Wittgenstein develops language games in order to prove his idea that there are no general fixed rules that apply to all of language. In examining a series of related language games—a technique he exploits most notably in the first part of the Brown Book—Wittgenstein demonstrates the different uses of different words in different contexts. For instance, in discussing a language that contains only the names of building materials and numbers, he highlights the fact that words for objects and wor ds for numbers are radically different, both in the way they are learned and the way they are used. Wittgenstein runs through a series of different language games that we can play with the word "comparing" (he applies a similar method to a wide range of o ther words), showing that there is no common feature between all these different uses of "comparing."

Most philosophical methods are geared toward making general statements of one kind or another. Wittgenstein develops a new method in language games so that he can demonstrate the dangers of hasty generalization. Language games produce a wide variety of in sights, all of which suggest the richness and diversity of language use.