As an intellectual person and loving of mastering games to challenge the mind, I had spent a great amount of time assessing a variety of games. Although solitary games could be spoken of here, they are mostly absent of ego-driven behavior that relates to other people and so although ego motivations are present, anger from possible frustrations would be related to the individual only, discounting projections of discomfort on innocent individuals.
On a personal note, my opinion is that games are most suitable for children for mental growth and tapering off into adulthood. If still wanting to play games as an adult with fair regularity, it would be wise to keep it in great perspective, balancing competitiveness and allowing for losses to not cause more than a brief let down. I know that I spent far too much time playing games, I attribute it most in pushing myself as if it's a competition I set of myself more than comparing to others though certainly the comparisons would be present and points towards ego elevation that I preach against. Some of the motivation for play was to keep busy and even trying to prove some worthiness that wasn’t garnished through respect or receiving money from a myriad of my contributions to life, both in direct job-related advancements and more generally in enlightening the world in showing that there are so many ways to make this life experience better. The more I write about living a respectful life, the more I am driven to live up to my words, and so in this area, I have actually given up playing of games. I can't say that I really miss playing as I experienced bad attitudes of other players, especially on-line, and some occasional cheating that I really can't handle even though I shouldn't let it affect me. I'll never forget playing in a chess tournament over 20 years ago and after beating a very strong player, I watched him post the results with him listed as the winner. I was really amazed at what I saw and decided I would allow it to stand, in trying to be strong about the situation, teaching myself a lesson about life in that such things shouldn't be cause for alarm and also hoping that the man would learn something as an after-thought of his actions. I say if we didn't have some specific foods to eat, there are plenty of other foods to choose from (hint on opening yourselves to vegetarianism!). And so relating this with competitive games, I say there's so much more we could do with our time, whether it be walking for exercise, gardening, or still doing other things that do not accomplish much yet without the stress that competitive games may and often bring. Please obtain a copy of the book God Gave You a Brain; Use It!" from Amazon.com that I sell for the lowest price possible as I make very clear I am not in it for the money but for wanting to have us all live in harmony. Go and see the two 50-page sites, Thoughtful Living Book Extras and Proposed Solutions that are free extra material for the book as well as other novel sites including but not limited to fair wages and house prices.
Games are definitely a form of entertainment but also can cause strife when there is lacking of maturity by the participants. In recognition of the problems arising from games of competition, there are certain attributes of games that are prone to causing problems that are evident in varying degrees and so a brief assessment of a few parlor games are conducted herein to offer as an aid for game selection. Because of the inherent problems with gambling in games, I specifically will assume no gambling is done:
Chess: Relatively concise, very little to exceptionally low degree of luck. Takes a very long time to master, usually years of intensive study – making the wrong first few moves can be devastating, techniques of piece structure and endgame are quite involved. Varying skill levels affect game outcome greatly. Because of the heavy reliance of skill, negative outcomes can be extremely disheartening, causing psychological discomfort. Each move requires, in many cases, deep thinking. Game length quick to very long. Hangover, ie retaining afterthoughts of what could have been done in a game to save from a loss can sometimes be manifested.
Scrabble: Language specific. Effective ability to play the game well requires minimal learning. Varying levels of skill affects outcome modestly as piece arrangement does not demand heavy study, however, the knowledge base of words that is apart from skill dramatically affects outcome. [To counter this I developed on a similar board, tiles having edges that must match other tiles and so players from different countries could play with ease - see: Language Non-specific Scrabble] Each move requires some thought, though usually not intensive. Game length is normally modestly long. Some hangover may occur but because of the inherent luck of the game,though usually isn't severe.
Dominoes: Varying skill levels affect outcome modestly. Effective ability to play the game well requires minimal learning. Game length often short, enabling breaks when needed. Multiple short games are often played to achieve a set number of points to win. Requires fast thinking with basic counting that can be slightly problematic to some players. Usually only modest and brief hangover.
Backgammon: Varying skill levels affect outcome modestly- a fair amount of luck is involved but skill does indeed play a role. Effective ability to play the game well requires minimal learning. Each move requires some thought but unless in a precarious position, normally the moves are fairly automatic. Game length tolerably long. Hangover may occur but usually only temporarily as players can’t beat themselves psychologically much when the luck of the dice is the main cause.
