Games and Video Games - Fundamentals of Game Design - page 10

The rules need not be especially orderly; they are, after all, arbitrary. However, they
should be unambiguous to avoid arguments over interpretation, and they should
be coherent with no conflicts among them. If it is possible for conflicts to arise, the
rules should include a metarule for determining which rule prevails. Ambiguous or
conflicting rules are a sign of bad game design.
Things That a Game Is Not
Note that the definition of a game does not mention competition or conflict . Formal
game theory (a branch of mathematics) requires that there be a conflict of interest
among the players: that is, that one or more of them is trying to oppose the activi-
ties of one or more of the others as they try to achieve their goal while preventing
the others from achieving theirs. For example, Rules of Play (Salen and Zimmerman,
2003, p. 80) describes a game as an “artificial conflict.” Although this concept is
essential to game theory, it's too restrictive a definition for our purposes because
it excludes creative games and purely cooperative games. The “Competition and
Cooperation” section later in this chapter addresses those issues; for now, be aware
that games require achievement but not necessarily the opposition of forces.
As a game designer, you should take a broad view of games. Think of a game as an
activity rather than as a system of rules, as some theorists do. Although all games
require rules, rules alone do not make a game. For a game to exist, it must be played;
otherwise it is simply a theoretical abstraction. If you think of a game as an activ-
ity, it focuses your attention on the player—the person for whom the game is
made—rather than on the rules.
Note also that the definition does not refer to entertainment or recreation. People
most often play games for entertainment, but they sometimes play games for study,
practice, or training in a serious subject. In this context, the definition of play
becomes a bit vague because your boss can require that you “play” a game as part
of your “work” (and if you're being paid to design games, you certainly should).
In any case, clearly people don't play games only for entertainment.
Finally, the definition doesn't say anything about fun . Good games are fun and bad
games are not, generally speaking, but fun is an emotional response to playing a
game, not intrinsic to the game itself. Just because a game is not fun doesn't mean
that it's not a game. In any case, as you will see later in this chapter, fun is too nar-
row a concept to encompass all that games can do for the player.
Gameplay
Many have tried to define what gameplay is over the years. Game designer Sid
Meier's famous definition in Game Architecture and Design is “a series of interesting
choices” (Rollings and Morris, 2003, p. 61). Another designer, Dino Dini, defines it
as “interaction that entertains” (Dini, 2004, p. 31). Although neither of these is
obviously wrong, these definitions are too general for practical use and not much