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 jack of diamonds and queen of spades are the "pinochle" meld of pinochle.

Pinochle (English: /ˈpiːnʌkəl/), also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick-taking ace–ten card game, typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of characters into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category which also includes the game belote. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks. The standard game today is called "partnership auction pinochle". (Full article...)

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...that Barbarossa is an award-winning German-style board game by Klaus Teuber from 1988 in which the players have to sculpt plasticine to earn points?
...that in the video game The Splatters (pictured) players detonate bombs by flinging anthropomorphized globs of goo at them?
...that Israeli chess Grandmaster Ronen Har-Zvi first met his wife playing online chess at the Internet Chess Club?
...that Skyfox was one of the first games to popularize the cockpit view for flight action games?
...that professional poker player Ilari Sahamies lost over US$3 million playing online poker while drunk, including more than $700,000 in a single day?

General images

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

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