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The popular board game Monopoly is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages.[1]Young girls playing Alias in a library at Iisalmi, Finland, 2016
The board game is a type of tabletop game[2][3] that involves small objects (game pieces) that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] potentially including other components, e.g. dice.[6] The earliest known uses of the term "board game" are between the 1840s and 1850s.[7][4][9]
While game boards are a necessary and sufficient condition of this genre, card games that do not use a standard deck of cards, as well as games that use neither cards nor a game board, are often colloquially included, with some referring to this genre generally as "table and board games" or simply "tabletop games".[2][3]
Board games have been played, traveled, and evolved in most cultures and societies throughout history.[11] They have been discovered in several archaeological sites, and there are several contenders for the oldest game, depending on the exact requirements applied and the accuracy of dating.
Archaeological finds of game boards exist that date from as early as the Neolithic period, including, as of 2024, a total of 14 sites reporting 51 game boards, ranging from the early 7000sBC to the mid-6000sBC.[12][13][14][15]
Some of the oldest discovered gaming pieces have been discovered in southwest Turkey, including a set of elaborate sculptured stones in sets of four, speculated to be designed for a chess-like game, which were created during the Bronze Age around 3000BC.[16][17]
Senet has been argued to be the oldest known board game in the world, with possible game board fragments (c.3100BC)[18] and undisputed pictorial representations (c.2686BC– c.2613BC)[19] having been found in ancient Egyptian Predynastic and First Dynasty burials dating as far back as 3500BC.[20] However, while Senet was played for thousands of years, it fell out of fashion sometime after AD400 during the Roman period;[19] the rules were never written down, therefore they are not decisively known.[21]
Similarly, Mehen, also from ancient Egypt, is one of the oldest games dated with reasonable confidence, at c.3000BC– c.2300BC,[22][23] with some estimating it dates back to c.3500BC.[24] The rules, scoring system, and game pieces, however, are also unknown or speculative.[24][23]
The Royal Game of Ur is estimated to have originated around 2500BC in ancient Mesopotamia, with specimens found in royal tombs.[25][26][27] It has been claimed to be the oldest playable board game in the world, with well-defined game rules discovered written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer in c.177BC– c.176BC.[23][13]
Another game similar to the Royal Game of Ur was discovered in 1977 by the Italian Archaeological Mission in grave no. 731, a pseudo-catacomb grave at Shahr-i Sokhta, a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site in Iran. This board game set, comprising 27 pieces and 4 different dice, dates to 2600 – 2400BC. The set has been scientifically analyzed and a reconstruction has been proposed by researchers.[28] It has similarly been claimed to be the oldest complete and playable board game ever discovered.[29]
An example of a game with highly uncertain age is mancala, which includes a broad family of board games with a core design of two rows of small circular divots or bowls carved into a surface. It has had numerous estimations of its generic age due to the many variants that have been discovered in different locations across Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia.[24] These are dated across many different periods at different sites, from c.800BC– c.200BC (Roman Settlements); to c.2500BC– c.1500BC (Egypt); and even c.7000BC– c.5000BC (Jordan). The latter is based on divots carved out of limestone in a Neolithic dwelling dated to c.5870BC ± 240 BC,[14][24][30] although this has been disputed.[31]
Furthermore, when considering Neolithic period game board discoveries, caution has been given against considering these finds as representing the definitively earliest human game playing, as the absence of evidence of such games in earlier periods does not equate to evidence that no games were played.[32]
Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript
Painting in tomb of Egyptian queen Nefertari (1295 – 1255BC) playing senet
Golden era
The 1880s–1920s were a board game epoch known as the Golden Age, a term coined by American art historian Margaret Hofer,[33] where the popularity of board games was boosted through mass production, making them cheaper and more readily available.[34]:11 The most popular of the board games sold during this period was Monopoly (1935), with 500 million games played as of 1999.[35]
Renaissance era
The number of board games published by year (1944–2017), as listed on BoardGameGeek. Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange.
