Games - All about

Game

2007-05-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

A game is a structured or semi-structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes also used as an educational tool. (The term "game" is also used to describe simulation of various activities e.g., for the purposes of training, analysis or prediction, etc.) Games are generally distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games may also be considered work and/or art. Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interactivity. 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.
Games are often classified by the components required to play them (e.g. a ball, cards, a board and pieces or a computer). In places where the use of leather is well established, the ball has been a popular game piece throughout recorded history, resulting in a worldwide popularity of ball games such as rugby, basketball, football, cricket, tennis and volleyball. Other tools are more idiosyncratic to a certain region. Many countries in Europe, for instance, have unique standard decks of playing cards. Other games such as chess may be traced primarily through the development and evolution of its game pieces. Many game tools are tokens, meant to represent other things. A token may be a pawn on a board, play money, or an intangible item such as a point scored. Games such as hide-and-seek or tag do not utilise any obvious tool. Rather its interactivity is defined by the environment. Games with the same or similar rules may have different gameplay if the environment is altered. For example, hide-and-seek in a school building differs from the same game in a park; an auto race can be radically different depending on the track or street course, even with the same cars.
A video game is a game that involves the interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Video games may have a reward system—such as a score—that is based on accomplishment of tasks set within the game. The "video" in "video game" traditionally refers to a raster display device. However, with the popular use of the term "video game", it now implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms are broad in range, from large computers such as mainframes, to handheld devices such as cell phones and PDAs. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use. Many players identify their platform of choice as a distinct form of video gaming apart from the rest. The main separations between platforms are their design, technical capabilities, and available video games. The user interface to manipulate video games is generally called a game controller, which varies across platforms. For instance, a dedicated console controller might consist of only a button and a joystick, or feature a dozen buttons and one or more joysticks. Early personal computer based games historically relied on the availability of a keyboard for gameplay, or more commonly, required the user to purchase a separate joystick with at least one button to play. Many modern computer games allow the player to use a keyboard and mouse simultaneously. Beyond the common element of visual feedback, video games have utilized other systems to provide interaction and information to the player. Chief examples of these are sound reproduction devices (speakers) and an array of haptic peripherals (i.e., vibration or force feedback). One variant even utilized heat and mild electric shocks when the player failed to succeed.
These are the descriptions of "game" term. In my blog you will find more detailed info on few genres an types of games. I took the info mostly from wiki on the stuff I know and play most. If you find it useful, feel free to comment any post, add your ideas, or ask to add info on more genres. The blog will continue to improve with your help.

Racing

2007-05-13T00:58:00.000-07:00

Racing games typically place the player in the driver's seat of a high-performance vehicle and require the player to race against other drivers or sometimes just time. This genre of games is one of the staples of the computer gaming world and many of the earliest computer games created were part of this genre. Emerging in the late 1970s, this genre is still very popular today and continues to push the envelope in terms of graphics and performance. There are two main sub-genres within racing: arcade and simulation. Arcade racers tend to have exaggerated physics, fantastical settings and course layouts, and unrealistic damage handling. Simulation racers focus more on accurate handling and performance of real-world cars, many times allowing the player to simulate partaking in real-world racing events, such as the Indianapolis 500 or the Dakar Rally. Simulation racers tend to allow the player to alter the performance of the vehicles, from the displacement of the engine to the gear ratios of the transmission, but this has also been applied in a more arcade-style racing game Need For Speed: Underground.
A popular subgenre of the racing game is the kart racing game, which simplifies the vehicle handling and introduces various obstacles and other quirks to the racetrack.

Racing simulators
Simulation style racing games strive to convincingly replicate the handling of an automobile. They often license real cars or racing leagues, but will use fantasy cars built to resemble real ones if unable to acquire them.
Although these racing simulators are specifically built for people with a high grade of driving skill, it is not uncommon to find aids that can be enabled from the game menu. The most common aids are traction control (TC), anti-lock brakes, steering assistance, damage resistance, clutch assistance, automatic gearbox, etc. This softens the learning curve for the difficult handling characteristics of most racing cars.
The Formula One World Championship has a fan base all over the world and is one of the racing series with the most simulation adaptations.
Some of these racing simulators are customizable, as game fans have decoded the tracks, cars and executable files. Large internet communities have grown around the simulators regarded as the most realistic and many websites host internet championships.

