Game Features
Leaving aside the problem of a definition of what games are, we can identify features which are common in games. A game need not contain all the features and not everything with one or more of these features will be a game, but the list is useful.
- Games are an activity.
- Games have rules.
- Games have conflict.
- Games have goals.
- Games involve decision making.
- Games are artificial, they are safe, and they are outside ordinary life. This is sometimes referred to as the players stepping into the “Magic Circle” or sharing a “lusory attitude”.
- Games involve no material gain on the part of the players.
- Games have an uncertain outcome.
- Games are a representation or simulation of something real, but they are themselves make believe.
- Games are voluntary. If you are held at gunpoint and forced into an activity that would normally be considered a game, some would say that it is no longer a game for you. (Something to think about: if you accept this, then an activity that is voluntary for some players and compulsory for others may or may not be a game… depending on whose point of view you are looking at.)
- Games are inefficient. The rules impose obstacles that prevent the player from reaching their goal through the most efficient means.
- Games have systems. Usually, it is a closed system, meaning that resources and information do not flow between the game and the outside world.
- Games are a form of art.