The Definition of Game

The word game is used to describe a variety of activities that are played in various ways. It is often used to refer to video games, but can also be applied to other types of play such as board, tabletop and card games. A game can involve a single player, multiple players or no other participants. It can be played by hand, with a controller or with a computer. It may be abstract, such as chess or scrabble, or it may be based on a specific cultural heritage such as the Monopoly board. A game can be used to learn, exercise creativity, practice problem-solving skills, or simply to enjoy social interaction with others.

In the past, game theory has primarily focused on the technical aspects of game design and development. However, since the mid-2000s there has been a growth in humanities scholarship that examines video games as an art form. This research is typically centered around the fields of ludology and narratology. The narratological approach to game studies centers on video games as narratives, while ludology focuses on the psychological, social and societal impact of playing video games.

A key element in defining a game is the rules that govern game play. These are a critical component of the magic circle which defines a game’s boundaries and limitations. Game designers establish these rules to provide structure despite uncertainty in game play. The adherence to these rules determines the integrity of the game, and players are always offered a choice whether to play within this magic circle or not.

The ubiquity of gaming has allowed it to be compared with other cultural phenomena such as math, sports and science. While some of these comparisons are misleading, it is important to recognize that many games have their own unique characteristics and that our limited horizon prevents us from coming up with a perfect definition.

The definition of game is an ongoing debate within the field of game studies. Many of the problems in the definition are the result of a failure to recognize previous work that has already developed a number of different models and perspectives for the study of games. For example, a recent paper that attempts to define a game by comparing it to a movie (Fifty Years On) fails to take into account the work of other scholars who have defined the concept of game before, including Bogost (2009), Deterding (2013), Esposito (2005), Korsgaard et al (2008), and Karhulahti (2015)b.