Arcade racers
Arcade style racing games put fun and a fast-paced experience above all else, as cars usually compete through odd ways. They often license real cars and leagues, but are equally open to more exotic settings and vehicles. Races take place on highways, windy roads or in cities; they can be multiple-lap circuits or point-to-point, with one or multiple paths (sometimes with checkpoints), or other types of competition, like demolition derby, jumping or testing driving skills. Popular arcade racers are the Daytona USA series, the Rush series, the Cruis'n Series and the classic Out Run.

Fighting game

2007-05-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

In competitive fighting games, players face off against each other or against computer-controlled characters in close combat. The main distinction between this genre and the beat 'em up genre is that players are of roughly equal power to their opponents, and fights are self-contained matches involving a small number of characters (usually between two and four). While not defining traits of the genre, the vast majority of fighting games involve life bars, fights that last an odd number of rounds, and are viewed in profile.
In contrast to side-scrolling fighting games, most fighting games are competitive rather than co-operative. Some offer players the chance to battle as teams (two-on-two or three-on-three being most common) instead of one-on-one. The characters can be alternated in either a tag team (characters can be switched out in the middle of the round) or elimination mode (team whose members lose the individual rounds loses the match). In a few of these team-based games, players can opt to play on the same team, usually in a tag team fashion. Because of their competitive nature, fighting games are conducive to tournament play.

Fighting games also usually include a single-player mode.
One of the main attractions of this game type is the large number of characters each game has, all of whom usually have a distinct appearance and fighting style. For example, the characters of the Street Fighter series come from around the world; characters of The King of Fighters series have very well defined personalities and backstories, as well as distinct and differing abilities; those of Eternal Champions were taken from distinct historical periods; the cast of the Guilty Gear series simply seem to differ wildly from one another; and characters from the Mortal Kombat series range from criminals to Shaolin monks to gods. Depending on their discipline, characters may be unarmed or armed with melee weapons (swords, sticks, nunchaku, etc.).
Due to the fall in popularity of scrolling fighting games, the terms fighting game and fighter are generally taken to refer to competitive fighting games.

Various concepts and vocabulary have developed in the genre over the past decades. Examples include a 'Perfect', where the player manages to defeat an enemy without losing any health; or a 'one hit K.O.', where a player defeats an enemy with only one action and more. Examples like these are often accompanied by a voiceover declaring the event and a bonus for the player. Especially famous for this is the "Flawless Victory" of Mortal Kombat

FPS

2007-05-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

First-person shooter (FPS) is a genre of video games which is characterized by an on-screen view that simulates the in-game character's point of view and a focus on the use of handheld ranged weapons. FPS is also a term used by tactical response teams as the person who shoots first.
The modern FPS genre emerged at the point when home computers became sufficiently powerful to draw basic 3D graphics in real time. id Software's Wolfenstein 3D and Doom are widely considered to be the breakthrough games of the genre . The latter in particular, defined the genre so emphatically that FPS games were commonly referred to as "Doom clones" or "Doom-likes" for a significant period after its release.
First-person shooters have been subject to substantial controversy due to the levels of violence included in most games. The level of realism is increased when the video game world is seen through the first-person perspective.
The first-person shooter is a sub-genre of shooter games. Many other shooter genres, such as on-rails shooters, are viewed from a first-person perspective, while flight simulators frequently involve the use of weapons; however, these are not considered FPSs. In the early 1990s, the term came to define a more specific type of game with a first-person view, where the main character's gun and part of his/her hand is shown, almost always centered around the act of aiming and shooting handheld weapons, usually with limited ammunition. The focus is generally on the aiming of one's own guns and the avoidance of enemy attacks, but the player is given more control over their movement than in on-rails shooters and most light gun games.
Many third-person shooters (where the player sees the game world from a viewpoint above and behind the main character) are commonly treated as first-person shooters, due to similarities in gameplay. In some cases (for example, Unreal Tournament 2004, Command & Conquer: Renegade, Star Wars Battlefront II, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath or Duke Nukem 3D) it is possible to toggle the game between viewpoints and play the entire game from either perspective.
More frequently, a first-person view will be adopted in a third-person game only for brief periods for certain situations when it is advantageous. Since a first-person view usually allows more precise refinement of a player's aim than most third-person aiming systems, many third-person shooters allow the player to switch to their avatar's viewpoint in order to fire a weapon; sometimes, as in the first Metal Gear Solid title and Grand Theft Auto III, this may only be done when specific weapons (a sniper rifle, for example) are equipped. In addition, certain third-person shooters such as Burning Rangers let the player switch to a first-person perspective in order to observe their surroundings, but do not allow them to shoot any weapons while using it. Some first-person games switch by default to a third-person view when a melee weapon, such as a sword or a lightsaber, is selected (as in LucasArts' Jedi Knight) on the theory that a wider perspective makes those weapons easier to manage.

