Gameplay Principles
And Principles for Life
I stood before a group of teens at a church event. I called for their attention and pressed my hands together. I waited for the silence and then said, “Hey y’all, we need to get serious about having fun.”
Needless to say, the teens started snickering at the irony of my statement and as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized something.
I needed help.
I had always been a serious kid and even more a serious adult. After diving into game theory and practice, I learned the importance of play in relation to work.
Side note - I know we need both. If you are the kind to emphasize work, you probably, like me, need to include more play. But if you are the kind to play, you might need to learn a different lesson - one that highlights the benefits of work.
I played for a while, but then I saw the overarching meaning of play in relationship to a balanced life. Let’s review some principles of gameplay and see if we can view life as a game to play.
Objective
Every game has an objective and when it is met, the game is over. When we live without an objective, we are not really living. Steven Covey says “begin with the end in mind.” When we know where we are going, we play life with purpose.
Resource
Every game has tokens, points, and cards in limited supply. This creates competition among players and self as well. Resource helps us make decisions when otherwise, we would suffer analysis-paralysis. In life, resource helps us live out our purpose.
Agency
Every (good) game gives player’s choices. In my opinion, tabletop roleplaying games are supreme because of the nearly limitless agency given to players. With agency, comes power and powerful people make an impact in the world.
Challenge
Every game has a challenge appropriate to the players. Unfortunately life is nearly cruel in delivering its challenges to us, whether we like it or not. But challenge helps us grow towards our objective and honestly, provides a zest for living that without it, we remain flaccid and subject to every wind of change.
Rules
Every game has rules, or beliefs about how the game should be played in order to win. These boundaries of thought also help us play with others at the same game, bringing in competition and collaboration. But like the rules of the game, the rules of life can be rewritten in order to optimize the experience and with testing, get better over time.
Adaptability
Speaking of changing the rules, every game has some adaptability. This creates distinctions and special dispensations through wild cards, random dice rolls and unexpected rule exceptions. In life, “blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken” proves a sure fire principle for survival.
Interaction
Every game, even the ones played solo (like Solitaire) include some interaction (even with the self). But mostly, every game is played with 2+ players. The interaction provides a way not only to enjoy the game with others, but to break from the competition in life between others and enjoy a stress free game. In the game of life, as well, interaction is a way in which we can break free from the stresses of life and simply enjoy each other’s company.
Risk/Reward
Finally, ever game has some level of risk in which players lose something. Sometimes it is pride, tokens and points, and time. The reward maybe include all those things as well, and bragging rights. In life, without risk, there really is no reward and like the challenge, this back and forth dynamic creates a zesty life rather than a boring one. In the end, however, did you play the game, or simply talk about it? If you did, then the inherent reward is the life you lived.