Mankind has been engaging in games of chance for thousands of years, and the love for such diversions shows no sign of diminishing. Not only are these pastimes an excellent way to bond with other individuals and have some fun, but they can also be profitable under the right circumstances.
This site is devoted to any game where the outcome isn’t predetermined, whether it involves a board, dice, or state-of-the-art computer. Some of the games will sound familiar, while you’ll be exposed to others for the first time. But regardless of whether you’ve heard of them or not, I suggest picking out a few favorites, learning the rules, and giving them a try.
What Defines a Game of Chance?
A game of chance is defined as any game where a randomizing element plays a large role in the outcome. This could be as simple as choosing heads or tails, or it might involve rolling dice, picking a card, or moving left instead of right. Skill can still play a large part in such games, although a certain unpredictable variable will always exist.
Game of Chance Categories
Games of chance fall into numerous categories. While others may exist, the following are the most common types:
Arcade Games — While console games are predominant in most nations outside of Japan, arcade games were once the primary form of entertainment for players obsessed with video gaming. From the 1980s to the early ’90s, arcade games could be found in most malls and restaurants. The all-time most popular titles include Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Street Fighter II, and Defender.
Board Games — The primary component for this category is a board, although dice and playing pieces are also common. Notable examples include Monopoly, backgammon, Risk, and Trivial Pursuit. Board games have been discovered dating back to 3500 B.C., which is a testament to their enduring popularity.
Card Games — A 52-card deck is the most common, although special decks can also be purchased near the toy section of any major retail chain. Poker and blackjack are common examples of card games where money is placed on the line (and they also fall into the gambling category), while other examples include Magic: The Gathering, spades, and old maid.
Computer Games — Instead of being generated by a console such as Nintendo or PlayStation, these games are played directly on a Mac or PC. The quality and complexity of these games range from basic to advanced, with superior computing power giving them an edge over console games. Popular games over the years have included The Sims, Diablo III, Half-Life, and Myst.
Console Games — A video game system generates the images, which are then displayed on a television screen. Console games have enjoyed improved graphics and greater popularity over the last several decades, and the leading companies include Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Dice Games — One or more dice are a cornerstone of these games. They have been played for thousands of years, and current favorites include Yahtzee, craps, and poker dice. Since roleplaying and board games frequently use dice, you can expect some products to fall into multiple categories.
Drinking Games — Played in pubs and at keg parties, the objective of these games is often to provide participants with a legitimate excuse to drink more alcohol. While some drinking games emphasize speed or skill, others such as Mexico and Ring of Fire have a more random component.
Gambling Games — This category includes all games where money is wagered by the player in the hopes of receiving a larger payout, whether inside or outside of a casino. Examples include sports betting, keno, the lottery, bingo, and slot machines.
Miniature Games — Often associated with miniature wargaming, this category includes games where tiny figures are used to represent opposing armies. Elaborate gaming surfaces often mimic battlefields and towns, while players spend countless hours painting figures. Popular products include Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Flames of War, and Space Marines.
Mobile Games — If a game is available on a mobile phone or tablet computer, then it falls into this category. Thousands of apps are now designed to entertain consumers, with some of the more popular options being Plants vs. Zombies and Fruit Ninja. This category can also apply to handheld video games such as those created for the Game Boy or PlayStation Portable.
Pencil-and-paper Games — If you’re looking for a game that only requires pencil and paper, then you’ve come to the right category. Games of chance under this heading include Battleships and Hangman.
Roleplaying Games — First popularized by Dungeons & Dragons, roleplaying games allow a player to take on the role of a character and engage in adventures in all manner of settings. Much of the game plays out like theatre, while the success of combat and skills are often determined by rolling dice. Notable examples include D&D, Pathfinder, Traveler, Mutants & Masterminds, Call of Cthulhu, and Rifts.
Tile-based Games — Tiles are used as one of the main elements of play, whether they make up the board or comprise the playing pieces. Examples include dominoes, mahjong, and Scrabble.
Travel Games — Also known as “car games,” these games are meant to pass the time on long trips. They are often simple and require no playing pieces, although travel editions of many popular board games are also on the market. Playing a travel game is often as simple as counting animals or predicting the color of the next car to be passed on the highway.
Games of chance support the human need for competition, as well as the desire to flirt with uncertainty. The market for such games certainly supports this claim, as millions of copies are sold each year. Factor in non-commercial versions such as those enjoyed at casinos and keg parties, and the conclusion becomes clear: Games with an element of randomness are here to stay.
Game of Chance Venues
Where can you play games of chance? You begin at home. Take a pencil and throw it up in the air so that it spins. Can you catch the pencil by the end with the eraser? That is a simple game of chance. Unless you have Superman’s powers you cannot tell when the best time to grab the pencil out of the air will be. At best you may be able to tell by early feel if you have to allow the pencil to slide down your hand before you grip it. But for most of us it’s all random chance.
You can play games of chance in formal venues like arcades, casinos, at race tracks, and even in bars and restaurants. But the Internet has really changed the way we play games. You can play card games, board games, and betting games online all day long. In the early days of interactive computing programmers would often design simple 2-player games like Chess and Checkers. They passed the time on their breaks by playing these simple games.
And now to make things even more random some online gaming venues may allow you to play with “free money” (or not real money) or they may allow you to play with gift certificates or alternative forms of money like bitcoin. So, for example, you can play free online slots or play in an online bitcoin casino. You can also join a gaming community like Steam where you buy games to play online against other players.
And we can still buy cheap CDs in stores that allow us to install hundreds of games on our computers, games like Mah Jong and Chess. These gaming CDs turn our computers into personal gaming venues.
You can walk into almost any convenience store or gas station in North America and buy lottery tickets or scratch off cards, and determine right away if you have won some games. Any store that sells these kinds of tickets is a gaming venue.
You just need to stretch your imagination a little bit to understand that we have expanded our ideas of formal game play well beyond the ancient venues near Mount Olympus.