What makes a game a game?

What makes a game a game?

There is a fine line between what makes a game and what makes an experience with game elements.

A game, is defined by these key features:

• There must be some form of competition.
• Rules.
• Aspects of player actions that influence the game – chance.
• A goal or objective.

Competition:

There has to be a level of difficulty in getting to the goal, this in turn requires conditions that result in the player losing other than winning and thus the competition stimulates the player to improve and succeed.

Rules:

The rules must define the game and lay out what can be done by the player and what cannot such as; what limits they are bound by and what can they physically do.

Actions that influence the game – chance:

The gaming experience should change depending on how the game is played and the player’s decisions can allow for alternate events.

Goal:

Goals need to be integrated as part of the game and also be defined by the rules.

There must be a level of strategy to meet the victory conditions or requirements to win the game.

Even though these are the key features that define a game, they can be experiences more than mechanics, for example: Shadow of the Colossus which gives you the goal of slaying twelve colossi; with the player choosing which order they want to eliminate them, but even with these, the main attraction would be the art direction taken to create the vast landscape and the feelings that you get while riding along.