On Fun
This comes up occasionally, and usually ends in a debate with no real outcome. If this post were to become a debate, I suspect the same will happen, but anyway, here are my thoughts/opinions.
I'm not a fan of prescribing "fun" as some sort of goal for games to achieve. I like having fun, and I like fun games. But it's "fun" as it pertains to myself. I don't expect my concept of fun to be the same as someone else's.
I'm already of the belief that we tend to limit ourselves through formalism. "XYZ is not a game.", is something we see all the time. While not a bad idea for people to learn the art and craft of game design/development through formalised principles, I'm opposed to presenting these things as absolutes. They should merely be there to seed someone on their road mastery by making their own mistakes and learning from them.
On top of this aversion to formalism that I already have, I twitch a little when a loose concept such as "fun" is doled out as advice as a thing games must have. I have played great games that I would most certainly not describe as "fun". Others might. Had a debate of this very nature with Del about an hour ago, and even then it was apparent we had different ideas about what the word meant to us.
What sparked this post is a suggestion that story/art does not facilitate "fun". Why not? In some people's perception of fun, reading comic strips is fun. If similar ideas are applied in a game, could it not achieve the same thing?
Fun is a loose term and my alternative suggestion is to leave it out as a descriptor in one's design goals.
Anyway, your mileage may vary.
For further reading and/or alternative ideas on the topic to my own/yours/the neighbour's:
- Raph Koster's 10 year retrospective about his book "A Theory Of Fun": http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/gdco12/Koster_Raph_Theory_Fun_10.pdf
- Ian Bogost
Bonus content, on the folly of advice:
- 50 Steps to Indie Success: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TanyaShort/20131010/201752/
I'm not a fan of prescribing "fun" as some sort of goal for games to achieve. I like having fun, and I like fun games. But it's "fun" as it pertains to myself. I don't expect my concept of fun to be the same as someone else's.
I'm already of the belief that we tend to limit ourselves through formalism. "XYZ is not a game.", is something we see all the time. While not a bad idea for people to learn the art and craft of game design/development through formalised principles, I'm opposed to presenting these things as absolutes. They should merely be there to seed someone on their road mastery by making their own mistakes and learning from them.
On top of this aversion to formalism that I already have, I twitch a little when a loose concept such as "fun" is doled out as advice as a thing games must have. I have played great games that I would most certainly not describe as "fun". Others might. Had a debate of this very nature with Del about an hour ago, and even then it was apparent we had different ideas about what the word meant to us.
What sparked this post is a suggestion that story/art does not facilitate "fun". Why not? In some people's perception of fun, reading comic strips is fun. If similar ideas are applied in a game, could it not achieve the same thing?
Fun is a loose term and my alternative suggestion is to leave it out as a descriptor in one's design goals.
Anyway, your mileage may vary.
For further reading and/or alternative ideas on the topic to my own/yours/the neighbour's:
- Raph Koster's 10 year retrospective about his book "A Theory Of Fun": http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/gdco12/Koster_Raph_Theory_Fun_10.pdf
- Ian Bogost
Bonus content, on the folly of advice:
- 50 Steps to Indie Success: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TanyaShort/20131010/201752/
Comments
I think this is something we are born with. My boy and my brother's child are the same age. We purchased leappads for both of them last year Xmas. My boy is still costing me a fortune in AAA batteries a year later, whereas my brother's kid hasn't switched his on since Feb this year. It is all about how and what you perceive fun to be. I think games should aim to stir emotions in players, but it doesn't necessarily have to be fun. That's why terms like "casual gamer" and "core gamer" exists.
But if anyone is interested, here is some additional reading on the subject.
The Koster is really great, as is the Juul, but some of the shorter articles are also useful. De Koven and Huizinga are fundamentals, but do touch on the subject in interesting ways.
Koster, R., 2004. A Theory of Fun for Game Design 1st ed., Paraglyph Press.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Theory-Fun-Game-Design/dp/1932111972
Prensky, M., 2001. Fun, play and games: What makes games engaging. Digital game-based learning, pp.1–31.
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Game-Based%20Learning-Ch5.pdf
Choi, D., Kim, H. & Kim, J., 1999. Toward the construction of fun computer games: Differences in the views of developers and players. Personal Technologies, 3(3), pp.92–104.
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/649/art%253A10.1007%252FBF01305334.pdf?auth66=1383726531_bb46a503823e686bdadeefcd5ca57153&ext=.pdf
Juul, J., 2005. Half-real : video games between real rules and fictional worlds, Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press.
http://www.amazon.com/Half-Real-Video-between-Fictional-Worlds/dp/0262516519
Juul, J., 2009. A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players, The MIT Press.
http://www.amazon.com/Casual-Revolution-Reinventing-Video-Players/dp/0262517396
Koven, B.D., 1978. The well-played game: A player’s philosophy 1st Anchor books ed., Anchor Press.
http://www.amazon.com/The-well-played-game-players-philosophy/dp/0385132689
Huizinga, J., 1971. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture, Beacon Press.
http://www.amazon.com/Homo-Ludens-Study-Play-Element-Culture/dp/0807046817
Enjoyment... Many horror games, I would say, is not "enjoyable" :P But you can't stop playing :)
Also there's this video. Called "The Goldmine of Blackheads". Not enjoyable. But look at all the hits it got! (And I couldn't stop watching. OMG It was traumatic and terrible and I couldn't stop watching)
Instead of 'fun' think of another word you would use and not only will it help you evaluate your experience better but you will relate to others as well.