mostly skill

curated written for the tool not checked yet

In the group Chance or skill.

Pure brain-work. No dice, no surprises. The smartest player wins. Chess and Go are mostly skill.

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Entries with mostly skill

worker placement + mostly skill curated not checked yet
You place workers with tiny luck, feeling like a brainy puzzle where smart spots win the day.
mostly skill + full information curated not checked yet
Perfect setup for brainy showdowns where smart moves beat everyone since nothing's hidden.
trick-taking + mostly skill curated not checked yet
You read opponents' plays to win tricks, with little luck in card deals.
mostly skill + full information + most points curated not checked yet
Pure strategy shines as perfect info lets players outplan rivals for max points.
roll and move + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
You choose how far to move from a fixed set of options, with little luck involved.
drafting + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everyone sees all the cards and picks carefully, so planning decides the game.
bidding + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everyone knows what is for sale and bids carefully; reading others decides the game.
push your luck + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Risks are mostly about reading the situation, not dice, so careful judgement wins.
area control + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
No dice: areas are won by planning and placing carefully.
pattern building + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
All pieces are known, so building the pattern is pure planning.
hand management + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
You know what cards are coming and plan each play carefully.
negotiation + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everything depends on the deals players make.
set collection + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
All cards are visible, so collecting is pure planning.
tile placement + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
All tiles are known, so placing them is pure planning.
race to finish + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The race is won by planning every move carefully.
most points + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Points come from planning alone.
last standing + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Staying in depends on planning alone.
cooperative survival + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The team survives by careful planning alone.
shared objective + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The team reaches its goal by planning alone.
hidden personal goal + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Reaching your secret goal depends on planning alone.
narrative completion + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The story follows players' choices alone.
solo in parallel + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everyone plans their own game with no luck.
direct confrontation + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Fights are decided by planning alone.
indirect via board + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Every move on the shared board is planned.
fully cooperative + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The team solves the game together by planning alone.
semi-cooperative + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everything depends on choosing when to help and when to win.
team vs team + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Teams win by planning alone.
traitor + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
With no luck, every odd move points to the traitor.
mostly skill + hidden hands drafted not checked yet
No luck, but players keep their cards secret.
mostly skill + hidden identity drafted not checked yet
No luck, so secret roles show through choices alone.
mostly skill + deduction drafted not checked yet
Solving the hidden answer depends on careful thinking alone.
mostly skill + bluffing drafted not checked yet
No luck, so winning depends on reading and fooling others.
model a system + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
A model of a real system responds only to players' choices.
stakeholder roles + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Real groups act by choice alone.
shared resource + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The shared resource changes only because of what players take.
delayed effects + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Later rounds follow from earlier choices with no luck.
try a rule + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players test a rule with no luck, so its effect is easy to see.
debrief + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
After play, players talk through every choice.
call and response + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
How well you answer depends only on how well you read the last move.
playing in silence + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Pure thinking with no talking, as in a quiet game of chess.
change the rules + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Winning depends on how cleverly you change the rules.
no objective + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players use skill to make something, but nobody judges who did it most cleverly.
set your own goal + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players set a challenge for themselves and use skill to meet it.
one loser + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Whoever plays least cleverly loses, and everyone else is safe.
playing by letter + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players post moves of pure skill, as in chess by correspondence.
absent player + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players play against moves an absent player wrote down long ago, as in a printed chess problem.
rules you discover + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Winning depends on how quickly you work out a secret rule.
one knows, cannot say + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everything depends on how cleverly hints are given and read.
irreversible change + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Permanent changes come only from players' choices.
real-time span + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players make one carefully thought-out move a day, as in long correspondence games.
role-play + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Outcomes come from what players choose and say, with no dice.
dexterity + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Only steady hands decide who wins.
drawing the map + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players plan and draw the map with no chance at all.
keep the game going + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Only careful play keeps the game going.
cannot be won + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
No amount of skill can win.
game master + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
The game master decides outcomes from what players say and do, with no dice.
public game + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
A public game of skill, where regulars and newcomers face each other.
map revealed as you go + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players work out where things are from clues before revealing them.