Poker, gin, tongits and mah jong (both similar to gin) may be discussed at a later time but just from the above, few games, to have a happy, light-hearted encounter with another person, I would choose backgammon, followed by dominoes. A very good player in these games may possibly win only 60% of the time over one who has mastery of just the basic skills that can be learned quickly – makes for little disturbance afterward. Chess and scrabble have their merits but are not conducive to good experiences if an opposing player is well-learned or memorized words well as in the case of scrabble. Some people prefer very little to no luck involved in games, however, not just light-heartedness may sometimes be negated by this, but also, vastly different player ability makes for quite lopsided outcomes. When a couple play, some thought beforehand of what games is most suitable to minimize arguments and my strong suggestion is to not play any game at all and just go for strolls, hikes, or other ventures of togetherness but for those rainy days, possibly putting together a jigsaw puzzle that isn’t so direct of competition could be performed. If a game of competition is done, opting for one where there is a good balance of winning and losing dictates a game such as backgammon. As an intellectual person and loving of mastering games to challenge the mind, I had spent a great amount of time assessing a variety of games. Although solitary games could be spoken of here, they are mostly absent of ego-driven behavior that relates to other people and so although ego motivations are present, anger from possible frustrations would be related to the individual only, discounting projections of discomfort on innocent individuals.
On a personal note, my opinion is that games are most suitable for children for mental growth and tapering off into adulthood. If still wanting to play games as an adult with fair regularity, it must be kept in great perspective, balancing competitiveness and allowing for losses to not cause more than a brief let down. I know that I spent far too much time playing games, presumably from being able to constantly prove some worthiness that wasn’t garnished through respect or receiving money from a myriad of my contributions to life, both in direct job-related advancements and more generally in enlightening the world in showing that there are so many ways to make this life experience better. The more I write about living a respectful life, the more I am driven to live up to my words. Please obtain a copy of the book God Gave You a Brain; Use It!" from Amazon.com that I sell for the lowest price possible as I make very clear I am not in it for the money but for wanting to have us all live in harmony. Go and see the two 50-page sites, Thoughtful Living Book Extras and Proposed Solutions that are free extra material for the book as well as other novel sites including but not limited to fair wages and house prices.
Games are definitely a form of entertainment but also can cause strife when there is lacking of maturity by the participants. In recognition of the problems arising from games of competition, there are certain attributes of games that are prone to causing problems that are evident in varying degrees and so a brief assessment of a few parlor games are conducted herein to offer as an aid for game selection. Because of the inherent problems with gambling in games, I specifically will assume no gambling is done:
Chess: Relatively concise, very little to exceptionally low degree of luck. Takes a very long time to master, usually years of intensive study – making the wrong first few moves can be devastating, techniques of piece structure and endgame are quite involved. Varying skill levels affect game outcome greatly. Because of the heavy reliance of skill, negative outcomes can be extremely disheartening, causing psychological discomfort. Each move requires, in many cases, deep thinking. Game length quick to very long. Hangover, ie retaining afterthoughts of what could have been done in a game to save from a loss can sometimes be manifested.
Scrabble: Language specific. Effective ability to play the game well requires minimal learning. Varying levels of skill affects outcome modestly as piece arrangement does not demand heavy study, however, the knowledge base of words that is apart from skill dramatically affects outcome. [To counter this I developed on a similar board, tiles having edges that must match other tiles and so players from different countries could play with ease - see: Language Non-specific Scrabble] Each move requires some thought, though usually not intensive. Game length is normally modestly long. Some hangover may occur but because of the inherent luck of the game,though usually isn't severe.
Dominoes: Varying skill levels affect outcome modestly. Effective ability to play the game well requires minimal learning. Game length often short, enabling breaks when needed. Multiple short games are often played to achieve a set number of points to win. Requires fast thinking with basic counting that can be slightly problematic to some players. Usually only modest and brief hangover.
Backgammon: Varying skill levels affect outcome modestly- a fair amount of luck is involved but skill does indeed play a role. Effective ability to play the game well requires minimal learning. Each move requires some thought but unless in a precarious position, normally the moves are fairly automatic. Game length tolerably long. Hangover may occur but usually only temporarily as players can’t beat themselves psychologically much when the luck of the dice is the main cause.
Poker, gin, tongits and mah jong (both similar to gin) may be discussed at a later time but just from the above, few games, to have a happy, light-hearted encounter with another person, I would choose backgammon, followed by dominoes. A very good player in these games may possibly win only 60% of the time over one who has mastery of just the basic skills that can be learned quickly – makes for little disturbance afterward. Chess and scrabble have their merits but are not conducive to good experiences if an opposing player is well-learned or memorized words well as in the case of scrabble. Some people prefer very little to no luck involved in games, however, not just light-heartedness may sometimes be negated by this, but also, vastly different player ability makes for quite lopsided outcomes. When a couple play, some thought beforehand of what games is most suitable to minimize arguments and my strong suggestion is to not play any game at all and just go for strolls, hikes, or other ventures of togetherness but for those rainy days, possibly putting together a jigsaw puzzle that isn’t so direct of competition could be performed. If a game of competition is done, opting for one where there is a good balance of winning and losing dictates a game such as backgammon.
