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A game is a structured type of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).

Games are sometimes played purely for enjoyment, sometimes for achievement or reward as well. They can be played alone, in teams, or online; by amateurs or by professionals. The players may have an audience of non-players, such as when people are entertained by watching a chess championship. On the other hand, players in a game may constitute their own audience as they take their turn to play. Often, part of the entertainment for children playing a game is deciding who is part of their audience and who is a player. A toy and a game are not the same. Toys generally allow for unrestricted play whereas games present rules for the player to follow.

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role. (Full article...)

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David Lance Arneson (/ˈɑːrnɪsən/; October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's early work was fundamental to the role-playing game (RPG) genre, pioneering devices now considered to be archetypical, such as cooperative play to develop a storyline instead of individual competitive play to "win" and adventuring in dungeon, town, and wilderness settings as presented by a neutral judge who doubles as the voice and consciousness of all characters aside from the player characters.

Arneson discovered wargaming as a teenager in the 1960s, and he began combining these games with the concept of role-playing. He was a University of Minnesota student when he met Gygax at the Gen Con gaming convention in the late 1960s. In 1971, Arneson created the game and fictional world that became Blackmoor, writing his own rules and basing the setting on medieval fantasy elements. Arneson took the game to Gygax as the representative for game publisher Guidon Games, and the pair co-developed a set of rules that became Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Gygax subsequently founded TSR, Inc. to publish the game in 1974. (Full article...)

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...that the virtual economy of massively multiplayer online games sometimes attracts virtual crime, which is punishable by real laws in some countries?
...that since 1998 All Nippon Airways has operated Pokémon Jets (pictured)?
...that the World Chess Hall of Fame originally used cardboard plaques to honor past grandmasters, and was located in the basement of a New Windsor, New York, building?
...that the Japanese role-playing game Night Wizard! was adapted into an animated television series consisting of thirteen episodes?
...that a 2009 Pennsylvania court case ruled that poker is a game of skill, thus not subject to the state laws related to gambling?

General images

The following are images from various game-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Card Players, 17th-century painting by Theodoor Rombouts (from Card game)
Image 2Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of damah (from Board game)
Image 3Senet, one of the oldest known board games (from Board game)
Image 4Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. (from Game)
Image 5Ancient Egyptian senet game board inscribed for Amenhotep III with separate sliding drawer, from 1390 to 1353 BC, made of glazed faience, dimensions: 5.5 × 7.7 × 21 cm, in the Brooklyn Museum (New York City). (from Game)
Image 6The board game Monopoly is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages. (from Board game)
Image 7Students using dice to improve numeracy skills. They roll three dice, then use basic math operations to combine those into a new number which they cover on the board. The goal is to cover four squares in the row. (from Game)
Image 8A group playing a tabletop RPG. The GM is at left using a cardboard screen to hide dice rolls from the players. (from Role-playing game)
Image 9The Mansion of Happiness (1843) (from Board game)
Image 10Typical MUD interface for God Wars II (from Role-playing game)
Image 11Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board (from Board game)
Image 12A selection of pieces from different games. From top: Chess pawns, marbles, Monopoly tokens, dominoes, Monopoly hotels, jacks and checkers pieces. (from Game)
Image 13Preferans, a trick-taking card game version popular in Croatia (from Card game)
Image 14The number of board games published by year (1944–2017), as listed on BoardGameGeek. Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange. (from Board game)
Image 15Young girls playing a board game in the Iisalmi library in Finland, 2016 (from Board game)
Image 16A fantasy LARP group (from Role-playing game)
Image 17The modern German board game Catan is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009. (from Board game)
Image 18Historically, card games such as whist and contract bridge were opportunities for quiet socializing, as shown in this 1930s magic lantern slide photo taken in Seattle, Washington. (from Card game)
Image 19Association football is a popular sport worldwide.
Image 20 Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript (from Board game)
Image 21A ball-in-a-maze puzzle requires fine motor skills. (from Game of skill)
Image 22Royal game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600–2400 BCE (from Board game)
Image 23Mamluk playing card (king of cups), c.15th century (from Card game)
Image 24The Card Players by Lucas van Leyden (1520) depicting a multiplayer card game (from Game)
Image 25Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano (from Board game)
Image 26Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty) (from Board game)
Image 27An adventurer finds a teleportation portal while exploring a dungeon in the role-playing video game Falcon's Eye. (from Role-playing game)
Image 28Backgammon is a game of skill. Strategy can give players advantages, but there is also an element of chance. (from Game of skill)
Image 29Parcheesi is an American adaptation of a Pachisi, originating in India. (from Game)
Image 30Playing Cards, by Theodoor Rombouts, 17th century (from Game)
Image 31Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)