What is a game?
Well, let's start with the actual definition. According to Google, a game "is a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules". Well, that's a little barebone so I went digging until I found a better definition of what a game is - “a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.” This definition is from a paper that Ruben R. Puentedura wrote. His paper is very simple and uses a lot of visuals. Here's the citation.
So lets set ourselves a criteria to fill to define a game. "A game is a system", this means that there is an organised method to which something is done, for example, kicking a ball into a net." which players engage in an ‘’ artificial conflict" Meaning the players have to try and overcome a made up conflict that's "defined by rules’’ which means there are restrictions on what a player can and cannot do. "results in a quantifiable outcome", someone has to win. So now we have a criteria. There must be a system, rules, conflict and an end result.
So let's look what is a game and what isn't. There are traditional games like sports and board games, but there are also video games, a new breed. These are all very different but they all classify as a game, especially when using the criteria that we set a moment ago. For example, you could play solitaire but it isn't a "game". Because it isn't there isn't any confit. I would class this as a puzzle as its a problem you have overcome.
You could also classify single-player video games as a puzzle to in this regards, but I have to disagree. I disagree because there is always an antagonist in these games, for example, Glados in Portal. She makes, and excuse the pun, an "artificial conflict" in a "system" where you have to get to the end of the game by completing puzzles she sets for you. There are set "rules" as its a game and the end result is you beat her. You can do the same this with most single player games.
Now let's move on from the definition of what a game is and onto different things. What is the whole deal with games anyway, why do people play them and isn't it just a waste of time? Escapism.
The main reason the people, throughout history, have played games, whether its sports like football, board games or even video games is to get away from it all and just live a fun fantasy for a moment. This makes all games very desired by the working masses who oftentimes sit between the same four walls every day. The repetitious lives we live make use crave something different, make us crave to be a marine in the navy or a pilot in outer space.
This is proven by the most popular games, like GTA, which that lets us do horrible things without any real consequences. That's why GTA V has now the third most sold sold game ever, selling the third most units for any video game ever. It closely follows Minecraft and Tetris with GTA at 85,000,000 and Minecraft at 144,000,000 and Tetris at 170,000,000. In some ways, Minecraft is the same a GTA! You can do what you wish within the boundaries of the game and Tetris is the most sold game because it's been on every phone since 1994 and it's also coded into the mac os, accessible by the terminal. Both Minecraft and GTA let you live a life you don't normally and it's very attractive for everyone, from kids to fully grown adults.
This point of escapism is also shown in the worst games of all time. Takeshi No Chosenjo or as it’s known in English Takeshi's challenge. Takeshi's challenge is an extremely hard game because it's just so random, you live a life of a businessman who ends up quitting his job, divorcing his wife and running off somewhere in the tropics. This game is crazy hard, there are no checkpoints and playing though it you just feel trapped . I believe that it was an intentional choice by the developers. They wanted to simulate how it feel to be stuck in a loveless marriage and in a office job.
Moving on from this, let's talk about how the industry has changed what a game is. Well, a game used to be a board game or a sport, but as times moved on, people have become more inactive and with technology these days, find board games boring. This attitude lead the industry to change more to video games as they are very profitable. They also have a wider demographic.
And because how the industry has changed people have started to consume them differently, often buying them in mass and then playing through them all at the same time, not really taking all of the experience in. so whereas you had games like Half-life and Diablo a decade ago, now you have Call of Duty, as they are cheap, fast to make and pull a wider audience. You can actually compare the gaming industry to the restaurant industry, you have fast food places now whereas you used to have a nice home-cooked dinner. This has unfortunately left the gaming industry damaged in my opinion, with publishers only wanting to release crash grabs and are actually moving to microtransactions then letting devs make new games.
Speaking of my opinion it's time that I give my two cents on what a game is. I personally believe that the masses only play games for, a lack of a better word, escapism. However, like the restaurant industry, there is a thriving few that enjoy and really love games for what they are. And the best part is that indie developers realized this year's ago and have acted. Some publishers are realizing it too and are starting to fill the demand. And they are being very successful with it. games like Undertale and Cuphead in recent years have been outperforming triple A games. This gives me a lot of hope for the industry, games are becoming more than just escapism now, they are becoming art, beautiful masterpieces that have thousands and thousands of gallons of love, sweat and tears in them. Speaking of love sweat and tears, thanks for reading this essay.
