# Any "fictional" games that are widely played? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142 "2010-12-06T14:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/41 "2010-12-08T01:32:11Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > The second purpose is shared with the capes, that of the aesthetics matching the Potterverse game. If it doesn’t involve broomsticks, then it isn’t quidditch. And capes because they are wizards. Sure. It’s more cosplay than sport. Not that carrying brooms around is an aesthetic match for flying. > [@jackdavinci](#): > > Yeah I’m imagining Segues… If they were serious about attempting an analogue for the feel of the game, rather than the dress-up, it would have to be something much faster than that. Jet skis, maybe; this adds the factor that getting knocked off your ride is inconvenient. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/42 "2010-12-08T02:17:13Z")
How many fictional games actually work as games? Probably not many. And how many of them are actually good games? Is there one? The talent to write a book, or any other version of storytelling for that matter, seems to be very different from the talent to create good games (giving me a little bit of sympathy for JK Rowling). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/43 "2010-12-08T02:17:24Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > how. > > Fucking. > > Lame. > > And that’s coming from a fat, geeky, lame-ass loser. > > Joe Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! ETA: Dammit! There are times when it’s _appropriate_ to have all caps! Damn stupid board software… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/44 "2010-12-08T02:24:37Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! > > ETA: Dammit! There are times when it’s _appropriate_ to have all caps! Damn stupid board software… Am I getting drunk yet? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/45 "2010-12-08T15:13:34Z")
How about games that are fictional even with the context of the work of fiction? Mark Harris’ Henry Wiggen quartet (best known book: _Bang the Drum Slowly_) had the baseball team constantly drawing suckers into their card games of Tegwar. Like Mornington Crescent or ST:TOS’s Fizbin, it was made up on the spot - the name stood for The Exciting Game Without Any Rules. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/46 "2010-12-08T17:34:49Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Sure. It’s more cosplay than sport. Well, I wouldn’t say _more_, but yeah, cosplay is certainly an element. > [@](#): > > Not that carrying brooms around is an aesthetic match for flying. Well yeah, but it’s difficult to come up with an analog. They’re brooms, because wizards use brooms, and it’s ultimately about the source material. We just don’t have flying brooms, so have to make do. Just like the snitch isn’t a self-propelled ball the size of a ping-pong ball - how do you make a crafty, self-propelled ball? Answer: cheat, tie it to a human. > [@](#): > > If they were serious about attempting an analogue for the feel of the game, rather than the dress-up, it would have to be something much faster than that. Jet skis, maybe; this adds the factor that getting knocked off your ride is inconvenient. Well, you’re trading off. I mean, segways make sense for a closer feel, or you could use mini-motorcycles for that matter, but the risk factor goes up as well, and we don’t live in a world with magical cure-alls. This is Intermural flag football for geeks, dressed up in Potter clothes (the game, not just the players). If you wanted to make an NFL league version, sure, you could up the ante with equipment and appropriate safety gear. Give it a couple decades, maybe they will. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/47 "2010-12-08T17:43:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, you’re trading off. I mean, segways make sense for a closer feel, This comment made me recall that this weekend I saw an ad for _Witch City Segway_. Segways instead of brooms? Look at their logo: [http://www.witchcitysegway.com/](http://www.witchcitysegway.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/48 "2010-12-08T18:01:54Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > This made me laugh—glad I’m not the only Mad magazine fan here. You realize that giggling during the rolling of the whirtling invokes a penalty, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/49 "2010-12-08T18:28:17Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Well yeah, but it’s difficult to come up with an analog. Jetpacks! ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/50 "2010-12-08T18:31:45Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Well, I wouldn’t say _more_, but yeah, cosplay is certainly an element. When “capes because they are wizards” is a higher consideration than actual game mechanics, I’m going with _more_. > [@Irishman](#): > > Well, you’re trading off. I mean, segways make sense for a closer feel, or you could use mini-motorcycles for that matter, but the risk factor goes up as well, and we don’t live in a world with magical cure-alls. I know, jet skis or motorcycles aren’t practical; too easy to get squashed between or otherwise have a collision at speed work out badly. Polo ponies could work, except that anybody who’s in a position and of a mind to play such a riding sport is probably just going to play polo. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/51 "2010-12-08T19:33:32Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > How about Star Trek’s Tri-D Chess? To my surprise, the game predates _Star Trek_ (although not in the exact form that Kirk and Spock enjoyed): [Three-dimensional chess - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-d_chess) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/52 "2010-12-08T20:58:19Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > When “capes because they are wizards” is a higher consideration than actual game mechanics, I’m going with _more_. Actually, I just looked closer at the site. Capes are not mandatory - they’re certainly not in the rules. One team in pictures has capes, as part of their team uniform. So I would argue that the capes are not higher consideration than the actual game mechanics. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142/53 "2010-12-09T02:18:12Z")
Meh. Every other sport has a uniform. I don’t see anything wrong with the capes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-games-that-are-widely-played/563142.md?page=2)