A game is an activity that is engaged in for diversion or amusement. Games are a form of play, an integral part of human nature, and have existed in some form since the beginning of civilization. Often games establish a situation that involves a contest or rivalry. Many of them, like chess, require strategy and intellectual acumen. Others are solely or in part games of chance, as in the case of games played with dice. Card games are the games most commonly played by adults. Children’s games include a wide variety of amusements and pastimes primarily for children.
The origins of games are varied. Some were derived from methods of divination, or foretelling the future. Ancient writings mention divination by the throwing of sticks, which is sometimes called the drawing of lots. Over time such sticks lost their mystical significance and were then used in games of chance, much as dice are used in some board games. Later the element of chance was removed, and games of pure skill such as checkers and the Asian game go were developed.
As long ago as the 11th century, the Chinese practiced divination using strips of oiled paper known as strip cards. These strip cards bore a remarkable resemblance to present-day playing cards, which some people still use to predict the future. A set of 52 cards makes up the international, or standard, deck of modern playing cards. Card games typically exploit the fact that each player can identify only the cards he holds, not those of his opponents. This same characteristic also applies to dominoes and to the gaming tiles of mah-jongg. In fact, British domino players often call dominoes “cards,” mah-jongg may itself be the ancestor of the rummy card-game family, and in China there is no distinction between cards and dominoes, the latter being made of lacquered paper.
Manufactured games were originally used as a method of instruction, beginning in the 17th century. The later development of geographic games, in which countries were cut out of maps and children attempted to put them back correctly, led to the creation of the jigsaw puzzle, and other entertainment forms shortly followed. Many 19th-century games are still distributed, including Pachisi (Parcheesi) and snakes-and-ladders. Monopoly, developed in 1933, has become one of the most popular board games of all time. In the second half of the 20th century, electronic games, run by computer technology, emerged as a hugely popular form of entertainment around the world. The appeal of electronic games, or video games, has grown as the technology used to produce them has advanced, offering players increasingly sophisticated graphics and sound.
Davies, Huw, and Jackson, Lisa. The Games Book (Scholastic, 2008).Easterling, Lisa. Games (Heinemann Library, 2007).Hofer, Margaret K. The Games We Played: The Golden Age of Board & Table Games (Princeton Architectural Press, 2003).Parlett, David S. The Oxford History of Board Games (Oxford Univ. Press, 1999).Vecchione, Glen, and Sims, Blanche. Sidewalk Games (Sterling, 2003).
(See also bibliography for play.)