In this post i will be discussing different games that I believe show signs of being either paidea or ludus. First of all I should probably explain the meaning of these two terms...
Paidea games are often associated with being very free and open to the gamers decisions. The gameplay often revolves around having a good time and being rather relaxed about it all.
Ludus games are out there to challenge a player and there are a very clear set of rules in order to win the game. In other words, you have a set goal or objective and you have to get there within the rules the game has set you.
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A paidea game!
A great example of a paidea game as illustrated by James Newman is SimCity. There are many reasons for this but some of the more obvious reasons come from the fact that there is only ever one real objective and that is to be a success however this objective isn't set in the game itself, it's you to figure out from common sense.
Furthermore, the game doesn't direct you in any one way. An example would be the game telling you to build something in a certain place and to get all of your money from dirty industry. Well, outside of tutorials the game lets you do as you wish. You can build your city by exploiting raw materials such as oil or something like tourism. It's completely up to you and the game is essentially never-ending. You play until you feel satisfied with your accomplishments.
Because there is no set-in-stone objectives, the game is free will and in many ways fun. It lets you do as you wish when you wish and as a result, I would call this game an outright paidea game.
A ludus game!
The example I will be giving for this one is very typical so expect it. Call of Duty. This in my books is a very ludus game. For the purpose of this blog post i will be focusing more on the multiplayer aspect of the franchise.
When you play Call of Duty online with other people as soon as you are thrown into a match the man shouts at you to do one thing: kill everyone! (or other similar things dependent on the game-mode). You are given an objective and you have a strict set of rules to follow. There will often be re-spawn timers, penalty points for team killing or even harming a teammate. As well as this, there will be game time limits and players panicking all over the place.
Basically, you're playing the game to be competitive and to win the match. You're given your rules and you abide by them and if you don't you will be penalized for it. It is very clear that this is to be thrown into the ludus game category.
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So that's it for my blog about paidea and ludus games. I hope you learnt something because i certainly did! As always, thanks for reading if you did.
-Jamie
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteIn Caillois's classification, paidea and ludus are a continuum, with each being at the end of a spectrum with free play at one end and more tightly constrained rule-bound play at the other.
Across this continuum, Caillois overlays the categories of competition (agon), chance (alea), vertigo or dizziness (ilinix) and imitation (mimicry).
Again, these aren't absolute, and various forms of play, including games, might be thought of as being in more than one category. For example, the rule-bound game of poker (ludus) combines competetion between players (agon) based upon playing a hand of cards dealt by chance (alea).
Another example -- the act of rolling down a hill for the sheer pleasure of the experience might be described as paidea -- unbound by rules or ideas about "winning" or "losing". The type of dizzying sensation experienced by the roller can be categorised, in Caillois's terms, as ilinx.
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a few weeks since a new post has appeared on your blog.
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