What is a Game?

Here’s my attempt at simplifying a complex & evolving industry.

What is a game?

Everyone I’ve asked this question to has given me a different answer, and most of the time it will be something vague that can be applied to almost anything. I asked a few friends, family and also went to Twitter to do some research, and here are a few of the responses I got back:

“Anything that engages the mind”
“A form of entertainment”
“Alternative universe with different sets of rules”
“Anything that involves play”
“Anything with a predefined set of parameters, within which progress can be made towards a desired outcome”

Some of these are really interesting, but it was clear to me that the overall meaning was scattered and unclear from person to person.

Wikipedia defines a ‘game’ as:

“An activity that one engages in for amusement or fun”

GPT-3 says it’s:

“An interactive system, usually involving players, rules, a goal, and a feedback loop”

These doesn’t really cut it for me either. It doesn’t fit into a clear enough box, and as I observe everything happening in this industry, I feel like these definitions don’t do justice to all the innovation that I am seeing. So I set out on a path to find a way to make it make more sense to me and define it in a way that helps me move the conversation forward instead of keeping it broad & vague.

Side note: The word ‘Video Games’ is also a terrible name in my opinion. It does a bad job of encompassing the huge shift that has happened with the rise of technology and the internet in the ladt few decades. If anything, I would rather call them ‘Digital Games’, but for the purpose of this essay I will refer to everything as just ‘Games’.

So, what is a game?

I don’t think I have the perfect solution, but I have managed to categorize a big portion of the innovation that I am seeing into 3 clear areas:
- Entertainment
- Sports
- Tools

1. Entertainment Games

Entertainment is the most creative of the 3 categories. This is the category where storytelling lives, and where multiple creative fields such as Sound, Art, Story, Music & Gameplay all work together to create a compelling & fun experience. This is where the award shows focus and where critics discuss the choices the game designers have made. This is where we celebrate creative expression using game design as an art-form and where we explore the stories that go deeper into the human condition. This category encompasses MOST of the genres of games that you might be most familiar with, from 2D platformers to 3D Open-world survival games. Even the ‘casual game’ movement that has risen from the Mobile Gaming industry would fall under this category as a light form of entertainment and passive gameplay experience. This category can definitely do with a deeper breakdown but for the purpose of this essay we’ll draw the line here.

This category of games is Experience driven.

A few examples of these games:

• Journey by thatgamecompany, Limbo by Playdead, The Last of Us Part II by Naughty Dog, Candy Crush Saga by King, Assasins Creed: Valhalla by Ubisoft

2. Sport Games

Sport as a definition will make you think of physical activities like golf, soccer & chess. And you are correct, these are all games with a set of rules, varying challenges & and a clear objective that requires mastery, strategy and in some cases teamwork to win. It’s competitive, and repetitive, and is exactly the bucket that these games fall into. This new digital age paired with the internet has changed the entire landscape of what a sport can be. This whole new industry of digital sports is most commonly referred to as ‘eSports’, a digital version of the standard sports we are used to. It is more difficult to wrap our head around these as games similar to golf because they tend to benefit from the added creativity that technology can provide. They include enticing characters, exciting abilities & extravagant rules that would otherwise be impossible to replicate in real life. The comparisons to traditional sports are becoming out of reach as they become more experimented with and innovated on to create more beautiful and powerful experiences for the player, but the intent is the same, you compete to win.

This category of games is Rules driven.

A few examples:

• Valorant by Riot Games, Rocket League by Psyonix, Call of Duty Warzone by Activision Blizzard, Fortnite by Epic Games

3. Tool Games

Tool Games are the most undefined & evolving category. This is the trend we’re seeing when see the words gamification used. Where apps, products & services that have a customer/consumer loop are adopting game design mechanics to create an experience that is more fun and enjoyable for the end user. We’re seeing lines become blurred & innovation happening in industries like education, social media and marketing to name a few. We’re seeing an increasing amount of brands try to reduce churn by implementing level up systems, community awards/bonuses & loot box strategies to keep the player entertained and engaged. The primary purpose of these products & services is not a competitive one, or an artistic/entertaining one, but rather one that aims to attain a specific action from the user.

This category of games is Transformation driven.

A few examples:

• Duolingo, Robinhood, Synthesis School, Facebook, Reddit, Udemy, Uber

Important notes

This structure has helped me communicate and understand some of the headlines I am seeing & conversations that I am having. But gaming isn’t as black and white as this. Most of the examples I mentioned can fit into the other categories in some ways as well, so I’m trying to look only at the primary objective of the project. Gaming is very quickly evolving with platforms & experiences emerging that we have never seen before. Things like Fortnite hosting live virtual concerts, Roblox building a platform-first for game developers or Rival Peak, a game-like reality show with AI characters.

Okay, so what is a Game again?

A piece of Entertainment, A Sport or a Tool.

If we want, we can probably stick to the definition that GPT-3 gave above, but it’s important to try look at this with a bit more detail as we see how things evolve, and how we can best categorize these movements.

What do you think? Do you disagree? What areas/trends do you see being impacted by games next? Follow me on Twitter @CarlsContent where I’d love to continue the conversation!

If this topic interests you, I also host a weekly podcast called Zero to Play where I talk to game developers and those in the gaming industry about the medium and where it’s heading. You can read more at zerotoplay.com or get updates on Twitter @zerotoplay.

Thanks for your time!