The Games Portal
A game is a structured form 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 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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Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments, online and with friends at home, making it one of the world's most popular card games, particularly among seniors. The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the governing body for international competitive bridge, with numerous other bodies governing it at the regional level.
The game consists of a number of deals, each progressing through four phases. The cards are dealt to the players; then the players call (or bid) in an auction seeking to take the contract, specifying how many tricks the partnership receiving the contract (the declaring side) needs to take to receive points for the deal. During the auction, partners use their bids to also exchange information about their hands, including overall strength and distribution of the suits; no other means of conveying or implying any information is permitted. The cards are then played, the declaring side trying to fulfill the contract, and the defenders trying to stop the declaring side from achieving its goal. The deal is scored based on the number of tricks taken, the contract, and various other factors which depend to some extent on the variation of the game being played. (Full article...)Did you know? -
- ...that the virtual economy of massively multiplayer online games sometimes attracts virtual crime, which is punishable by real laws in some countries?
- ...that since 1998 All Nippon Airways has operated Pokémon Jets (pictured)?
- ...that the World Chess Hall of Fame originally used cardboard plaques to honor past grandmasters, and was located in the basement of a New Windsor, New York, building?
- ...that the Japanese role-playing game Night Wizard! was adapted into an animated television series consisting of thirteen episodes?
- ...that a 2009 Pennsylvania court case ruled that poker is a game of skill, thus not subject to the state laws related to gambling?
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- A Nintendo GameCube console shown with memory card and a standard controller
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