Overall, the exercises provided by Fullerton are a very useful introduction to the fundamentals of games, and how games are distinct from toys and from other areas of life. Read alongside Schell (2015) and Tekinbaş & Zimmerman, which also provide introductions to the field of game design, it becomes clear that scholarship on games has crystallized around some key elements and definitions, although of course there are scholars who argue against this consensus. I found Fullerton’s definition of the various elements of games convincing, and I also found value in Schell’s list of game qualities (2015, p. 44):
- Games are entered willfully.
- Games have goals.
- Games have conflict.
- Games have rules.
- Games can be won and lost.
- Games are interactive.
- Games have challenge.
- Games can create their own internal value.
- Games engage players.
- Games are closed, formal systems.
Armed with a more robust idea of what a game actually is, I’m excited to explore the options as we create our own games.
References
Fullerton, T., & Taylor & Francis eBooks EBA. (2019). Game design workshop: A playcentric approach to creating innovative games (Fourth ed.). Taylor & Francis, CRC Press.
Schell, J. (2015). The art of game design: A book of lenses, second edition (2nd ed.). A K Peters/CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/b17723
Tekinbaş, K. S., & Zimmerman, E. (2003). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. MIT Press.