Lesson 1: What Is A Game?

What is a game?
A play activity with rules that involve conflict.
Critical Vocabulary
Using other games to describe new games is flawed. It relies on familiarity with those other games.
Defining new terminology is also flawed. Not everyone will know, or agree upon, new terms.
Instead try to rely on easily understood concepts that already exist, that don’t require either previous example or new terminology.
So What IS A Game Really?
- Games are an Activity
- Games have Rules
- Games have Conflicts
- Games have Goals
- Games involve Decision Making
- Games are Artificial, Safe and Outside Ordinary Life
- Games involve No Material Gain (although sometimes transfer, as in gambling)
- Games are Voluntary
- Games have an Uncertain Outcome
- Games are a Representation of Something Real
- Games are Inefficient (The rules prevent you from winning by cheating)
- Games have Systems. Mostly Closed
- Games are Art
Let’s Make A Game
Making a Race-to-the-End Board Game
It is common to fear making games, due to concern for a lack of creativity, skill, time etc. and by creating a (probably terrible) Race-to-the-Finish game in just a few minutes we can dispel these concerns.
- Draw a path, then divide it into spaces

2. Come up with a theme
The two players are in a road race. Initially they must start their (unreliable) engines and then progress down the course. First to the Finish wins.
3. Movement Rules
The oldest player takes the first turn, then turns alternate between both players.
To move away from the Start a player must first roll a 6 on their first turn to start their engine. This places them on the first position of the race course and ends their turn. On each further attempt the difficulty is reduced by 1. So on your second turn only a 5+ is required. Next turn a 4+ and so on, until it is automatic at a 1+.
From then on, the number rolled represents how many positions are moved each turn.
Landing on the same position as your opponent shuts them forward one position but also halves their next dice roll (rounding down).
The winner is the first person to reach or move past the Finish position. You do not require the exact number, you may roll above it to win.
Lessons Learnt
Making a game does not take programming skill, great time, money, resources or special materials.
Making a good game may take some of these things, but starting out is easy.
Making prototypes is important.
Making Prototypes Is Important
The faster you can have something playable, the more time you can play test and the better the game will be.
If your first prototype of a new idea takes more than a few minutes then you are over complicating it.
Homeplay
Read: Challenges for Game Designers, Chapter 1 (Basics) — Notes
Read: I Have No Words and I Must Design — Notes
Read: Understanding Games 1, Understanding Games 2, Understanding Games 3 and Understanding Games 4 — Notes