Definition of a Game (Elunga Mkunde)

Art By Kaoru Shibuta

 My Definition of a Game

By Elunga Mkunde

After consideration with additional introspection, I first will state my perspective of the question of what a game is or what is my definition of a game, later attempting to elaborate and perhaps touch upon a few discussions within the general discourse surrounding the definition of a game.

As I stated previously regarding a definition of a game “what I consider as a game is a conscious awareness of one’s interaction of some sort, with a creation of rules with an outcome or a premeditated outcome of some sort” (Mkunde, 2021) I decided to alter my definition slightly to include other living beings. What my definition entails is as such in order for an interaction to qualify as a game regarding my definition it first must achieve the following conditions. One is a unique interaction condition, there are interactions which we engage with every day which are common, they involve behaviours that the majority of people would consider common, which include things such as conversing with people, dancing, driving, shopping, and walking, etc. A unique interaction includes a selective interaction created by one or more individuals by which we alter our behaviours to accommodate or align with that interaction. Second condition is the rules condition, a majority of people are familiar with the concept of rules, however, my definition comprises two or three which are operational, structural, and perhaps implicit rules, from my perspective rules mainly implicit service as a paradigmatic instance of social interactions. Structural and operational rules involve what I would say as direct creation by individuals that includes physical attributes of the world, there is a space is created for a specific interaction to partake, or the limitations of movements are rarely mental due to the fact it is impossible to determine what occurs in one’s mind. A third condition is an outcome condition, an outcome is a process by which an objective is achieved, this condition could be considered as the ending of that interaction.

I am aware of some of the possible inadequacies which my definition may fail to address, where an interaction is probable in a context that perfectly qualifies and achieves all the conditions, I listed above which would not be accepted as a game, and perhaps on the opposite side, there are contexts where an interaction does not achieve my condition and still be considered as a game. I would agree that more conditions could be incorporated to exclude or include other interactions, however, my intended goal regarding this definition was to create an adequate or a general description of what a game is, rather than of giving a prescriptive claim regarding what a game must be.

Regarding the discourse surrounding the definition of what is a game I would say is difficult to engage with, not because it is particularly impossible to understand, however, it is, as a result, I would argue of there being too many definitions with recurring themes, however with the inclusion of some uniqueness that separates them from the other, which I think we ought to spend less time on. We should all have a general concept where we can analyse a list of interactions and behaviours, that we all should agree on which represent what we call or consider as a game.

03/02/2022

Bibliography

Mkunde, E. (2021, November 20). Blogger. Retrieved from GAME DESIGN BY ELUNGA MKUNDE: https://elungamkunde.blogspot.com/2021/11/what-is-game-ludology-by-elunga-mkunde.html