Games are a systematic form of artistic play, normally undertaken for fun or entertainment, and occasionally used as a teaching tool. Games are quite different from work, which generally are performed for profit, and from fine art, which frequently are an expression of philosophical or aesthetic elements. While games are structured and often follow a particular theme, they are often loosely constructed, with a variety of possible outcomes depending upon the players’ actions. However, even when games are used in classrooms, it is still important that the players’ characters are developed to some degree, both in-game and out.
One of the main characteristics of any board game is that it should have a certain number of possible outcomes, both to accommodate the players and to provide for a sense of challenge and excitement. In video games however, the number of outcomes can be vastly increased by the addition of randomly-generated elements, such as digital bombs and power ups. In a game like chess, for example, a possible outcome can be whichever group of squares gets the most power ups. This outcome is dependent on the strategy used by each player, which must be carefully considered before every move is made. For this reason, in many cases, the outcome of a game may well depend upon a player’s ability to think carefully and rationally, even if the moves are random.
Card games also feature a large number of possible outcomes, depending on how the cards are laid out. The main article in this series focuses on the similarities and differences between a game of Texas Hold’em and that of poker, focusing on a particular variant that involves betting. Both games use a system of “receiving and betting”, where players may stake money against each other, with the goal being to get the highest total bet from the table. Each player starts the game with a fixed amount of money, called the “buy in”, which represents the starting hand, or “pot”, in Texas Hold’em. Beyond the buy in, players may place any number of cards into the pot, up to a maximum specified by the rules.
One main similarity between these two card games is the way that you get your cards dealt. In Texas Hold’em, players get three cards face down and are dealt five cards each. Players may then make a single, legal bet, called the “lay” or “raise”. Once the law has been made, the player who raised the most hands (ignoring their opponents’ bets) gets to take his money and place it in the pot. Similarly, in poker, when you have been dealt five cards and are required to make a bet, you take out a single card from your deck, called your “action”, and place it in the pot.
Like many other abstract games, Texas Hold’em and chess both feature certain types of “positives”. In Hold’em, for example, a winning hand typically involves getting the highest total chips when you fold. Likewise, the main category of winning strategies in chess involves creating “positives” by having the most series of tournament games and grand slams. While the relative popularity of these two Abstract Board Games might be primarily attributable to their status as favorite games by people playing on the Internet, there is another underlying factor.
Both Texas Hold’em and chess feature sets of numbered, representing the various pieces on the board, called “tokens”. The primary difference between these two main categories of board games use of tokens is that in Hold’em, players use more tokens to win the game; whereas in chess, the lesser number of tokens used actually determine how many player’s moves are possible per turn. If the game involves fewer players, the less number of tokens a player uses, the higher the possible moves that player can make. To this end, the primary objective of Texas Hold’em and chess is to see who will make the most “tokens” and “actions” during their turn.