Wikipedia:WikiProject Board and table games

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Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to board and table games. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, please inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there.

For more information on WikiProjects, please see Wikipedia:WikiProject and Wikipedia:WikiProject/Best practices.

Contents

[edit] Scope

This WikiProject seeks to unify the article formatting on all articles relating to board games and tabletop games. This, however, excludes articles relating to these topics that are under the jurisdiction of its sister projects.

[edit] Related Projects

[edit] Parent project

The parent of this project is the (inactive, umbrella project) Wikipedia:WikiProject Games.

[edit] Child projects

[edit] Similar WikiProjects

Other WikiProjects with similar scope include:

See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Directory/Culture/Games for an up-to-date list

[edit] Participants

If you want to participate in this WikiProject, feel free to do so, and add your name to this list.

  1. willy11009
  2. Autarch
  3. Arswann
  4. JocK
  5. kelvSYC
  6. Percy Snoodle
  7. Rray
  8. Jake34567
  9. BurnDownBabylon
  10. Some P. Erson
  11. Stellmach
  12. 2005
  13. Morganfitzp
  14. Saxifrage
  15. Ryanminier
  16. Elocina
  17. Greroja
  18. Can
  19. KSJ
  20. Warpozio
  21. theprosperonight
  22. bibliomaniac15
  23. Aldaron
  24. Alai
  25. Fivepast
  26. Barno
  27. WiiWillieWiki
  28. DDStretch
  29. NightFalcon90909
  30. --TomasBat 22:11, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
  31. Imperative
  32. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind
  33. Val42
  34. Marasmusine
  35. The Mid
  36. Dave6
  37. User:Chunky_Rice
  38. OldestManOnMySpace
  39. Angelbo
  40. Bgplayer
  41. ddyer
  42. — Timotab Timothy (not Tim, dagnabbit!)
  43. Mattiasr
  44. 1redrun
  45. Schoop
  46. CaptainIron555
  47. Wilhelm meis
  48. Locutus
  49. Kenhullett
  50. Gilbertine goldmark
  51. Rindis
  52. Mathman1550

If you are a fan of userboxes, you can also put {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Board and table games/Userbox}} in your own user space to let others know that you are a member.

[edit] Structure

Structure conventions and notability criteria for inclusion is under development at this time. Articles under this project's jurisdiction should at least have the following information:

  • 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. Making this very extensive (except about the few games about which much has been published in reliable sources rather than in 'zines or user posts) would involve original research, so 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.
  • If the game has won any major awards (eg. Essen Feather), they should be listed in the article - after all, it's a point of notability.
  • 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.
  • Where appropriate, an infobox created using Template:Infobox_Game

[edit] Style guide for game articles

[edit] Images

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 identifification 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.

[edit] Components

For commercially released games, exercise restraint in listing out the game's parts or other specifications (such as the distribution of number tokens in Settlers of Catan), for several reasons:

  • Saying too much raises concerns of a derivative work that could infringe copyright on the game instructions or other protected material.
  • Exacting detail is rarely necessary to give the reader a good general idea of how the game works appropriate to an encyclopedia, and...
  • Once again, Wikipedia is not an instruction manual.

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. Any more is extraneous.

[edit] Strategy

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.

[edit] Goals

The long-term goals for this WikiProject are as follows:

  1. Establish notability criteria for inclusion
  2. Establish a consistent style for articles under this project's scope
  3. Ensure that all conventions established under this project's scope are adhered to.

[edit] Tasks

As a member (or nonmember), these tasks should be helpful to the cause of this WikiProject:

  1. Find existing articles that can come under the jurisdiction of this project, and label them with the template {{BTGProject}} on their talk pages.
  2. Label stub articles with {{board-game-stub}}, {{card-game-stub}}, {{dice-game-stub}}, or {{wargame-stub}} as appropriate.
  3. Rewrite existing articles to follow the conventions described in this project.
  4. Complete open tasks in the task box.

[edit] Resources

[edit] Most recent changes to related articles

Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:WikiProject Board and table games lists the most recent changes to articles, article talk pages, and user talk pages which appear on this project page or which contain a link to this project page. This should include all articles whose talk page contains the WikiProject Board and table games tag.

[edit] Categories

Category:Tabletop games is the root category of the project - as the category existed before the project, the category structures also existing therein also acts as categories for this project.

[edit] Stub articles

[edit] Wikipedia articles on board and table games

For more information on board and table games, consult the following Wikipedia articles:

[edit] Statistics

Featured articles
  1. Image:LinkFA-star.png Chess

Good articles

  1. Backgammon
  2. Dice
  3. Go (board game)
  4. Junta (game)
  5. The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
  6. Magic: The Gathering
  7. Ogre (game)
  8. Risk (game)
  9. Tafl games

Bot-generated statistics (on articles having the project banner on their talk pages).

Board and table game
articles		 Importance
Top High Mid Low None Total
Quality
Featured article FA 1 1
Good article GA 3 2 3 1 9
B 4 20 13 10 47
Start 2 106 89 371 568
Stub 71 82 361 514
List 1 65 66
Assessed 10 199 188 808 1205
Unassessed 1 1
Total 10 199 188 808 1 1206

For more information see:

Category:Board and table game articles by quality
Category:Board and table game articles by importance
Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Board and table game articles by quality (links to detailed assessment lists)
Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Board and table game articles by quality log (bot's assessment statistics logs)
Languages