IF

2007-05-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as computer games. In common usage, the word refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game with text-based input and output. The term is sometimes used to encompass the entirety of the medium, but is also sometimes used to distinguish games produced by the interactive fiction community from those created by games companies. It can also be used to distinguish the more modern style of such works, focusing on narrative and not necessarily falling into the adventure game genre at all, from the more traditional focus on puzzles. More expansive definitions of interactive fiction may refer to all adventure games, including wholly graphical adventures such as Myst.
As a commercial product, interactive fiction reached its peak in popularity in the 1980s, as a dominant software product marketed for home computes. Today, interactive fiction no longer appears to be commercially viable, but a constant stream of new works is produced by an online interactive fiction community, using freely available development systems. Most of these games can be downloaded for free from the Interactive Fiction Archive.
The term "interactive fiction" is also occasionally used to refer to hypertext fiction, collaborative fiction, or even a participatory novel, according to the New York Times. It is also used to refer to literary works that are not read in a linear fashion, but rather the reader is given choices at different points in the text; the reader's choice determines the flow and outcome of the story. The most famous example of this form of interactive fiction is the Choose Your Own Adventure book series

Text adventures are one of the oldest types of computer games and form a subset of the adventure genre. The player uses text input to control the game, and the game state is relayed to the player via text output.
Input is usually provided by the player in the form of simple sentences such as "get key" or "go east", which are interpreted by a parser. Parsers may vary in sophistication; the first text adventure parsers could only handle two-word sentences in the form of verb-noun pairs. Later parsers could handle increasing levels of complexity from sentences such as "open the red box with the green key then go north". This level of complexity is the standard for works of interactive fiction today.
Works of interactive fiction function like single-player Multi-User Dungeons or 'MUDs', and the original MUD was actually a multi-player generalization of Zork (one version of which was called Dungeon). MUDs, which became popular in the mid-1980s, rely on a textual exchange and accept similar commands from players as do works of IF, but the social aspects and the communities of players who participate are often the most important features of MUDs.
Interactive fiction usually relies on reading from a screen and on typing input, although speech synthesis allows blind and visually impaired users to play interactive fiction.

Adventure

2007-05-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Adventure games are a type of computer entertainment programs and video game, characterized by investigation, which may include exploration, puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters, and have a focus on narrative rather than reflex-based challenges. It is important to note that this term is unrelated to adventure films, and adventure novels, and is not indicative of theme or subject matter. The vast majority of adventure games are computer games, though console-based adventure games are not unheard of. Unlike many other game genres, the adventure genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, such as literature and film. Adventure games encompass a wide variety of literary genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror, and comedy. Notable adventure games include Zork, King's Quest, The Secret of Monkey Island, Gabriel Knight, and Myst. Nearly all adventure games are designed for a single player, since the heavy emphasis on story and character makes multi-player design difficult.
The adventure genre was quite popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and many considered it to be among the most technically advanced genres. While few developers continue to produce adventure games, some are still being released, and the adventure game genre has had some elements carry over into other genres. Games that fuse adventure elements with action gameplay elements are sometimes referred to as adventure games (a popular example is Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series). Adventure game purists regard this as incorrect and call such hybrids action-adventures.

The first adventure games to appear were text adventures (later called interactive fiction), which typically use a verb-noun parser to interact with the user. These evolved from early mainframe titles like Hunt the Wumpus (Gregory Yob) and Adventure (Crowther and Woods) into commercial games which were playable on personal computers, such as Infocom's widely popular Zork series. In recent years, a vibrant and creative community of interactive fiction authors has thrived on the internet. Some companies that were important in bringing out text adventure games were Adventure International, Infocom, Level 9 Computing, Magnetic Scrolls and Melbourne House, with Infocom being the most well known.

