What is a game? Why do we make them at all? I had not asked these questions when I first started to make games. They didn't really matter to me. I just new I wanted to make the games that I was thinking about so that I could play them. Once I started studying game design these questions came up in a big way. When you look at your ideas as just a means to an end it can be harder to come up with truly great solutions to the abstract design problems you face. By contemplating the bigger philosophical questions you can understand a direction to go rather than being stuck on a tactical level.
So what is a game? This is the question that ended up being very surprising to me. It wriggles around as you attempt to explain it. The more you look directly at it the more it shifts around defying explanation. It's easy to think of chess or monopoly and know that they are games but what about interactive novels, or choose your own adventure books? How about trying to take a certain number of steps while walking somewhere before stepping on a crack in the sidewalk with your left foot? Is that a game? Must a game have winners and losers? Player turns? The concept of players at all? The answer to most of these questions is a resounding maybe. Due to this a broad definition is required and that's what causes the ambiguousness that I mentioned earlier. Interestingly, the word play is hard to define in this same way (but that's for another time!).
Here is the definition of a game that you will get when you google the word:
"1. A form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck.
2. A complete episode or period of play, ending in a definite result.
Adjective: Eager to do something new or challenging."
Follow the link HERE for the Mirriam-Webster definition of the word.
The linked definition page does a pretty admirable job of listing the many variations and permutations of meaning that can be associated with the word. This does make it a tad confusing.
The most useful definition for my purposes is "A way to organize play". I find this definition useful because it reminds me that while mechanics and components are central to the experience, the experience itself is what is actually the "game". Also, it is short and straight forward.
So then. Why make a game?
The structuring and sharing of play adds deeper meaning to it. Playing and making games is a way to more completely know yourself and those around you. An avenue of artistic expression, fulfillment, and connection. Most of the arts allow for expression but they don't regularly include the audience as performers and contributors. The players and the playing of a game are simultaneously the audience and the creators of the experience. This unique dichotomy and being able to influence it are why we makes games and are compelled to order our play in ever more complex patterns. As we age the simple play of our youths becomes more organized to allow for greater relevance and connection.