Defining Videogames

In James Newman's book, "Videogames", he uses the terms paidea and ludus to describe types of gameplay.


Paidea refers to games which do not have defined goals or objectives. Paidea games can not be won or lost, and the game lasts for as long as the player wants to play.

Minecraft is an example of a paidea videogame:

Minecraft is an online game, where you can build your own 3d environment. There is no limit to how long you can play, or what you are allowed to build.

Some people like to build pretty rooms made of rainbow coloured wool.....

Some people need to be supervised at all times or chaos will ensue.......

Many people have put countless hours into numerous projects, and your project can be as large-scale or as small-scale as you like.

On a side note: when searching through Google for the two pictures above, I came across this: Nyan Cat! :D If you have not heard of the famous Nyan Cat then YouTube it at your peril, the music can and WILL get stuck in your head for long periods of time!

Ludus refers to games that are more constrained by rules, and have a clear outcome, of victory or defeat.

Command and Conquer 3 is an example of a ludus videogame:

Command and Conquer 3 is a Real-Time Strategy game, in which you must collect resources, construct a base, and build an army to complete specific objectives throughout the game. This game does not have much of a paidea aspect, as you are restricted to following the rules within reason. For example, if you try to play the missions in an open-ended, Sim City type way, then your opponents (whether they are computer controlled or player controlled) will most likely come along and destroy you, or the timer for your mission will run out, and you will lose.

Some games can combine both paidea and ludus. For example, in the Nintendo DS game, Scribblenauts, there are many solutions to each puzzle - it is possible to complete levels using methods that the game designers did not foresee. This is known as emergent gameplay, where the gameplay is nonlinear, and the players are encouraged to make up their own solutions to puzzles, instead of always using the most 'sensible' solution.

You can even turn the game completely into a paidea videogame - the menu screen has an interactive open-ended level, where you can spend as long as you like playing around with the vast array of items you can create. You can even choose to ignore the objectives in the main puzzle mode. If the mood strikes you to create a rainbow flying robot unicorn, then go ahead, the game won't stop you. You can even make 'fearless invincible boy + Excalibur + invincible green armoured liger' and ''invincible skeleton warrior + wizard staff + invincible panther', and you've got your very own He-Man and Skeletor battle.