What is a game?

Game designer Celia Pearce, cited in Carr et al. (2006, pg.5) defines a game as ‘a structured framework for spontaneous play’ that consists of characteristics that are true for all types of game.

However Wittgenstein argues that, instead of there being characteristics consistent to all games, he believes the concept of ‘game’ is ‘a complicated network of similarities overlapping and criss-crossing’ (cited in Aaron, 1963). He describes this further by the concept of ‘family resemblance’. Members of a family share some characteristics yet differ in others.

To explain this concept, I am going to apply this theory to a few games that I have played. ‘Doom II’, ‘The SIMS’ and ‘Need for Speed Underground’.

Competitiveness

‘Doom II’ is a single player game in which the aim is to kill all the monsters and to progress through each area/level without dying. Because only one person is playing there is not really an element of competitiveness.

‘The SIMS’ is mainly a single player game but a second player can be introduced. However, there is still not an element of competitiveness as the game doesn’t have any challenges for the players to challenge each other.

‘Need for Speed Underground’ is also a single player game where other players can be introduced. It is very competitive as the players are racing against each other in order to complete the race fist.

Skill

‘Doom II’ involves the character running through rooms and shooting the monsters before they shoot you and finding the exit. I believe this involves a lot of skill as good control skills are important in order to shoot and move quickly.

‘The SIMS’ doesn’t really involve any skills as it is a slow moving game and doesn’t require good control skills.

‘Need for Speed Underground’ is a fast moving game and also requires good control skills as you are racing a car at high speeds against other cars through a busy city.

'Doom II' - not competitive, skill
'The SIMS' - not competitive, no skill
'Need for Speed Underground' - competitive, skill

These examples contribute to Wittgenstein’s theory as they show the overlapping of similarities and also the differences between games. Wittgenstein expands on this idea by explaining the concept of ‘game’ as being like rope made of twisted fibre, as there are so many different characteristics that make up a game.

Word Count: 390


Bibliography

Carr, D. et al (2006) Computer Games: Text, Narrative and Play, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Aaron, R. (1965) Wittgenstein’s Theory Of Universals [Online]. Retrieved on 15th February 2007 from http://www.jstor.org/view/00264423/di984432/98p04367/0