Strategy Games – Game Playing Skill
A game is a systematic, structured form of playing, usually undertaken for pure fun or entertainment, and at times used as a teaching tool as well. Games are very different from work, which almost always are carried out for profit, and from literature, which often are a poetic expression of social or artistic views. Games involve a set of rules, a group of participants, an objective and a goal.
The objective of the game is to achieve a specific goal by using any number of strategies. Strategies could be to beat the competition, beat the clock, complete a course of action without spilling anything, organize a party, earn money or even complete a difficult task. The game results are based on the game rules, where the player’s strategy decisions are evaluated against the game results. The game results are also dependent on the game mechanics, for instance, whether the game involves physical contact or not, whether it is turn-based or random, and so on.
Game mechanics can be described in simple words, so that anyone can understand them. In a game of mechanics, the outcome of a particular game is dependent on the application of rules given by the creator of the game. Rules can be abstract or detailed. Abstract rules describe the general nature of the game world, its relationship to the environment, the players, the objectives, etc., while detailed rules describe the specific actions that have to be taken in a specific game. It might be so complex that we shall not be able to cover it in this short article.
From a broad perspective, playing games such as solitaire games requires a number of skills: common experience, decision making, patience, problem solving and so on. From a narrower point of view, it requires common experience from the participant (that is, the person who plays the game) and a higher degree of decision making ability. It also requires the ability to understand the game rules clearly and use logic well.
A common experience player should have a basic knowledge of the game he is about to play. He should be familiar with all its rules. This knowledge gives the player a basic advantage, since he knows how to deal with every scenario presented to him. Moreover, he should have some prior experience of playing the game, for example, if he had played the game many times before and got the feel of the rules, he should not be afraid to apply those skills in the new game. Such a player will be able to solve problems more quickly and will be able to cope with any difficulties that might appear in the game.
To an extent, this ability has to do with the common sense of a common man (since the game will give him some common-sense inputs). On another level, logic is considered common sense, as well. For example, a player should be able to make a decision whether to stay or go for a particular shot. If he is not sure, he should rather stay; otherwise, he should go for the safer choice. The logic skill is also important to solve problems in the game. Thus, knowledge of the game rules, logic and common sense are necessary to succeed in any game.