In the late 1990s, companies began producing more new games to serve a growing worldwide market.[36][37]The Settlers of Catan (1995) is often credited with popularising German-style board games outside of Europe and growing the hobbyist game market to a wider audience.[38] The early 21st century saw the emergence of a new "Golden Age" for board games called the "Board Game Renaissance".[36][39][40] This period of board games industry development, of which board games such as Carcassonne (2000) and Ticket to Ride (2004) were a major part, saw a shift away from the 20th-century domination by well-established standby Golden Era board games like Monopoly (1935) and Game of Life (1960).[41]
Board games have a long tradition in Europe. The oldest records of board gaming in Europe date back to Homer's Iliad (written in the 8th century BC), in which he mentions the Ancient Greek game of petteia.[42] This game of petteia would later evolve into the Roman game of ludus latrunculorum.[42]
Germany
Kriegsspiel is a genre of wargaming developed in 19th century Prussia, to teach battle tactics to officers.[43]
Ireland
Fidchell boards dating from the 10th century has been uncovered in Ireland,[44] with the game said to date back to at least 144 AD.[45]
Scandinavia
The ancient Norse game of hnefatafl was developed sometime before 400 AD.[46]
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the association of dice and cards with gambling led to all dice games except backgammon being treated as "lotteries by dice" in the Gaming Acts of 1710 and 1845.[47] One of the most prolific publishers of board games of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was the English board game publisher John Wallis and his sons (John Wallis Jr. and Edward Wallis).[48] The global popularisation of board games, with special themes and branding, coincided with the formation of the global dominance of the British Empire.[49] Examples of british empire games included:
British Empire Games
Game title
Release date
Creator
Description
Ref
A Tour Through the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions
1850
John Betts
This board game was a race game that consisted of a board with 37 numbered pictures, each correlating to a British colony, arranged in four circular levels, numbered 1 (Heligoland, Germany) to 37 (London, England), three concentric ones and an inner fourth level of London ("Metropolis of the British Empire"). A teetotum was spun with a player's piece correspondingly moving ahead through the spaces of the game board, upon which a corresponding description to the space the player lands was read out aloud from an accompanying rule booklet by the presiding player (a player abstaining from directly playing the game), except when directed in the book. The descriptions included commentary about the various colonies and occasional game board movement directions to the player. There winner would be the player to reach London first.
A race game where five players ('sailors') follow distinctly colored tracks, on a board decorated with islands, seas, and ships, with each player restricted to the path of their own color. The players followed the instructions printed in circles along the tracks, which contained sailor-themed dangers and advantages.
Due to a number of factors, such as the decrease of industrial working hours and the implementation of a Saturday half-day holiday, United States shifted from agrarian to urban living in the nineteenth century, which provided greater leisure time and a rise in middle class income.[54][55] The American home, once an economic production focus, started to become one for entertainment, enlightenment, and education under maternal supervision, where children were encouraged to play board games that developed literacy skills and provided moral instruction.[55]The first board games published in the United States were Travellers' Tour Through the United States and its sister game Traveller's Tour Through Europe, published in 1822 by New York City bookseller F. & R. Lockwood.[56][57] Margaret Hofer described this period, from 1880s–1920s, as "The Golden Age" of board gaming in America.[34] Board game popularity was boosted, like that of many items, through mass production, which made them cheaper and more easily available. In the 19th century, the industry itself was still developing, albeit significantly more rapidly; however, the games manufactured in America were still primarily for children.[58] Beginning in the late 20th century, during the period known as board game renaissance, games started to evolve considerably, from a strategic play standpoint and also in terms of increased advertising and marketing.[58] In the modern-day United States, board game venues have recently grown in popularity. In 2016 alone, more than 5,000 board game cafés opened in the United States.[59]
A version of the 4,600-year-old board game of the Royal Game of Ur, was found in the ancient Mesopotamian royal tombs of Ur (c.2600BC – c.2400BC),[20] is the oldest discovered playable board game.[56][60][61] The game's rules of this version were written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer in 177 BC, and involved two players racing their pieces from one end of a 20-square board to the other in a similar way to backgammon, with the central squares being used for fortune telling.[61][23][16]Backgammon also originated in ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago.[62]
Though speculative, Go has been thought to have originated in China somewhere in the 10th and 4th century BC.[63][64] While no archeological or reliable documentary evidence exists of the exact origins of the game, according to legend, Liubo was invented in around 1728–1675 BC in China by Wu Cao, a minister of King Jie the last Xia dynasty king. China developed several chess variants, including xiangqi (Chinese chess), dou shou qi (Chinese animal chess), and luzhanqi (Chinese army chess), each with their own variants.[65] Games like mahjong, and Fighting the Landlords (Dou DiZhu) also originated in China.In modern-day China, board game cafes have become popular, with cities like Shanghai having more game cafés than Starbucks.[66]
Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board
In Thailand, makruk (Thai: หมากรุก), or Thai chess, is a strategy board game that is descended from the 6th-century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, and is therefore related to chess. It is part of the family of chess variants.
