(n): any specific behavior
(n): a single play of a sport or other contest
(n): an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants
(n): an amusement or pastime
(n): an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
(n): animal hunted for food or sport
(n): a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
(n): (tennis) a division of play during which one player serves
(n): one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole
(n): (games) the score at a particular point or the score needed to win
(n): a number that expresses the accomplishment of a team or an individual in a game or contest
(n): the flesh of wild animals that is used for food
(n): the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food
(n): a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)
(n): an elaborate and systematic plan of action
(n): the game equipment needed in order to play a particular game
(n): equipment or apparatus used in playing a game
(n): your occupation or line of work
(n): the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
(n): frivolous or trifling behavior
(n): gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement
(adj): disabled in the feet or legs
(adj): vs. fit) -- (not in good physical or mental condition; out of condition
(adj): willing to face danger
(adj): vs. cowardly), courageous -- (possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching
(v): place a bet on
(v): stake on the outcome of an issue
I do go to that site from time to time--and it was completely addictive for the first few days. (Can addictions wear off that quickly?) Thanks for the reminder, frindley!
As seen on the Wordie blog, in fact, so maybe your plea won't be all that effective. Or then again it might be the reminder that sends us all scurrying back there...
A simple online game that could keep a wordie amused for hours, and which might be a good deal more interesting if more wordies were playing it. Check out Human Brain Cloud here:
http://www.humanbraincloud.com/
There is also "Ender's Game", a much-lauded science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card.
The Game is also a wonderful book by Diana Wynne Jones.
My son recently told me about a game that he and his friends call "The Game." The only rule is that if you think about the game, you lose. You're supposed to say "Oh crap" (or something appropriately similar depending on your surroundings) when this occurs, and everyone is on the honor system.
The same question has bothered me as I've cheated my way to victory on various simulation games - or, as a child, at patience.
I think it just reverts to definition #1 above, a pastime.
I have a large collection of computer games that I play regularly, (the PC variety not the shiny expensive console variety) but there has always been a certain aspect of "gaming" that has bothered me.
Dictionary.com describes a game as 1."An amusement or pastime". or 2. "A competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators".
In computer games it is an accepted practice that when you get "stuck" you can cheat your way out of your situation if you know the proper arcane commands. Game developers build cheat codes into the game to give it's players the ability to "play God", for example, and take no damage, such as from a hail of bullets that would otherwise call up the "you have died" screen.
If I define a PC game as in the second definition above (because they do have rules and involve skill) and take away the elements of skill and chance by cheating, am I still playing a "game"? What do you call a game that is not a game?