History Main / MakeGamesNotWar

* In ''Series/TimeWars'', disputes between nations are settled by a series of 'war games' conducted by representatives of the nations militaries who are sent back in time to conduct these games during historical battles. The games are judged and scored by the Referee Corps, who decide upon the winner.

* According to a legend, when chess' inventor taught the game to an Indian prince and the latter asked what he would like as a reward, the old wiseman told him that he had lost his entire family to wars, so he sincerely asks that from that moment on, all battles would be only fought on the chessboard.

[[folder:RealLife]]
* Researchers speculate that the the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_ballgame Mesoamerican Ballgame]] may have served as a proxy for war. Of course, the game also came to be associated with HumanSacrifice, possibly of the winning/losing team and/or their captain.
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* In ''Anime/DogDays'', we have a possible inversion in that war ''is'' a game, in and of itself. The countries maintain perfectly friendly relationships, and go to war for fun and profit. Also, defeated units either turn into cute furballs or, in the case of major players, [[ClothingDamage lose articles of clothing]].

* In ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}'', the world of Bara Magna instituted a (heavily-regulated and ''not'' bloody) GladiatorGames system to settle disputes; the justification being that CombatByChampion is a lot less taxing on already-scarce resources than equipping entire armies.

* The backstory in ''AnimaBeyondFantasy'' states that, during the good days of the [[TheEmpire Empire of Abel]], this was the way to resolve large conflicts between principalities, with wars arbitrated by the Empire following very strict rules that ensured no damage to civilians or innecesary bloodshed.

* ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'' has a the titular Robo Battles supplant the need of actual weapons, which is especially noted in the GameCube version. This initially seems incredibly strange and quite silly [[spoiler:until it is revealed that the only reason that they managed to beat Rahu, the being who almost demolished humanity, was to trap it in a a child's toy (a robo). Following this, the robos were used as a means to train people to defend themselves from such an end, even if they were the cataclysm was then wiped from memory.]]

Compare DuelsDecideEverything, where those involved can't even ''imagine'' a way of conflict resolution that doesn't involve the game.

* The French short story "Du pain et des jeux" by BernardWerber (literally [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses bread and games]]) takes place in a future where war has been replaced by a soccer game (crossed with an obstacle course from hell and enhanced with things like jetpacks and omnipresent cameras, broadcast to the entire world). The players are allowed to kill each other, and since teams are now mixed-gender, don't hesitate to seduce opponents. At the end of the World Cup, funeral homes get together to sponsor the next one.

* GamesWorkshop's ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl'' is set in an alternate version of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' universe, where all conflicts are settled on the Blood Bowl pitch. Blood Bowl is a strange mix of Rugby and American Football, where even lethal weapons like chainsaws are merely frowned upon.

* In ''Anime/DogDays'', we have a possible inversion in that war ''is'' a game, in and of itself. The countries maintain perfectly friendly relationships, and go to war for fun and profit.

-->''Know this, young warrior: In times long past, man waged great wars, with huge death tolls and massive destruction. When we stood at the brink of utter destruction, when all hope was lost, our leaders did the unthinkable - they actually stopped to think. They took a step back, and came to an agreement that perhaps all of that was unnecessary - perhaps there was a better way, without quite so much death, and without destroying our homes in the process. And so was created... The Game.''

Basically, this is an uncommon Backstory trope where some sort of competitive sport or game is used in lieu of warfare, in order to settle disputes with less bloodshed. Most examples of this trope DO usually end up being {{Blood Sport}}s - less bloodshed doesn't mean ''no'' bloodshed, after all. Note, however, that not ''all'' examples of this trope are Blood Sports, and not all Blood Sports exemplify this trope, so it is not simply a sub-trope.

* Piers Anthony's ''ApprenticeAdept'' trilogy has The Game, where disputes between the Citizens are settled by wagering on games that are played by Serfs. As Serfs are considered quite valuable, and care is taken not to endanger them unduly, this is one of the few non-Blood Sport examples of this trope.

Compare DuelsDecideEverything, where the game in question is the ''only'' concievable way to resolve conflicts.

* ''GirlsUndPanzer'' plays with it. In it, what would typically ''be'' war, namely [[TankGoodness tank-on-tank combat]], is instead a sport that promises to make girls into proper young ladies. It hasn't prevented any wars however, and seems to be a high school sport, like baseball.

