{"id":11913,"date":"2011-10-07T17:20:08","date_gmt":"2011-10-07T17:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/beer-and-pretzels\/"},"modified":"2014-11-19T10:59:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T10:59:47","slug":"beer-and-pretzels","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels","title":{"rendered":"Beer and Pretzels"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Does Beer and Pretzels Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Beer and pretzels is a slang term used to refer to a video game that is considered to be easy in terms of strategy and rules, but is still entertaining. Beer-and-pretzel games are designed to be completed in a short time (less than a day) and generally involve multiple players. These games get their name from the custom of drinking beer and eating pretzels while taking part in such games.<\/p>\n

Beer-and-pretzel video games marked a sharp departure from the previous trend where games where getting longer and more immersive as technological capabilities increased. Immersive games still make up the majority of games produced, but beer-and-pretzel games have become a popular subgenre within gaming. Moreover, some immersive games have introduced beer-and-pretzel elements, so they can be enjoyed in groups or by a single player. These elements include time trails, mini-games, kill-count challenges, and so on.<\/p>\n

Techopedia Explains Beer and Pretzels<\/span><\/h2>\n

Beer and pretzels was originally used to refer to board games that could be played in a group whileenjoying \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 beer and pretzels. Essentially, these games required very little mentaleffort compared to in-depth strategy board games that are played over days and months. Theconcept of beer-and-pretzels gaming has expanded to include console-based video games. “Spaceward Ho!”, a science fiction computer game set in space, is considered to be one of the mose famous beer-and-pretzels PC games.<\/p>\n

In 2006, the Nintendo Wii was released with a number of titles that became classics of beer-and-pretzels gaming. These games emphasized intuitive controls and group participation. The success of the Wii encouraged more game designers to focus on group games with easy-to-learn gameplay and shorter playing time per round or level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Does Beer and Pretzels Mean? Beer and pretzels is a slang term used to refer to a video game that is considered to be easy in terms of strategy and rules, but is still entertaining. Beer-and-pretzel games are designed to be completed in a short time (less than a day) and generally involve multiple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[234,257],"class_list":["post-11913","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-gaming","definitioncat-personal-tech"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Beer and Pretzels? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Beer and Pretzels and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beer and Pretzels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Beer and Pretzels and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-19T10:59:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Beer and Pretzels\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-07T17:20:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-19T10:59:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27046\/beer-and-pretzels\",\"name\":\"What is Beer and Pretzels? 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