Video Game Design: Introduction: What is a video game: An Open Learning Guide

It's a good question, and a common question, one that you can spend a great deal of time arguing over. The definition, conscious or not, will influence how one decides to design a game. So it makes sense to begin there.

There are multiple ways we could define a game, with varying ranges of inclusiveness. The essential problem with most definitions, however, is that they only work when one looks at certain types of games or players.

Some games are generally considered more entertaining than others, and some players prefer certain games to others.

The Competition definition holds that games are entirely about players competing against each other, to be the first or the best at something, or in the case of a solitaire game, to overcome the challenge presented to him through the gameplay. This is a reasonable definition for many games, and can be stretched even to very simple games such as Catch, where the only gameplay involved is tossing a ball or other object to the other players. The competition in Catch would be the players versus the ball and the environment; the player holding the ball must try to successfully throw it to the other player, and the other player must try to catch the ball without missing or dropping it. There is a deliberate attempt to make the game challenging; the players could hand the ball off to one another but they never choose to do so.

But what about something even simpler and less rule-based than Catch? Could we call building blocks a game to play? We do say that one "plays" with them. For the Competition definition, we would have to come up with some sort of competition that the player has between himself and the blocks, or his mind.

The player does have a challenge in building structures of his own devising, in coming up with architecture that won't collapse. But neither the blocks nor his mind are trying to hinder him in this goal. They are both tools, assisting him. The blocks have the property of being weighted and prone to gravity, and the mind is not going to assist him perfectly through every step of the process, but these are properties of the objects, not active attempts to foil him. Unlike in the case of Catch, where the players wish to be challenged, someone building blocks is interested in using his tools purely to a productive advantage.

So if you consider building blocks to be a game, then the Competition definition fails. It should be noted, though that many designers consider them and derivative items(Legos, Simcity, etc.) to be toys rather than games.

(The challenge in the game makes the game. Building blocks is playing in a different form, driven by personal targets to create the outcome. A game has set rules, and usually has a beginning, middle and an end, whereas playing mostly starts and ends at your own will without rules controlling the way you manipulate or use your play things. Playing is 100% down to you. A game is set out to be played in a particular manner.)

The earliest known games are board games such as Go and Nine Men's Morris. Sports records show that athletic games existed in ancient times as well.

Up until the industrial age, newly designed games were not well-known, if they existed. But a lot of the games and sports played today were invented or had modern rules drawn during the 19th century. Baseball, basketball and football (both the American and international games) are examples of sports that grew up in that period. While some evolution of the rules has taken place since then, they largely resemble the same games played today. New board games like the game of Goose also started appearing at this time. These changes may be most easily attributed to a combination of improved transportation, communication, and manufacturing; with a more mobile society, popular games could easily spread throughout the world, and games with specialized equipment could be built in larger numbers.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Video Game Design/Introduction/What is a video game by Wikibooks contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.