How many games do you own?
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:31 pm
"How many games do you own?" a coworker recently asked me.
My response was: "I own equipment to play an unlimited number of games."
That didn't satisfy the person asking the question. "But how many games do you actually own?"
"What do you mean by owning a game," I asked.
"How many games have you bought?"
"Is bridge a game?"
"Yes, but..."
I interrupted. "I own a deck of cards. And I have rules for bridge in a book. Do I own bridge?"
"No, cards is one game"
I wanted to scream: NO IT'S NOT. I didn't. "Is Chess a game?"
"Yes."
"I have several chessboards and several sets of pieces, do I count each way of pairing them?"
"No, count all the chess games as one, because it's only one game"
"But I can use that same equipment to play other games."
"But it's only one game, and you've already counted the equipment."
"So each piece of equipment can only count once?"
"Sure"
"I own a set of Chu Shogi pieces. I also own a handful of additional pieces. The combination of Chu pieces with these other pieces let's me play Dai Shogi. Do I count that as two games?"
"Yes, they are different games."
"So I have a deck of cards, letting me play Bridge. I remove a handful of cards, and now I can play Euchre. Do I count that as two games?"
"No, count all card games as one."
"But not all shogi variants?"
"Those are different games."
"A deck of cards is a piece of gaming equipment. It's not a game. I probably own a hundred commercially produced games. However that says nothing about how many games I have equipment for. Do you want me to count generic equipment as a game? Like a set of chessmen can be used to play many different games. If I use those chessmen, add in four handmade pieces, it's yet another game. Should I count those?”
“Never mind.”
I didn’t mean to scare the person away. I suspect he was asking how many commercially produced games I own, but I still don’t know how to count generic equipment or multi-use equipment. He seemed to want me to count that too…
Anyway, comments?
My response was: "I own equipment to play an unlimited number of games."
That didn't satisfy the person asking the question. "But how many games do you actually own?"
"What do you mean by owning a game," I asked.
"How many games have you bought?"
"Is bridge a game?"
"Yes, but..."
I interrupted. "I own a deck of cards. And I have rules for bridge in a book. Do I own bridge?"
"No, cards is one game"
I wanted to scream: NO IT'S NOT. I didn't. "Is Chess a game?"
"Yes."
"I have several chessboards and several sets of pieces, do I count each way of pairing them?"
"No, count all the chess games as one, because it's only one game"
"But I can use that same equipment to play other games."
"But it's only one game, and you've already counted the equipment."
"So each piece of equipment can only count once?"
"Sure"
"I own a set of Chu Shogi pieces. I also own a handful of additional pieces. The combination of Chu pieces with these other pieces let's me play Dai Shogi. Do I count that as two games?"
"Yes, they are different games."
"So I have a deck of cards, letting me play Bridge. I remove a handful of cards, and now I can play Euchre. Do I count that as two games?"
"No, count all card games as one."
"But not all shogi variants?"
"Those are different games."
"A deck of cards is a piece of gaming equipment. It's not a game. I probably own a hundred commercially produced games. However that says nothing about how many games I have equipment for. Do you want me to count generic equipment as a game? Like a set of chessmen can be used to play many different games. If I use those chessmen, add in four handmade pieces, it's yet another game. Should I count those?”
“Never mind.”
I didn’t mean to scare the person away. I suspect he was asking how many commercially produced games I own, but I still don’t know how to count generic equipment or multi-use equipment. He seemed to want me to count that too…
Anyway, comments?