{"id":70,"date":"2020-03-29T20:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T20:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/chapter\/what-is-war-good-for-still-nothing-apparently\/"},"modified":"2023-06-07T17:37:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T17:37:59","slug":"what-is-war-good-for-still-nothing-apparently","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/chapter\/what-is-war-good-for-still-nothing-apparently\/","title":{"raw":"What is War Good For? Still Nothing, Apparently","rendered":"What is War Good For? Still Nothing, Apparently"},"content":{"raw":"
\n\nCard games are a fantastic way to pass the time, and socialize. But, what if I told you that not all card games are actually games? Definitions of games come in many shapes and sizes, each one changing what it means to be a game. Greg Costikyan\u2019s definition includes many pieces, all vitally important to the system of a game. I\u2019ll be using his definition to analyze the card game\u00a0known as\u00a0\u201cWar.\u201d\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u201cWar\u201d is a card game played with a single,\u00a0\u201cstandard\u201d\u00a0deck of cards. The amount of players in\u00a0\u201cWar\u201d\u00a0is only two. The\u00a0typical recommended age is three or above. Players only need to know how to count or tell what number is higher than another. The deck is split in two equal halves and given to each player. The game is played in rounds rather than turns. Both players simultaneously flip a card up from their respective decks. Whichever player has the higher value card gets the other player\u2019s card. These cards are then put on the bottom of that players deck.\u00a0If the cards are the same value or rank, then it is \u201cwar.\u201d When this happens, both players put a card face\u00a0down and a card face up. If it is war again, they repeat this until one of them has a higher ranking card. Whichever player has the higher ranking card gets to take all of the cards from the war and put them on the bottom of their deck.\u00a0The game repeats like this until one player has all the cards and then they win.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u00a0The Costikyan definition of a game revolves around\u00a0six\u00a0main elements. These elements are\u00a0game tokens, goals, opposition\/ struggle, decision-making, managing resources, and\u00a0information. Every game requires these elements. If it is missing one, then it\u2019s not considered a game.\u00a0I will delve deeper into what these\u00a0elements\u00a0mean alone and in terms of the card game \u201cWar.\u201d\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nGame tokens are any entity that a player can manipulate directly.\u00a0These entities represent how well the player is doing in-game.\u00a0Depending on the game, the game token could be the player\u2019s cards, their character, or something that represents the player.\u00a0In\u00a0\u201cWar,\u201d\u00a0this would be the player\u2019s deck of cards. This is because the deck represents how the player is doing in the game. If the deck is bigger, then they\u2019re winning.\u00a0If it\u2019s smaller, then they\u2019re losing. Resources are things you can use or collect in-game. They help you accomplish your goals. In\u00a0\u201cWar,\u201d\u00a0your resources are all the cards in the game. In Costikyan\u2019s definition, you have to be able to manage these resources using your game token(s).\u00a0While the players \u201cuse\u201d their respective deck halves, there\u2019s no decisions to be made about the resources. Everything is straight-forward and there is only one thing you can do with your resources. Since there\u2019s no choices to be made about the resources, there\u2019s no managing of them. This is one of the downfalls in \u201cWar.\u201d\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nInformation is an interesting thing in\u00a0\u201cWar\u201d\u00a0because both players constantly know the same information. Each player knows all the rules, types of cards, and the value of the card both players draw\u00a0in\u00a0any given round. There is hidden information (not knowing the next card in each deck), but the game is hiding it from the players rather than the players hiding it from each other.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nGoals are something the player strives toward in a game. In\u00a0\u201cWar\u201d, the only goal is to collect all of the cards\u00a0in the entire original deck. The opposition to this goal isn\u2019t the other player, as one would suspect in a two-player game, but rather it\u2019s the game\u2019s system or chance. I say this because the players aren\u2019t making any decisions or particularly controlling much of what goes on in the game.\u00a0Neither player has\u00a0control over whether anyone wins or loses.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\nThis brings me to the most important aspect of\u00a0\u201cWar:\u201d\u00a0it had no decision making.\u00a0The game completely lacks\u00a0the ability to provide this. The only thing the player does is flip a card over and give it away or take their opponent\u2019s card depending on the value. According to Costikyan,\u00a0this would be the biggest weakness\u00a0in this\u00a0\u201cgame.