Algorithms and Networking for Computer Games

Motivation
Representation
Player
Rules
Goal
Opponent
Challenge
Conflict
Play
Concretization
Indeterminism
Definition
Obstruction
Correspondence
Agreement
Figure 1.1 Components, relationships, and aspects of a game.
(1984, Chapter 1) defines game as `a closed formal system that subjectively represents
a subset of reality'. Accordingly, a game is self-sufficient, follows a set of rules, and
has a representation in the real world. These observations are echoed by the definitions
of Costikyan (2002, p. 24), who sees a game as `an interactive structure of endogenous
meaning that requires players to struggle toward a goal', and Salen and Zimmerman (2004,
p. 80), to whom a game is `a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined
by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome'.
The five components we have listed seem to be present in every game, and the rela-
tionships between them form three aspects of a game, which are illustrated in Figure 1.1
(Smed and Hakonen 2003, 2005b):
(i) Challenge: Rules define the game and, consequently, the goal of the game. When
players decide to participate in the game, they agree to follow the rules. The goal
motivates the players and drives the game forwards, because achieving a goal in the
game gives the players enjoyment.
(ii) Conflict : The opponent (which can include unpredictable humans and random pro-
cesses) obstructs the players from achieving the goal. Because the players do not
have a comprehensive knowledge of the opponent, they cannot precisely determine
the opponent's effect on the game.
(iii) Play: The rules are abstract but they correspond to real-world objects. This represen-
tation concretizes the game for the players.