Chapter 1 Exercises: What Is a Game?

Exercise 1: The Definition Gauntlet

Type: Analytical
Time: 20-30 minutes

Choose five experiences from the list below (or substitute your own):

  • Wordle
  • Solitaire (card game)
  • Candy Crush Saga
  • A crossword puzzle
  • The Sims 4
  • Untitled Goose Game
  • A slot machine
  • Pokémon GO
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • A jigsaw puzzle

For each, answer the following:

  1. Does it satisfy Huizinga's definition? (Voluntary, separate, uncertain, rule-governed, unproductive)
  2. Which Caillois categories does it belong to? (Agon, alea, mimicry, ilinx) Where does it fall on the ludus-paidia axis?
  3. Does it satisfy Costikyan's test? (Uncertain outcome through player effort)
  4. Does it satisfy Salen & Zimmerman? (System, players, artificial conflict, rules, quantifiable outcome)
  5. Where would you place it on the spectrum from "pure game" to "interactive experience" to "toy"?

Write 2-3 sentences for each answer. By the end, you should notice that some experiences fit cleanly and others don't. The ones that don't fit are the most interesting to think about.

Exercise 2: The Toy-to-Game Pipeline

Type: Design thinking
Time: 20 minutes

Take a simple toy --- a ball, a stick, a deck of cards with no rules, a bucket of LEGO bricks --- and design three different games using it.

For each game, write: - The complete rules (every rule, no assumptions) - The goal - How the game ends - Why the game is fun (what creates engagement?)

Now compare your three games. How do different rules applied to the same toy create completely different experiences? What does this tell you about the relationship between toys and games?

Exercise 3: Removing Elements

Type: Analytical / Design thinking
Time: 25 minutes

Choose a game you know well (any game --- board game, video game, sport). Identify all six elements from the chapter: rules, goals, feedback, voluntary participation, conflict/challenge, and interactivity.

Now, one by one, imagine removing each element:

  1. What happens if you remove the rules? (What if players can do anything?)
  2. What happens if you remove the goals? (What if there's nothing to achieve?)
  3. What happens if you remove the feedback? (What if the game never responds to your actions?)
  4. What happens if you remove the voluntary participation? (What if players are forced to play?)
  5. What happens if you remove the conflict/challenge? (What if there's nothing working against you?)
  6. What happens if you remove the interactivity? (What if you can't do anything?)

For each removal, write 2-3 sentences describing what the experience becomes. Which element, when removed, destroys the experience most completely? Why?

Exercise 4: Play Something You Normally Wouldn't

Type: Analytical play
Time: 30-45 minutes

Play a game from a genre or format you don't normally play. If you mostly play action games, play a visual novel. If you mostly play board games, play a walking simulator. If you mostly play competitive multiplayer, play a cozy farming sim.

Play for at least 20 minutes. Then write a one-page analysis covering:

  1. What design elements are present? Which are dominant?
  2. Where does this game sit on the spectrum (pure game → interactive experience → toy)?
  3. What keeps you engaged in the absence of the elements you're used to?
  4. What did you learn about game design from playing something outside your comfort zone?

The point of this exercise is to break your assumptions. If you think games "need" combat or challenge or failure states, playing something that succeeds without them will expand your design thinking.

Exercise 5: The Magic Circle in the Wild

Type: Observation and reflection
Time: 15-20 minutes

Observe three instances of the magic circle in everyday life. These can include games, but also:

  • Children playing make-believe
  • A poker night with friends
  • A pickup basketball game
  • A board game at a cafe
  • People playing Pokémon GO in a park
  • Someone deep in a mobile game on public transit

For each observation, describe:

  1. What is the "magic circle"? What are its boundaries?
  2. How do participants signal that they are inside the magic circle? (Body language, verbal cues, physical setup)
  3. What breaks the magic circle? (Interruptions, rule disputes, someone quitting)
  4. What makes participants want to enter and stay in the magic circle?

If you can't observe others, draw from your own recent experiences. The goal is to see the magic circle as a real, observable phenomenon --- not just an abstract concept.

Exercise 6: Caillois Remix

Type: Design thinking
Time: 20-25 minutes

Design a game concept (just a 1-paragraph description) for each of the following Caillois category combinations:

  1. Agon + Alea — competition combined with chance
  2. Mimicry + Ilinx — role-playing combined with disorientation
  3. Agon + Mimicry — competition combined with pretending
  4. Alea + Ilinx — chance combined with vertigo/disruption

For each concept, identify one existing game that uses a similar combination. (Hint: Mario Kart is agon + alea. Dance Dance Revolution is agon + ilinx.)

