Categories of Board & Table Games
Bell gives origins, history and some game-playing details for some 180 games in the 2 volumes of his main work (Board and Table Games). He divides board games into four main categories:
- A Race game requires the pieces to move from a start point to a finish point usually based on the throw of dice (e.g. Ludo).
- A War game involves movement (and occasionally placement) and is typically won with the capture of all opponent pieces (e.g. Draughts) or a special opponent piece (e.g. Chess).
- A Positional game requires the winning player to form a pattern or shape by merely placing (Tic-tac-toe and Go are respectively the simplest and most complex examples) or placing and moving pieces on a board (Nine Men's Morris).
- Mancala games involve players distributing seeds across a series of holes and collecting the contents of holes that achieve specific numeric or numeric/positional status. Typically one wins by collecting the most seeds, or rendering the opponent unable to move.
Bell used the basic categories suggested by Murray with some alterations. Because his treatment extended beyond board games, Bell also included the categories of Dice and Domino games; and in his second volume added Games of Words and Numbers, Card Games Requiring Boards, and Games of Manual Dexterity. In addition, there is mention of the sub-genre of Solitaire and Puzzle games.
Bell drew on a wide range of sources, including Edward Falkener, Stewart Culin, Willard Fiske, HJR Murray, John Scarne, and many others; as well as his own research and collection.
Read more about this topic: Robert Charles Bell
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