Terminology

Sections

Card games: A game that is played with cards but no board, but is not a collectible card game. Might require chips, pen and paper. Apples to Apples, Munchkin, and Poker are examples of card games.

CCGs: Collectible card games, also known as TCGs (trading card games). Consumers buy packets containing random cards from a set, like sports cards; some of the cards are more common than others. Often linked to a video game or cartoon series. Magic and Pokemon are examples of CCGs. Some companies, such as Fantasy Flight Games, are now producing expansion packets with known cards; games using this format are currently knows as Living Card Games (LCG), which is a term trademarked by FFG.

Classic board games: Pretty much any board game from before the 20th century; nearly all are non-proprietary games. Chess, Dominoes, and Ludo are examples of classic board games.

Electronic games: Board games with electronic components, online, console, mobile, or computer games. Posts about online or video games are usually about adaptations of, or contrasted to, tabletop games. Really, there are lots of other places you can go to get your video gaming fix. Electronic Battleship, Microsoft Surface, and Settlers of Catan for the XBox are examples of electronic games.

Miniatures: Gaming with action figures, which may or may not include a board. Typically a combat game. Often, miniature players spend as much time painting the miniatures or building the terrain as they do playing the games. Heroclix and Warhammer are example miniature games.

Modern board games: Proprietary games that consist of more than just cards and counters, typically from 1900 and after. Monopoly, Cranium, and Settlers of Catan are modern board games.

RPGs: Role-playing games, which may consist of nothing more than storytelling in a framework to guidebooks, polyhedral dice, and miniatures representing a player’s fantasy character. Dungeons and Dragons and Shadowrun are examples of RPGs.

War games: Historically accurate (unless space, fantasy, or alternate history based) head to head combat games, generally for two players. Often with a WWII, Civil War, or Napoleonic War theme. Many miniature games are also war games, but war games often emphasize historical simulation over simpler game play. Memoir ’44, Advanced Squad Leader, and Hammer of the Scots are examples of war games.

Other: Any post about game-related information: books, art, clothing, music, or gaming accessories not related to a genre. Also occasional posts about toys and other gaming genres: alternate reality gaming, sports and outdoor play, etc.

Acronyms and Glossary

BGG: BoardGameGeek.com, the largest site about board and card games, including detailed information about games, reviews, variants, rules, and user forums.

BGN: BoardGameNews.com, extensively covers news about Eurogames.

CMG: Collectible miniature game. See CCGs.

D&D: Dungeons and Dragons, the original and most popular RPG.

d20: An open gaming system created by WotC to enable third-party publishers to create material that can be used with their Dungeons and Dragons games.

Euro or Eurogame: Modern game movement originating in Europe emphasizing strategy and interesting mechanics in board games, rather than licensed versions of pre-existing luck based games. Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride are examples.

FFG: Fantasy Flight Games, publishers of detailed games with many components, many originally based on video games. World of Warcraft: the Board Game and Doom: the Board Game are examples.

GMT: Publishers of popular block-based war games, as well as some other war games and RPGs.

IANAL: I am not a lawyer, used to indicate that the post’s author just gave an opinion on a legal matter which should not be taken as professional legal advice. If you take your legal advice from a blog – even a legal blog – you probably deserve what you get.

LABG: Live action board gaming, typically reproducing a famous game, such as Monopoly or Chess, or for educational purposes.

LARP: Live action role playing, often with costumes and props.

M:tG: Magic: the Gathering, the original and still hugely popular CCG.

SdJ: Spiel des Jahres, the annual German award for best board games of the year. It is highly influential in the board game world.

sggc: Single-game game company. A very few companies are successful and happy here; most fail. Many sggc’s have grandiose plans to publish more games, but never do.

WotC or Wizards: Wizards of the Coast, publishers of Magic: the Gathering CCG and Dungeons and Dragons RPG. Now a branch of Hasbro.

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