Game Terms & Mechanics

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

1.Which board game term re-enters captured pieces in shogi under your own command?
- A. the flying king
- B. the drop
- C. a mill
- D. sowing
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the drop
Did you know? Drops are the shogi twist that no other chess variant copies.
2.Which card game term overrides the other suits once named in a trick-taking game?
- A. trump
- B. all-in
- C. kicker
- D. rubber
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trump
Did you know? In trick-taking games, a trump card beats cards of every other suit.
3.Which game mechanic dares players to press on or bank what they have?
- A. push your luck
- B. roll and write
- C. bag building
- D. card drafting
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push your luck
Did you know? Push-your-luck games end runs with a bust risk.
4.Which board game term compels checkers players to take every available jump?
- A. a mill
- B. forced capture
- C. the promotion zone
- D. a blot
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forced capture
Did you know? In most checkers rules, captures are mandatory.
5.Which card game term tops the poker rankings with an ace-high suited run?
- A. royal flush
- B. run
- C. revoke
- D. cut
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royal flush
Did you know? The royal flush is the highest standard poker hand.
6.Which game mechanic advances pieces by dice along a fixed track?
- A. legacy
- B. roll-and-move
- C. hand management
- D. auction bidding
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roll-and-move
Did you know? Roll-and-move is the classic mechanic of family board games.
7.Which board game term names each dot on a domino or backgammon counting unit?
- A. a prime
- B. forced capture
- C. the cannon
- D. a pip
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a pip
Did you know? A double-six domino set's tiles carry 168 pips in total.
8.Which card game term pushes an entire stack into the pot at once?
- A. full house
- B. trump
- C. river
- D. all-in
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all-in
Did you know? An all-in player can win only the part of the pot their stack covers.
9.Which game mechanic scores players by who dominates each region of the map?
- A. roll and write
- B. grid coverage
- C. area control
- D. cooperative
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area control
Did you know? Area control rewards majorities in contested territories.
10.Which card game term passes the action along without betting?
- A. trick
- B. cut
- C. check
- D. hole card
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check
Did you know? Checking is free only when no bet stands to be called.
11.Which game mechanic claims action spots that other players can no longer use?
- A. area control
- B. worker placement
- C. grid coverage
- D. roll-and-move
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worker placement
Did you know? In worker placement, the first worker to a spot blocks everyone else.
12.Which card game term turns the final community card face-up in hold'em?
- A. raise
- B. trump
- C. bid
- D. river
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river
Did you know? The river completes the five-card community board in Texas hold'em.
13.Which game mechanic pits all players together against the game itself?
- A. card drafting
- B. set collection
- C. cooperative
- D. social deduction
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cooperative
Did you know? Cooperative games end with one shared win or one shared loss.
14.Which card game term bands together cards of the same rank?
- A. shuffle
- B. bid
- C. group
- D. hole card
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group
Did you know? In rummy, three or four of a kind form a valid group.
15.Which game mechanic links locations with tracks, roads, or paths for points?
- A. trick-taking
- B. route building
- C. worker placement
- D. real-time
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route building
Did you know? Route building games often race for the longest connected line.
16.Which card game term declares how many tricks a partnership aims to win?
- A. meld
- B. straight flush
- C. bid
- D. ante
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bid
Did you know? In bridge, the final bid sets the contract for the hand.
17.Which game mechanic lets each player pick one card and pass the rest along?
- A. bag building
- B. engine building
- C. card drafting
- D. grid coverage
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card drafting
Did you know? Card drafting carries information about rivals' plans in every pass.
18.Which card game term strings three or more consecutive cards of one suit?
- A. blind
- B. kicker
- C. run
- D. ante
Show answer
run
Did you know? A run is also called a sequence in most rummy games.
19.Which game mechanic assigns secret identities such as traitor or spy?
