Tapping is a term used in a variety of

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

s, generally referring either to the physical action of

touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

ing something, or to the "using up" of the

resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...

of some element of the game.

Card and board games

collectible card games A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993. Genera ...

such as ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' to tap a card means to use it so that it cannot be used again in that player's turn.''Magic: the Gathering'' basic rulebook
/ref> The visual indication of the tapped status is represented by turning the card 90 degrees to the right. On cards since '' Revised edition'' (1994), tapping has been represented by a symbol, though this is not unique to the game of Magic: The Gathering. was filed by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

to patent the mechanics of some aspects of collectible card games, including tapping. The patent expired on June 22 2014. Mechanics similar to tapping are used in other card and board games, often involving the same 90 degree card rotation. For example, this act is referred to as ''setting'' in ''

Ophidian 2350 Released in 2003, ''Ophidian: 2350'' is a collectible card game (CCG) created by Ophidian Games and Fleer. It uses a play structure called ''the Flow'' rather than the normal turn-based system typically used in the genre. Game Lore ''Ophidian 2 ...

'', ''committing'' in the ''

Universal Fighting System The ''Universal Fighting System'' (''UFS'') is a collectible card game designed by Jasco Games. Games of ''UFS'' represent a fight between two characters in hand-to-hand combat. Characters are drawn from original properties as well as a number of ...

'' and ''spending'' in ''

Gloomhaven ''Gloomhaven'' is a cooperative board game for one to four players designed by Isaac Childres and published by Cephalofair Games in 2017. It is a campaign-based dungeon crawl game including a narrative campaign, 95 unique playable scenarios, an ...

''. In the medieval-Japan-themed ''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertai ...

'', the mechanism is called "bowing". A few games, such as the ''

City of Heroes Collectible Card Game The ''City of Heroes Collectible Card Game'' is an out-of-print trading card game based on the discontinued NCSoft MMORPG, City of Heroes. The card game was designed by David Williams, the designer responsible for other games such as Legend of ...

'', use several different rotational increments (90, 180, and 270 degrees), each denoting a different card status.

References

Collectible card games Game terminology Video game terminology {{Videogame-gameplay-stub