What Is A Game?

A game is any interactive recreational activity. Interactive is defined as anything involving the actions or input of a user or participant where the outcome can be altered by those inputs or actions. Recreation is defined as a means of refreshment or diversion. As such, a game can be defined to be any activity engaged in as a means of amusement or diversion, where the participant(s) have direct input and control of an outcome.

This definition brings to light some interesting questions about what can and cannot be considered a game. The most obvious of these is professional sports. Football or baseball, for example, is an interactive activity which is observed for amusement or diversion. The key element of this statement is observed. While the players on the field are participating in an interactive activity, they are not engaged in the sport for the purpose of amusement or diversion, but instead for monetary gain. So, from the players' perspective, the sport is a job and not a game. The spectators, however, are watching the event for amusement or diversion, but have no direct control over the outcome, so from their perspective it is not interactive and not technically a game. If you were to take out the professional players who are paid to play, and replace them with people who are playing strictly for the enjoyment or diversion, the activity now becomes a game. At its core, the act of playing football makes it a game, but once the participants reasons for engaging in the activity is no longer recreational and/or direct control over the outcome is removed, the activity can no longer be considered a game.

Another gray area in the definition of what is a game concerns the issue of war and "war games." The definition, in this case, is entirely based on the perspective of the participant. The children who are running around in the yard pretending to wage war are engaging in a recreational activity for amusement where