rules make an argument + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Rewarding only skill makes a point about who gets to practise.
stakes outside the game + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Skill alone decides something real.
points stand for values + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Only skill earns points, and players ask what skill the points really measure.
rehearse a future + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Only players' choices shape the future world.
take turns + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Each player thinks through their move in turn, like chess.
everyone at once + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Everyone chooses at once in a game of pure skill, reading what others will do.
no turns + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Players act whenever they like in a game of skill, so speed of thought counts.
timed turns + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
A game of skill under a clock, like blitz chess.
sedated + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
Slow play in a game of skill, like correspondence chess.
accelerated + mostly skill drafted not checked yet
A game of skill that speeds up as it goes, like blitz chess at the end.
mostly skill against mostly chance curated not checked yet
These two pull against each other — can a game really be both?
excited · mostly skill curated not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling excited.
clever · mostly skill curated not checked yet
mostly skill supports the feeling clever.
silly · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling silly.
tense · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill neither supports nor works against the feeling tense.
together · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill neither supports nor works against the feeling together.
sneaky · mostly skill curated not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling sneaky.
lucky · mostly skill curated not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling lucky.
in charge · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill supports the feeling in charge.
surprised · mostly skill curated not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling surprised.
thoughtful · mostly skill curated not checked yet
mostly skill supports the feeling thoughtful.
fast · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling fast.
unfair in a fun way · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling unfair in a fun way.
careful · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill supports the feeling careful.
daring · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill works against the feeling daring.
friendly · mostly skill drafted not checked yet
mostly skill neither supports nor works against the feeling friendly.
The blocking grid — workers fight for spots not checked yet
Worker placement at its smallest: taking a spot denies it to the other player. It shows how turn order and denial create decisions even with no luck at all.
Werewolf-5 — find the traitor not checked yet
A game made almost entirely of what players say about each other. It shows hidden identity, and how a single liar changes every conversation at the table.
Nim — take the last stone not checked yet
No luck and nothing hidden, yet the winner is often settled many moves before the end by a pattern the players can't yet see. It shows why designers add uncertainty to a game that can be solved.
Dots and Boxes — close the square not checked yet
A rule that lets you move again after closing a box turns a simple drawing game into one of sacrifice and long chains. It shows how one rule can create deep strategy.
Bulls and Cows — crack the code not checked yet
Pure deduction from counted clues. It shows how much information a single answer can carry, and how a guess can be made to learn rather than to win.
Cram — the last domino wins not checked yet
On boards with even sides the second player always wins by copying. It shows how symmetry can break a game, and how changing the board fixes it.
SOS — write S or O, make SOS not checked yet
Both players write the same letters, so anything you write can help your opponent. It shows how shared pieces create tactics of giving and avoiding.
Three Men's Morris — three in a row, then move not checked yet
Placing pieces, then moving them: a second phase keeps a tic-tac-toe-like game from ending in a draw. It shows phases as a design tool.
Set — three that all match or all differ not checked yet
Everyone looks at the same cards at once, with no turns, so perception wins over planning. It shows simultaneous play, and how a single matching rule can carry a whole game.
Eleusis — guess the dealer's secret rule not checked yet
The rules themselves are what you discover. Players learn by testing guesses against right and wrong, which is how a designer learns what a rule does. The Rulemaker also feels the balance: a rule nobody finds is as dull as one everyone finds at once.
Racetrack — drive a car on squared paper not checked yet
One rule about momentum makes every move depend on the last. It shows how a simple physical constraint creates planning, risk and a track that the players draw themselves.
Sprouts — the drawing that ends itself not checked yet
The board is drawn by the players, and the moves close the board in. It shows how a game can be made of its own map, and how a growing picture can carry the state of a game.
Hex — connect your two sides not checked yet
Every move is both an attack and a defence, because the same chain that connects one player blocks the other. It shows how a geometric fact can rule out draws, and how the swap rule balances first-player advantage.
Sim — don't make a triangle not checked yet
A game about avoiding, not achieving. It shows a misère goal, and a mathematical guarantee: with six dots someone must make a triangle, so the game always ends.
Chomp — don't eat the poisoned square not checked yet
The first player can always win, yet on most bars nobody knows how. It shows the difference between knowing a strategy exists and finding it, which is often where play lives.
Kayles — knock down one pin or two not checked yet
Each move can break one game into several smaller games. It shows how a position can be a sum of separate parts, a way of thinking that helps in designing any game with independent areas.
Quantum tic-tac-toe — marks in two places at once not checked yet
Each move is uncertain until a later moment decides it, and the decision is handed to the opponent. It shows how a game can be built to teach an idea from science, with delayed effects as its main mechanism.
Ultimate tic-tac-toe — your move sends them not checked yet
Each move has two meanings: a mark here and an instruction to the other player. It shows how linking small games turns a solved children's game into one that rewards foresight.
Paper soccer — bounce the ball to goal not checked yet
Every line drawn changes what can be drawn next, and old moves create new ones through bouncing. It shows how a game's history can live on the board and become its strategy.
Mū Tōrere — the Māori star game not checked yet
A board with a single empty point makes every move a question of who gets stuck. It shows how one restriction, the centre rule, can keep a tiny game from being won at once.
Aadu Puli Attam — goats against tigers not checked yet
Two sides with different pieces, different moves and different goals. It shows asymmetric design: balance comes from tuning numbers such as goats needed and capture counts, not from giving both sides the same thing.