Games, Hobbies & Recreational Activities, SIM-éCA
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Games, Hobbies & Recreational Activities Encyclopedia Articles By Title
The Sims, life-simulator game, originally designed by American Will Wright for personal computers and released......
SingStar, electronic game, or karaoke video game, developed by the Sony Corporation of Japan for two of its video-game......
sixty-six, two-player card game, ancestral to bezique and pinochle, that was first recorded in 1718 under the name......
skat, card game for three players, but usually four participate, with each player sitting out a turn as dealer.......
skittles, game of bowling at pins, played primarily in Great Britain. Skittles was played for centuries in public......
skydiving, use of a parachute—for either recreational or competitive purposes—to slow a diver’s descent to the......
slap jack, children’s action card game for up to eight players. A 52-card deck is dealt in facedown stacks (which......
Sir Hans Sloane, Baronet was a British physician and naturalist whose collection of books, manuscripts, and curiosities......
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Russian chess master who won the world championship from Mikhail Botvinnik in......
snooker, popular billiards game of British origin, played on a table similar in size and markings to that used......
solitaire, family of card games played by one person. Solitaire was originally called (in various spellings) either......
Soma Cube, irregular shape formed by combining three or four similar cubes along several faces. There are seven......
Sony, major Japanese manufacturer of consumer electronics products whose diverse activities have included films,......
Space Invaders, arcade game created by Japanese engineer and game designer Nishikado Tomohiro in 1978 and produced......
spades, trick-taking card game of the whist family that became very popular in the United States in the 1990s,......
Boris Spassky is a Russian chess master who was world champion from 1969 to 1972. (Read Garry Kasparov’s Britannica......
spearfishing, sport of underwater hunting that became popular in the early 1930s and after World War II spread......
spelling bee, contest or game in which players attempt to spell correctly and aloud words assigned them by an impartial......
Spore, electronic artificial-life game, designed by American computer programmer Will Wright, who created SimCity......
sport climbing, a type of rock climbing in which climbers ascend a route that is equipped with preplaced permanent......
StarCraft, electronic game published by Blizzard Entertainment (now a division of Activision Blizzard). Released......
Howard Staunton was a British chess master who was considered to be the world’s leading player in the 1840s. In......
Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess player who was the women’s world champion (2004–06). In 1989 Stefanova......
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian-American chess master who is considered to have been the world champion longer......
stickball, game played on a street or other restricted area, with a stick, such as a mop handle or broomstick,......
stilt, one of a pair of poles with footrests, used for walking. Stilts were originally designed for use in crossing......
John Stow was one of the best-known Elizabethan antiquaries, author of the famous A Survey of London (1598; revised......
straight-rail billiards, billiard game played with three balls (one red and two white) on a table without pockets.......
Street Fighter, electronic fighting game series, originally released as an arcade game in 1987 by the Japanese......
stunt flying, the performance of aerial feats requiring great skill or daring. (Read Orville Wright’s 1929 biography......
sudoku, popular form of number game. In its simplest and most common configuration, sudoku consists of a 9 × 9......
Super Mario Bros., console game created by the Japanese electronic game manufacturer Nintendo Company, Ltd., in......
tag, children’s game in which, in its simplest form, the player who is “it” chases the other players, trying to......
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal was a Latvian chess grandmaster who in 1960, at the age of 23, became the youngest world......
tarot, any of a set of cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling. Tarot decks were invented in Italy in......
tarot game, trick-taking game played with a tarot deck, a special pack of cards containing a fifth suit bearing......
Siegbert Tarrasch was a German chess master and physician who was noted for his books on chess theories. Tarrasch......
teetotum, form of top having usually 4, 6, 8, or 12 sides marked with distinctive symbols. A teetotum is used for......
Tenzing Norgay was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer who in 1953 became, with Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, the......
Tetris, video game created by Russian designer Alexey Pajitnov in 1985 that allows players to rotate falling blocks......
Texas hold’em, a community-card variant of poker in which players attempt to make the best five-card hand of the......
When Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda for the Japanese market in 1986, it marked a new era in the culture,......
George Thomason was an English bookseller whose collection of printed books, handbills, pamphlets, ballads, newspapers,......
Jim Thompson was an American-born Thai businessman who turned Thai silk making into a major industry selling worldwide......
