Games are often classified
by the components required to play them (e.g. a ball, cards,
a board and pieces or a computer). In places where the use
of leather is well established, the ball has been a popular
game piece throughout recorded history, resulting in a worldwide
popularity of ball games such as rugby, basketball, football,
cricket, tennis and volleyball. Other tools are more idiosyncratic
to a certain region. Many countries in Europe, for instance,
have unique standard decks of playing cards. Other games such
as chess may be traced primarily through the development and
evolution of its game pieces.
Many game tools are tokens, meant to represent
other things. A token may be a pawn on a board, play money,
or an intangible item such as a point scored. Games such as
hide-and-seek or tag do not utilise any obvious tool. Rather
its interactivity is defined by the environment. Games with
the same or similar rules may have different gameplay if the
environment is altered. For example, hide-and-seek in a school
building differs from the same game in a park; an auto race
can be radically different depending on the track or street
course, even with the same cars. |