Game Definitions

Abstract

Scholars and designers have defined the concept of 'game' in different ways over the decades. Are games an activity or an artifact, a form of art or a series of interesting choices, a mess or socio-material stabilizations? Is there something that all games share or is it all just family resemblances? This article considers different definitions proposed since the 1930s, as well as the idea that there is no special set of features or an essence that all games share.