- A. route building
- B. tile placement
- C. worker placement
- D. hidden roles
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hidden roles
Did you know? Hidden-role games end in accusations as much as in points.
20.Which card game term splits the deck after shuffling to hinder the dealer?
- A. joker
- B. bid
- C. cut
- D. trump
Show answer
cut
Did you know? Cutting the deck is a fairness ritual before many deals.
21.Which game mechanic plays one card per player per round to a single winner?
- A. dexterity
- B. trick-taking
- C. auction bidding
- D. asymmetric powers
Show answer
trick-taking
Did you know? Trick-taking spans classics from whist to modern favorites.
22.Which card game term reveals the first three community cards in hold'em?
- A. kicker
- B. royal flush
- C. straight flush
- D. flop
Show answer
flop
Did you know? In Texas hold'em, the flop is followed by the turn and the river.
23.Which game mechanic asks players to reason out who among them is lying?
- A. tile placement
- B. social deduction
- C. dexterity
- D. legacy
Show answer
social deduction
Did you know? Social deduction thrives on debate, votes, and poker faces.
24.Which card game term joined the deck as a wild trump in American euchre?
- A. double
- B. joker
- C. rubber
- D. vulnerability
Show answer
joker
Did you know? The joker card is commonly traced to mid-nineteenth-century American euchre.
25.Which game mechanic grows your starting deck into an engine as you play?
- A. set collection
- B. hidden roles
- C. route building
- D. deck-building
Show answer
deck-building
Did you know? In deck-building, cards bought today shape every future shuffle.
26.Which card game term sets unwanted cards aside out of play?
- A. discard
- B. bid
- C. royal flush
- D. trump
Show answer
discard
Did you know? Discarded cards usually go to a central pile.
27.Which card game term matches the standing bet to stay in the hand?
- A. joker
- B. call
- C. hole card
- D. fold
Show answer
call
Did you know? Calling the final bet sends the hand to a showdown.
28.Which card game term distributes the cards at the start of a hand?
- A. rubber
- B. deal
- C. double
- D. check
Show answer
deal
Did you know? The player who deals rotates clockwise in most games.
29.Which card game term increases the current bet for everyone still in?
- A. raise
- B. cut
- C. full house
- D. check
Show answer
raise
Did you know? A raise forces every other player to match it or fold.
30.Which card game term abandons a hand and any claim on the pot?
- A. trick
- B. raise
- C. flop
- D. fold
Show answer
fold
Did you know? A folded player's cards usually go unseen.
31.Which card game term randomizes the deck before the deal?
- A. shuffle
- B. slam
- C. rubber
- D. vulnerability
Show answer
shuffle
Did you know? A proper shuffle should make every card order equally likely.
32.Which card game term pairs three of a kind with one pair?
- A. shuffle
- B. fold
- C. full house
- D. double
Show answer
full house
Did you know? In poker, a full house beats a flush.
33.Which card game term collects one card from each player in a round of play?
- A. group
- B. trick
- C. hole card
- D. all-in
Show answer
trick
Did you know? In many card games, won tricks are counted toward the score.
34.Which board game term doubles the loss when the loser has not borne off any checker?
- A. a gammon
- B. the flying king
- C. sowing
- D. a pung
Show answer
a gammon
Did you know? In backgammon, a gammon counts as a double loss.
35.Which card game term breaks poker ties with the leftover side card?
- A. kicker
- B. straight flush
- C. bid
- D. royal flush
Show answer
kicker
Did you know? Kickers decide equal-ranking hands in Texas hold'em.
36.Which game mechanic sells cards, tiles, or privileges to the highest bidder?
- A. engine building
- B. roll-and-move
- C. hand management
- D. auction bidding
Show answer
auction bidding
Did you know? Auction games force players to overpay or lose the prize.
37.Which board game term captures xiangqi pieces only by leaping over one screen piece?
- A. flower tiles
- B. a prime
- C. the drop
- D. the cannon
Show answer
the cannon
Did you know? The cannon is the xiangqi piece with no direct chess counterpart.
38.Which card game term seeks twelve or thirteen tricks in a bridge contract?
- A. dummy
- B. ante
- C. slam
- D. bid
Show answer
slam
Did you know? A grand slam bids for all thirteen tricks in bridge.
39.Which game mechanic fills personal sheets with results of shared dice?
- A. hand management
- B. asymmetric powers
- C. roll and write
- D. set collection
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roll and write
Did you know? Roll-and-write games exploded in popularity after Qwixx's 2012 success.
40.Which board game term surrounds mahjong play with stacked face-down tiles?
- A. bear off
- B. a pip
- C. the wall
- D. a chow
Show answer
the wall
Did you know? Players draw replacement tiles from the wall's far end.

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