MMO

2007-05-10T04:46:00.000-07:00

A Massively Multiplayer Online Game (also called MMOG or MMO) is a computer game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world. Some argue that small player-count games, with 200 and fewer players, are also part of the genre; the persistent world is probably the only "hard" requirement.
MMOGs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a grand scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of gameplay types, representing many video game genres. Many MMOGs require players to invest large amounts of their time into the game. Most MMOGs require a monthly subscription fee, but some can be played for free.

MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, known as MMORPGs, are perhaps the most famous type of MMOG. See list of MMORPGs for a list of notable MMORPGs. Some MMORPGs are designed as a multiplayer browser game in order to reduce infrastructure costs and utilise a thin client that most users will already have installed. The acronym BBMMORPGs has sometimes been used to describe these as browser-based.

MMOFPS
Several MMO first-person shooters have been made. These games provide large-scale, sometimes team-based combat. The addition of persistence in the game world means that these games add elements typically found in RPGs, such as experience points. The first MMOFPS, 10SIX (now known as Project Visitor) released in 2000. World War II Online, released in 2001, is often quoted with the same honour, because it more closely fits the traditional FPS mold, and was more widely published. Another popular MMOFPS game is Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide.One of the latest MMOFPS games is WarRock released by K2 Network. For building one's own MMOFPS, there are now free MMOG game engines.

MMORTS
Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy, known as MMORTS, are games that combine real-time strategy (RTS) with a large number of simultaneous army commanders in resource competition like Shattered Galaxy, And Dreamlords

MMOMG
Main article: Massively multiplayer online manager game
MMOMGs, or massively multiplayer online manager games, are easy to play and don't take much time. The player logs in few times per week, sets orders for the in-game team and find how to defeat human opponents and their strategies.

MMOR
Massively multiplayer online racing. Massive online versions of racing games. Currently there's only two racing based MMORs: RaceLands and KongKong Online. The Trackmania series comes close to being a MMOR. Although Auto Assault and Darkwind: War on Wheels are more combat based than racing, they are also considered a MMOR. "Test Drive Unlimited" is also considered a MMOR.

MMOTG
Massively multiplayer online tycoon game. Online versions of tycoons games. Mainly all browser based however there are two client based games, Starpeace and Industry Player.

MMOSG
Massively Multiplayer Online Social Game focuses on socialization instead of objective-based gameplay. There is a great deal of overlap in terminology with "Online Communities" and "Virtual Worlds". Examples of Massively Multiplayer Online Social Games include Habbo Hotel, Furcadia, Barbie Girls, Nicktropolis, and Club Penguin.
One example that has garnered widespread media attention is Linden Labs' Second Life, emphasizing socializing, world-building and an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created content. It is technically an MMOSG by definition, though its stated goal was to realize the concept of the Metaverse from Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash[citation needed]. Instead of being based around combat, one could say that it was based around the creation of virtual objects, including models and scripts. In practice, it has more in common with Club Caribe than Everquest. It was the first game of its kind to achieve widespread success (including attention from mainstream media); however, it was not the first (as Active Worlds was released in June 1995). Competitors in this relatively new subgenre (non-combat-based MMORPG) would come to include There, Entropia Universe and Dotsoul.
MMOSG may also represent Massively Multiplayer Online Sports Game (i.e. Shot Online or Ultimate Baseball Online) or Massively Multiplayer Online Strategy Game (examples include Dark Galaxy).
Before the RTS games appeared, strategic games, like Empire, were turn-based and offered PBeM modes to compete with others. Nowadays turns can be processed on central (web)servers, allowing massive amounts of players. Unification Wars is a good example which relies heavily on diplomacy and player interaction. Instead of quickly mouse-clicking units into action RTS style, players carefully plan their moves.

MMOVSG
Massively multiplayer online virtual sex games. The umbrella term MMOVSG summarizes games of the different MMOG subtypes that support simulation of virtual sexual intercourse between player characters. For Example: Sociolotron (MMORPG), Red Light Center (MMOSG). Some of these games even give primacy to sexual aspects.

MMCAP
Massively Multiplayer Collaborative Art Projects are typically browser based. In contrast to traditional MMOGs, MMCAPs place an emphasis on creative collaboration. An example of an MMCAP is TheBroth, a collaborative mosaic art application.