Exercise 7: The Walking Simulator Defense

Type: Written argument
Time: 20 minutes

Write a 300-word argument that Dear Esther (or another walking simulator you've played --- Firewatch, Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch) IS a game. Then write a 300-word argument that it is NOT a game.

Finally, write a 100-word paragraph explaining why both arguments miss the point. What question should we be asking instead of "is it a game?"

This exercise builds a skill you will use constantly as a designer: the ability to argue both sides of a design decision and then cut through to the question that actually matters.

Exercise 8: Rules That Create Play

Type: Design thinking / Practical
Time: 25-30 minutes

Design a game using only these components: a standard deck of playing cards, a flat surface, and two players. You have three constraints:

  1. The game must take less than 5 minutes to play
  2. The game must involve both skill and luck
  3. The rules must fit on one index card (about 100 words maximum)

Write the rules. Then play the game (with a friend, family member, or even against yourself playing both sides). After playing three rounds:

  • Is the game fun? Why or why not?
  • Is the outcome uncertain? Does player skill matter?
  • What would you change to make it better?
  • What does this exercise teach you about the relationship between simplicity and depth?

📝 Note: This is harder than it sounds. Designing a card game with 100 words of rules that is actually fun requires the same skill that designing a video game does: you need rules that interact in interesting ways, create meaningful choices, and produce uncertainty. If your first attempt isn't fun, iterate. That's game design.

Exercise 9: Spectrum Placement

Type: Analytical
Time: 15 minutes

Place the following ten experiences on the "pure game → interactive experience → toy" spectrum. Arrange them in order from most game-like to least game-like. Justify your ranking for at least three of them.

  1. Elden Ring
  2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  3. Pokémon Red/Blue
  4. Proteus
  5. Candy Crush
  6. Dungeons & Dragons
  7. Beat Saber
  8. The Sims 4
  9. Superhot
  10. Garry's Mod

There is no single correct answer. The point is the reasoning, not the ranking.

Exercise 10: Interview a Non-Gamer

Type: Research / Reflection
Time: 20-30 minutes

Find someone who does not consider themselves a "gamer" (a parent, grandparent, non-gaming friend). Ask them:

  1. What is a game? (Their own definition, in their own words)
  2. Have they played any games recently? (Probe: card games, word games, mobile games, Wordle, board games, sports)
  3. What makes something a game vs. not-a-game to them?
  4. Do they find games fun? Why or why not?

Most people who say they "don't play games" actually play games regularly --- they just don't think of Wordle, solitaire, or pickup basketball as "games" in the way they think of Call of Duty or Fortnite.

Write a half-page reflection on what this interview revealed about how different people define "games" and how those definitions shape what they're willing to play.

Exercise 11: Progressive Project --- Player Fantasy Statement

Type: Design / Writing
Time: 15-20 minutes

This is your first progressive project exercise. You will build on this in every subsequent chapter.

Write a one-paragraph player fantasy statement for a 2D action-adventure game (the type you will build in Godot across this book). The player fantasy describes the experience you want to create --- the feeling, the fantasy, the emotional core.

Your statement should answer: - When the player sits down with this game, what do they feel? - What is the core experience? (Exploration? Combat? Discovery? Fear? Wonder?) - What makes this game's experience different from other games in the genre? - What is the "one more turn" hook --- the thing that makes the player not want to stop?

Requirements: - One paragraph (4-8 sentences) - Written in present tense ("The player feels..." not "The player will feel...") - Focuses on experience, not features - Does not mention specific mechanics, technology, or implementation details

Example:

"The player is an archaeologist exploring a crumbling temple complex that shifts and rearranges itself. They feel the tension of navigating spaces that change behind them, the satisfaction of recognizing patterns in the chaos, and the thrill of discovering rooms that reveal fragments of an ancient civilization's story. Every death teaches them something about the temple's logic. Every discovery makes the world feel more alive and more dangerous. They keep playing because they want to understand --- and because the temple is always one step ahead of them."

Save this statement. You will return to it in every chapter. It is the foundation of your game.

Exercise 12: Definitions You Disagree With

Type: Critical thinking / Writing
Time: 15-20 minutes

Choose the definition of "game" from the chapter that you find least satisfying. (Huizinga, Caillois, Costikyan, or Salen & Zimmerman.) Write a 200-word critique:

  1. What does the definition get right?
  2. What does it get wrong or leave out?
  3. What game or experience breaks the definition most clearly?
  4. If you had to rewrite the definition to fix the problem you identified, what would you change?

Then write your own definition of "game" in one sentence. Compare it to the working definition used in this book. Where do they agree? Where do they differ?

This exercise is not about finding the "right" definition. It's about developing the habit of questioning frameworks, even useful ones. Every framework in game design --- and there are many --- has blind spots. Your job as a designer is to use frameworks without being imprisoned by them.