Brandon the Game Dev

I’ve given some thought to the difficult question of why we play games, yet I believe there was an implicit question left unanswered: “what is a game?”

Oh, wise dictionary.com, elucidate us on this issue:

game, noun

1. an amusement or pastime

2. the material or equipment used in playing certain games

3. a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators

Well, that didn’t help much. Definition 1 is pretty vague, definition 2 refers uses “game” to define “game”, and definition 3 still seems too abstract.

There’s two words that stand out to me in definition 3 that get the wheels in my mind turning: “competitive” and “rules”. “Competition” can mean players playing against each other or against the game itself – either way works. “Rules” is broad enough to include anything – complex or simple – that stops the competition from being a free-for-all play activity (e.g. Calvinball).

I have a personal theory, which I call Objective-Constraint, which underpins all games as we understand them. All games are forms of recreation with an objective (a goal) and constraints that stop you from reaching this objective. You have to have both. Reach for an objective without the constraints and you just have no competition. Keep the constraints and take away the objective – you, again, have no competition because there’s no yardstick by which to measure your success.

Boom! Problem solved: games have to have objectives and constraints. Easy. Next!

It’s not quite that simple. This is a complex philosophical question, as well as an incredibly semantic one. In fact, spending a lot of time defining “game” doesn’t mean all that much if your first language is German, French, or Swahili. The dictionary definition assigned to your version of the word “game” would be different, as would the social complexities associated with the word.

This question isn’t important because there’s a hard definition. It’s important because it forces you to think about what the word “game” means so you’re not mindlessly describing yourself as a “gamer” or “game designer”. If you make board games your trade, you need to come up with your own definition. From asking yourself the most basic question possible, you’re building a foundation of understanding that will make you a better designer and a better gamer.

I do not have the answer to “what is a game?” I only have an answer that works for me. Ask yourself “what is a game” and find an answer that works for you. Then let me know what it is in the comments.

Gaming is a mysterious hobby, isn’t it? In a world of so many opportunities (and distractions), what draws us to the gaming table week after week? To tell you the truth, I don’t really know! I have, however, gazed at my navel for long enough to come up with some fun theories.

Games are Social

It’s become a cliché to talk about the widespread proliferation of telecommunications and how it’s simultaneously brought society closer and driven a wedge between us and our neighbors. In a world where video games have been around for well over thirty years and virtual reality is very close to becoming actual, affordable reality, the revival of the board game industry seems to have come out of nowhere. Perhaps board games are popular because they’re one of the last vestiges of uninterrupted meatspace socialization. Board games inhabit a world where endless texting is the worst faux pas. In-person, dedicated social interaction is powerful enough to thrust an industry once marred by endless Monopoly clones into a renaissance until it emerges as a billion-plus dollar juggernaut.

They’re Meritocratic

Life is unfair. Sometimes it’s cripplingly, depressingly unfair. A well-designed game that’s built to last, however, isn’t. In fact, the idea of making a game that’s more than a little unfair gets relegated into one of three categories: “push-your-luck”*, “unbalanced”, or “outright broken”. You take out all the “unfair” games, and what’s left over is a slew of games where “if my strategy is clever and I stay focused and work hard, by gosh, I’m certain to win, or at least get close!” Isn’t that immensely satisfying?

*I’ll admit this genre of games has its charms, but I can’t think of any PYL games that I want to play after five games.

A Game is a Microcosm of Life

This is my favorite theory on why games are enjoyable. From birth on, we as humans are programmed to identify objectives and conquer the obstacles that get in our way. Our ancestors ran five miles to capture their food. Today we strive for more abstract goals like a better career or a better relationship. These are laudable goals, but perhaps we crave the unambiguity of primal goals – the life or death goals. Games let us chase concrete goals with clear obstacles, rules, and conditions in a risk-free environment. In a way, they let us live miniature lives in the same way that books or movies do.

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What do you think? Why do we play games?