Real-world simulations
Some MMOGs have been designed to accurately simulate certain aspects of the real world. The MMOG genre of air traffic simulation is one example, with networks such as VATSIM and IVAO striving to provide rigorously authentic flight-simulation environments to players in both pilot and air traffic controller roles. In this category of MMOGs, the objective is to create duplicates of the real world for people who cannot or do not wish to undertake those experiences in real life. For example, flight simulation via a MMOG requires far less expenditure of time and money, is completely risk-free, and is far less restrictive (fewer regulations to adhere to, no medical exams to pass, and so on).

Sports

2007-05-10T04:35:00.000-07:00

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sports are used as entertainment for the player and the viewer. It has also been proven by experiments that daily exercise increases mental strength and power to study.

A sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the playing of traditional sports. They are extremely popular, the genre including some of the best-selling games.
Almost every familiar sport has been recreated with a game, including baseball, soccer, American football, boxing, cricket, golf, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, bowling, rugby, hunting, fishing, etc.
Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (such as the Madden NFL series), while others emphasize the strategy behind the sport (such as Championship Manager). Others satirize the sport for comic effect (such as Arch Rivals). This genre has been popular throughout the history of video games and is extremely competitive, just like real-world sports.
A number of games series feature the names and characteristics of real teams and players, and are updated annually to reflect real-world changes.
The genre is not to be confused with electronic sports, which is used to describe computer and video games which are played as competitive sports.

Arcade
Sports games have traditionally been very popular arcade games. The competitive nature of sports lends itself well to the arcades where the main objective is usually to obtain a high score. The arcade style of play is generally more unrealistic and focuses on a quicker gameplay experience. Examples of this include the NFL Blitz and NBA Jam series.

Simulation
In comparison to arcade sports games, the simulation style of play is a usually a more realistic rendition of the real-life sport it emulates. Examples include the Madden NFL series and the NBA Live series.

Management
Sports management games put players into the role of team manager. Whereas fantasy games are often played online against other players, management games usually pit the player against AI controlled teams. Players are expected to handle strategy, tactics, transfers, and financial issues.

Fantasy
A Fantasy sport is a game where fantasy owners build a team that competes against other fantasy owners based on the statistics generated by individual players or teams of a professional sport. Fantasy can also refer to fictional sports, see The fantasy element below.

Board games

2007-05-10T04:26:00.000-07:00

A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). Simple board games often make ideal "family entertainment" since they are often appropriate for all ages. Some board games, such as chess, go/weiqi, xiangqi, shogi, or oware, have intense strategic value and have been classics for centuries. There are many different types of board games. Many games simulate aspects of real life.

Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the 20t century when the rise of the middle class with disposable income and leisure time made them a receptive audience to such games. This popularity expanded after the Second World War, a period from which many classic board games date.
Many board games are now available as computer games, including the option to have the computer act as an opponent; and many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization are based upon board games. . The rise of computers has also led to a relative decline in the most complicated board games, as computers require less space, and the games don't have to be set up and cleared away. With the Internet, many board games can now be played online against a computer or other players. Some web sites allow play in real time and immediately show the opponent's moves, while most use e-mail to notify the players after each move (see the links at the end of this article).
Some board games make use of additional components, aside from the board and playing pieces. Some games use CDs, video cassettes and more recently DVDs to provide an accompaniment to the game. A genre of DVD games makes use of the interactive features of DVDs, often to provide a "quizmaster" for trivia games.
The modern board game industry is rife with corporate mergers and acquisitions, with large companies such as Hasbro owning many subsidiaries and selling products under a variety of brand names. It is difficult to successfully market a new board game to the mass market. Retailers tend to be conservative about stocking games of untested popularity, and most large board game companies have established criteria that a game must meet in order to be produced. If, for instance, Monopoly were introduced as a new game today, it might not meet the criteria for production

One way of defining board games are between those based upon luck and strategy. Some games, such as chess, have no luck involved. Children's games tend to be very luck-based, with games such as Sorry!, Candy Land and chutes and ladders having virtually no decisions to be made. Most board games involve both luck and strategy. A player may be hampered by a few poor rolls of the dice in Risk or Monopoly, but over many games a player with a superior strategy will win more often. While some purists consider luck to not be a desirable component of a game, others counter that elements of luck can make for far more complex and multi-faceted strategies as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered. Still most adult game players prefer to make some decisions during play, and find purely luck based games such as snakes and ladders quite boring.
The third important factor in a game is diplomacy, or players making deals with each other. A game of solitaire, for obvious reasons, has no player interaction. Two player games usually do not have diplomacy, with Lord of the Rings being a notable exception where players compete against an automatic opponent (see cooperative games). Thus, this generally applies only to games played with three or more people. An important facet of Settlers of Catan, for example, is convincing people to trade with you rather than with other players. In Risk, one example of diplomacy's effectiveness is when two or more players team up against others. Easy diplomacy consists of convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Difficult diplomacy (such as in the aptly named game Diplomacy) consists of making elaborate plans together, with possibility of betrayal.
Luck is introduced to a game by a number of methods. The most popular is using dice, generally six-sided. These can determine everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, to how their forces fare in battle, such as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, such as in Settlers of Catan. Other games such as Sorry! use a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness. Scrabble does something similar with randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. Trivia games have a great deal of randomness based on the questions a person gets. German-style board games are notable for often having rather less of a luck factor than many North American board games

