Innhold
The words play and games have a unique relationship in the English language. There are two ways to frame their relationship, both of which are useful:
1) Games are a subset of play: The category of play represents many kinds of playful activities. Some of these activities are games, but many of them are not. In this sense, games are contained within play.
2) Play is a subset of games: Games are complex phenomena and there are many ways to frame them and understand them. RULES, PLAY, and CULTURE are three aspects of the phenomena of games. In this sense, play is contained within games.
A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome. The key elements of this definition are the fact that a game is a system, players interact with the system, a game is an instance of conflict, the conflict in games is artificial, rules limit player behavior and define the game, and every game has a quantifiable outcome or goal. (Eric Zimmerman, Katie Salen Tekinbas (2003), “Rules of Play: Fundamentals of Game Design”)
Discuss with your colleagues or friends the difference between Play and Game, share your own definition of the Game.
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This activity is part of the wider educational effort of the international partnership “GameOn” to promote inclusion, participation, and critical thinking through game design. Learn more about this partnership here.
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Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
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