Why do we like playing games?

“Life is a game, and it’s much more fun if you play it as your own game, so stay light and loose and relaxed.” - Bill Murray.

I read quotes in my free time. I came across this one and immediately wondered who is this person. I have myself wondered about life being a game. But he put it in specific words saying the game of life would be more fun if you play it as your own game. Our own game? The question popped into my head.

How do I know if a game is my own? Can a game which is not my life, also be my own? Like can I own LUDO? Is life even a game? Is it right to consider it as one? Are all games fun? What is a game exactly? What is not a game for sure?

I can go on and on with these endless branches of this train of thought. So let's start with the most basic one.

What is a game?

The boring place for all meanings, the dictionary defines a game as ‘an activity that one engages in for amusement or fun.’ But I don't agree. I like to make definitions that cannot be negated. So if a game exists and people play it and is not fun or amusing in any way, this definition falls. In fact, there are a number of games made for counselling and education of specific individuals (usually criminals), which are at times necessary but also a punishment. They are not fun.

What else is not necessary for games to have? It doesn't have to use a dice or board or any specific equipment. One doesn’t need a chance or skill to play all the games. Not all games are competitive. They can be cooperative.

A game has to have at least two things - a set of rules and an objective. But there can be a lot of things that can have both like making food. The objective is to feed someone and rules are the recipe. But it is not a game. But if you are making the food just throw it away or let it sit for eternity. Still making the food with complete seriousness then it's game. What changed? The objective of the activity became insignificant. This is also key to every game. The objective has to be insignificant to us IRL (in real life).

Even though the objective of the game is insignificant, the game itself is not. By doing the above cooking task, you can always learn cooking. A new recipe maybe, which is going to be edible. Similarly, games can be very useful as a teaching tool stress buster or even an escape.

Law of reversed effort

The law of reversed effort was coined by Aldous Huxley, which states that the more we try to do something consciously, the less we will succeed at it. Like learning to drive a car. If you are determined enough to drive a car and go to work without training you will probably wreck it. You have to play a game first. Learn the rules for driving then drive the car in an open field for no apparent reason, in circles. An activity with an insignificant objective which will end up teaching you how to drive IRL, on real roads.

Basically, it's a trick. All sports are games. All sports have no significant objective. But they can make you happier and healthier. If you have been into sports in your life, you know what you need to do if you’re feeling low. A good jog, a nice swim or maybe a game of badminton with your cousins.

Video Games

Games which are played on a screen, with visual aids and inputs, are called video games. I remember the first time I saw a video game. It was also the first time I played a video game. The legend, super Mario. It was the weird Nintendo rip-off we got here in India with cassettes which promised 100000000 games in one. When actually they were only ten, the ones that showed up in the first scene, then they used to repeat. Then there are contra, galaxy and so many more.

The possibilities grew even more when we realised we could play with friends. Mario was a two-player game. Same as contra. The multiplayer game I really liked at that time was TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). It was actually in line with the actual story of the animated series in the main boss and everything. I was there just watching not playing, when two of my friends played the game straight for hours and finished it in one go.

Types of Video Games

Then came the PC (personal computer) and with it PC games. With a powerful processor, the games became more and more complex. You could buy CDs and DVDs with games loaded in them to be played. The first PC game I played was NSF2. It was a racing game. It was so much fun. Two friends driving race cars like crazy, racing against one other. We could never have experienced that IRL. Then came FPS (first-person shooter) games. Counterstrike Condition Zero and CS1.6. Five or six or more friends could easily connect through wifi and play. This went on for a while.

As time went by, these games started falling into categories -

• Racing games - NFS 2, NFS Most Wanted, Road rash

• FPS (First person shooter) games - CS Czero, CS1.6, CSGo, Call of Duty, Delta

• RPG (Role-playing games) - GTA, Far Cry, Skyrim

• RTS (Real-time strategy) games - AOE (Age of Empires), Command and Conquer, World of Warcraft, DOTA

• MOBA (Multiplayer online battle arena) games - DOTA, AOE, League of Legends

• MMO (Massively multiplayer online) - Warcraft

• Battle Royale - PUBG, Fortnite

I have played almost all the games I have mentioned above. But there is only one game that I still play and enjoy. It is DOTA 2. I got introduced to this in college as my friends who played AOE3 (Age of Empires) with me left to play this one. I resisted learning what appeared to be a very hard game and did not join them for a month or so. But then one day I thought what the hell let's try. They explained what I had to do. Even having a lot of experience with games so far and having played a very complicated game like AOE3, this is beyond complex. There was gold to buy items. The gold increases over time, but you can get gold by killing enemy creeps, buildings and heroes. Now to buy items, there was a regular shop and then a side shop. There was also a secret shop. Not complex enough? Let me start again.

DOTA 2

DOTA stands for Defence of the Ancients. You have to protect your ancient from the enemy. In a traditional game, 5 players on a team face 5 players in the enemy team. The one that destroys the other ancient, which is a building guarded by towers, wins. To win you need gold to get items specific to your hero from the shops. There are a total of 121 heroes in DOTA2 as of today. 10 of these will be picked by both teams. Some heroes are Carry heroes, which get stronger with items and usually are useless without them. Some heroes don't need items to be effective but they do need levels. They can be support heroes. Some heroes are utility heroes who have specific purposes, like initiating fights or ganking (catching some heroes and killing them).

I can go on and on, and it would still not be sufficient information to be able to play properly. It is different from the rest of the games I have played. It's more engaging and challenging. The second a game starts, the real world ceases to exist. This is a whole new world and I have to succeed in my objective. The insignificant objective of destroying the enemy’s ancient. It's the best escape and I think I improve a little in every game.

There is also a flip-side, the reason we play Dota after a certain point is because of the effort we have to put in to learn the game initially. For the first three months, it's like struggling to do basic things. You want your effort to pay off but in reality, that probably is not going to happen. And on top of it, the DOTA2 game community is probably the most toxic player of all time. It is very easy to sabotage the whole game and waste everybody's hour. It's a 5v5 game which often turns to 6v4.

The dark side of games

Cyberbullying is a very common thing. It mostly happens because the people's actions won't result in anything legal as they do not reveal their identity. Evidently, online gaming is also prone to it. People can be seen giving death threats.

If we miss the fine line between real-life objectives and game objectives, it can be catastrophic. The insignificant objectives of the game can start to mean a lot more. Taking it too seriously becomes a problem. This obsession can be really bad. It can cause you to be blinded towards the important things in life. The real-life friends and family, the money to be earned for well-being, job, career everything.