Homo fabulam et ludos

So, we took a look into the different catagorisation of games today, looking largely at Roger Caillois's notions of "Paidea (Paida)" and "Ludus".

• Paidea is effectively to play for pleasure
• Ludus is when games are more constrained by rules, with a clear outcome at the end

When I think of paidea games, Minecraft instantly comes to mind; it is an open world game, with no sense of rules to follow, allowing the player to create, explore, build, as much as they like, with there being no real end, resulting in no clear outcome.

A ludus game I've played recently would be Rome II: Total War. A Grand-Scale Strategy (GSS), where you choose a faction to start as, then are given set conditions required for you to win the game, whilst following certain limitations based on factions, in-game geography, time period, and more.

One game that comes to mind while on this topic is Grand Theft Auto, as this is the kind of game that gives a ludus storyline, giving a clear outcome for how the characters progress as far as storyline is concerned, but then can be played as a paidea game, allowing for built-in cheats to be used, letting the player aimlessly go about the game as they see fit.

What I find interesting is comparing Rome II to Minecraft based of the paidea/ludus genres, as from experience, I find both games can easily last as long as one another. While Minecraft can carry on infinitely, from what I've personally experienced from it, players will often end up losing interest in their playthroughs, resulting in multiple playthroughs to be created, often being flipped between. Rome II on the other hand is an extremely long game, one playthrough taking potentially days, depending on how it's played by the player, but at the same time, you see mutliple playthrough route being taken, instead of loss of interest, to explore the rule sets and boundries of other factions, comparing one another, in search of the players preferred playstyle, even though it isn't always found due to the limitations sometimes put into place.

It's a bit of a sidethought, anyway.

Introduction Questions

Here at Cafalump Industries, we have one interest: Video Games

I'm Calum Bucknall, CEO and Founder of Cafalump Industries Inc. To put simply, we ( I ) are an upcoming video game designer company. But I don't want my company to become yet another giant AAA developer company ( As it will ) with no personality to it! So, here are a few questions about myself I answered, so you can get to know the company. ( Again, me.)

1) What was the last fiction book you read?

I last started reading The Divine Comedy by Dante a little while back, I still need to finish it, actually.

2) What was the last non-fiction book you read?

Rules of Play: Game Design Fundimentals by E. Zimmerman and K. Salen. I started reading it at the library a couple days back, seems pretty interesting,

3) What was the last performance you went to?

That would of been Boombap Hip-Hop Festival, out in Peterborough in September. Technically it would of been Chester P, as he was the last act of the show.

4) What was the last movie you watched?

The Man with the Iron Fists. Such a perfect homage to the badly dubbed 70's Kung-Fu flicks.

5) What newspaper do you read? Online? How often?

I stick to Russia Today, if that counts. Unbiased on Western News. Russian News on the other hand... But it's a solid source, I feel. I check the website daily for news. The closest I come to an actual newspaper is The Metro.

6) What was the last exhibition you went to?

I think it was the British Science Museum, a couple years back when I went for a Museum day in London.

7) How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?

20 - 30 hours easily, I reckon. It's pretty adequate.

8) How many hours a week do you spend playing games that aren't video games?

Just 2 - 3. Mostly Magic: The Gathering, but hopefully I'll be getting some DnD in there soon!