What is a Game?

What is a Game?

A game in the simplest terms is something you play. It has been designed for fun and involves players.

What is Play? - "unrestrained, amusing interaction with people, animals or things, often in the context of learning."
To play is is to get better at something in an environment where stress and risk is reduced. There must also be rules as for what is and is not part of the game.

What is a Game? - "a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict defined by rules that results in a quantifiable outcome"
A game has clearly defined goals and more structure.

Similarities between a card game and a First Person Shooter:

Players: There are active players that make decisions
Boundaries: They can be physical, such as the level; or conceptual, such as time and agreed rules.
Rules: Key structural elements to the game that dictate how it functions. They define what can and cant be done within the game.
Procedures: Actions and experiences that follow the rules of the game. They guide player behavior.
Objectives: A goal the players are working towards.
Resources: Items made valuable by their usefulness within the game.
Conflict: Mechanics to the game and its rules that stop players from achieving their goals.
Outcome: A measurable and unequal outcome for each player, i.e. winner and loser.

Ludological vs Narralogical

Ludology: Games are not about story or discourse, but instead are about actions and events.

Narratology: Games are about structure and function of the narrative, as well as its themes, conventions, and symbols.