Cards

2007-05-10T04:15:00.000-07:00

A card game is any game using playing cards, either traditional or game-specific.
There are also some card games that require multiple standard decks. In this scenario, a "deck" refers to a set of 52 cards or a single deck, while a "pack" or "shoe" (Blackjack) refers to the collection of "decks" as a whole.

The deck or pack
A card game is played with a deck (common in the US), or pack (common in the UK), of cards intended for that game.identical in size and shape. Each card has two sides, the face and the back. The backs of the cards in a deck are indistinguishable. The faces of the cards in a deck may all be unique, or may include duplicates, depending on the game. In either case, any card is readily identifiable by its face. The set of cards that make up the deck are known to all of the players using that deck.
Although many games have special decks of cards, the 52 cards in the standard deck having that suit and rank. In addition to games that use the standard deck, there are also games that use some modification of the standard deck, for example all cards of rank lower than some rank (e.g., a pinochle deck), or adding a special card, joker, to the standard deck. Many European regions have their own variants of the standard deck having different names and imagery for suits, or having a different set of ranks in the cards.
There are also some card games ths to a set of 52 cards or a single deck, while a "pack" or "shoe" (Blackjack) refers to the collection of "decks" as a whole.

The deal
Dealing is done either clockwise or counterclockwise. If this is omitted from the rules, then it should be assumed to be:
clockwise for games from North America, North and West Europe and Russia;
counterclockwise for South and East Europe and Asia, also for Swiss games.
A player is chosen to deal. That person takes all of the cards in the pack, stacks them together so that they are all the same way up and the same way round, and shuffles them. There are various techniques of shuffling, all intended to put the cards into a random order. During the shuffle, the dealer holds the cards so that he or she and the other players cannot see any of their faces.
Shuffling should continue until the chance of a card remaining next to the one that was originally next to is small. In practice, many dealers do not shuffle for long enough to achieve this.
After the shuffle, the dealer offers the deck to another player to cut the deck. If the deal is clockwise, this is the player to the dealer's right; if counter-clockwise, it is the player to the dealer's left. The invitation to cut is made by placing the pack, face downward, on the table near the player who is to cut: who then lifts the upper portion of the pack clear of the lower portion and places it alongside. The formerly lower portion is then replaced on top of the formerly upper portion.
The dealer then deals the cards. This is done by dealer holding the pack, face-down, in one hand, and removing cards from the top of it with her other hand to distribute to the players, placing them face-down on the table in front of the players to whom they are dealt. The rules of the game will specify the details of the deal. It normally starts with the players next to the dealer in the direction of play (left in a clockwise game; right in an anticlockwise one), and continues in the same direction around the table. The cards may be dealt one at a time, or in groups. Unless the rules specify otherwise, assume that the cards are dealt one at a time. Unless the rules specify otherwise, assume that all the cards are dealt out; but in many games, some remain undealt, and are left face down in the middle of the table, forming the talon, skat, or stock. The player who received the first card from the deal may be known as eldest hand, or as forehand. A card may be taken from either the mother deck or the discarded deck upon a players turn. A card taken from the mother deck must be either replaced in the player's hand for another card, or placed on the discard deck. Cards from the discard deck may be handled without breach of the no-return rule and may be placed back. This maneuver does not count towards a turn for a player. Play as usual resumes after the player has committed to a regular move.
The set of cards dealt to a player is known as his or her hand.
Throughout the shuffle, cut, and deal, the dealer should arrange that the players are unable to see the faces of any of the cards. The players should not try to see any of the faces. Should a card accidentally become exposed (visible to all), then normally any player can demand a redeal - that is, all the cards are gathered up, and the shuffle, cut and deal are repeated. Should a player accidentally see a card (other than one dealt to herself) she should admit this.
It is dishonest to try to see cards as they are dealt, or to take advantage of having seen a card accidentally.
When the deal is complete, all players pick up their cards and hold them in such a way that the faces can be seen by the holder of the cards but not the other players. It is helpful to fan one's cards out so that (if they have corner indices) all their values can be seen at once. In most games it is also useful to sort one's hand, rearranging the cards in a way appropriate to the game. For example in a trick taking game it is easier to have all one's cards of the same suit together, whereas in a rummy game one might sort them by rank or by potential combinations.

