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Games are activities engaged in for diversion or amusement and often involve competition, contest or rivalry. They pass the time, entertain, and hopefully, improve our physical or mental health and strength. Some games also teach, educate, and exercise the mind.

Games are generally, but not always, played according to prescribed rules, formulas and patterns, and usually involve equipment such as pen and paper, cards, computers, dice or other counters, or specially marked boards. Differentiated from sports, games are usually more passive in nature, often involving intellectual skill more than physical capability.

Puzzles are single-player games; others involve two or more players competing against each other, or players formed into teams competing against each other. Usually there's a single winner, unless the game ends in a draw. Games can involve skill, luck, or both in some measure. Gambling games involve a large measure of chance and a small measure of skill; mental games like chess involve more skill than luck.

Many games and sports started as a form of preparation for war. Chess, which originated in India or China in about the 6th or 7th century, re-creates the battlefield. The ancient Greeks made little distinction between sport and war, with violence and bloodshed often being part of the early Olympic Games. In modern times team games in the USA have gained wide acceptance in educational institutions, with scholarships granted for a increasing variety of sports activities.

Some games are similar to organised sports and, like sports, they provide pleasure, relaxation, excitement, and challenge. There are many, many different games. Some have the same rules all over the world, such as chess. Others vary from place to place; for example, there are many variations on the card game of poker.

Monopoly is the best selling board game in the world. Over 200 million games have been sold in 80 counties and 26 languages. The longest game lasted for 70 staight days. In 1999, a sack of money joined the racecar, dog, cannon, shoe, top hat, iron, thimble, battleship, wheelbarrow, and horse and rider as game tokens.

The element of chance is brought into some games by the use of dice or other randomising devices. In many games, such as Monopoly, the number of spots facing up when the dice come to rest determines the number of squares that a player may move along. Standard dice have spots: one spot on one face, two on another, etc up to six spots. The spots on opposite faces add up to seven. But there are other kinds of dice, such as poker dice which have faces similar to playing cards.

Some games, such as billiards and table tennis, are played on larger surfaces than board games, typically tables with legs. These table games also require different kinds of equipment from board games. In billiards, players use a cue stick to knock balls into one another and into pockets. Table tennis players use paddles ('bays') to hit a light ball back and forth over a net strung across the table.

Not all games require special equipment - you can make your own playing pieces for some games in a few minutes from string, toothpicks, sticks, or stones. Some games make you think, others call for physical skills, and some require both. You can play some games by yourself, some need two to play, while others are fun only when played in a group.

Games may be classified by type, such as board games, including chess and checkers; card and dice games; guessing games, including charades; word and letter games, for example, bingo; and the games unique to children.

Recently, computer and video games have become popular for children and adults. In most electronic games, players use a keyboard, joystick, or some other type of game controller. Video games are played on specially designed arcade machines, handheld devices, or systems that are hooked to television screens. Computer games are played on home computers. With electronic games, the computer itself can serve as the opponent, allowing people to play traditional games such as chess or bridge against the computer.

In the 1990s the Internet opened up the possibility of playing games with people in all parts of the world. The Internet and WWW allow people to download game programs (e.g. in Java or Shockwave) from sites such as EncycloZine. Internet clubs have sprung up for many kinds of games, and many of the newest computer games now come with user interfaces for online play.