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Ron Hale-Evans
rwhe@ludism.org
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Here is the First Law of Game Systems:
Given enough time, every set of objects becomes a game system.
Let's say you're someone living 10,000 years ago. You have a stick, some stones, and the dirt on the ground. They mean nothing to you. They're just a set of objects.
One day, you idly start using the stick to dig holes in the ground, you roll the rocks around with the stick, you drop them in the holes, and so on. You are playing with them. Your set of objects is now a toy, but there are no rules associated with it, so it's just a toy.
Someone else sees you playing with the sticks, stones, and holes in the dirt, and joins you in play. Over time, the two of you make certain rules about the way you play with your toy, and possibly over generations, Mancala evolves (or simpler games, such as Morris, or what have you). Now that your set of objects has one ruleset associated with it, it is not only a toy but also a game.
The game Mancala spreads, and people develop variants. Eventually, variants evolve that are different enough from Mancala to be called different games. Now that there is more than one ruleset, your set of objects (stick, rocks, and dirt) is not only a toy and a game, but also a game system.
Thus, a game system is always a game, a game is always a toy, and a toy is always a set of objects (possibly a set with only one member). Furthermore, each stage usually evolves from the one before it.
game system: 2+ rulesets
game: 1+ rulesets
toy: 0+ rulesets
It's basically a simple Venn diagram: four concentric circles, with (sets of) objects the outermost and game systems the innermost (see above).
I suppose negative numbers of rulesets could indicate further and further departure from use as a toy, so tools (such as rotary sanders) would have small negative numbers and weapons (such as neutron bombs) would have large ones. However, not every object is a tool, and not every tool is a weapon, which breaks the diagrammatic convention. Possibly usefulness and lethality need their own axes...
Entered 21:01 [/games/game_systems] permalink
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