{"id":1684,"date":"2017-08-31T14:02:59","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T14:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mycours.es\/gamedesign2017\/?page_id=1684"},"modified":"2017-09-08T13:57:15","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T13:57:15","slug":"games-play-fun","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/mycours.es\/gamedesign2017\/presentations\/games-play-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Games \/ Play \/ Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Let’s make a concept map and work toward a definition of games. Brainstorm related concepts and features of games (digital and non digital).<\/p>\n

Some classic definitions<\/p>\n

“A free<\/strong> activity standing quite consciously outside<\/strong> ordinary life as being “not serious”, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly.
\nIt is an activity connected with no material interest<\/strong>, and no profit can be gained by it.
\nIt proceeds within its own proper boundaries<\/strong> of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner.”
\n-Jonah Huizinga (1950)<\/p>\n

“An activity which is essentially: Free (voluntary), separate<\/strong> in time and space, uncertain, unproductive, governed by rules, make-believe.”
\n-Roger Caillois (1961)<\/p>\n

“At its most elementary level then we can define game as an exercise of voluntary control on systems in which there is an opposition between forces, confined by a procedure and rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome.”
\n-Avedon & Sutton-Smith (1971)<\/p>\n

“The voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary\u00a0obstacles”
\n<\/em>-Bernard Suits (1978)<\/p>\n

Or his more complete definition:<\/p>\n

“To play a game is to attempt to achieve a specific state of affairs [prelusory goal], using only means permitted by rules [lusory means], where the rules prohibit use of more efficient in favour of less efficient means [constitutive rules], and where the rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity [lusory attitude].”<\/p>\n

“A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.”
\n-Salen & Zimmerman (2004)<\/p>\n

“Games are a series of interesting decisions”
\n-Sid Meier<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My definition:
\ngamedefinitions.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Family Resemblance<\/strong>
\nLudwig Wittgenstein used games as an example for his concept of family resemblance. What we call games may not have certain common features but rather a complicated network of overlapping similarities.<\/p>\n

Some of these similarities are useful concepts in game design<\/p>\n

Magic Circle<\/h1>\n

\"sumo\"<\/p>\n

The idea of play\u00a0as an activity separated from ordinary life, where other kind of rules apply, solidified in the concept of magic circle:<\/p>\n

“All play moves and has its being within a play-ground marked off beforehand either materially or ideally, deliberately or as a matter of course. Just as there is no formal difference between play and ritual, so the ‘consecrated spot’ cannot be formally distinguished from the play-ground. The arena, the card-table, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc, are all in form and function play-grounds, i.e. forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart.”
\n-Johan Huizinga<\/p>\n

“In a very basic sense, the magic circle of a game is where the game takes place. To play a game means entering into a magic circle, or perhaps creating one as a game begins”
\n-Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman<\/p>\n

Obviously many games blur the boundaries of the magic circle:<\/p>\n

\"160728100220-pokemon-go-hong-kong-04-super-169\"<\/p>\n

Not only in a physical sense, e.g. Eve Online’s political metagame<\/p>\n

\"eve<\/p>\n

Can you think of other examples of games blurred boundaries?<\/em><\/p>\n

Agency<\/h1>\n

Most of these unique features of the gaming situation (or cyberdrama or interactive literature\u2026) relate to the concept of agency, popularized by media theorist Janet Murray.<\/p>\n

Agency: the satisfying power to take meaningful action and see the results of our decisions and choices<\/strong><\/p>\n

Murray sees immersion and agency as central elements for the enjoyment of games.<\/p>\n

Every expressive medium has its own unique patterns of desire; its own way of giving pleasure, of creating beauty, of capturing what we feel to be true about life; its own aesthetic.
\nJanet Murray \u2013 Hamlet on the Holodeck 1997<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The issue of agency will come up frequently while discussing story-based and art\/arty games.<\/p>\n

Can there be a game without agency?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s examine 3 extreme cases: The Graveyard by Tale of Tales, a Call of Duty \u201cpacifist speedrun\u201d, and Progress Quest.<\/p>\n