So lets set ourselves a criteria to fill to define a game. "A game is a system", this means that there is an organised method to which something is done, for example, kicking a ball into a net." which players engage in an ‘’ artificial conflict" Meaning the players have to try and overcome a made up conflict that's "defined by rules’’ which means there are restrictions on what a player can and cannot do. "results in a quantifiable outcome", someone has to win. So now we have a criteria. There must be a system, rules, conflict and an end result.
So let's look what is a game and what isn't. There are traditional games like sports and board games, but there are also video games, a new breed. These are all very different but they all classify as a game, especially when using the criteria that we set a moment ago. For example, you could play solitaire but it isn't a "game". Because it isn't there isn't any confit. I would class this as a puzzle as its a problem you have overcome.
You could also classify single-player video games as a puzzle to in this regards, but I have to disagree. I disagree because there is always an antagonist in these games, for example, Glados in Portal. She makes, and excuse the pun, an "artificial conflict" in a "system" where you have to get to the end of the game by completing puzzles she sets for you. There are set "rules" as its a game and the end result is you beat her. You can do the same this with most single player games.
Now let's move on from the definition of what a game is and onto different things. What is the whole deal with games anyway, why do people play them and isn't it just a waste of time? Escapism.
The main reason the people, throughout history, have played games, whether its sports like football, board games or even video games is to get away from it all and just live a fun fantasy for a moment. This makes all games very desired by the working masses who oftentimes sit between the same four walls every day. The repetitious lives we live make use crave something different, make us crave to be a marine in the navy or a pilot in outer space.
This is proven by the most popular games, like GTA, which that lets us do horrible things without any real consequences. That's why GTA V has now the third most sold sold game ever, selling the third most units for any video game ever. It closely follows Minecraft and Tetris with GTA at 85,000,000 and Minecraft at 144,000,000 and Tetris at 170,000,000. In some ways, Minecraft is the same a GTA! You can do what you wish within the boundaries of the game and Tetris is the most sold game because it's been on every phone since 1994 and it's also coded into the mac os, accessible by the terminal. Both Minecraft and GTA let you live a life you don't normally and it's very attractive for everyone, from kids to fully grown adults.
This point of escapism is also shown in the worst games of all time. Takeshi No Chosenjo or as it’s known in English Takeshi's challenge. Takeshi's challenge is an extremely hard game because it's just so random, you live a life of a businessman who ends up quitting his job, divorcing his wife and running off somewhere in the tropics. This game is crazy hard, there are no checkpoints and playing though it you just feel trapped . I believe that it was an intentional choice by the developers. They wanted to simulate how it feel to be stuck in a loveless marriage and in a office job.
Moving on from this, let's talk about how the industry has changed what a game is. Well, a game used to be a board game or a sport, but as times moved on, people have become more inactive and with technology these days, find board games boring. This attitude lead the industry to change more to video games as they are very profitable. They also have a wider demographic.
And because how the industry has changed people have started to consume them differently, often buying them in mass and then playing through them all at the same time, not really taking all of the experience in. so whereas you had games like Half-life and Diablo a decade ago, now you have Call of Duty, as they are cheap, fast to make and pull a wider audience. You can actually compare the gaming industry to the restaurant industry, you have fast food places now whereas you used to have a nice home-cooked dinner. This has unfortunately left the gaming industry damaged in my opinion, with publishers only wanting to release crash grabs and are actually moving to microtransactions then letting devs make new games.
Speaking of my opinion it's time that I give my two cents on what a game is. I personally believe that the masses only play games for, a lack of a better word, escapism. However, like the restaurant industry, there is a thriving few that enjoy and really love games for what they are. And the best part is that indie developers realized this year's ago and have acted. Some publishers are realizing it too and are starting to fill the demand. And they are being very successful with it. games like Undertale and Cuphead in recent years have been outperforming triple A games. This gives me a lot of hope for the industry, games are becoming more than just escapism now, they are becoming art, beautiful masterpieces that have thousands and thousands of gallons of love, sweat and tears in them. Speaking of love sweat and tears, thanks for reading this essay.
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