What Makes A Game A Game?

By Chris Newton
5 years Ago

There are a lot of games in the world, from Monopoly to Gears of War, and that raises a deceptively simple question&semi; how do you define something as a game&quest; This article aims to examine this question and attempt to answer it&period; &NewLine;<h3 style="text-align&colon; center&semi;" aria-level="2">The Question</h3>&NewLine;In the past few decades, there has been a tremendous upsurge in the number and diversity of video games on the market, from online casino games available at sites like <a href="https&colon;//www&period;jackpotcitycasino&period;com/canada/">Jackpotcitycasino&period;com</a> to the plethora of games available for the variety of consoles you can now purchase&period; However, it is clear and apparent to each and every person that plays them that these are, in fact, games&period; This is where the question arises&period; How do we know that these are games, what is needed to categorically define something as a game, and why&quest; &NewLine;This is not an examination of what the <a href="https&colon;//www&period;gamedesigning&period;org/gaming/great-games/">best games have in common</a>&period; The question is, what do games, as a concept, have in common and what is required for something to be classified as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;a game”&quest; &NewLine;<h3 style="text-align&colon; center&semi;" aria-level="2">An Aim</h3>&NewLine;The starting point to any game is most likely summed up in its objective&period; For it to exist at all, there must be some fundamental purpose driving the game itself forward and, more often than not, its players along with it&period;&NewLine;<a href="https&colon;//i&period;insider&period;com/5ecd2810f34d05095416fb04"><img class="aligncenter size-large" src="https&colon;//i&period;insider&period;com/5ecd2810f34d05095416fb04" width="1500" height="906" /></a>It is safe to say then that an aim, a fundamental purpose to the experience, is quintessential to the game’s existence&period; Without it, there would be no direction, no change in the starting positions, and nothing to move towards&period; The game would be dead in the water&period; It wouldn’t be a game at all, just an occurrence&period; &NewLine;<h3 style="text-align&colon; center&semi;" aria-level="2">Mechanics</h3>&NewLine;What is needed next, then, is a way to move towards this aim&period; Mechanics&period; The building blocks of the game and the rules by which it is played&period; <a href="https&colon;//edition&period;cnn&period;com/2015/03/19/living/feat-monopoly-80th-anniversary/index&period;html">Take Monopoly</a>, for example&period; You roll dice to move, pay money for property and take money from those who land on your property&period; These are all fundamental to the playing of the game&period; The mechanics by which it operates are vital to the existence of the game itself&period; They are how the players move towards the objective of the game and the only way that it can be played&period; &NewLine;<h3 style="text-align&colon; center&semi;" aria-level="2">An End Point</h3>&NewLine;The final aspect of a game that truly completes the experience is some predefined condition that will bring the game to a close&period; This isn’t to say that there necessarily needs to be a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;lose” or &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;win” condition for the game&semi; there simply needs to be a point at which you will no longer play&period; &NewLine;<a href="https&colon;//i&period;ytimg&period;com/vi/BUJ6tKbXzOI/maxresdefault&period;jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large" src="https&colon;//i&period;ytimg&period;com/vi/BUJ6tKbXzOI/maxresdefault&period;jpg" width="1280" height="720" /></a>This is what the mechanics of the game move towards, the aim of a game will likely trigger its end point, but that does not necessarily have to be the case&period; For example, a game that requires you to keep a ball in the air ends when the ball hits the ground, the opposite of the game’s objective&period; &NewLine;In all, these seem to be the three fundamental aspects that all games must include&period; However, isn’t it incredible how much more a game can be&quest; &NewLine;

Categories: Opinion
Tags: Design Development Game Dev Gaming Programming SD Video Game History

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