Different types of gameplay (Defining Games)

Game-play is made of two words, each with their own definitions: game and play.

Play generally refers to simply doing something which is fun or that you find entertaining while game on the other hand implies that rules are being set to the way you should be playing.

The two definitions seems to fit pretty well to the game types "paidea" and "ludus" mentioned in 'Videogames'  by Newman J. respectively.

Paidea games are "play" oriented, allowing the player to have fun in whichever way they wish and Ludus games set rules for players who will be trying to reach a specific goal.

Two games that quickly come to mind could be used as a good example to differentiate two.

1) Need for speed, during a race you have one goal; that is to drive along the track and get through the finish line first to win the race. The rules and victory condition are clearly set, making this a good example for ludus.

2) Grand Theft Auto games, while free roaming, you are able to enjoy a drive with several different cars of your choice, at any speed of your choice, while following, or not following the law. On top of that you are able to go on foot, and simply listen to what the people are talking about. If you look at this game only from this aspect it would be a perfect example for paidea. Naturally, if you look at the entire game, you would see that the player is also able to follow a storyline with missions.

What I've noticed is that the bigger, popular games nowadays will often try to contain some of both elements of ludus and paidea in order to get the interest of as many different player types as possible.

-

In Newman's book (mentioned above), there are four game categories mentioned, to try to separate each game from another.

These types are: agon (competition), alea (chance), ilinx (movement), mimicry (simulation/roleplay).

All the games I can think of will fall under these categories, however some games tend to fit under more than one of the categories. Two extreme examples for these are:

- Transport Tycoon: A simulation game where you have no specific goal or win condition, other than making a successful transport based business using any method that you wish... bus transport, ships, planes, or trains to carry passengers or materials from one point to another. I consider this game to be a paidea game, under the mimicry category for these reasons.

- World of Warcraft: An online game designed to get everyone's attention, built to have at least something for everyone. Funnily enough, this is reflected through the different categories it falls into... as it actually falls in each of them. Agon is introduced through player vs player features and ranking systems. Alea is also in place when seeing several game mechanics which rely on chance such as critical strikes, and rare loot. Although Ilinx isn't a big factor of the game, it is also taking place through the use of several different mounts and movement on land, in air and under the sea. Finally mimicry being the main category for the game, as the player takes the role of his/her character in game, gets better at the game along with his/her character, and can basically experience a whole new life through the character's experiences. Similarly to grand theft auto, this game can be considered both paidea, as the players are free to do anything they want, (and I actually know a friend whose aim was to buy diamonds, and another one who spends her time talking with critters). However, as the player moves to a specific part of the game, such as a dungeon, the gameplay changes to ludus, as several rules and a specific goal are introduced.

Probably any type of combination of categories can be found in between these two extremes, although it seems most games are designed with as many categories as possible in order to appeal to a wider audience.