Comments/Ratings for a Single Item

The link for Nine Queens Chess is broken (there's an extra .html at the end)

The link to Pink Panther Chess is also broken, but I'm not sure what the problem is there.

There were two recent requests to be added to this page:

• https://www.chessvariants.com/index/listcomments.php?id=52460
• https://www.chessvariants.com/index/listcomments.php?id=52461

But this page is a hard-coded html file last updated in 2002. I suggest we add the themes here as Tags instead, as appropriate.

I suggest we add the themes here as Tags instead, as appropriate.

In the form of, say, Theme:Literature or Theme:Animals?

I suggest we add the themes here as Tags instead, as appropriate.

I was thinking of creating a new database column for themes, but using tags may be the better solution. It allows members more control over the themes, and it saves us editors the trouble of updating this page with new games. Once tags are set up, we could replace this page with the tag page for Theme: https://www.chessvariants.com/tag/theme. Before we begin on that, though, we might want to agree on a nomenclature for common themes. We can use the themes on this page as a starting point, but some of them group related themes together, and the question arises whether we want to split them apart or combine them into a single term.

Mathematics & Science might be combined as STEM, or they might be split apart as Mathematics and Science. If so, we should probably use the full word Mathematics to avoid conflicts between people who follow the American usage of calling it Math and people who follow the British usage of calling it Maths. Different fields of Science could be handled like Theme:Science:Physics, Theme:Science:Astronomy, etc.

I'm not sure we need a Miscellaneous/Novelty theme. These could probably be replaced with more specific themes.

Naval or Nautical. I suppose Nautical is more encompassing.

Political/Spy/Thriller. Maybe split this into Political and Espionage. I'm also not sure about at least one of the games listed. Chess II adds Princes, but if that makes it a Political themed game, then any variant with a King and Queen would have a Political theme, which I think is a stretch.

SF/Fantasy/Futuristic. I'm thinking of splitting this into Science Fiction and Fantasy, which are really distinct themes, and rolling Futuristic into Science Fiction.

Wargames/Roleplaying. I know that wargames inspired RPG games like D&D, and these may share in common things like simulated combat. Of the two, Chess variants are usually more like wargames than they are like RPGs. But we do already have a Wargame category. So, I'm wondering whether a Wargame theme would serve any purpose that the category doesn't already serve.

I'm not sure we need a Miscellaneous/Novelty theme. These could probably be replaced with more specific themes.

How about Novelty/Humor? My waiting Food Fight game would fit in that for sure.

SF/Fantasy/Futuristic. I'm thinking of splitting this into Science Fiction and Fantasy, which are really distinct themes, and rolling Futuristic into Science Fiction.

Sometimes Science Fiction and Fantasy are blended in one setting, and other subgenres can be included like Horror and Superhero. Perhaps the overall theme can be Speculative, with those four (to start) as subcategories.

Wargames/Roleplaying. I know that wargames inspired RPG games like D&D, and these may share in common things like simulated combat. Of the two, Chess variants are usually more like wargames than they are like RPGs. But we do already have a Wargame category. So, I'm wondering whether a Wargame theme would serve any purpose that the category doesn't already serve.

I do have a couple of things in mind that would be RPG-themed, but they fit more in with Crossovers than the actual genre, and I think most others along those lines do as well. I think Theme:Crossover:RPG:[game] would work.

I fully agree with everything else.

How about Novelty/Humor?

How about just Humor? I'm trying to avoid combination themes, and Novelty is not so much a theme itself but a category for leftover themes that are not as common.

Sometimes Science Fiction and Fantasy are blended in one setting

In that case, a game could get both Theme:Science Fiction and Theme:Fantasy.

and other subgenres can be included like Horror and Superhero. Perhaps the overall theme can be Speculative, with those four (to start) as subcategories.

While we might also include Horror and Superhero as themes, I don't think there will be any benefit to lumping them all together as Speculative. Although they are interrelated themes with some overlap, I don't normally think of the literary or cinematic genres as all belonging to one super category called Speculative.

I do have a couple of things in mind that would be RPG-themed, but they fit more in with Crossovers than the actual genre, and I think most others along those lines do as well. I think Theme:Crossover:RPG:[game] would work.

We already have a Crossover category. Would a Crossover theme serve any purpose that the category does not? And is Crossover really a theme or just a relation some games have with other games?

We already have a Crossover category. Would a Crossover theme serve any purpose that the category does not? And is Crossover really a theme or just a relation some games have with other games?

I had not noticed the Crossover category until after I'd posted the suggestion.

As for the rest, you're quite right, in the name of simplicity.

I agree with most of this, but should spend some more time looking through the lists.

I don't like "stem" as the theme name, being too jargonic. I think two separate ones is fine, or even put math as a sub-theme of science. (This one will be huge depending on what exact criteria we place; board geometries are geometry, all 3d variants are math, ...)

I tend to think of "wargame" rather differently than "rpg". Wargame to me is more like Joe's variants, with lots of pieces moving in formations, while the descriptions here (esp. hit points, leveling up) sound more distictly like rpgs.