A ludeme is "an element of play" within a card game or board game, as distinct from an "instrument of play" which forms part of the equipment with which a game is played. An example of a ludeme is the L-shaped movement of a knight in chess, whereas the knight itself is an instrument of play.[1]
The term was originally coined by French game writer .[2] Alain Borvo, one of the first to use the term, defines it as a 'type rule' such as the method of trick-taking in a card game or the leap capture in a board game.[2]