Portal:Games

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Ancient Egyptian ivory game board in the exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasure in Paris (2019)

A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are different from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and 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 come with present rules.

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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An amusement arcade featuring several different types of arcade games, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan

An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade video games, Pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games or merchandisers. (Full article...)

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Did you know? - show different entries

...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 1A 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 2Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of Damah (from Board game)
Image 3 Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript (from Board game)
Image 4Historically, 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 5Hounds and Jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty) (from Board game)
Image 6Senet, one of the oldest known board games (from Board game)
Image 7Mamluk playing card (king of cups), c.15th century (from Card game)
Image 8Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano (from Board game)
Image 9The Card Players, an 1895 painting by Paul Cézanne depicting a card game, in Courtauld Institute of Art (London) (from Game)
Image 10The Card Players, 17th-century painting by Theodoor Rombouts (from Card game)
Image 11Game of the District Messenger Boy (1886) (from Board game)
Image 12A fantasy LARP group (from Role-playing game)
Image 13The board game Monopoly is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages. (from Board game)
Image 14The 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 15Royal Game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-2400 BCE (from Board game)
Image 16An adventurer finds a teleportation portal while exploring a dungeon in the role-playing video game Falcon's Eye. (from Role-playing game)
Image 17A selection of pieces from different games. From top: Chess pawns, marbles, Monopoly tokens, dominoes, Monopoly hotels, jacks and checkers pieces. (from Game)
Image 18Association football is a popular sport worldwide.
Image 19Children's Games, 1560, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (from Game)
Image 20The Mansion of Happiness (1843) (from Board game)
Image 21Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
Image 22Preferans, a trick-taking card game version popular in Croatia (from Card game)
Image 23Tomb models of two men playing a game of liubo, Han dynasty (from Board game)
Image 24The Card Players by Lucas van Leyden (1520) depicting a multiplayer card game. (from Game)
Image 25Young girls playing a board game in the Iisalmi's library in 2016 (from Board game)
Image 26Students 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 27Ancient Egyptian gaming 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 28Typical MUD interface for God Wars II. (from Role-playing game)
Image 29Parcheesi is an American adaptation of a Pachisi, originating in India. (from Game)
Image 30Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment (from Game)
Image 31Backgammon is a game of skill. Strategy can give players advantages, but there is also an element of chance. (from Game of skill)
Image 32Ancient Egyptian ivory game board in the exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasure in Paris (2019) (from Game)
Image 33The modern German board game Catan is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009. (from Board game)
Image 34The oldest full deck of playing cards known, the Flemish Hunting Deck, c. 1475–1480, paper with pen, ink, opaque paint, glazes, applied silver and gold, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art from New York City (from Game)
Image 35Playing Cards, by Theodoor Rombouts, 17th century (from Game)
Image 36Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing Liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board (from Board game)