How many games do you own?

[jeep]

"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?

[mathcam]

Did you hate this co-worker?

Seriously, though, I think I agree with everything you said.

Cam

[MeMe]

Wow - I think you should consider yourself lucky that he didn't punch you in the face.

[jeep]

?? Why? I was just trying to get enough information to answer the question.

We get along well, I just wanted to figure out what he wanted.

-JEEP

[rolandofthewhite]

I would have taken out my gun and...

[MeMe]

You're fine, jeep. I've been easily irritated all day and I automatically put myself in the questioner's shoes and the whole conversation just struck me as a case of "quit trying to be so clever and answer the dang question already." When I saw the title of the thread, I immediately answered "a little more than 150" internally...despite the fact that I, too, own a deck of cards (several, truth be told).

Since you're sharing it here, it's probably NOT the vibe the conversation had in real life or you'd basically be saying "look at what a jerk I am!" But, like I said, I've been irritable today and it just read that way in my mind.

[jeep]

Huh, maybe I'm biased by having been there, but I can't even read that to make me sound like a jerk. I *was* curious though. I like talking about games, but I couldn't understand what he meant by a "owning a game." I never found out if I owning the pieces for Grand Chess counts, even though it is just a chess set with four extra pieces.

-JEEP

[spork76]

I thought it was exactly as I would have done

[Phoebus]

This had me chuckling and shaking my head at the same time.
heehee

[halo freak]

i think it was there other persons fault for not explaining, how is he meant to answer if you don't give a proper question.

[Phoebus]

How many games do you own, halo?

[halo freak]

What do you class as a game?

[Phoebus]

What do

you

class as a game?

[halo freak]

a game must have a winner in the end and must be played by at least two people, be that a computer or a real person.

[Phoebus]

Well then?

[halo freak]

5-10 board games, 10 xbox games, 20+ pc games. 5 outdoor games (football and the like) And several others i can't think of.

[warpdragon]

a game must have a winner in he end and must be player by at least two people, be that a computer or a real person.

According to your definition, by owning a computer you own an unlimited number of games because you can go to many websites? Or can only Jeep claim that because he owns this site?

Is solitare a game?

[halo freak]

i don't follow you warpdragon. how can you win by simply owning a computer?
And that was simply just to answer pheobus' question not to be the ultimate defination of a game with pages of small writing to make sure that i cover all possbile games.
Solitare by my difination is not a game. It is a toy. It is impossible to lose since you have nothing to compare it to. like golf and round of golf on its own is not a game but if played with someone else and you compare you score then it becomes a game. If you were in a solitare tourneyment then it would be classed as a game because it is played by more than one person and there is an eventual winner.

I am not sure about the last bit about the tourneyment because there will always be exceptions. A defination one sentence long will never cover all aspects of something so variable.

[halo freak]

how do you define a sport.

[jeep]

Solitaire is a puzzle.

I don't own this site.

A sport is a game that is primarily a contest of physical skill.

A computer isn't a game. It's a piece of gaming equipment.

-JEEP

[warpdragon]

Halo: No, I mean you have access to websites which have games. For example addictinggames.com links you to about 1000 games. There are many similar sites. Since the internet is expanding at an exponential rate, there are many many games out there.

My second point was that even if the above is true, you don't own those games, but only have access to the. Sort of like how you have access to every book in a library but don't own any of them.

Jeep: whoops. Who does?

[jeep]

http://mafiascum.net/forum/profile.php? ... ofile&u=10 Check out Antrax's title.

-JEEP

[warpdragon]

Oh. I never noticed that, and if I did I probably dismissed it as sarcasm.

So can mith say that he owns an unlimited number of games because there are unlimited mafia setups and he owns the site?

[jeep]

I wouldn't know. I never got him to answer what he meant by owning a game.

-JEEP

[BrianMcQueso]

You're both crazy... him for asking the question, and you for not saying "seventeen" and getting it over with.