Games are an organized form of recreational play, most commonly undertaken for fun or entertainment, and at times used as an educational resource. Games are different from work, which often is undertaken for remuneration; and from literature, which is typically an expression of personal or artistic sentiments. In work, people use their brains in order to produce solutions to problems that appear to be insoluble by means of a mere application of the physical tools. On the other hand, people play because they like to do so, and they do it in order to derive mental satisfaction and, possibly, happiness. As a result, games are structured by rules and can be divided into discrete groups or “arcs”.
We can list the main categories of GAMES: games involving action (war, sports), computer games, puzzles, word-power and memory games, as well as business games. A puzzle is a problem that is solved by manipulation of the available pieces (a.k.a. logic boards). The main idea behind these puzzles is to solve the riddle by picking out the appropriate pieces, discarding those that do not fit the requirements, and putting together a reasonable arrangement. A logic puzzle is also a game of logic, and simulates or tries to simulate outside reality.
A game like Monopoly is well-known, although many players consider it a children’s game. It involves buying properties and then laying down various pieces, often using banks, to build up property. When the properties are developed, they can be sold for a profit. There are many different versions of Monopoly, the most famous being the ninety-minute game played on television. Other versions include versions played on computer.
Another way of categorizing games is by their strategy element. The strategy element of a board game can be divided into two main categories: management and planning. Management focuses on laying strategic plans for the whole game and planning is used to achieve this. In planning, players take into consideration what each piece will contribute to the whole, taking into account other aspects as well. Some examples of management games are: Chess, Risk, Candy Land, and Scrabble.
Planning, when done well, can be an intricate and careful process, requiring players to think ahead and carefully consider each decision they make. The best strategy games, such as chess and Risk, involve some kind of physical skill: players must visualize the next move of every piece on the board, or they risk losing their entire strategy (since even the best chess players are prone to making sub-optimal moves, due to their reliance on their mental processes). Others, such as Candy Land and Scrabble, do not require physical skill; the objective is to get as many points as possible, without necessarily increasing the likelihood of losing one’s entire strategy or discarding any valuable tokens.
Some lawn games, such as Cactus Garden and Farm Town, allow players to rotate their pieces around the board, rather than physically moving them around the yard, like in many classic board games. Such rotationally mobile pieces allow players to build up their farm, harvest their crops, etc., without having to move their lawnmowers or watering cans around each time they play the game. This is an important consideration when choosing a game with lawn games; it may be a good idea to avoid games that require physical skill in order to win, unless the objective requires it.