In Cambodia, where basically the same game is played, it is known as ouk (Khmer: អុក) or ouk chatrang (Khmer: អុកចត្រង្គ)
Iran
The Shahr-i Sokhta board game set, comprising 27 pieces and 4 different dice, dates to 2600–2400 BCE. The entire set has been scientifically analyzed and reconstructed by researchers, and it is considered the oldest complete and playable board game ever discovered.[29]Jiroft civilization game boards[68] in Iran, is one of several important historical sites, artifacts, and documents shed light on early board games.
The complete set of the Shahr-i Sokhta board game, Iran, with 27 pieces and 4 dice in its current condition, about c.2600BC– c.2400BCNational Museum of Iran
The first-ever scholarly reconstruction of the Shahr-i Sokhta board game
Game board made of chlorite stone relief in the form of Scorpion man, characteristic of the gaming tradition in West Asia from the 3rd to 1st millennium B.C.
South Korea
A board game of flicking stones (Alkkagi) became popular among people in South Korea after various Korean variety shows demonstrated its gameplay on television.[69]
Oman
A stone slab carved with a grid and cup holes to hold game pieces constituting a large 4,000-year-old stone board game was located in a prehistoric settlement dated back to the Umm an-Nar period (c.2600BC to c.2000BC) near the village of Ayn Bani Saidahat in the Qumayrah Valley, Oman.[61]
Africa
In Africa and the Middle East, mancala is a popular board game archetype with many regional variations.
Egypt
The first complete set of this game was discovered from a Theban tomb that dates to the 13th dynasty.[70]Hounds and jackals, another ancient Egyptian board game, appeared around 2000 BC.[71][72] This game, originating c.2600BC – c.2400BC was also popular in Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.[73] Senet, originating from c.2600BC – c.2400BC, was found in Predynastic c.3500BC and First Dynasty c.3100BC burials of Egypt,[18] and pictured in fresco wall paintings and papyrus in Egyptian tombs, including the tombs of Merknera (c.3300BC–c.2700BC BC)[74][75] and Nikauhor and Sekhemhathor (c.2465BC–c.2389BC).[76] An ancient games from the African region included the predynastic Egyptian board game of mehen.[77][20]
Some games, such as chess, depend completely on player skill, while many children's games, such as Candy Land (1949) and snakes and ladders require no decisions by the players and are decided purely by luck.[78]
Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of damah
Many games require some level of both skill and luck. A player may be hampered by bad luck in backgammon, Monopoly, or Risk; but over many games, a skilled player will win more often.[79] The elements of luck can also make for more excitement at times, and allow for more diverse and multifaceted strategies, as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered.[80]
Luck may be introduced into a game by several methods. The use of dice of various sorts goes back to one of the earliest board games, the Royal Game of Ur. These can decide everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, to how their forces fare in battle, as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, as in Catan (1995). Other games such as Sorry! (1934) use a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness. Scrabble (1948) creates a similar effect using randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. German-style board games are notable for often having fewer elements of luck than many North American board games.[81] Luck may be reduced in favor of skill by introducing symmetry between players. For example, in a dice game such as Ludo (c.1896), by giving each player the choice of rolling the dice or using the previous player's roll.
Another important aspect of some games is diplomacy, that is, players making deals with one another. Negotiation generally features only in games with three or more players, cooperative games being the exception. An important facet of Catan, for example, is convincing players to trade with you rather than with opponents. In Risk, two or more players may team up against others. Easy diplomacy involves convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Advanced diplomacy (e.g., in the aptly named game Diplomacy from 1954) consists of making elaborate plans together, with the possibility of betrayal.[82][83]
In perfect information games, such as chess, each player has complete information on the state of the game, but in other games, such as Tigris and Euphrates (1997) or Stratego (1946), some information is hidden from players.[84] This makes finding the best move more difficult and may involve estimating probabilities by the opponents.[85]
Many board games are now available as video games. These are aptly termed digital board games, and their distinguishing characteristic compared to traditional board games is that they can now be played online against a computer or other players. Some websites (such as boardgamearena.com, yucata.de, etc.)[86] allow play in real time and immediately show the opponents' moves, while others use email to notify the players after each move.[87] The Internet and cheaper home printing have also influenced board games via print-and-play games that may be purchased and printed.[88] Some games use external media such as audio cassettes or DVDs in accompaniment to the game.[89][90]
There are also virtual tabletop programs that allow online players to play a variety of existing and new board games through tools needed to manipulate the game board, but do not necessarily enforce the game's rules, leaving this up to the players. There are generalized programs such as Vassal, Tabletop Simulator and Tabletopia that can be used to play any board or card game, while programs like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds are more specialized for role-playing games.[91][92] Some of these virtual tabletops have worked with the license holders to allow for use of their game's assets within the program; for example, Fantasy Grounds has licenses for both Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder materials, while Tabletop Simulator allows game publishers to provide paid downloadable content for their games.[93][94] However, as these games offer the ability to add in the content through user modifications, there are also unlicensed uses of board game assets available through these programs.[95]
Market
The modern German board game Catan is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009.
