Only 4 categories of games

Ja’ever notice?

Almost all sporting events can be classified into one of four categories.

Points scoring:

The primary group are those encounters where the winner is determined by the greater number of points scored. This is the most common way to determine the event winner.

Within this large grouping are sports where the scoring is easily defined and objective. Most are ball sports; a few are shooting sports, including archery. The major exception is the game of golf in which the objective is to navigate the course in as few strokes as possible.

There are, however, a substantial number of sports (diving, figure skating, gymnastics for example) where the “scoring” is more subjective and provided by judges. The rules for many of these sports are such that points are deducted from a “perfect score” when errors of imperfections in technique are recognized by the judges. A few more recently developed sports, generally referred to as ‘X games’, incorporate a somewhat subjective scoring awarded by judges based on performance of movements and techniques. Equestrian events are often use a combination of time, technique and penalties to assign a score. Multievent sports ( Decathlon, Pentathlon, Heptathlon, Triathlon) assign points to performance and ranking in what otherwise might be events classified in other categories.

Most of the points scored sports are played out over a specified time period where the contestant with the most points at the expiration of time is declared the winner. One notable exception is baseball where the winner is declared after the losing team suffers a minimum of 27 outs. Another unique feature of baseball is that there is no set length of a game. Should the score be tied at the end of “regulation play” (27 outs by each team), play continues until one team outscores the other. [1]

First to the Finish:

In the second category are those sporting events in which the winner is the first to finish a designated distance. Overall, these events can be referred to as races. The designated distance can be as short as 100 meters or hundreds of miles. These can be further subdivided into timed and untimed events.

Most of the sports commonly referred to as Track or Athletic events fall into the timed first to finish grouping. Swimming and many bicycle racing events fall here as well. The rules and conditions across all the venues are so consistent that records are kept comparing performance across all events and venues. Recording the time to finish allows records to be kept such as personal best, season best, event record, nation records and world record performances.

The untimed group includes most motorized races (motorcycle, automobile, boat & airplane). Venues and internal conditions of the race do not generally allow for direct comparison across venues so the winner is simply the one who navigates the distance and crosses the finish line first. Most events involving animals (horse, dog, turtle) also fall into this category. Also many winter sports: (skiing, bobsledding, luge) fall into this grouping. Just for clarity, many of winter sports races are ‘timed’ because only one (sometimes two) competitors are on the course at any one time, but event times are not comparable between venues due to differing conditions.

Interestingly, cue sports straddle these first two categories. Snooker is purely a points scored game. Straight pool would also fall there in that the winner is the one to pocket the most balls (consecutively?) essentially scoring one point per ball. Most of the other variations of billiard sports are more akin to the first to finish group. In 8 ball (also called hi/lo), 9 ball, 10 ball matches, the first contestant to pocket a designated ball is the winner.

Maximum Effort:

Third are those events whose winner is the one who attains the highest or farthest distance or heaviest lift. This group is rather small and includes most of the events called Field events in Track & Field. There are two subgroups in this category.

First are those events where the contestants attempt to propel themselves farther or higher: long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault. One skiing event, the ski jump, also would be classified here.

The other set of Field events are those in which the contestant attempts to propel an implement (javelin, discus, hammer) as far as possible. Weightlifting would also fit into this general category of maximal effort since it employs an instrument.

Domination:

In the fourth category are those sports which can be classified as domination sports and are generally referred to as martial arts. Here the objective is to render the opponent incapable of continuing (a knockout) or to have him surrender or submit.

In the modern era, most of these sports have incorporated a points system that allows the events to be played out over a set period, often known as rounds. In situations where a clear winner is not determined, the points awarded are used as a fallback. Under what is generally referred to as Olympic scoring rules, many martial arts matches are shorted and rely almost solely on rules under which points are awarded for specific actions or successful techniques with the cumulative number of points determining the winner. The overall effect of such a system is to lessen the level of violence and combativeness of the original sport. These, however, deserve to remain in this category because the initial intent is domination of the opponent.

Determining a Champion:

Across all of these categories there seems to be a compulsion to identify “the best competitor”, a single champion. To allow for direct comparison of proficiency among all the competitors, most sports have superimposed a points or ranking system that allows for a comparison over a set period, usually referred to as “a season”. In such cases, consistency is often rewarded over “moments of brilliance”. A contestant who consistently finishes in the top 5 or even 10 places in a series of events could easily amass a cumulative score greater than the winners of those same events who might have finished lower in others.

Generally the ultimate champion is determined by a process of elimination. One well known example is the NCAA Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness. 128 teams divided into two groups (East & West) enter the tournament. After each matchup, the loser is eliminated until only 2 teams are left to contest for the championship title.

Many sports leagues maintain a ranking system over the course of a predetermined number of matchups: MLB plays a season of 162 games; the NFL 16 games. At the end of this “regular season”, the most proficient teams continue on into “post season” play. This begins a series of elimination events until a champion is determined.

The martial arts sports operate under a somewhat different system. Once an individual is declared as champion, it is incumbent upon that champion to defend the title against any challengers. If unseated, the former champion often becomes the top challenger to retake that top ranking. Under such a system, one competitor can maintain the top ranking for an almost unlimited period.

Board and Card Games:

With a bit of imagination, most of the classic family board games can fit into these same categories. Some of the oldest games (chess, checkers and even the more modern variations like Battleship and Risk) are termed strategy games and are closely related to the domination sports. Even games in the same family as Monopoly could be slotted as domination, since the objective is to bankrupt one’s opponents.

Many, if not most, children’s games (Candyland, Shutes and Ladders) are first to finish games. There are nearly endless variations on games that require the player to move playing pieces over a given course (Backgammon, Parcheesi) or to accomplish a given set of tasks (Operation, Connect Four, Clue, Perfection) to win the game. There are relatively few games (most notably Scrabble) where points determine the winner.

There are perhaps more card games that amass points to determine the winner (pinochle, cribbage, bridge, the set of rummy games). The majority (like Poker, Blackjack) are actually ones in which the players attempt at achieve the dominate hand, hence, domination games. Another entire set of card games (Solitaire, UNO, SkipBo) require the player to be the first “clear” a subset of cards to be the winner and would, therefore, be classed as first to finish games.

It’s quite amazing that almost all games and sports that humans play are simply variations on a limited number of basic themes.

[1] The longest game in MLB history was a 25-inning affair on May 8, 1984 when the Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7–6, played over 8hr and 6 minutes.