game

when i'm talking about games, i'm most interested in the context of a "serious game". i.e. one that has a practical impact on our lives/ways of seeing the world.

or metagames - i.e. games that create other games. i'll explore a bit more on both here.

a few of my favorite definitions of "game"

ERGO model: environment, roles, guidelines, objectives. (source: antonio (lala))

"A game is a form of play with goals and structure." (Kevin J. Maroney)

"A game is a form of art in which participants, termed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal." (Greg Costikyan)

"A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context." (Clark C. Abt)

"All games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation." (Jane McGonigal)

use cases

self-discovery/self-transformation, learning/capacity development/skill development, self-healing/community/relationship building, strategy development/co-creation, fun.

coordination/peace games

instead of (or in addition to) war/combat games, can we have coordination/peace games?

the "great logistics game" or "world (peace) game" was proposed by buckminster fuller institute as a tool to facilitate a comprehensive, anticipatory, design science approach to the problems of the world.

its goal is to figure out how to:

other approaches:

• 70s - cybersyn - distributed decision support system to aid in the management of the national economy - during the birth of cybernetics.

types of metagames

a) lifelong journeys (4-quadrant view)

1. self-discovery/realization games (waking up)
2. learning/capacity development games (growing up)
3. self-healing/empowerment/relationship-building games (cleaning up)
4. strategy/co-creation/contribution games (showing up)
5. discovery/experiential games (opening up)

b) meta-cognitive processes (OODA loop)

1. perception
2. sensemaking
3. decision-making
4. action
5. learning

c) life areas (wheel of life)

• personal/spiritual
• health & fitness
• relationships
• environments
• finances
• professional
• learning
• fun/play/creativity
• systems

d) 4 horizons, 12 areas (fourgames)

• short game
  • feelings
  • thoughts
  • actions
• mid game
  • environments
  • systems
  • tools
• long game
  • roles
  • goals
  • stories
• deep game
  • identities
  • mystery
  • metaphor

+ more?
(metadesign? gameworld building? games that create games?)
(other metagames that are social in nature or can be practiced as such? -> spiritual/relational: resonance, attunement, logoic architecture. social/developmental: SDGs, IDGs, possibility management, etc)

for the games i played the most as a child/adolescent: see gaming.