Like many iconic American companies, Mattel sprang from modest roots. Begun in a garage in 1945 by a husband and......
tip-cat, outdoor game dating back at least to the 17th century and introduced to North America and elsewhere by......
Tomb Raider, action game created in 1996 by British electronic game developers Core Design in partnership with......
top, a toy having a body of conical, circular, or oval shape, often hollow, with a point or peg on which it turns......
George Carew, earl of Totnes was an English soldier, administrator, and antiquary noted for his service in Ireland......
Tower of Hanoi, puzzle involving three vertical pegs and a set of different sized disks with holes through their......
toy, plaything, usually for an infant or child, and often an instrument used in a game. Toys, playthings, and games......
toy theatre, popular 19th-century English children’s toy that provides modern theatre historians with a valuable......
Trente et Quarante, (“Red and Black”), French card game played at Monte- Carlo and French and Italian gambling......
triumph, 16th-century card game ancestral to whist. In triomphe, the French variety known to English contemporaries......
One of the most popular board games of the late 20th century, Trivial Pursuit requires players to correctly answer......
trolling, method of fishing in which a lure or a bait is pulled behind a boat at varying speeds and depths according......
Turkish checkers, board game, variety of the game checkers (draughts) in which all 64 squares of the board are......
twenty questions, guessing game in which one player thinks of an object and informs his opponents whether it is......
twenty-five, Ireland’s national card game, related to the classic Spanish game of ombre. It was played under the......
twenty-six, dice game popular in the Midwestern United States from the 1920s through the 1950s, in which a player......
Twitch, American online live streaming platform where users can watch video game footage. Founded in 2011, Twitch......
Wilhelm Uhde was a German collector, art dealer, and writer who was strongly influenced by the ideas of Friedrich......
Vegard Ulvang is a Norwegian Nordic skier known both for his successful racing career and for his many adventurous......
Unreal Tournament, electronic first-person shooter (FPS) game, released by American game developer GT Interactive......
William Henry Vanderbilt was an American railroad magnate and philanthropist who nearly doubled the Vanderbilt......
George Vertue was a British antiquarian and engraver known primarily for his portraits and book illustrations.......
vint, trick-taking card game, popular around the Baltic Sea, and a significant contributor to the development of......
Ambroise Vollard was a French art dealer and publisher who in the late 19th and early 20th centuries championed......
Sir Richard Wallace, Baronet was a British art collector and philanthropist whose name is perpetuated by the famous......
Izaak Walton was an English biographer and author of The Compleat Angler (1653), a pastoral discourse on the joys......
Dick Weber was an American professional bowler, who was a charter member of the Professional Bowlers Association......
Pete Weber is an American bowler who was one of the sport’s greatest players, though he arguably attracted more......
whist, trick-taking card game developed in England. The English national card game has passed through many phases......
Edward Whymper was an English mountaineer and artist who was associated with the exploration of the Alps and was......
Peter A.B. Widener was an American transportation magnate and philanthropist. The son of poor parents, Widener......
Wii Fit, interactive electronic fitness game released in 2007 by the Nintendo Company Ltd. for their Wii gaming......
Wii Sports, electronic game created by Japanese designer Eguchi Katsuya and produced by Nintendo for the 2006 launch......
Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is an American professional bowler who was the first person to earn more than $2 million,......
Anthony Wood was an English antiquarian whose life was devoted to collecting and publishing the history of Oxford......
World of Warcraft (WoW), massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by the American company......
The World Series of Poker consists of a series of poker events that culminate with a winner being crowned annually......
Xbox, video game console system created by the American company Microsoft. The Xbox, Microsoft’s first entry into......
Xie Jun is a chess grandmaster who was twice women’s world chess champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999......
Xu Yuhua is a Chinese chess player who was the women’s world champion (2006–08). In 1998 Xu won the Fédération......
yo-yo, a toy that falls and rises back to the hand by the unwinding and rewinding of a string attached to an axle......
Zhu Chen is a Chinese chess player who was the women’s world champion (2001–04). In 1988 Zhu became the first Chinese......
Will Crowther’s Adventure (c. 1975) was the prototype for text-based computer games organized as interactive stories,......
écarté, card game usually played for a stake with nonplayers making side bets. The game was highly popular in France......