Paper-and-pencil games are games that can be played solely with paper and pencil (or other writing utensil).
In some board games, including some abstract strategy games like Gomoku, a piece once played will not be moved on the board or removed from the board. Such games can be played either as board games or as paper-and-pencil games, while many other paper-and-pencil games cannot be played without writing utensils.
The term is also used to distinguish role-playing games from role-playing video games, although role-playing games do not necessarily use either pencils or paper.