Editing Board game (section)

{{Short description|Genre of seated tabletop social play}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
[[File:US Navy 110713-N-NT881-124 Personnel Specialist 2nd Class James Vail, left, and Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Nathaniel Eaton play board games with ch.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The board game ''[[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]]'' is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages.<ref>{{cite web|date=20 February 2008|title=You can choose cities for new Monopoly game |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23238096|work=[[NBC News]]|access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref>]]
[[File:Pelipäivä Iisalmen kaupunginkirjastossa.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Young girls playing a board game in the [[Iisalmi]] library in [[Finland]], 2016]]

A '''board game''' is a type of [[tabletop game]]<ref name="game-categories_woods_2024_p5">{{Cite book|last=Woods|first=Stewart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgmjCHxSxvoC&q=history+of+board+games&pg=PP1|title=Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games|date=16 August 2012|isbn=9780786490653|page=5|publisher=McFarland|df=dmy}} [https://ia801801.us.archive.org/5/items/woods-2012-eurogames-p-5/Woods%20%282012%29%20Eurogames%20-%20p5.pdf Alt URL]</ref><ref name="engelstein_2020"/> that involves small objects ({{boardgloss|pieces|game pieces}}) that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned [[game board]],<ref name="definition_merrium-webster_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Merriam Webster (www.merriam-webster.com)|language=en|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/board%20game|access-date=3 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009142052/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/board%20game|archive-date=9 October 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="board-game_cambridge_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Cambridge (www.dictionary.cambridge.org)|language=en|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/board-game|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213204013/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/board-game|archive-date=13 December 2024|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="definition_oxford-learner_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Oxford Learners Dictionary (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)|language=en|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/board-game|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808181909/http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/board-game|archive-date=8 August 2023|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="definition_oed_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Oxford English Dictionary (www.oed.com)|language=en|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/board-game_n?tab=factsheet&tl=true#1410500690|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118074145/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/board-game_n?tab=factsheet&tl=true#1410500690|archive-date=18 January 2025|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="definition_collins_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Collins Dictionary (www.collinsdictionary.com)|language=en|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/board-game|access-date=1 January 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250103131400/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/board-game|archive-date=3 January 2025|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="definition_dictionary-com_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board Game|website=Dictionary.com (www.dictionary.com)|language=en|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/board%20game|access-date=7 January 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250107093506/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/board%20game|archive-date=7 January 2025|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="definition_britanica_current(2025)">{{cite web|title=Board game|website=Britannica Dictionary|language=en|url=https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/board-game|access-date=18 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208030134/https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/board-game|archive-date=8 December 2022|url-status=live|df=dmy}}</ref> potentially including other components, e.g. dice.<ref name="definition_oxford-learner_current(2025)"/> The earliest known uses of the term "board game" are between the 1840s and 1850s.<ref name="definition_oed_current(2025)"/><ref name="definition_merrium-webster_current(2025)"/><ref name="definition_dictionary-com_current(2025)"/><!--The Oxford Enlgish dictionary states 1840s (1844 - translation by F. Metcalfe), while the Merrium Dictionary states 1850s (it own definition). The Dictionary.com states 1930–1935; however, there is little indication of why it has estimated a date 100 years after the other dictionaries, and therefore this source has not be relied upon.-->

While game boards are a [[necessary and sufficient condition]] of this [[genre]], [[card games]] that do not use a standard deck of cards, as well as games that use neither cards nor a game board, are often colloquially included, with some referring to this genre generally as "table and board games" or simply "tabletop games".<ref name="game-categories_woods_2024_p5"/><ref name="engelstein_2020">{{Cite book|last=Engelstein|first=Geoffrey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpEIEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22tabletop+games%22+%22game+board%22&pg=PP10|title=Game Production: Prototyping and Producing Your Board Game|page=1|date=21 December 2020|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-000-29098-1|language=en|df=dmy}} [https://ia600707.us.archive.org/32/items/engelstein-2020-game-production-p-1/Engelstein_2021_game-production_p1.pdf Alt URL]</ref>