Agôn
(Competiton): I think a good example of modern paida agôn games are “technical fighters”; Tekken, Street Fighter, Virtua
Fighter. They are games based purely around, competitiveness, generally
attempting to balance all characters, letting the players skill be the shining
point in game. I never used to be a big fan of technical fighters, but in
recent years, I’ve picked them up a lot more, primarily Tekken. Bar a few
variants, this is a game that focuses on realistic fighting stances and combat,
giving a strong feel of genuine competition.
Alea
(Chance): It took me a while to think of a truly alea game other than casino simulators, but a google search and one
article later¹, I realised that Animal Crossing was actually a perfect example.
(While it seems the article does contain
a lot of information on how it is, I simply read the opening sentence and a
half that covered Animal Crossing.)
Animal Crossing is almost a life simulator, where you move to a village
containing animal inhabitants living in houses, with basic amenities such as a
Town Hall/Post Office, Police Station, General and Clothing stores, which were
expanded on in later games.
A
big part of the game is finding fish, insects, fossils and pieces of art for
the local museum. This comes done purely to chance, as you never know what fish
is under the silhouette in the water, when the bug you want will show up, or
where in your village it will, fossils are dug up randomly, having to get them
“checked” before handing them over. The local store restocked randomly every
day, so if there was a certain item you wanted, you’d have to check back day
after day. Doing jobs for villages leads to a random reward from them.
The
very base of Animal Crossing is the chances. You had to hope you’d get what you
wanted, with no input on the outcome as a player other than attempting the
activity.
Mimicry (Simulation): The instant I think of simulation in games, my mind goes to Flight Simulator, a game I played possibly too much as a child. (Less flying, more crashing.. ) Flight Sim is literally as the name implies, a simulation of flying various airplanes and helicopters, with a realistic layout of all controls in the respective cockpits, allowing for any member of the public attempt to get to grips with the basis of flying an aviation vehicle. There was no real goal to the game, though there are missions where you would have to successfully fly from one airport to another, again simulating flight as it would be in real life. There’s nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary with this game, making it a pure mimicry game.
Mimicry (Simulation): The instant I think of simulation in games, my mind goes to Flight Simulator, a game I played possibly too much as a child. (Less flying, more crashing.. ) Flight Sim is literally as the name implies, a simulation of flying various airplanes and helicopters, with a realistic layout of all controls in the respective cockpits, allowing for any member of the public attempt to get to grips with the basis of flying an aviation vehicle. There was no real goal to the game, though there are missions where you would have to successfully fly from one airport to another, again simulating flight as it would be in real life. There’s nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary with this game, making it a pure mimicry game.
Ilinx (Vertigo): One of the only and best examples I can think of for Ilinx games are the SSX series. SSX is a snowboarding game, based around traversing down mountains at high speeds, in later games adding a lot more emphasis on performing tricks, creating an even more dizzying effect for players as they character proceeds to flip, spin, grind and (In my case) falls and faceplants. Reaction times are everything in this game, as the difference between landing a jump or failing can be less than a second, all while focusing on travelling to your goal.
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