Strategy

2007-05-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

A strategy game is a game (e.g. computer, video or board game) in which the players' decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Many games include this element to a greater or lesser degree, making demarcation difficult. It is therefore more accurate to describe a particular game as having a certain degree of strategic elements, as in being mainly based around strategic principles.
The crucial factor that separates this type of game from all others is that there is relatively little chance involved. All players have equal degree of knowledge of the elements of the game. There is no physical skill required other than that necessary to interact with the game pieces.
Its benefit is the open interaction with other people. The game partners have similar starting points and evaluate how other humans may react under same conditions. So game strategies evolve with more or less spirit involved to get advantages and/or protect artfully.
Strategy (and tactics) are usually contrasted with luck, the outcome of luck-based games relying on probability. Games exist on a continuum from pure skill to pure chance, with strategic games usually towards the skill end of the spectrum. The word "strategy" is borrowed from a military jargon. It originally refers to a planning at a very high level and often strategy games deal rather planning in smaller scale for which a word "tactics" is used in military context.

RPG

2007-05-10T03:10:00.001-07:00

A role-playing game (RPG, often roleplaying game) is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters and collaboratively create or follow stories. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players can improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games.
A role-playing game rarely has winners or losers. That makes role-playing games fundamentally different from board games, card games, sports and most other types of games. Role-playing games are typically more collaborative and social than competitive. A typical role-playing game unifies its participants into a single team, known as a "party", that plays as a group. Like serials or novel sequences, these episodic games are often played in weekly sessions over a period of months or even years, although some gamers prefer playing one session games.
Role-playing games are a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling. Like novels or films, role-playing games appeal because they engage the imagination. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player at a roleplaying game makes choices that propel the action. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story.
While simple forms of roleplaying exist in traditional children's games such as "cops and robbers", "cowboys and Indians" and "playing house", role-playing games add a level of sophistication and persistence to this basic idea. Instead, participants in a roleplaying game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief. The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge to full-blown simulations of real-world processes.

Action

2007-05-10T03:04:00.000-07:00

While the individual objective of an action game varies drastically from game to game, it generally involves advancing through stages referred to as "levels"; along the way, eliminating hordes of enemies with minor puzzle solving involved. Many times the games include a "Boss" or "Bosses", often precluded by "Sub-Bosses" (more commonly known as Mini-Bosses). A mini-boss is usually the climax of a series of levels or each individual level, with a "Boss" being either at the end of the game or they can be tiered with many mini-bosses, a few bosses that are harder in difficulty and then finally leading up to an "End-game Boss" which would be the objective of the game.Bosses are typically defeated by your "pattern recognition" skills and physical reaction speed. In most older action games and even many modern ones, the bosses were programmed with a simple pattern of attacks or moves that would make them very difficult to defeat. Though usually after a few minutes or hours of trying anyone can defeat them as you simply learn the pattern from trial and error. These simple patterns would often include combo moves that require your character to jump, dodge or block an attack, then strike at certain points to deal damage to the boss, perhaps even waiting out or timing the patterns to get your attacks in.Many sub-genres such as platform games and action-adventure games add gymnastic-style puzzles, such as timing jumps to and from moving platforms (hence the name Platform games). Platform games, whether 3D or 2D are usually similar in concept to the original Mario Bros. series of games originally in the arcade then on the Nintendo video game console. Some action games feature 3rd-person-shooter-game-play elements, enabling the player to pick up and upgrade various weapons, each sporting its own special abilities.Another common sub-genre is the Shoot 'em up; which usually involves the player controlling a character or vehicle brandishing many weapons and shooting literally almost everything moving on the screen. The Shoot 'em up genre is well known for its side and vertical scrolling shooter games.