Our society has a special place for play. Play is a free and voluntary activity, a source of joy and amusement. It’s almost a separate occupation, isolated from the rest of life, and is engaged in within limits of time and space. A game is a form of play with rules and agreed boundaries. It operates in its own universe, bound by its set of rules and borders - often called ‘pure space’. The confused and intricate forms of ordinary life are replaced in this fixed space and for this given time by an agreed set of rules.
Essentially games fall under one of these fundamental categories:
Agon: Like a combat where equality of chances is artificially created in order to have players compete against each other, resulting in the winners triumph. Example: Most sports (football, racing, boxing, etc.), board games.
Alea: Games based on a decision independent of the players, an outcome over which he has no control, and in which winning is the result of fate rather than triumph over an adversary. Examples: dice, lottery, heads or tails.
Mimicry: Games involving role playing. Examples: Hamlet, Nero, dancing
Ilinx: Games involving sense of altering perception. Examples: roller-coasters, swinging, spinning, dancing.
Games keep players engaged and motivated. Engaged and motivated people are essential to the success of any organization. The use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game environments is called Gamification.
Essentially games fall under one of these fundamental categories:
Agon: Like a combat where equality of chances is artificially created in order to have players compete against each other, resulting in the winners triumph. Example: Most sports (football, racing, boxing, etc.), board games.
Alea: Games based on a decision independent of the players, an outcome over which he has no control, and in which winning is the result of fate rather than triumph over an adversary. Examples: dice, lottery, heads or tails.
Mimicry: Games involving role playing. Examples: Hamlet, Nero, dancing
Ilinx: Games involving sense of altering perception. Examples: roller-coasters, swinging, spinning, dancing.
Games keep players engaged and motivated. Engaged and motivated people are essential to the success of any organization. The use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game environments is called Gamification.
