Thursday, October 18, 2012

What makes a game a game?

http://www.themarysue.com/what-makes-a-game-and-does-it-really-matter/

Above is a nice article about what makes a video game a game. It fits into our first/earlier conversation on what is a game. There is an interesting comparison of puzzle games (portal) to actual puzzles, building games (minecraft) to legos, and games like the sims to dolls and action figures . These are pretty interesting because you don't often think of the latter(s) as games, but when they translate them into the virtual world, they become games. From these examples, i think legos is the most intriguing .I personally would never consider lego as a game, but rather a toy. But i do considered building games as a game. Partially because of the goals of a building game, whereas legos are free range, and up to the builders imagination. There is no real goal in legos. Puzzles have a goal: complete the puzzle. And dolls are a game because we usually assign a story line with how they can interact. Although there is no goal with dolls, there is a set of boundaries and rules that the dolls abide by. The author argues that if it is interactive, and has a goal with some sort of obstacles then it should constitute a game. I am of the same opinion. If there is some goal that needs to be achieved and rules or boundaries that need to be abided by in order to achieve the goal then its a game.

1 comment:

  1. I believe that a game is defined as a competition between two people that eventually results in one of the people using their skill to overmatch their opponent.

    I also disagree with your assessment on legos. They are not merely to be built without any compensation. There is a gift in creating a piece of lego art because you never how it is going to turn out until the very end.

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