The DS9 variants definitely have more ‘interesting’ experiences as Doctor Bashir(sp?) used them to play a ’spy’-adventure (definitely more dodging of bullets in there) and Quark hints at the suites needing repair due to Klingons doing god knows what in there.

The real question is why an ‘interactive experience’ can not or should not be labelled a ‘game’, as (in the shows) it is the same as a Life (action) Roleplaying Game (also known as ‘LARP’) which is a hobby/game played by people today …

‘official’ ST Holodeck info

As Star Trek shows, games are abstract systems that don’t require immersive environments. Sports, training and even medical or engineering simulations are indeed an exception. Those are more like “serious games”: they imitate real environments for a specific purpose. But only in so far as those simulations serve that purpose. The fictional Holodeck environments tend to be much more elaborate and engaging.

But in my humble opinion, you are slightly wrong, since what you call “spaces to hang out” were more like graphic adventures (like Monkey Island, or Discworld, for instance), cause characters had to solve a particular problem, sometimes involving fight … Captain Proton or the Dixon Hill games always had a mystery or puzzle behind.
Worf and Dax used holodeck for fight training… What are FPS of 2D fight games, if not action/reaction training games, of course simplified by the use of mouse, keyboard and more recently wiimote + nunchuck? Maybe Wiisport’s Box is the closest we are from fighting on the holodeck. :D

I’m Just being devil’s advocate, but I get your point: StarTrek characters always preferred intelectual and mind games rather than kill / run / eat games, and when they played that, they where always forced by a ridiculous bug in a ridiculously insecure holodeck. xD

Foot Note: It would be much secure to have a holodeck than to plug an three-inches pin on the back of your neck like in Matrix. I’ve just came to watch Ghost in the Shell 2 and I do not like that proposal of mechanical humans AT ALL. Hahah.

Hugs.

My intention was not to create a complete list of games played on Star Trek. My intention was to point out that the Holodeck, which is a benchmark reference for many game designers, is hardly used for games in the fiction where the concept originated. And that perhaps there is something to learn from that, about the place of games and the role of elaborate simulations.

That 3D-ish chess was popular on TNG (along with Poker, but that’s not very interesting).

What about that little VR-ish game that had the addictive properties and was used for mind-control that the sneaky Wesley Crush foiled?

And an early DS9 episode had first contact with a species that used this weird board game / holodeck hybrid. It was essentially live action D&D with puzzles. The whole episode revolved around that game.

Now that I think about it, there were a LOT of games in Star Trek. Guess you have to do something to fill your time when there’s no more money and no reason to work.