Make art, not gamesI want to scrutinise the lens in which we view

bodies of interactive work we typically associate with "videogames" and ask; "What

is an interactive work of art that does not rely on competition, goals, rewards, winning

or losing?"

Intro I

“Those beautiful moments when we feel like we’re in another world, when we find

ourselves enthralled and immersed with complete disregard of the prize that we

might be winning or losing.”

Intro II

“Rare moments that are all too often shattered by the demands of the game. What if we remove all “unnatural” constraints and

create an experience that consists only of such beautiful moments?”

ExamplesThese "games" are controversial in their rejection of

conventional elements typical for the medium and are affectionately known as; Visual Novel (Danganronpa), Interactive Movie (Heavy Rain), Interactive Experience

(Journey), Walking Simulator (Gone Home), etc...

Case studies

Some of these are dubbed with affection, but not all are said with flattery. "Interactive

movie" or "walking simulator" is a reductive remark meant to criticise how far these

games are from... well, "games".

Interactive movies (Heavy Rain)

With Heavy Rain, there's a relentless focus on story; with no fail states (characters die, the story continues) and an

emphasis on momentum through subtle character-driven hints and time sensitive scenarios.

Walking Simulator (Gone Home)

Gone Home can be seen as a reductive experience of playing a Bioshock game. It was in removing typical

game elements that gave them the means to tell a really personal and emotive story.

ObservationWith both these "games", the creators freed themselves from typical conventions, which

opened up the medium to a wealth of possibilities with which they were able to explore and deliver a powerful experience

with.

TV shows as an exampleI'd like to look at the structure of the hour-

long "drama" and how its constraints dictated the type of experiences you would

find on TV. In doing so, we can witness a situation that is analogous with game

development.

The hour long "drama"; a history

Shows are designed around the structure of the format, with the "goal" to prevent people from changing the

channel. Cliffhangers before each commercial break and standalone episodes are there to "game" the system.

The problem with constraints

The constraints of these "dramas" take the making of a show away from being some kind of exercise in artistic

expression, and take it more and more into being an engineering problem.

HBO - no commercials or syndication

TV had to change structurally before it got better. Film makers got better

too along the line, but the format had to adjust itself by removing those

constraints in order to provide that canvas for purer expression, and

thus higher quality content.

Gamification: Gamifying games

As "game" developers we tend to narrow our expressive abilities by trying to fit our work

into the format. We can often see games with high ambitions that are undermined by their

exhaustive efforts to fit as games.

Museum Analogy I

The experience of exploring a museum is in immersing yourself with all its riches and

wonders, and using your curiosity and tastes to guide yourself and earn the appreciation

of what is on offer.

Museum Analogy II

If we enter a museum with a bunch of quests of what to do and where to go, we’re

disabling people from letting their own curiosity and taste guide them, and hurting

their ability to appreciate what’s on offer.

Blind gamification

We often see ludonarrative dissonance as a direct result of the clash between the

message a game is trying to make, with the gamification of the game itself. How much better would Bioshock Infinite be without

combat!?

Conclusion I

To conclude, I'd like to share this quote: "The shape of a container determines what can be

contained". This is a broad truth I'd like to highlight as the shortcoming of many

"videogames".

Conclusion II

In freeing ourselves of the constraints of the format, we can allow ourselves a broader

canvas for artistic expression. A possibility space much richer than what is traditionally

associated with what we know as "games".

Conclusion III

We can achieve this by removing the word "game" from the creation process altogether, and to consider the technical possibilities of

the medium itself; creating a space for a wider range of more rich and thoughtful

experiences.

Thank you!

Thank you for listening to my thoughts on the medium. I believe it is a space rife with possibilities, and I look forward to witnessing as many kinds of experiences

possible within it. Cheers!

This talk was inspired by the blog "notgames" by Tale of Tales and the lecture "The medium is the message" by

Jonathan Blow.