What Are Games? (Wittgenstein)

There are many perceptions of what a ‘game’ is. It can be something played as a social activity, for satisfaction, a challenge against others or can be used within an educational process.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, a philosopher of the 20th century makes the observation that games don’t share all of the same features; however do all have an association with each other. Whilst playing ‘Deal or No Deal’ with my family and then playing ‘Tomb Raider’ I noticed definite similarities. Both games had a competitive drive to win and to succeed, as Tomb Raider was testing skill and Deal or No Deal tested knowledge, both were highly competitive. I found that greater challenge within a game arouses more pleasure for the player, as according to King and Krzywinska: “A higher quotient of pleasure might result when more work has been required for more difficult success to be achieved.” (Myers, 2006p.151). This demonstrates that the harder the game, the more the player is eager to succeed.

He also thought that a game is like a rope, a rope having many fibres and not just one single thread. He concluded that a game is like this as it has many different components, for example within Tomb Raider there were many different routes that could be taken each one ending in a different result, with the correct route gelling all of the fibres together. He believes that the concept of a game has many blurred edges, he states that: “The rules of chess determine the possible moves of a chess piece.” (Baker and Hacker 2005, p.48). This demonstrates that to each different game there are specific rules to follow, which determine how a game is played.

He considers that there are no boundaries to a game, as there are many different types of games which all have several different goals. Applying Wittgenstein’s theory to games I have played, Tomb Raider has many different threads and obstacles to it. Whereas Deal or No Deal only has a limited amount of threads which make up the game, you either win or lose. However in Tomb Raider you are given lives and chances to revive back to the game. Samorost 2 is also a good example highlighting that games have blurred edges as it takes you into a surreal, inhuman galaxy, leaving the player many options and allows them to decode the hidden choices given. Therefore I believe that Wittgenstein is correct in his findings as at first glance all games are slightly different, but when looking closer it is evident that they follow the same motives.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, G. Hacker, P. (2005) Wittgenstein: Understanding and Meaning, Blackwell: London.

King, G. Krzywinska, T. (2006) Tomb Raiders and Space Invaders, I. B. Tauris: London and New York.

Further Reading

Author Unknown. (Date unknown) Ludwig Wittgenstein, Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 27th February.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein