Defining Rules - ROP Ch 11

game = set of rules, formal systems
rules: are less concerned with player experience
formal identity of a game
not referring to aesthetic qualities
not representational identity
           formal structures
behavioral rules: conventions of etiquette

Are rules unique to games?
-Games are organized play, play with rules
Rules: forces us to take some paths - giving us the bounds

limit player action

explicit and unambiguous, if there is anything unclear that ambiguity has to be cleared up in order to play
shared

fixed

binding: are meant to be followed, if not players could cheat: (part of “magic circle”; rules have their own authority)

repeatable

Rules in context: games are designed systems, artificial and distinct from daily existence