Tap (gaming)

Taps (commonly mistaken as tips), the game, is a game where an object, such as a ball, is caught and thrown in one jump from one player to another.

Tapping is a term used in a variety of ways in a number of games. Although the exact meaning varies, it generally either refers to either the physical action of actually touching something, or to the "using up" of the resources of some element of the game.

In collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering to tap a card means to use it so that it cannot be used again in that player's turn. 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. U.S. Patent 5,662,332 was filed by Wizards of the Coast to patent the mechanics of some aspects of collectible card games, including tapping.

Mechanics similar to tapping are used in many collectible card games, often involving the same 90 degree card rotation. For example, this act is referred to as setting in Ophidian 2350, while it is known as committing in the Universal Fighting System. In the medieval-Japan-themed Legend of the Five Rings, the mechanism is called "bowing". A few games, such as the City of Heroes Collectible Card Game, use several different rotational increments (90, 180, and 270 degrees), each denoting a different card status.

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