List of sports and recreation puzzle topics
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This is a list of sports- and recreation-related topics that have been used in puzzles in puzzle hunts.
Sports-related topics include any type of competitive physical game or activity, as well as the equipment, terminology, rules, and players involved in them
Recreation-related topics are more broad than sports-related ones, as they include non-physical competitions (such as eSports) and the rules/terminology/players involved, non-physical games, and hobbies (whether they're physical or not).
Sports
Individual sports
- Archery (wp · list): A sport where competitors attempt to hit as close to the centre of a target using a bow and arrows. Archery targets are usually circular, with concentric rings denoting different point values.
- Bowling (wp · list): A sport involving rolling a heavy ball down a wooden lane to knock down a set of pins. Bowlers have two tries to knock down all of the pins. Knocking down all of the pins in one try is a strike (denoted with an X), and doing it in two tries is a spare (denoted with a /). - can be used to denote knocking down no pins in a try, and otherwise a number is used. Bowling puzzles usually use this notation (particularly interpreting the symbols as mathematical multiplication, division, and subtraction) or the scoring system.
- Darts (wp · list): A sport involving throwing darts at a circular target. The circular target can be divided into 20 sectors with point values ranging from 1-20. Additionally, there are sections which can double or triple the points scored, as well as the bullseye which scores 25 or 50 points. Puzzles involving darts tend to involve scoring in some way.
- Equestrianism (wp · list):
- Golf (wp · list):
- Gymnastics (wp · list):
- Luge (wp · list):
- Racing (Cars) (wp · list):
- Racing (Horses) (wp · list):
- Wrestling (wp · list):
Team sports
- Baseball (wp · list):
- Major League Baseball (MLB)
- Minor League Baseball (MiLB)
- Basketball (wp · list):
- National Basketball Association (NBA)
- College Basketball (NCAA)
- Football (American) (wp · list):
- NFL
- Canadian Football
- Australian Football
- Football (Association) (wp · list):
- Hockey (wp · list)
- National Hockey League
Miscellaneous sports topics
- Arenas and locales: Places that sports are played. Most professional sports teams have a home area or stadium, and many individual sports have dedicated locations for them to be played.
- Athletes: The people who play sports.
- Athlete nicknames: Sometimes individual athletes are given nicknames by fans or fellow players.
- Athlete numbers: Common in team sports, where athletes are given numbers for easy identification while in uniform.
- Mascots (wp · list):
- The Olympic Games (wp · list):
- Rules:
- Signals: Gestures used by players and referees to indicate various types of information, including penalties, player status, and instructions.
- Terminology: Jargon used by a particular sport.
- Teams:
Competitions
Games
Board games
- Boggle (wp · list)
- Chess (wp · list)
- Diplomacy (wp · list)
- Dominoes (wp · list)
- Monopoly (wp · list)
- Pictionary (wp · list)
- Scrabble (wp · list)
- The Settlers of Catan (wp · list)
- Snakes and Ladders (wp · list)
- Tabletop RPGs (wp · list)
- Trivial Pursuit (wp · list)
Card games
- Blackjack (wp · list)
- Bridge (wp · list)
- Magic: The Gathering (wp · list)
- Mahjong (wp · list)
- Poker (wp · list)
- Set (wp · list)
- Yu Gi Oh! (wp · list)
Video games
Specific games
- Animal Crossing (wp · list): A video game where the player lives in a town populated by anthropomorphic animals, with the most recent entry being Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In the series, players can do various activities like fishing, bug-catching, and fossil-hunting, all of which contribute to various collections. As a result, the series has been used for its various lists of things, including fish, bugs, fossils, art, furniture, music, and the villagers themselves. The newer entries have also introduced the ability to breed flowers, which have a complex hybridization system (that has spawned some very helpful tools)
- Blaseball (wp · list): A simulation video game in which a fictionalized version of baseball is played. In 2021, the game contained 24 teams (each with a home locale, name, and stadium) and had run 24 seasons (each with a subtitle and ultimate winner), with each team's games being played over the course of an hour, and 12 games taking place each hour (one game per pair of teams) The game is well-known both for the amount of player participation in an otherwise passive, observatory experience, and the amount of lore written both by the developers and the fans. Similarly to the sport of baseball, Blaseball contains many statistics and notable events from its 24-season run, making it a bounty of information for puzzle writers. Blaseball also has its own wiki.
- Dance Dance Revolution (wp · list): A rhythm game in which players have to step on large arrow pads in time with a song.
- GeoGuessr (wp · list): An online game where players are played at a random location in Google StreetView and must identify where they are based on contextual information. The game is used as a basis for many geography-based puzzles, and while the game does not provide much information unique to itself it has provided a precedent for puzzles requiring solvers to identify locations based on StreetView images. There are repositories of tips and tricks that help high-level players do well, and have the potential to be used in puzzles beyond simply being helpful for identification.
- The Legend of Zelda (wp · list)
- Mega Man (wp · list):
- Minesweeper (wp · list)
- Persona (wp · list): A series of RPGs involving teenagers fighting monsters in various settings, often involving shifting realities and themes of 'the true self'. There are 5 main-series games (including one two-part game), but all are part of the large Shin Megami Tensei series, which uses many of the same assets. In particular, the Persona series from Persona 3 onward uses the major arcana tarot cards to represent Social Links and Confidants; relationships between the main character and other people in the game. In addition, the game assigns those same major arcana to the various 'Personas' the main character can equip, which can be used in a crafting system in order to create special weapons or new Personas. The system is well-documented, and the most recent version of a calculator used to determine the results of a 'Persona Fusion' can be found here.
- Pokémon (wp · list)
- Super Mario (wp · list)
- Tetris (wp · list)
General video game topics
Other games
- 20 Questions (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral) (wp · list): A game where one person picks an object or concept and answers yes-or-no questions from players, allowing them to whittle down their possibilities before guessing what the first person picked. Many version allow for a non-yes-or-no first question, as long as the question is "Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?".
A diagram showing which items in Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock beat which other items (arrows point from winner to loser). - Bingo (wp · list): A gambling game played using a 5x5 grid of numbers (from 1-75) and a randomly-selected series of number (from 1-75), with the goal of being the first one to have five numbers in a row on your card (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) picked by the caller.
- Mornington Crescent (wp · list): A fake game played on the BBC Radio 4 comedy show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, in which participants allegedly are trying to be the first one to say 'Mornington Crescent'. Despite being a fake game (in that participants are simply trying to entertain listeners rather than play a game with clear rules), the various 'rules' made up throughout the show's run are well-documented, and can be found in full here.
- Rock, Paper, Scissors (wp · list): A 1 vs. 1 game where players reveal a hand gesture representing one of the three things in the title. Traditionally, rock crushes scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper covers rock, creating a cycle of strengths and weaknesses. The game is also called Ro-sham-bo/Rochambeau.
- Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock: A five-way version of RPS, originating in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
- RPS-101: A 101-way version of RPS developed by David Lovelace. While not commonly played in real life, it contains a staggeringly large amount of information in a single game.
Hobbies
TO DO
