Yeah that was surprisingly difficult, and perhaps even a little upsetting to fill in. Something about gently being led to the realisation that there was no easy internally consistent position that...
Yeah that was surprisingly difficult, and perhaps even a little upsetting to fill in.
Something about gently being led to the realisation that there was no easy internally consistent position that would align with my intuition, followed by rethinking a few earlier answers and still not really coming up with a definition I was happy with.
What is a game? It's a thing that's surprisingly hard to nail down. I've seen a lot of different takes and definitions but it seems like they're all either so specific that they exclude things I'd...
What is a game?
It's a thing that's surprisingly hard to nail down. I've seen a lot of different takes and definitions but it seems like they're all either so specific that they exclude things I'd consider a game. Or so open that basically any activity is a game.
I do youtube videos on video game trivia and minutiae, and I'm planning to tackle this question in the future. I'm hoping to get some data to work with on where people generally draw the line and what specifically they feel is necessary for something to be a game.
When I first saw the title with the form link, I thought this would be a game in Google Forms and now I'm thinking of how that could be made. Also filled up the form!
When I first saw the title with the form link, I thought this would be a game in Google Forms and now I'm thinking of how that could be made. Also filled up the form!
Hmm, that really made me realise how different my internal “definition” of a game is for physical games and digital ones. For computer games, my definition is much more lax, allowing for puzzle...
Hmm, that really made me realise how different my internal “definition” of a game is for physical games and digital ones.
For computer games, my definition is much more lax, allowing for puzzle games, clicker games and even something like “The Button”. But with physical games, I need multiple players, winning or losing, some “agency” (even if that “agency” is just rolling a dice such as snakes and ladders).
This leads to the seemingly contradictory premise that a sudoku in the paper is not a game, just a puzzle, whereas put it on a computer and it becomes a game.
I think the key difference is the classification of puzzles. Where a physical puzzle would not be classified as a game, a digital puzzle is a “puzzle game” and would be a puzzle game
I think the language in the survey is sometimes too specific and sometimes too broad to support my view. In my view, a game is participatory entertainment based on activity around an artificial...
I think the language in the survey is sometimes too specific and sometimes too broad to support my view.
In my view, a game is participatory entertainment based on activity around an artificial premise. Participatory in the sense that you create the entertainment for yourself by participating in the activity, not merely as a bystander. Artificial in that the premise is something you have created or made up for the purpose of that entertainment, not simply a matter of fact that exists regardless.
The premise isn't necessarily a set of rules. It can be supported by rules, but I think many activities which qualify as games don't really have or aren't primarily based on rules. For examples, kids playing cops and robbers.
To elaborate on the idea of an artificial premise, "I have to jump over a hole to get past it" is a suitable premise for a game if there is no hole. Also if there is a hole, but you don't have to jump to get past it". Also if there is a hole, you'd have to jump to get past it, but don't actually have to get past it. On the other hand, if there actually is a hole, you actually have to get past it and you actually have to jump over it to do that, it's not an artificial premise and jumping over the hole is not a game. I use "have to" very loosely here for any incentive other than immediate, personal entertainment.
I guess the most controversial aspects of this definition is that almost all kinds of child's play are games and that professional sports aren't necessarily.
Yeah that was surprisingly difficult, and perhaps even a little upsetting to fill in.
Something about gently being led to the realisation that there was no easy internally consistent position that would align with my intuition, followed by rethinking a few earlier answers and still not really coming up with a definition I was happy with.
What is a game?
It's a thing that's surprisingly hard to nail down. I've seen a lot of different takes and definitions but it seems like they're all either so specific that they exclude things I'd consider a game. Or so open that basically any activity is a game.
I do youtube videos on video game trivia and minutiae, and I'm planning to tackle this question in the future. I'm hoping to get some data to work with on where people generally draw the line and what specifically they feel is necessary for something to be a game.
It would help me out a lot if anyone interested could take a minute to run through this survey: https://forms.gle/B3LJcSrwLjdxyYE26
(also feel free to share or repost it anywhere you think would be relevant)
When I first saw the title with the form link, I thought this would be a game in Google Forms and now I'm thinking of how that could be made. Also filled up the form!
Hmm, that really made me realise how different my internal “definition” of a game is for physical games and digital ones.
For computer games, my definition is much more lax, allowing for puzzle games, clicker games and even something like “The Button”. But with physical games, I need multiple players, winning or losing, some “agency” (even if that “agency” is just rolling a dice such as snakes and ladders).
This leads to the seemingly contradictory premise that a sudoku in the paper is not a game, just a puzzle, whereas put it on a computer and it becomes a game.
I think the key difference is the classification of puzzles. Where a physical puzzle would not be classified as a game, a digital puzzle is a “puzzle game” and would be a puzzle game
I think the language in the survey is sometimes too specific and sometimes too broad to support my view.
In my view, a game is participatory entertainment based on activity around an artificial premise. Participatory in the sense that you create the entertainment for yourself by participating in the activity, not merely as a bystander. Artificial in that the premise is something you have created or made up for the purpose of that entertainment, not simply a matter of fact that exists regardless.
The premise isn't necessarily a set of rules. It can be supported by rules, but I think many activities which qualify as games don't really have or aren't primarily based on rules. For examples, kids playing cops and robbers.
To elaborate on the idea of an artificial premise, "I have to jump over a hole to get past it" is a suitable premise for a game if there is no hole. Also if there is a hole, but you don't have to jump to get past it". Also if there is a hole, you'd have to jump to get past it, but don't actually have to get past it. On the other hand, if there actually is a hole, you actually have to get past it and you actually have to jump over it to do that, it's not an artificial premise and jumping over the hole is not a game. I use "have to" very loosely here for any incentive other than immediate, personal entertainment.
I guess the most controversial aspects of this definition is that almost all kinds of child's play are games and that professional sports aren't necessarily.