Wikipedia:WikiProject Board and table games
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Welcome to the Board and table games WikiProject. We are a group dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of board and tabletop games.
If you would like to help, check out our to-do list. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on our talk page.
Scope and goals[edit]
This WikiProject seeks to unify the article formatting on all articles relating to notable board games, tabletop games, board game designers, and publishers.
The long-term goals for this WikiProject are as follows:
- Further refine the style guidelines for articles under this project's scope.
- Ensure that all articles under this project's scope adhere to the guidelines and Wikipedia policies, most importantly WP:NPOV and WP:NOR where appropriate.
- Create a notability guide with more specific criteria for inclusion of board and table games.
- Ensure that all notable subjects under this project's scope are covered on Wikipedia.
Tasks[edit]
You don't need to be a member to help, but feel free to join. These tasks would be helpful to the cause of this WikiProject. Kindly consult the guidelines before editing to avoid unnecessary work.
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Open tasks for WikiProject BTG. Edit or discuss these tasks. |
- Collaboration:
- To Create: Caverna
- To Expand: Charterstone, Azul (board game), Karuba (board game), Everdell, Just One, Wingspan
- To Clean Up: Pandemic, Star Wars: Rebellion, 7 Wonders, Puerto Rico, The Castles of Burgundy, War of the Ring, Power Grid, Eclipse, Android: Netrunner, Uno (card game)
- To Verify:
Here's what you can do apart from what's in the box:
- Find existing articles that can come under the jurisdiction of this project, and label them with the template {{BTGProject}} on their talk pages.
- Label stub articles with {{board-game-stub}}, {{card-game-stub}}, {{dice-game-stub}}, or {{wargame-stub}} as appropriate.
- Rewrite existing articles to follow the conventions described in this project.
Every edit counts! Thank you very much for helping.
Style guide[edit]
Structure[edit]
Game articles under this project's jurisdiction should at least have the following information:
- History of the game (release date and publisher info for commercial games).
- A brief synopsis of the rules, sufficient only to show what is notable about the game or to distinguish it from other similar games. Lengthy sections and separate rules articles should be avoided -- after all, Wikipedia is not an instruction manual.
- If the game is notable for its strategies, a brief strategy section relying on reliable sources. The focus should be on the game's most noted features (such as a particular game mechanic, or the way the game makes the players interact) and the published strategic uses of those game features.
- Major awards won by the game (e.g. Deutscher Spiele Preis) are points of notability and should be listed in the article.
- Where appropriate, an infobox created using Template:Infobox_Game
Images[edit]
While images to illustrate a subject generally enhance the article's utility and appeal, remain aware that the components of all packaged games are subject to copyright protection. A fair use rationale is needed for any copy of such.
Note that cover art is considered fair use for the purposes of identification of and critical commentary on the thing depicted. Therefore, do not use game cover art for identification purposes only. Keep in mind that commentary must (as usual) cite verifiable sources. Assuming these criteria can be satisfied, there exists a fair use tag, {{Boardgamecover}}, specifically for this purpose.
Components and Rules[edit]
It is best to avoid listing out the game's parts or other specifications (such as the distribution of number tokens in Settlers of Catan). Such exacting detail is rarely necessary to give the reader a good general idea of how the game works. In most cases, detailed "Rules" or "Components" sections would violate WP:GAMEGUIDE.
A good general style guideline is to give only the detail that is necessary to understand the context of any descriptions of gameplay and strategy elsewhere in the article.
Gameplay[edit]
Wikipedia is not an instruction manual. For this reason and for copyright reasons, please do not include:
- The complete rules of a proprietary game.
- Detailed phase-by-phase instructions.
There are many board games, but most of them follow the same sets of basic principles with only slight variation inside the particular genres. Therefore, it is often sufficient to include:
- A brief synopsis of the rules that highlights the notable aspects of the game that distinguish it from other similar games.
- Links to verifiable sources where appropriate.
Expansions[edit]
When writing about expansions, consider covering the general changes in the game mechanics rather than providing detailed change logs. If there are several expansions that merely add "7 new landscapes" or "50 new cards" each, they probably deserve one sentence along the lines of "Expansion1 and Expansion2 were subsequently released, adding more cards and a variety of landscapes to the original game."
An expansion warrants a separate section in the article if it introduced significant new game mechanics that were covered in verifiable sources (e.g., Catan's Cities & Knights).
Strategy[edit]
Observations on game strategy must not be drawn simply from the analysis or experience of the editor. To do so constitutes a clear-cut case of original research. In particular, it "introduces a theory or method of solution" to the problem of effective play. Exposition on strategy is admissible only where it provides a verifiable source. Unless the game instructions provide a strategy section, they do not constitute a verifiable source for such material.