While the board gaming market is estimated to be smaller than that for video games, it has also experienced significant growth from the late 1990s.[39] A 2012 article in The Guardian described board games as "making a comeback".[96] Other expert sources suggest that board games never went away, and that board games have remained a popular leisure activity which has only grown over time.[97] Another from 2014 gave an estimate that put the growth of the board game market at "between 25% and 40% annually" since 2010, and described the current time as the "golden era for board games".[39] The rise in board game popularity has been attributed to quality improvement (more elegant mechanics, components, artwork, and graphics) as well as increased availability thanks to sales through the Internet.[39]Crowd-sourcing for board games is a large facet of the market, with $233million raised on Kickstarter in 2020.[98]
A 1991 estimate for the global board game market was over $1.2billion.[99] A 2001 estimate for the United States "board games and puzzle" market gave a value of under $400million, and for United Kingdom, of about £50million.[100] A 2009 estimate for the Korean market was put at 800million won,[101] and another estimate for the American board game market for the same year was at about $800million.[102] A 2011 estimate for the Chinese board game market was at over 10billion yuan.[103] A 2013 estimate put the size of the German toy market at 2.7billion euros (out of which the board games and puzzle market is worth about 375million euros), and Polish markets at 2billion and 280million zlotys, respectively.[104] In 2009, Germany was considered to be the best market per capita, with the highest number of games sold per individual.[105]
Hobby board games
Some academics, such as Erica Price and Marco Arnaudo, have differentiated "hobby" board games and gamers from other board games and gamers.[106][107] A 2014 estimate placed the U.S. and Canada market for hobby board games (games produced for a "gamer" market) at only $75million, with the total size of what it defined as the "hobby game market" ("the market for those games regardless of whether they're sold in the hobby channel or other channels") at over $700million.[108] A similar 2015 estimate suggested a hobby game market value of almost $900million.[109]
Research
Board games serve diverse interests. Left:kōnane for studious competition. Right: kōnane for lighthearted fun.
A dedicated field of gaming research exists, known as game studies or ludology.[110]
While there has been a fair amount of scientific research on the psychology of older board games (e.g., chess, Go, mancala), less has been done on contemporary board games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Risk,[111] and especially modern board games such as Catan, Agricola, and Pandemic. Much research has been carried out on chess, partly because many tournament players are publicly ranked in national and international lists, which makes it possible to compare their levels of expertise. The works of Adriaan de Groot, William Chase, Herbert A. Simon, and Fernand Gobet have established that knowledge, more than the ability to anticipate moves, plays an essential role in chess-playing ability.[112]
Linearly arranged board games have improved children's spatial numerical understanding. This is because the game is similar to a number line in that they promote a linear understanding of numbers rather than the innate logarithmic one.[113]
Research studies show that board games such as Snakes and Ladders result in children showing significant improvements in aspects of basic number skills such as counting, recognizing numbers, numerical estimation, and number comprehension. They also practice fine motor skills each time they grasp a game piece.[114] Playing board games has also been tied to improving children's executive functions[115] and help reduce risks of dementia for the elderly.[116][117] Related to this is a growing academic interest in the topic of game accessibility, culminating in the development of guidelines for assessing the accessibility of modern tabletop games[118] and the extent to which they are playable for people with disabilities.[119]
With crime, you deal with every basic human emotion and also have enough elements to combine action with melodrama. The player's imagination is fired as they plan to rob the train. Because of the gamble they take in the early stage of the game, there is a build-up of tension, which is immediately released once the train is robbed. Release of tension is therapeutic and useful in our society because most jobs are boring and repetitive.[120]
Playing games has been suggested as a viable addition to the traditional educational curriculum if the content is appropriate and the gameplay informs students on the curriculum content.[121][122]
Categories
Historical development
Harold Murray's A History of Board Games Other Than Chess (1952)[123] has been called the first attempt to develop a "scheme for the classification of board games", in which he separated board games into five categories: "race", "war", "hunt", "alignment" / "configuration", and "mancala" games.[124][58]Robert Bell's Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations (1960)[125] similarly espoused a classification of board games, this time divided into four categories, "race", "war", "positional", and "mancala" games.[58] In David Parlett's The Oxford History of Board Games (1999),[126] based on the work of Murray and Bell,[58] he described a "classical" categorization of board games which consisted of four primary categories: "race", "space", "chase", and "displace" games.[126][127]:17
Modern board games have been classified in a variety of ways, a classification that can be based on the board game's mechanics, theme, age range, player number, and promotion. The diversity of board games means that some games belong to several categories.[56]:13
Mechanics
A board game's mechanics usually involve an assessment of a player or player/s achievements while adhering to a series of pre-established rules, i.e. gameplay, such as capturing opponents' pieces, calculation of a final score, or achieving a predefined goal. Board games have a range of rule complexity but also a range of strategic depth, both of which determine the ease of mastering the game, i.e., hard-to-master games like chess possess a relatively simple rule set but have great strategic depth.[128] Examples of categories based on a modern categorization of a board game's mechanics include:[60]
Board game categorization by mechanics
Board game categories
Description
Examples
Ref
Alignment
A subcategory of space board games. In an alignment game, a player is required to position their tokens in an array of a prescribed length. Like space games, these games are often abstract.
