Game Terms & Mechanics

23 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which card game term raises penalties and rewards depending on the deal?
- A. bust
- B. kicker
- C. vulnerability
- D. run
Show answer
vulnerability
Did you know? In duplicate bridge, vulnerability changes game and slam bonuses.
2.Which game mechanic limits actions to a ring of sectors your marker advances around?
- A. rondel
- B. legacy
- C. dexterity
- D. card drafting
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rondel
Did you know? On a rondel, skipping ahead usually costs money.
3.Which board game term takes enemy pieces by flanking them between two of yours?
- A. the spinner
- B. sowing
- C. custodian capture
- D. a pip
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custodian capture
Did you know? Tafl games such as Hnefatafl use custodian capture.
4.Which card game term posts forced bets before any cards are seen?
- A. shuffle
- B. blind
- C. slam
- D. revoke
Show answer
blind
Did you know? In hold'em, the blinds rotate around the table each hand.
5.Which game mechanic ships goods between board locations for profit?
- A. worker placement
- B. legacy
- C. dexterity
- D. pick-up and deliver
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pick-up and deliver
Did you know? Pick-up and deliver plans hinge on where the next contract waits.
6.Which board game term lines three Nine Men's Morris counters to strike one from the board?
- A. custodian capture
- B. a blot
- C. the wall
- D. a mill
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a mill
Did you know? Forming a mill lets you remove an opponent's counter.
7.Which card game term raises the stakes of a contract the doubter doubts?
- A. group
- B. double
- C. vulnerability
- D. hole card
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double
Did you know? In bridge, a doubled contract multiplies both penalties and bonuses.
8.Which game mechanic gives each player fundamentally different rules and tools?
- A. area control
- B. push your luck
- C. roll and write
- D. asymmetric powers
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asymmetric powers
Did you know? Asymmetric games repay learning every faction one by one.
9.Which board game terms mark East, South, West, and North in mahjong?
- A. a pung
- B. the wall
- C. the river
- D. wind tiles
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wind tiles
Did you know? Mahjong hands often score more with matching wind and dragon sets.
10.Which card game term caps two won games in classic bridge scoring?
- A. trick
- B. raise
- C. rubber
- D. slam
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rubber
Did you know? A rubber ends when one partnership wins two games.
11.Which game mechanic draws pieces from a bag you curate across the game?
- A. trick-taking
- B. bag building
- C. pick-up and deliver
- D. pattern building
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bag building
Did you know? Bag building is deck-building's cousin with tokens instead of cards.
12.Which board game term is the first double tile that opens a domino cross?
- A. the spinner
- B. a prime
- C. the river
- D. a kong
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the spinner
Did you know? In many domino games, play grows outward from the spinner in four directions.
13.Which card game term chains five consecutive cards of one suit?
- A. trick
- B. deal
- C. straight flush
- D. river
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straight flush
Did you know? A straight flush ranks just below the royal flush.
14.Which game mechanic permanently alters the game box between sessions?
- A. cooperative
- B. legacy
- C. real-time
- D. push your luck
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legacy
Did you know? Legacy games may require stickers, tears, or cards torn for good.
15.Which board game term marks the lucky Ur squares that grant extra throws?
- A. the drop
- B. flower tiles
- C. a chow
- D. the rosette
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the rosette
Did you know? Only rosette squares kept pieces safe in the Royal Game of Ur.
16.Which card game term lays matched combinations down for points?
- A. meld
- B. kicker
- C. bid
- D. full house
Show answer
meld
Did you know? In rummy and pinochle, melds score as they are displayed.
17.Which game mechanic fills a shared board with shapes that may not overlap?
- A. real-time
- B. worker placement
- C. pick-up and deliver
- D. grid coverage
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grid coverage
Did you know? Grid coverage rewards compact shapes and wasted space punishes.
18.Which board game term starts each side with twenty pieces on a ten-by-ten board?
- A. the promotion zone
- B. the doubling cube
- C. a mill
- D. international draughts
Show answer
international draughts
Did you know? International draughts is the standard in world championship play.
19.Which card game term breaks twenty-one and loses the blackjack hand at once?
- A. bust
- B. river
- C. vulnerability
- D. shuffle
Show answer
bust
Did you know? In blackjack, a bust hand loses even if the dealer later busts too.
20.Which game mechanic scores complete families of matching cards or tokens?
- A. roll-and-move
- B. set collection
- C. roll and write
- D. engine building
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set collection
Did you know? Set collection pushes players to weigh a card's value to rivals too.
21.Which board game term add bonus points when drawn in mahjong?
- A. forced capture
- B. the store
- C. flower tiles
- D. the spinner
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flower tiles
Did you know? Flower tiles are set aside rather than held in hand.
22.Which card game term is the exposed hand the declarer plays in bridge?
- A. meld
- B. rubber
- C. dummy
- D. trump
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dummy
Did you know? In bridge, dummy's cards lie face-up on the table for the declarer.
23.Which board game term collects three identical mahjong tiles?
- A. a pung
- B. the promotion zone
- C. a pip
- D. a gammon
Show answer
a pung
Did you know? Mahjong hands combine pungs, chows, kongs, and pairs.

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