Game Mechanics Vs. Theme
Some games are 'abstract' - that is, the game action is not intended to represent anything. Go is a famous example of an abstract game. Other games do have a theme - some element of representation. Monopoly is a famous example of a game with a theme: the events of the game are intended to represent another activity, that of buying and selling properties.
Games that are mechanically similar can vary widely in theme. Eurogames often feature relatively simple systems, and stress the mechanics, with the theme merely being a context to place the mechanics in.
Some wargames, at the other extreme, are known for extremely complex rules and for attempts at detailed simulation.
Read more about this topic: Game Mechanics
Famous quotes containing the words game, mechanics and/or theme:
“I have a notion that gamblers are as happy as most people, being always excited; women, wine, fame, the table, even ambition, sate now & then, but every turn of the card & cast of the dice keeps the gambler alive—besides one can game ten times longer than one can do any thing else.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid’s geometry
And Newton’s mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“She is a theme of honor and renown,
A spur to valiant and magnanimous deeds,
Whose present courage may beat down our foes,
And fame in time to come canonize us.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)