From the North American region, usually having an emphasis on theme; randomness, usually through dice; numerous ways to win; and direct player conflict. These board games are also called Ameritrash board games; however, this term is not necessarily a negative label.
Use bidding, a competitive assigning of value to different items, resources, privileges, or game scenarios, as a mechanism by which players attempt to obtain valuable in-game assets or establish a favorable turn order. These board games are also called bidding board games.
Have some form of map or board defining a space that players compete to dominate, usually through adding their own pieces to regions or areas or removing their opponents' pieces.
Involve convincing opponent players on the accuracy of a claim, which includes tricking opponent players into believing something incorrect. All bluffing board games revolve around an element of hidden information.
Often have an asymmetrical layout, where players start the game with different sets of pieces and objectives, usually rolling one or more dice to move a corresponding number of spaces along a looping track of spaces, or a path with a start and finish. When players land on certain spaces, it triggers specific actions or offers the player certain gameplay options. These board games are also known as roll-and-move games.
Involve developing and managing a society of people, often from scratch, requiring the contemplation of long-term strategy, good resource management, and sometimes even conflict with opponents.
Involve collecting and trading certain game elements, usually cards and miniatures. These games are built around strategy and collection building, but also luck. These board games are also often called building board games.
A sub-category of space games. However, as opposed to alignment games, the objective of players is to line up their pieces to complete predetermined array targets in a particular order. Like space games, these games are often abstract.
Often an abstract strategy game, in which players attempt to complete a specific type of connection with their pieces. This could involve forming a path between two or more endpoints, completing a closed loop, or a player connecting all of their pieces so they are adjacent to each other.
The players work together to achieve a common goal rather than competing against each other. Either the players win the game by reaching a predetermined objective, or all players lose the game, often by not reaching the objective before a certain trigger event ends the game. These board games are also called non-competitive or co-op games.
Each player starts with their own identical deck of cards but alters it during play, with more powerful cards being added to the deck and less powerful ones being removed.
Players use different decks of cards to play, constructed before the game from a large pool of options, according to specific rules. This type of board game is also called a trading card board game.
Players form conclusions based on what is occurring or has transpired based on available premises, such as provided clues either by the board game itself or by fellow players. These board games are also called Investigation games. Social deduction board games are a subcategory of deduction board games.
Require accurate movements of the body in response to real-time game situations. These games are a particular form of physical board game where fine motor skills are more important than physical attributes such as strength or endurance, including flicking, balancing, or even throwing objects around. Dexterity board games test motor skills, reflexes, and coordination; and reward carefulness and punish clumsiness. These board games are also known as action board games.
Involve a mechanism where players are presented with a set of options, usually cards, from which they must pick one, thus choosing the best options from a pool, leaving the remainder for the next player to choose from. They combine strategy, quick decision-making, and outguessing opponent players. The drafting mechanism can be a small part of a game, to select an ability for use during a round, or the entire decision space for a game.
Players take the roles of characters making their way through a location, often depicted by a map with a square grid or a page in a book, defeating enemies controlled by another player, a companion app, or the game system itself.
Players manage resources and make smart decisions about how they spend or invest money. A player's strategy usually revolves around ensuring they have enough resources to achieve a strong financial position. Economic board games usually simulate a market in some way. These games are often also called Economic simulation games. The term economic board game is often used interchangeably with resource management board game.
