But what we??™re interested in
right now are elements that all games share??” elements
that make up the essence of games.
A number of scholars from di?¬? erent ?¬? elds have
examined this same question from other perspectives.
Some of the most in?¬‚ uential have been those
looking at games in terms of studying con?¬‚ ict,
economics, behavioral psychology, sociology, and
anthropology. Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman do an
excellent job of synthesizing these various points of
view about the nature of games in their book Rules of
Play (see Further Reading). But our perspective here
is not strictly scholarly, and our purpose here is not
to provide a de?¬? nitive taxonomy. Rather, it is to provide
a useful context, a set of conceptual tools, and a
vocabulary for us to discuss the playcentric process
of designing games.
The distinctive elements of games that are
described above are important concepts for the game
designer to understand because they provide structure
(and form), which can help a beginning designer
make choices in their design process and understand
problems that arise in their playtesting process.
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