Game Classification

In this lecture, we learned about several different ways games may be classified; primarily the methods Roger Cailloins (A prominent french sociologist), and his work in seperating games of all kinds into two distinct groups and a multitude of sub-groups.

Any game from Poker to World of Warcraft can be classed as either Paidia or Ludus.
A Paidia game is one that may give a player freedom and a sense of experimentation; a loose ruleset and a "sandbox" style of gameplay are some of the most easily recognized aspects of a Paidia game.
Some very good examples can be found in Maxis' catalogue of games: The Sims, SimCity & Spore.

On the other hand, Ludus is a strong opposite; the established rules of the game are immutable, and a more competitive aspect is brought to the fore by making victory the clear goal. Many TCG's (Trading Card Games) are based around Ludus, as are many E-Sport games such as League of Legends.

After these initial classifications, further sub-catagories are often applied:

• Agon: Competition
• Alea: Chance
• Mimicry: Simulation 
• Illinx: Movement

 There are two games which are very interesting examples of both Paidia and Ludus, which I will proceed to both classify and elaborate upon: Dwarf Fortress and League of Legends.

Dwarf Fortress is, as far as Paidia games would go, an unusual example. Despite an incredible amount of Mimicry of real world physics and established rules that are unchangable inside the game, there is both no win-condition and an even larger amount of possible interactions inside the game. A player is effectivly told to create their own goals in the game, which could range from becoming a king, to slaying an infamous creature, but there is nothing inhibiting a player's choice inside the game.

League of Legends however is a far more straight and narrow example of Ludus and Agon. The rules of the game are completly unchangable (Excluding other game modes), and the entire goal of the game is around gaining victory over an opposing team. With such a strong focus on both competition and teamwork, the parallels to other competitive sports are clear.