Teach new ideas, concepts, topics, or understanding while playing. The board game's learning is based on a particular theme. While educational games exist for different age groups, they are usually designed for children.
Involves building an engine, something that takes your starting resources or actions and turns them into more resources, which often eventually accumulate scored points.
Have a strategy focus, prioritising limited randomness over theme. These board games usually have competitive interactions between players through passive competition, rather than aggressive conflict, in contrast to the more thematic but chance-driven American-style board games. Euro-style board games are also called Eurogames or German-style board games due to the fact that many of the early games of this style were developed in Germany.
Have an unexplored map of tiles or cards, which the game encourages players to explore by flipping them and dealing with the consequences, either beneficial or detrimental. These board games are also often called Travel or 4x games.
Encourage players to engage game characters in close-quarter battles and hand-to-hand combat. They differ from Wargames in that the combat in Wargames exists as one part of a large-scale military simulation, while in Fighting games the focus is on the particular combat scenarios.
A player, or players, has a hidden role within the group, where the rest of the players have to identify them, avoiding any influence or tricks used to deflect any suspicions that they have those roles. Sometimes called hidden traitor board games.
A sub-category of campaign board games, with players following a series of connected scenarios, where the actions and outcome of one scenario will usually affect the next. However, in legacy board games, a player's choices and actions cause permanent, often physical, changes to the game and its components, such as applying stickers to the board or tearing up cards, thus providing a one-time experience.
Explicitly require players to use mathematical knowledge and concepts to achieve game objectives, thereby testing each player's number skills. These games combine mathematical skills, such as calculations, with regular game structures, such as sources of randomness.
Often require players to navigate a series of complex pathways that are located on the game board. This type of board game tests a player's spatial awareness and problem-solving skills, often while adding in design elements from other types of board games.
Players must persuade fellow players to make deals and alliances or even offer bribes to get ahead in the game. The only exceptions to this are often Euro games, which have stringent resource management rules.
Encourage social interaction. They are designed for larger groups of players with the aim of fostering social interaction amongst players, thus combining humour, creativity, and social interaction.
Invite you to take ever bigger risks to achieve increasingly valuable rewards against the risk of significant loss. These board games are also called press-your-luck board games.
Each player has the goal of being the player to finish first, either by moving all their pieces to the final destination or completing an objective, e.g., the first player to collect five gems. This also includes games where the objective is to be the first to reach a checkpoint by navigation or steering around obstacles, usually by having greater speed or control than your opponents. The basic requirement is that race mechanics be an operative mechanism; however, racing is not required to be part of the board game's theme.
Players assume a fictional character identity to participate in the game and its narrative. These games combine the character development and narrative of classic role-playing games with the mechanics of a board game.
Have time limitations, usually playing against a timer, necessitating quick decision-making under pressure. In some real-time games, players take their turns simultaneously, creating a fast-paced, chaotic environment.
The aim is to achieve objectives and gain an advantage through players acquiring, using, and managing a set of resources, which can be anything from physical materials, currency, and points to abstract concepts like time or influence.
Players roll dice and decide how to use the outcome, writing it into a personal scoring sheet. Each decision impacts a player's options for the rest of the game, so even in games where everyone uses the same dice, slightly different choices at the start can lead to very different results. Some games replace dice rolls with card exposure or the writing with miniature-based roll-and-build.
One or more players have a secret that the rest of the players need to figure out. Often, players are secretly assigned roles known only to them and must achieve their own objectives, commonly either establishing the odd one out or hiding the fact that they are the odd one out. These board games generally involve deceit, bluffing, and accusations.
The objective is for players to line up their pieces to complete predetermined array targets. Space board games fall into one of the following sub-categories:
Alignment board games
The goal of an alignment board game is to create a line of tokens of a prescribed length.
Configuration board games
The goal of a configuration board game is to create a line of tokens of a prescribed length in a particular order.
There is a focus on narrative and description that is directed or fully created by the players. This can be an overarching story lasting the whole game, or across a campaign of multiple sessions, read from pre-written passages, or a sequence of vignettes tasking players with inventing and describing something. Story-telling board games often test a player's creativity, improvisation, and sometimes acting skills.
Players establish or gain control over a specific area. These games often use area majority mechanics, also known as influence or enclosure mechanics, where areas are created as the game progresses.
Any game whose core mechanics involve one player who is playing against all the other players right from the start, or at least changes their allegiance, usually pledging it to the dark side. These board games are also known as hunt or one vs many board games.