Editors are encouraged to be diligent in correcting violations of Wikipedia's No Original Research policy with respect to game strategy. If such a section seems to be simply the conclusions of particular editors, it is proper to tag it with the {{OriginalResearch}} template. Even better, if possible, is to either provide citations to support the section or rewrite it based on such sources.
Further, despite the fact that this material may be of interest to the reader, Wikipedia is not an instruction manual. Discussion of game strategy should serve to illustrate why the subject is of interest, and not be included simply for its own sake.
If you would like to share more extensive information, consider Wikiversity, which hosts the Simulations and Gaming Archive and has a Portal called Game design for people who want to develop open educational resources outside the scope of Wikipedia.
External links[edit]
Consider adding these links to games articles:
- For board games, a link to its BoardGameGeek entry when it meets the criteria of WP:EL.
- For commercially released games, a link to the official site of the game from its publisher(s), or the publisher's website in lieu of an official game site.
- Links to any official full descriptions of the rules.
- Links to the website(s) of any governing bodies of the game.
Participants[edit]
If you want to participate in this WikiProject, feel free to do so, and add your name to this list. Consider mentioning your core interests and areas of expertise when it comes to board games so that we all know who to turn to in case of specific questions.
You can add our userboxes by putting {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Board and table games/Userbox}} in your own user space to let others know that you are a member. In addition you may wish to make use of {{User card-games}} if you are a card game enthusiast as well (see next section below).
- 1redrun
- 2005
- Alai
- AlbionBT
- Aldaron
- Andrew Keenan Richardson
- Andrew Lenahan
- Angelbo
- Aquadorian
- Arswann
- Autarch
- Barno
- Bermicourt (card games)
- Bgplayer
- Bill.Albing
- bibliomaniac15
- Biker488
- Bryce Carmony
- BurnDownBabylon
- Can
- CaptainIron555
- Caseylf
- CHCSPrefect
- Chicgeek
- Chunky Rice
- ctgreybeard
- Dancingturtle8205
- Danjel
- Dave6
- Davichito
- DDStretch
- ddyer
- dkonstantinos
- Elocina
- Ericdn
- Esquivalience
- FDJoshua22
- Fivepast
- gamov
- Greroja
- GundamMerc
- hakko504
- Hannu-san
- Hans Adler
- haosys
- Hkbusfan
- Humbersi
- Imperative
- ihardlythinkso
- JackWilfred
- Jake34567
- Jarmihi
- JocK
- JudgeGregg (Eurogames, Agricola, Catan)
- kelvSYC
- klellingson
- KSJ
- Leutha
- lexprod
- LithiumFlash (chess, and chess variants)
- Locutus
- Ludophile
- M3TAinfo
- Marasmusine
- MarkZusab
- Mathman1550
- Mattiasr
- McGeddon
- Michaelarick
- mikechen
- Morganfitzp
- MrKent
- NetJohn
- NightBear
- NightFalcon90909
- Nwlaw63
- OdinFK
- OldestManOnMySpace
- Percy Snoodle
- PokitJaxx
- Queendiva627
- Rindis
- Robo37
- Rray
- Ryanminier
- Saxifrage
- Sbalfour (Hex, Shannon's, Chess, 3M bookshelf, Stratego, Risk, TwixT)
- Schoop
- SColombo
- SenatorSteve
- sillybillypiggy
- semper fi 45
- SMcCandlish
- Smiloid
- Smuckola
- Some P. Erson
- Stellmach
- Sverre
- Tetobigbro
- tetron76
- Tezakhiago
- The Mid
- theprosperonight
- TheWikiCorrector
- Thursamaday
- Timotab
- TomasBat
- Turbine2k5
- Val42
- Vampyrecat
- Warden
- Warpozio
- WiiWillieWiki
- WikiUserTJL
- Wilhelm meis
- willy11009
- Most Serene Wikipedian
- ggofthejungle
- StefanSong
- Noid83
- xgamerms999
- Hobbes543
- domesticenginerd
- Hippychickali
- Nwlaw63
- Ungulates
- AndrewofMillerton
- Shayday~enwiki
- Wessmaniac
- Mondopiri
- DyPeMaP
- Animelib
- Michael james campbell (Chess and Risk).
- Gameinfirmary
- William kohler
- Countakeshi
- Drymantini
- Nightenbelle
- T0afer
- DocFreeman24
- Dougles.Green
- Gort2020 (strategy games, Mind Sports and competitions)
- Faminita (family board and card games)
- Knight of nights (coop / solo, thematic board games)
Userboxes[edit]
Userboxes relevant to this project are:
![]() | This user is a member of WikiProject Board & Table Games |
![]() | This user enjoys playing card games. |