* ''GirlsUndPanzer'' plays with it. In it, what would typically ''be'' war, namely [[TankGoodness tank-on-tank combat]], is instead a sport that promises to make girls into proper young ladies.

''Know this, young warrior: In times long past, man waged great wars, with huge death tolls and massive destruction. When we stood at the brink of utter destruction, when all hope was lost, our leaders did the unthinkable - they actually stopped to think. They took a step back, and came to an agreement that perhaps all of that was unnecessary - perhaps there was a better way, without quite so much death, and without destroying our homes in the process. And so was created... The Game.''

* One episode of ''KinosJourney'' has Kino encountering a country that used to be at war with its neighbor before someone proposed they resolve their differences through friendly competition. [[spoiler: Horrifyingly subverted when it turns out their competition involves slaughtering the indigenous people living on the border between them.]]

* ''GGundam'': The premise was that each nation would enter a champion in the Gundam Fight Tournament every four years. Whichever nation won would end up being the ruler of the world until the next competition comes around to eliminate the need for war. Basically whoever gets the most gold in the Olympics becomes a world superpower temporarily. Of course there was some deconstruction in how the tournament destroyed a lot of the environment, and endangered the lives of civilians anywhere but mostly the show was about RefugeInAudacity of the dozens of HotBlooded CaptainEthnic fighters.

* The 1975 film, {{Rollerball}}, opens with the narrator explaining, "In the not too distant future, wars will no longer exist. But there will be Rollerball."
* RobotJox, in which gladiatorial duels between piloted war machines substitute for actual war. Justified in that the bouts are considered demonstrations of each side's capabilities if they were ever actually used in war, with the loser knowing they'd have been outclassed anyway.

* Piers Anthony's ApprenticeAdept trilogy has The Game, where disputes between the Citizens are settled by wagering on games that are played by Serfs. As Serfs are considered quite valuable, and care is taken not to endanger them unduly, this is one of the few non-Blood Sport examples of this trope.

* In ''[[{{MythAdventures}} Myth Directions]]'', the city-states of "Ta-hoe" and "Veygus" used to fight all the time, but at the time of the novel they have formalized their rivalry into a sporting competition, once every N years, with rulership of the dimension at stake. The game is sort of like American football, but the only formal rule is "No edged weapons."

* An episode of ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' suggests that the original Olympics started as a way to peacefully settle disputes.

* Games Workshop's BloodBowl is set in an alternate version of the {{Warhammer}} universe, where all conflicts are settled on the Blood Bowl pitch. Blood Bowl is a strange mix of Rugby and American Football, where even lethal weapons like chainsaws are merely frowned upon.

* UnrealTournament somewhat subverts this trope, since the players are full-fledged soldiers, they're just fighting small-scale wars with handfuls of soldiers in carefully constructed battle arenas, rather than legions of soldiers fighting on the contested turf.
* CustomRobo has a the titular Robo Battles supplant the need of actual weapons, which is especially noted in the GameCube version. This initially seems incredibly strange and quite silly [[spoiler: until it is revealed that the only reason that they managed to beat Rahu, the being who almost demolished humanity, was to trap it in a a child's toy (a robo). Following this, the robos were used as a means to train people to defend themselves from such an end, even if they were the cataclysm was then wiped from memory.]]

Basically, this is an uncommon Backstory trope where some sort of competitive sport or game is used in lieu of warfare, in order to settle disputes with less bloodshed. Most examples of this trope DO usually end up being {{BloodSport}}s - less bloodshed doesn't mean ''no'' bloodshed, after all. Note, however, that not ''all'' examples of this trope are Blood Sports, and not all Blood Sports exemplify this trope, so it is not simply a sub-trope.

* GGundam: The premise was that each nation would enter a champion in the Gundam Fight Tournament every four years. Whichever nation won would end up being the ruler of the world until the next competition comes around to eliminate the need for war. Basically whoever gets the most gold in the Olympics becomes a world superpower temporarily. Of course there was some deconstruction in how the tournament destroyed a lot of the environment, and endangered the lives of civilians anywar but mostly the show was about RefugeInAudacity of the dozens of HotBlooded CaptainEthnic fighters.

* Anime short series Starship Girl Yamamoto Yokho featured this as the basic premise of the plot. In one of the last episodes, the main protagonist even makes a speech endorsing the concept as she mercifully chooses NOT to kill her (now bitter) opponent for this very reason.

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