Key
components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interactivity.
Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and sometimes
both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of
exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational or
psychological role.
Known to have been played as far back as
prehistoric times, games are generally distinct from work, which is
usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more
concerned with the expression of ideas. However, the distinction is not
clear-cut, and many games may also be considered work and/or art.
Definitions
Look up game in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Ludwig
Wittgenstein was probably the first to give serious thought to the
definition of the word. In his Philosophical Investigations,[1]
Wittgenstein demonstrated that the elements of games, such as play,
rules, and competition, all fail to adequately define what games are.
He subsequently argued that the concept "game" could not be contained
by any single definition, but that games must be looked at as a series
of definitions that share a "family resemblance" to one another.
Computer game designer Chris Crawford attempted to define the term game[2] using a series of dichotomies:
1. Creative expression is art if made for its own beauty, and
entertainment if made for money. (This is the least rigid of his
definitions. Crawford acknowledges that he often chooses a creative
path over conventional business wisdom, which is why he rarely produces
sequels to his games.)
2. A piece of entertainment is a
plaything if it is interactive. Movies and books are cited as examples
of non-interactive entertainment.
3. If no goals are
associated with a plaything, it is a toy. (Crawford notes that by his
definition, (a) a toy can become a game element if the player makes up
rules, and (b) The Sims and SimCity are toys, not games.) If it has
goals, a plaything is a challenge.
4. If a challenge
has no “active agent against whom you compete,” it is a puzzle; if
there is one, it is a conflict. (Crawford admits that this is a
subjective test. Some games with noticeably algorithmic artificial
intelligence can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used
to evade ghosts in Pac-Man.)
5. Finally, if the player
can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with
their performance, the conflict is a competition. (Competitions include
racing and figure skating.) However, if attacks are allowed, then the
conflict qualifies as a game.
Crawford's definition may thus be
rendered as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity which features
opposition with which the player can interfere and is not done
primarily for aesthetic or monetary concerns.
Crawford also notes (ibid.) these other definitions:
* “A form of play with goals and structure.” (Kevin Maroney)
* “A game is a form of art in which participants, termed players, make
decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the
pursuit of a goal.” (Greg Costikyan)
* “An activity with some rules engaged in for an outcome.” (Eric Zimmerman)
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