Involve the competitive use of language, testing each player's vocabulary, creative thinking skills, spelling, or ability to quickly come up with words, phrases, or sentences.
Actions are taken by assigning worker tokens, from a player's allocated allotment, on designated game board spaces, which trigger specific actions, like collecting resources or completing tasks. Such board games are more commonly Euro-style board games, which concentrate on player interaction. Actions one player has taken often can not be taken by or come with a cost for other players.
Strategy-based board games with a war theme. Their mechanics are also closely tied to simulate battles, either fictional or historical, within differing settings, e.g., Napoleonic Wars, World War II, or even Mars. Players pit armies against each other, represented by collections of miniatures or tokens on a map, with a grid or actual measured distances for movement. Players are required to eliminate the opponent's figures or achieve objectives to win, with combat usually dictated by dice rolls or card play. This type of game has three subcategories:
Tactical
Tactical wargame board games depict a skirmish, battle, or series of battles, using smaller-scale units and maps that depict a battleground that is a few miles or less in size.
Operational
Operational wargame board games cover a broader scope of military actions, greater than single battles. These may cover an entire smaller war, or a series of operations, or even a campaign within a greater war.
Strategic
Strategic wargame board games usually recreate a major war on a large scale. Typically, units in such a game will be corps or army level; however, in the monster wargame, divisions and even smaller units can be depicted.
Parlett also distinguishes between abstract and thematic games, the latter having a specific genre or frame narrative, for example, regular chess versus Star Wars-themed chess.[124][60] The board games often have themes that emulate concepts in real-life situations or fictional scenarios, but can also have no evident theme.[176]
Such games have come under criticism, usually when trending thematic concepts, such as those based on popular television show licenses, have been used to supplement deficiencies in the game mechanics. When discussing this practice, Edwards wrote, "A bad game, however, remains a bad game even if it has been themed to a favorite television show."[56]:11 Parlett went so far as to describe these promotional and television spin-off games as being "of an essentially trivial, ephemeral, mind-numbing, and ultimately soul-destroying degree of worthlessness".[126]:7
The prominent themes found in board games of the Golden Era included: travel, sports, courtship, racism, city life, war, education and capitalist enterprise".[33] Common modern thematic game categories include:
Thematic categorization of board games
Board game genres
Description
Examples
Ref
Adventure
An adventure-themed board game has themes of heroism, exploration, and puzzle-solving, often involving the game characters in quests. The storylines for these types of games often make them fantasy board games.
An abstract strategy game is a game where player decisions, rather than random elements, determine the outcome. These games are combinatorial, meaning they provide perfect information rather than hidden or imperfect information, and rely on neither physical dexterity nor non-deterministic elements like shuffled cards or dice rolls during gameplay. Nearly all abstract strategy games are designed for two players or teams taking a finite number of alternating turns. Most games in this category are themeless or have minimal themes and typically lack narrative elements.
Animal-themed games involve animals as a major component of the theme or gameplay, often requiring players to attend to their management or control. Players can even be required to take on the role of animals in the game.
Arabian-themed board games are generally fantasy or adventure games that are set in, or inspired by, locations on the Arabian Peninsula of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, or North/East Africa, including themes and imagery such as deserts, palaces, camels, jewels, and oases, etc.
Civil war-themed board games have storylines concerning a violent battle for government control between two more groups from the same country. The majority of Civil War games are also categorized as wargame board games.
A fantasy-themed board game is one whose themes and scenarios exist in a fictional world, where magic and other supernatural forms are a primary element of the plot, theme, or setting.
Industry / manufacturing-themed games encourage players to build, manage, or operate tools and machinery to manufacture raw materials into goods and products. Many industry / manufacturing-themed games are economic games.
A historical simulation board game is a game that attempts to create a realistic model of a historical event, battle, or encounter. The game uses rules and other ludic elements to construct meaning about the event, and players can use these elements to interpret the game in specific ways. Common periods of history which have provided themes for board games include:
A horror-themed game contains themes and imagery depicting morbid topics that are associated with fear, terror, or dread, often also including supernatural elements.
Medical-themed board games often can have elements of surgery, cures, recovery/recuperation/physical therapy, psychiatry, pharmaceutical prescription, and other medicine-related matters.
Murder mystery-themed board games are board games that often involve deduction or social deduction board games, where players investigate an unsolved murder, or murders, determining the criminal details or perpetrators.
