What is a game?

Games, simulations, simulation games, serious games; all terms that are used with varying degrees of understanding and precision to describe activities in eLearning. So it seems essential that I get to grips with them. I started with the intention of finding an answer to the question – What is the essence that makes a game distinct from a simulation?I chose five authors or research teams on the basis that each has surveyed a range of other papers and came up with a list of up to six characteristics:

Competitive, interactive, bound by rules, specified goals, depend on skill and often involve chance, imaginary settings (Randel et al(1992)              

 Rules, goals and objectives, outcomes and feedback, challenge/conflict, interaction, story or representation (Prensky 2001)

 Imaginary worlds, rules and goals, sensory stimuli, challenge, mystery, and control (Garris et al 2002)

 Defined by the author or assumed by the reader to be a game, has goals, interactive, is rewarding i.e. Has feedback (Vogel et al 2006)

 Players take on roles or make decisions, obstacles to progress, rules, predetermined goal(s) and artifical nature (Sauve et al 2007)

One thing that most of these characteristics have in common is that they could also be defining life at work. Take Sauve’s criteria for example; a majority of people at work nowadays are given role descriptions by the HR Department rather than job descriptions, work follows rules and involves overcoming numerous obstacles to achieve the objectives of the organisation or department, and one might even suggest that people recognise the artificial nature of work when they talk of their ‘work/life balance’.Perhaps the characteristic that is most ‘game’like’ relates to the imaginary world within which the game is played. And perhaps the other aspect, hinted at in ‘defined by the author’, is the purpose of the activity. If its main purpose is to have fun then perhaps it is a game; if its main purpose is learning, or competing in the market place, then even if fun is involved, it is not a game. By contrast, their definitions of simulation seemed somewhat simplistic. They were generally regarded as systems, representing the real world, with inputs related to outputs but without necessarily having goals. It was interesting to notice that the lists of features that supposedly define simulations have virtually none of the features listed for games. Yet characteristics such as the existence of rules and goals, interactivity, challenges in one form or another, and feedback on outcomes, are all essential aspects of effective simulations. Even a ‘story’ is usually present as part of the context-setting, whether it is an airline flight deck crew flying their simulator to Hong Kong, or a group of managers tackling the ‘beer game’.Clark Aldrich (2005) simplifies the situation by linking simulation and gaming with pedagogy, stating that in an educational experience there are elements of all three, in different proportions depending on the situation.Perhaps the real question concerns why we are interested in games and simulations. At a time when many teachers find it hard to interest their students, they look enviously at games that seem to engage their students with total involvement, often for long periods of time. And they wonder if they could transfer the magic ingredient to the learning situation and see their charges engrossed in their school or college subjects with the same commitment they show to their games.Is the real question – what motivates people to learn?  That is the subject of another blog.   References Aldrich, Clark (2005) Learning by Doing, John Wiley (Pfeiffer) San Francisco, CA Garris R, Ahlers R, and Driskel JE (2002) Games, Motivation, and Learning: A Research and Practice Model Simulation & Gaming 33(4) 441-467Prensky M (2005) Digital Game Based Learning, McGraw-Hill Randel JM, Morris BA, Wetzel CD, and Whitehill BV (1992) The Effectiveness of Games for Educational Purposes: A Review of Recent Research Simulation & Gaming 23(3) 261-276Sauve L, Renaud L, Kaufman D, Marquis J S,(2007) Distinguishing between games and simulations: A Systematic review. Educational Technology & Society, 10(3), 247-256Vogel JJ, Vogel DS, Cannon-Bowers J, bowers CA, Muse K, Wright M (2006) Computer Gaming and Interactive Simulations for learning: A Meta-analysis. J Educational Computing Research 34(3) 229-243