Andrew Losowsky

Game on

08 January 2005. 1 comment. Inspired by .

Like everyone else in Britain, I've become fascinated by darts. For the last week or more, it's been filling BBC2 with repetitive and yet oh-so-watchable coverage.

As with most sports, there's something wonderful about watching human endeavour turn itself into statistics, the numbers now stored, kept and constantly reinterpreted, the averages and percentages merely hinting at the individual stories of human endeavour that brought them about.

There's also something very hypnotic about the thud of metal hitting felt.

More than that, it got me thinking about the playing of darts. It's one of those sports/leisure activities (argue with the UK sports funding bodies on that one) where, if your opponent is playing better than you, there is absolutely nothing you can do.

In some sports, the best man/team does not always win. In darts, as in some other sports and games, there's no question that they always do.

What else, I pondered, fits into that category? And how many categories of game are there? I've had a stab at this below, including all manner of activities that sprang to mind. Their only criterion is that they all must involve an element of winning/losing.

These things have probably been observed and categorised much more accurately by academics (studying game theory, natch). But rather than actually do any research, I thought I'd have a go myself.

Some games shift from one category to another at predetermined points. At such moments, the excitement level both for players and spectators seems to leap as well.

Also, it's amusing to see how many simulations of games actually are in different categories from what they purport to emulate, eg. Subbuteo, Scalextric, etc.

Feel free to add any additions or clarifications in the comments.

Solo Gaming

Patience
Solitaire
Puzzles, eg. crossword, word search
Gambling - on horses, roulette, craps, etc.
Speak n spell
Bull fighting
Domino rally
Tamagotchi
Myst
One-player Tetris

Solo Action Competitive Gaming - where psychology and the match situation can influence your opponent, but your actual actions cannot directly affect their ability to win

Darts
Golf
Coin football (ask a passing schoolboy)
Jacks (do they even still exist?)
Skipping
Athletics (except overtaking on long distance events - see Racing)
Archery
Swimming
Weight-lifting
Winter sports (except Curling and that crazy new sport where snowboarders can push each other over)
Competitive water-skiing, surfing
Freediving (or, as children have it, holding your breath as long as possible)
Rowing
Gymnastics
Equestrian
Shooting
Snakes and Ladders
Yahtzee
Jenga
*Cluedo
*Two-player Tetris
Ten-pin bowling
Mastermind (the board game)
Trivial Pursuit and other knowledge-based gaming
Scalextric
Top Trumps
Tiddliwinks
Pictionary
Poker
Dance Dance Revolution
Motor racing qualifying
World Rally Championships
Speed cycling
Racing without opponent pressure, on bikes, boats, long distance athletic events with no lanes, etc. (when overtaking is attempted, it becomes ConCG)

NB. Some SACG games also contain moments of SARG, which allow you to change your opponent's state of play. Cluedo, for instance, lets you pick up your opponent's piece and move it to another room. In two-player Tetris on the Game Boy, when you achieved a Tetris, or a line of four, your opponent's wall would leap up by four levels. Until the next moment when these occur, SACG play then resumes.

Solo Action Response Gaming - or Turn-based gaming, where your actions can directly affect your opponent's next move. The turns can be incredibly quick, such as bowling/pitching in cricket and baseball. But in the rules of all of these sports, moments are strictly defined regarding when one team can do something and the other must wait their turn.

Pool
Snooker
Chess
Conkers
Most drinking games
Air Hockey
Draughts
Subbuteo
Croquet
Go
Bowls
Curling
Volleyball
Netball
Management simulation games
Racket sports except lacrosse
*Baseball (with the exception of running for bases)
*Cricket (with the exception of stumpings, run-outs and obstructing the field)
Scrabble
Dominoes
Monopoly
Final Fantasy
Bridge

* The exceptions given for baseball and cricket are the moments where both teams are competing concurrently.

Concurrent Competitive Gaming - constant play by all participants, with well-defined teams

All forms of football (Rugby, American, Association, Aussie Rules, Gaelic, etc)
Handball
Tig (or tag, depending on where you're from)
All forms of fighting (Boxing, fencing, karate, judo, wrestling, sumo, etc)
Hockey and ice hockey
Polo
Lacrosse
Basketball (except free throws, which are SACG)
FPS videogames
Uno
Ultimate Frisbee
Kabaddi

Co-operative Gaming - where you work with others without a similar opponent

ARGs
Keepie-up in a group
Frisbee throwing
Free Jumping
Cat's cradle (ask a passing schoolgirl)
Fox hunting

Construction Gaming - where you build either independently or with others, sometimes competing but usually only if you choose to

Barcode Battler
Pokémon, Digimon, etc
Online worlds such as The Sims Online, MMORPGs, etc.

(ends)