Game Studies Define Thematic Categories
Games can have many types of materials to play with. There are those made out of plastic or paper, while others are more like video games. Some types of games use only one type of material while others use several. There are even some that are made out of wood or cloth.
There are other types of games with many different types of materials as well. For instance, in computer games, individuals will often use either their keyboard or controllers to play what occurs on a monitor, like a television screen and monitors as well. In card games, players also use playing cards. Many would not be able to define these types of games as being anything other than a type of interactive art. But when you get down to the basics, card games can actually be very simple and they can also have very complex rules.
In computer games, the next level of complexity is often beyond what can be thought of by mere mortals. That’s where board games enter the picture. If we look at board games as a whole, we can further refine our definition. A game board can contain a great number of different pieces, perhaps even hundreds of them. Pieces on the board may represent actual people, places, events, or other things we think might occur in real life.
Computer game manufacturers are constantly working to create games with more interactivity and more complex rules, and it is likely that the future of gaming will feature more board game definitions. Perhaps one day we will look back at our old games with new eyes, thanks to the incredibly rich and deep sets of rules and models that have been created for modern gamers to enjoy. The future of gaming may very well feature board games. The next time you play a game, consider checking out the definition.
Many board games have become very popular over the years, and many of these board games have developed several different kinds of expansions. expansions are essentially additional sets of cards, pieces, dice, and other components that allow players to expand the board game in ways they would like. Some expansions to board games have been very innovative, while others have been traditional. There have been expansions for everything from Monopoly to Risk, and there is a good chance that more expansions will be created for video games as well.
Some board games get their definitions from famous board games such as Chess and Checkers, while others get their definitions from famous movie and TV shows. We will look at some of the board game definitions from both sources. One of the most popular television programs in recent years is Lost, and Lost has several expansions. The board game definition for that game refers to one of the characters on the show using a “Queen” for protection. This is a fairly common definition, but it is easy to see how a popular TV program can influence board game definitions.
A more specific definition of these things can be found in videogames. Video games have evolved dramatically over the last ten years, and much of that evolution is due to the increasing popularity of streaming video. Streaming video is a fancy way for saying that games can be played on a computer through the Internet, rather than being played on a console or gaming system. Some of the biggest players in the streaming video market today are Netflix, which has hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows, and YouTube, which has hundreds of educational and entertaining videos. A game scholar may want to look at these two sources, along with secondary sources like Wikipedia and crowdsourcing, when attempting to define a given game. Game studies scholars should definitely study the ever-changing face of videogames as well!