Their names might have been lost to history,
but at some point the ?¬? rst clay dice were thrown,
and the ?¬? rst smooth stones were placed in the pits
of a newly carved mancala board. These early inventors
might not have thought of themselves as game
designers??”perhaps they were just amusing themselves
and their friends by coming up with competitions
using the everyday objects around them??”but
many of their games have been played for thousands
of years. And although this history stretches
back as far as the beginnings of human culture, when
we think of games today, we tend to speak of the
digital games that have so recently captured our
imaginations.
These digital games have the capacity to take
us to amazing new worlds with fantastic characters
and fully realized interactive environments. Games
are designed by teams of professional game developers
who work long hours at specialized tasks. The
technological and business aspects of these digital
games are mind-boggling. And yet, the appeal of digital
games for players has its roots in the same basic
impulses and desires as the games that have come
before them.
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