Games are one of the best ways to relax and unwind. A game is a carefully structured form of recreational play, normally undertaken for amusement or social pleasure, and occasionally used as a teaching tool. Games are very different from work, which generally are carried out for profit, and from literature, which are often more of an expressive expression of cultural or artistic impressions. In this article, we will look at a few popular games that can be played at home and enjoyed by all the family.
Chris Crawford’s parents’ decision to leave him (at the age of six) home alone for eight months in order to help support them during the war led the young Chris to develop an interest in games. He began playing computer games, building up a library of over one thousand five hundred games by the time he was thirteen. He graduated from computer science college in Christchurch in nineteen eight and today carries on his lifelong passion for computer games.
An otherwise unremarkable game, tetris was transformed by the arrival of the famous computer game designer. Tennis was first released as the ‘isons’ game in a New Zealand magazine in 1981. Inspired by the ancient Chinese game called Chuanzhong, it featured a simple cube divided into sixteen sections, whose edges were numbered. Each section was subdivided into two further sections, making a total of sixteen blocks. When these were disassembled, each section contained three points, which led to the ‘level’ of the game, and the player was encouraged to fill the squares with the correct number of pieces, to prevent their removal by the other team.
Computer game designers, inspired by this game, have developed many different variations on this theme, including tetris solitaire, pass’em poker, and the popular ‘bingo’. The player’s goal is not just to win the game but to complete all the levels within the time allowed. A single player version has also been programmed, where there are no other players, so that one must develop their own strategies to beat the clock. Computer game designers have also produced an enormous number of different family games, popular with children of all ages. Mario Brothers is probably the best known of these, but there are dozens more to choose from, ranging from simple word and number games, to complex strategy games involving countless pieces on the board.
Computer games can be single player and multi-player. A popular multi-player game is chess, with a variety of chess engines providing playing surfaces. Modern computer games have a range of different graphics, from 3D animated images, to backgrounds of all sorts. They can also include audio sounds, to give the whole experience a truly realistic feel. Computer games, used in educational settings, such as schools, have provided students with an invaluable tool, helping them learn concepts from the simplest facts, to advanced topics, without the help of a teacher.
GAMES ARE no longer just for kids. With the variety of different types of computer games available now, there is something for everyone. No matter what you are looking for, you should be able to find it. In fact, the internet provides with an almost limitless number of websites dedicated to computer games. This not only means a wider choice, but also a better chance of finding exactly what you are looking for. Online shopping makes the experience even easier, with numerous websites offering the ability to purchase computer games online, with the click of a button.