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I have heard different opinions on playing games on Shabbat. Are games using money (ie Monopoly) mukza? What about games without money. (obviously games with writing necessary are muksa and need not be addressed.)

Playing Ball, Lego and puzzles have been addressed elsewhere.

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morah hochman
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  • Monopoly does not use Money. Poker Does. – avi Nov 28 '11 at 14:47
  • Yes, and I am sure Poker is muksa. But monopoly very clearly uses a substitute for money so is that a problem? – morah hochman Nov 28 '11 at 14:51
  • @avi, as far as I can tell, the most popular tokens in poker are not legal tender but chips. – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 15:46
  • Even if your intent is to turn them in for money after Shabbat? – morah hochman Nov 28 '11 at 15:53
  • morah hochman, was that addressed to me? (If you include "@msh210", I'll be notified of the comment in the upper-left corner of any page on the site.) Yes, AFAICT, the most popular tokens in poker are not legal tender but chips, even if the players' intention is to turn them in for money. – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 17:15
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    @msh210 was is the halachic difference between a dollar bill and a poker chip worth $1? Both have no intrinsic value other than that which people give it. – avi Nov 28 '11 at 17:27
  • @avi, I didn't say there's an halachic difference. (I suspect there is, but don't know for sure.) But there is a physical difference; I was commenting on your claim that poker uses money. – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 17:29
  • @msh210 ok, whats the physical difference? For the record, I have played poker with actual coins many times. And sometimes, I'll even see people throw in $20 bill in the middle of a pile of chips if they are short. – avi Nov 28 '11 at 17:32
  • @avi, physical difference between chips and money? Money has currency: you can buy stuff with it anywhere in the country. – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 17:40
  • If Monopoly money is a problem, would the game be forbidden and mukza if you didn't use/touch the moeny? (e.g. you could use the bookmark workaround like for keeping score.) That is, if any part of a game is mukza is the whole game, or just that part? – Monica Cellio Nov 28 '11 at 17:44
  • @MonicaCellio http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/11762 doesn't address your question but is related. You can, of course, ask your question yourself. :-) – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 17:53
  • @morahhochman, I changed your title to make it fit the question. As Ariel K pointed out in his answer (here: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/11759/5), Muktzeh is a status placed on an object that is prohibited from being moved. The question is about the permissibility/prohibitedness of the activity of playing (board) games. – Seth J Dec 28 '11 at 18:57
  • Regarding board games without money or writing, see this related question (and associated comments): http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/30464. – Fred Aug 12 '16 at 00:40

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There isn't a problem with playing regular board games, such as chess or checkers, on shabbos. Games that may lead to writing the score down may be a problem. Games that involve fake money are forbidden by many poskim.

Btw, once you can't use something, it often becomes mukza (forbidden to move), but the question should be can one play games on shabbos. If that is forbidden, one can discuss whether they are also mukza.

Ariel K
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    Sources would be valuable. – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 17:16
  • Can you change 'many poskim' to 'some poskim' unless you have a source that it is in fact many? – avi Nov 28 '11 at 17:35
  • I don't have it in front of me, but Dovid Ribiat, in his books 39 Melachos, brings that chess could be a problem on shabbat because of borer and Uvdin D'chol. If someone has the sefer handy and can look up the sources, that would be great – Menachem Nov 28 '11 at 17:41
  • @Menachem: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/742 and its comments. – msh210 Nov 28 '11 at 17:54
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    @msh210: As I said there in the comments, it is a great place to look up sources, even if you don't agree with his conclusions. His endnotes are extensive and bring many dissenting opinions. Also, if he says it's a problem, he's basing it on something at least one posek said, which is more useful than the naked assertion in the answer given here. – Menachem Nov 28 '11 at 18:05
  • "Btw, once you can't use something, it often becomes mukza (forbidden to move), but the question should be can one play games on shabbos. If that is forbidden, one can discuss whether they are also mukza." Ariel K, see my change to the title. – Seth J Dec 28 '11 at 18:58