Gaming.
Gameing.
Gayming.
What does it mean to game? To game is to engage with a system that has a defined set of rules. How you game, is up to you. This freedom that is afforded to the player leads to the creation of a story that the player tells themself and/or shares with others. Using this outline, gaming can be thought of as a form of creation. Let us now attempt to quantify the amount of creativity that is at play.
As a game is played, a story is created and told. But is this a creative act? Nothing tangible is created. This story that you create is contained entirely within the digital realm and your own memories. It cannot be played for a listener as a song would be, it cannot be shown to a viewer (I’m ignoring streaming and let’s plays blow me) as a drawing would be, and it cannot be physically touched. To deduce whether there is creative value to the act of gaming we must look at it with a unique lens.
As a game is played, a story is created. Few would argue that the creation of a story is in actuality, not a creative act. We must then ask ourselves how much creative thought goes into the game, and whether that matters. If you are playing a game that has a low level of interaction, then the story is inherently constrained in its ability to contain novelty, this however can be overcome through mastery of the mechanics at play. It would appear then that the level of interactivity does not truly limit the amount of creative thought that goes into the game. The only limiting factor of the depth of creativity is the player.
This leads us into the final point (I’m getting bored and have other responsibilities and won’t remember to come back and finish this, maybe I’ll follow up at a later date). Gaming is an act that is creative as you are. The medium of the game bears no significance toward how creative you can be, it in fact can be a boon toward creativity. Is a painter not constrained by the borders of his canvas? Is a musician not constrained by their instrument? To game is to be constrained. To be constrained is to be challenged. To be challenged is to create. To game is to create. Thank you for your time.
3 Comments
To create and never share is not a useful or engaging form of creativity.
If make 10 paintings and burn them and never talk about it, what does that matter?
The creativity becomes useful when shared. The simplest form of this would be using a story you created from playing a game in a conversation as an anecdote or something. Or what about those guys on youtube that tell stories about the playthroughs of dwarf fortress?
Is the purpose of a creative act to share your creation? If so, why? I would not argue that the act of sharing your art is an important one, but it is not the only way that a creative act can hold value. If the artist is not seeking to share their art, but is pursuing it out of their own pleasure, then is the art inherently of less value?
Of what use is a star whose brilliant light shines far beyond the edges of our observable universe?
I think art that isn’t shared holds no value to anyone other than the artist. It’s almost selfish.
What’s worse is an artist burning their art.
I don’t care if you’ve moved on, I don’t care if you’re perusing other projects. I don’t care if you’re now a furry who makes music for queer communists. We liked that song.