Shadow Game

A Shadow Game (Yami no Gemu, literally Game of Darkness or Dark Game) is a contest in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series generally between two people that involves a harsh Penalty Game for the loser.

Shadow Games are predominately mentioned in the original Yu-Gi-Oh!. Shadow Duels, which are basically Shadow Games of Duel Monsters are also played in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

History

Egyptians first allowed the Shadow Games. Using various means of sorcery, they send themselves into an alternate dimension where their duel would not be interrupted, and where cheating is strictly forbidden, punishable by death. In the Shadow Games, the sorcerers' skills would be tested by seeing how powerful of monsters they can summon, and how powerful a spell they can cast to power up their monsters.

The power of the monsters could best be harnessed by the Millennium Items. Created for the purpose of defending Egypt, they were put into the possession of the Pharaoh and his six priests. However, Dark Bakura wished to steal the Items all for himself, and tried to take the Items, both in Ancient Egypt and in the modern world. To do so, Bakura must play Shadow Games.

In the modern world, the possessor of a Millennium Item can challenge another person to a Shadow Game.

Games

Game	Events	Image
Yugi and Ushio's Shadow Game (manga)	Dark Yugi and Ushio picked bank notes off their own hand by stabbing the money with a knife. Ushio got greedy and tried to attack Yugi and take all the money for himself. However he suffered the Illusion of Avarice Penalty Game for cheating.	150px
Yugi and Ushio's Shadow Game (anime)	Dark Yugi and Ushio hung at opposite ends of a rope strung around a pole at the top of a dome. A deck of playing cards was spread in a straight line between them. They took turns, turning over cards and climbing up a number of steps matching the number of the card they turned over, while their opponent climbed down the same number of steps. Dark Yugi won, but Ushio furiously climbed up to the top to steal the prize. For cheating, he suffered a Penalty Game where he believed he was being eaten by monsters.	150px
Yugi and the ZTV director's Shadow Game	Dark Yugi and the ZTV director played a simple die roll game. Whoever rolled lowest won. If it was a draw the director won. Dark Yugi rolled a 6. The director threw the die at Yugi on his turn, but Dark Yugi blocked it by holding up the Millennium Puzzle. This caused to die to break and land on a 1 and a 6, totaling 7. Dark Yugi inflicted the Mosaic Illusion Penalty Game on he director for losing.
Yugi and Sozoji's Shadow Game	Dark Yugi and Sozoji sat at opposite ends of a table with Sound Pierrot dolls in front of them. The dolls dance upon hearing noise. The first one to make their doll dance lost. Sozoji thought he was going to win, as he noticed the jack from Dark Yugi's headphones ready to fall. However he got anxious, causing his heart to beat, while he was holding his microphone next to it. The sound of his heart was amplified on a speaker beside Sozoji, causing his doll to dance. Dark Yugi inflicted the Beat Festival Penalty Game on Sozoji for losing.	150px
Yugi and Jiro's Shadow Game	Dark Yugi and Jiro the Jorogumo (unnamed in the manga) were each allowed to only use one of their ten fingers. The player to die loses. Jiro choose his right index finger, so he could shoot Dark Yugi with his gun. Dark Yugi choose his left thumb and lit a cigarette lighter with. He was allowed to light the cigarette in Jiro's hand before being shot. But after doing so, he placed in the lighter on Jiro's left arm, which was pouring vodka. If Jiro pulled the trigger, the lighter would fall into the overflowing vodka, setting him on fire. In the manga, his cigarette fell into the vodka, incinerating him. In the anime, he removed the lighter using his other fingers, but for cheating suffered a Penalty Game, where he thought he was on fire.	150px
Yugi and Kokurano's Shadow Game (manga)	A bottle of chloroform was placed on a number of sheets on the center of a table. Players took turns pulling sheets out from under the bottle, trying not to break the bottle. One one of his turns Dark Yugi managed to cause the the bottle to stop partly over the edge of the table. He said if Kokurano really was psychic, he should be able to make the bottle levitate. Kokurano tried this, but only imagined the bottle floating. He pulled a sheet causing the bottle to smash and got knocked out by the chloroform.	150px
Yugi and Kokurano's Shadow Game (anime)	Bottles of chloroform were strung from the ceiling, with the opposite ends of their ropes connected to a clock, which would cut a rope every minute. It was unknown which bottle was connected to which string and players had to take turns guessing which bottle would fall next and catch it. Kokurano tried to cheat by tripping Dark Yugi, but Dark Yugi threw the Millennium Puzzle at the rope, wedging it into something and stopping the bottle hitting the ground. Kokurano incorrectly guessed which bottle would fall next, causing one to smash and the chloroform to knock him unconscious.
Griddle Ice Hockey	Griddle Ice Hockey was an air hockey-like Shadow Game, Dark Yugi played against Goro Inogashira. A giant heated grill and spatulas were used as the field and bats. A test tube of explosive chemicals embedded in a block of ice was used as a puck. Players used their bats to hit the chemicals towards their opponent. If the chemicals touched the hot grille, a player could be injured by the explosion. Goro initially had the upperhand as he dealt powerful blows, but Dark Yugi managed to crack the ice, such that it broke next time Goro hit it, causing the chemicals to explode in front of him.	150px

Non-canon appearances

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories Nitemare created the Shadow Games.