Mythology-themed board games are those that incorporate a thematic narrative that defines how the game world or characters came into existence, especially those related or based on narratives of ancient civilizations. The storylines usually include supernatural elements, e.g., gods, goddesses, and demigods, and are sometimes even set in a fabled or primordial time, which usually corresponds to a general corpus of folk stories (myths) that used to have some form of religious or sacred nature for the cultures focused on in the game.
Nautical-themed board games involve sailors, ships, or maritime navigation as a major component of the theme or gameplay, often requiring players to effectively control ships as an objective.
A pirate-themed game has characters, themes, or storylines of nautical robbery or criminal violence, including treasure hunting, sea robbery, swords and cannons, swashbuckling, and ship racing, etc. Pirate board games are usually thematically set between the 14th and 20th centuries.
Religious-themed games feature elements of their narrative, setting, or characters that relate to current belief systems or religions of the world, either in their historical aspect and development through time, or their actual objects of faith, like sacred scriptures and articles of doctrine.
Science fiction-themed board games often have themes relating to imagined possibilities in the sciences. Such games need not be futuristic, or they can be based on an alternative past.
Space exploration-themed board games have storylines relating to travel and adventure in outer space. Often, players must seek and gather resources and territories as objectives of the game. These board games are also simply called Space games.
A spies / secret agents-themed board games often have themes or storylines relating to espionage. A common premise is that players must identify another player who has taken the role of spy or secret agent, in an attempt to reveal that player's allotted information. Since many Spies / Secret Agents-themed board games have an element of hidden information, they are often also categorized as bluffing or deduction board games.
Sports-themed board games have themes or storylines related to the physical activity of sports, including football and racing (whether car, boat, bicycle, or horse), etc.
Train board games are those concerned with building and managing railway routes. They often combine elements from many other game types, requiring the use of strategy, planning, and economic skills to gain an advantage over other players.
Travel-themed board games are travel-themed board games where the objective is to move to and from different geographic locations. Travel games usually employ a map as the main feature of the game board.
Zombie-themed board games often contain themes and imagery concerning the animated dead, including common storylines, themes of an apocalypse, horror, and fighting. These games are a thematic sub-category of Horror-themed board games.
Book board games are those where a book is a major operative component, and can be separated into two types:
Supplement
A book is used as a repository for game designs and rules, which are applied to common gaming equipment, i.e., a checkered board, paper and pencil, cards, dominoes, dice, etc. Narrative
A book is a board game's operative mechanism, involving storytelling, dice rolling, or a "multiple-choice paragraph system".
Card board games are those where cards are the sole or central mechanism of the game. There are two types:
Stand-alone
In stand-alone card board games, all the cards necessary for gameplay are purchased at once. Collectible
In collectible card board games, players purchase either "starter" or "booster" card packs to compile an increasingly more powerful deck with which to compete.
Electronic board games are those that have an electronic apparatus as the central component of the game, such as circuitry or sometimes simple computers. Electronic board games differ from both; electrified games, such as Operation, which contain no circuitry, and those games requiring a website or app to be played.
Miniatures board games are board games that use detailed miniature models to represent characters or units. Games of this type use miniatures as part of their game mechanics, combining tactics and strategy with collecting and artistry. Of all board game types, miniature games can be some of the most complex to produce, and time-consuming for players, who often are required to paint the models.
A tile-based board game uses small tiles as playing pieces or to create the board. These board games are also called "tile placement" or "tile-laying" board games.
The recommended age range of a board game's target player market impacts the categorization of that board game:
Board game categorization by age range
Board game audience
Description
Examples
Ref
Adult / mature
Adult and mature board games are those designed exclusively for grown-up players. Compared to family or children's games, adult / mature board games usually involve mature subject matter, including violence, mystery, or sexual humour, etc.
Children's board games are designed for kids and are usually straightforward enough for very young children to learn in a short period of time, having bright colors and fun and engaging settings.
Board games can be characterised by the number of players they are designed for. Board games can be; solitaire puzzle games, where a player's performance is assessed against a specified target; or multiplayer games such as competitive games, where a comparison is made between two or more players' achievements, or Cooperative board game where players all players win or lose as a team:
An expansion of the base board game is a set of additional components and rules for expanding on an original base game. An "expansion" requires the base game to play.
Fan expansion board games are non-commercial enhancements made by people other than a base game's designers or publishers. These are also called "unofficial" board games.
Print-and-play board games are those not published in a physical form but are those that require the players to download, print, and construct the game. Often, these games are downloaded electronically as a PDF file.
Travel versions of board games that are more amenable to packing and carrying while traveling have smaller game components to make them more compact, and simplified rules to make them quicker to play.
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