What exactly is a game?
This is the question that started me on this particular game.
You see, I was playing a lot of “games” at the time with my kids. We played Candyland. Did you know that if you keep landing on the peanut and going back to the early sections of the board, a good “game” of Candyland can last up to 90 minutes? I learned this.
We played Snakes and Ladders. Or Chutes and Ladders, depending on what you know the game as. Roll die. Move. Roll die. Move. Rinse. Repeat.
Are either of these games? I don’t think so. I think they’re activities but for me personally, a game involves some form of player agency. Sure, you might roll the die or spin the spinner and that’s the part of the game that involves you but you don’t ever get to make a decision and this is something that has always bothered me with “games” like this.
I believe that kids can figure out how to play real games if you let them. My son has been playing Dominion since he was 5. My daughter beat me at Istanbul last week. She’s 6. I think that kids can figure out games and should be provided the opportunity to play REAL games that offer REAL player agency.
So, when I was playing Snakes and Ladders with my son, I was always frustrated with the idea that there were no choices to be made. So we added one small, simple choice.
In our variation, you could choose to roll 1 or 2 dice. Sure, 2 dice will move you further, but what if you’re 3 spaces away from a huge ladder? Or 7 spaces away from a massive snake? Maybe you don’t want to move quite so many spaces this turn.
This simple shift turned an activity into a game and got me thinking; “could Snakes and Ladders actually be fun?”
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