Theodoor Rombouts, 17th century (from Game)
Image 11Senet, one of the oldest known board games (from Board game)
Image 12Parcheesi is an American adaptation of a Pachisi, originating in India. (from Game)
Image 13A fantasy LARP group (from Role-playing game)
Image 14Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of damah (from Board game)
Image 15Association football is a popular sport worldwide.
Image 16Historically, 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 17Backgammon is a game of skill. Strategy can give players advantages, but there is also an element of chance. (from Game of skill)
Image 18Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board (from Board game)
Image 19Royal game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600–2400 BCE (from Board game)
Image 20Preferans, a trick-taking card game version popular in Croatia (from Card game)
Image 21Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. (from Game)
Image 22Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
Image 23Typical MUD interface for God Wars II (from Role-playing game)
Image 24 Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript (from Board game)
Image 25The Card Players, 17th-century painting by Theodoor Rombouts (from Card game)
Image 26A ball-in-a-maze puzzle requires fine motor skills. (from Game of skill)
Image 27An adventurer finds a teleportation portal while exploring a dungeon in the role-playing video game Falcon's Eye. (from Role-playing game)
Image 28A selection of pieces from different games. From top: Chess pawns, marbles, Monopoly tokens, dominoes, Monopoly hotels, jacks and checkers pieces. (from Game)
Image 29The Card Players by Lucas van Leyden (1520) depicting a multiplayer card game (from Game)
Image 30Ancient 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 31Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano (from Board game)