What is a game?

• What kind of answer are we looking for?

• The game: The systems set up by the rules of a game (the game).

• The player: The relation between the game and the player of the game (the player).

• The world: The relation between the playing of the game and the rest of the world (the world).

• Games: Quake III, EverQuest, checkers, chess, soccer, tennis, Hearts, Solitaire and pinball.

• Borderline cases: Open-ended simulations (Sims), gambling, games of pure chance, P&P RPG.

• Not games: Traffic, war, free-form play and ring-a-ring o’roses.