\u201d\u00a0Due to the fact that there\u2019s no decision making, managing resources is extremely simple. Goals feel meaningless because everything is left to chance. There\u2019s no strategy involved whatsoever, as players need to be able to decide things in order to make a strategy. The \u201cgame\u201d eventually stops being fun due to this lack of decision-making.\n\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u201cWar\u201d\u00a0was an\u00a0extremely\u00a0fun game when I was a little kid. I used to play it for hours on end while sitting in bed with my siblings. Now that I\u2019m older,\u00a0I really can\u2019t see myself playing it for more than ten minutes, much less over an hour. I would have wondered about why but after analyzing it I realize it\u2019s because of the lack of decision-making. Knowing this, I have to wonder how many successful children's games don\u2019t have a decision making element in them.\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"
\n

Card games are a fantastic way to pass the time, and socialize. But, what if I told you that not all card games are actually games? Definitions of games come in many shapes and sizes, each one changing what it means to be a game. Greg Costikyan\u2019s definition includes many pieces, all vitally important to the system of a game. I\u2019ll be using his definition to analyze the card game\u00a0known as\u00a0\u201cWar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWar\u201d is a card game played with a single,\u00a0\u201cstandard\u201d\u00a0deck of cards. The amount of players in\u00a0\u201cWar\u201d\u00a0is only two. The\u00a0typical recommended age is three or above. Players only need to know how to count or tell what number is higher than another. The deck is split in two equal halves and given to each player. The game is played in rounds rather than turns. Both players simultaneously flip a card up from their respective decks. Whichever player has the higher value card gets the other player\u2019s card. These cards are then put on the bottom of that players deck.\u00a0If the cards are the same value or rank, then it is \u201cwar.\u201d When this happens, both players put a card face\u00a0down and a card face up. If it is war again, they repeat this until one of them has a higher ranking card. Whichever player has the higher ranking card gets to take all of the cards from the war and put them on the bottom of their deck.\u00a0The game repeats like this until one player has all the cards and then they win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0The Costikyan definition of a game revolves around\u00a0six\u00a0main elements. These elements are\u00a0game tokens, goals, opposition\/ struggle, decision-making, managing resources, and\u00a0information. Every game requires these elements. If it is missing one, then it\u2019s not considered a game.\u00a0I will delve deeper into what these\u00a0elements\u00a0mean alone and in terms of the card game \u201cWar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Game tokens are any entity that a player can manipulate directly.\u00a0These entities represent how well the player is doing in-game.\u00a0Depending on the game, the game token could be the player\u2019s cards, their character, or something that represents the player.\u00a0In\u00a0\u201cWar,\u201d\u00a0this would be the player\u2019s deck of cards. This is because the deck represents how the player is doing in the game. If the deck is bigger, then they\u2019re winning.\u00a0If it\u2019s smaller, then they\u2019re losing. Resources are things you can use or collect in-game. They help you accomplish your goals. In\u00a0\u201cWar,\u201d\u00a0your resources are all the cards in the game. In Costikyan\u2019s definition, you have to be able to manage these resources using your game token(s).\u00a0While the players \u201cuse\u201d their respective deck halves, there\u2019s no decisions to be made about the resources. Everything is straight-forward and there is only one thing you can do with your resources. Since there\u2019s no choices to be made about the resources, there\u2019s no managing of them. This is one of the downfalls in \u201cWar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Information is an interesting thing in\u00a0\u201cWar\u201d\u00a0because both players constantly know the same information. Each player knows all the rules, types of cards, and the value of the card both players draw\u00a0in\u00a0any given round. There is hidden information (not knowing the next card in each deck), but the game is hiding it from the players rather than the players hiding it from each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Goals are something the player strives toward in a game. In\u00a0\u201cWar\u201d, the only goal is to collect all of the cards\u00a0in the entire original deck. The opposition to this goal isn\u2019t the other player, as one would suspect in a two-player game, but rather it\u2019s the game\u2019s system or chance. I say this because the players aren\u2019t making any decisions or particularly controlling much of what goes on in the game.\u00a0Neither player has\u00a0control over whether anyone wins or loses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This brings me to the most important aspect of\u00a0\u201cWar:\u201d\u00a0it had no decision making.\u00a0The game completely lacks\u00a0the ability to provide this. The only thing the player does is flip a card over and give it away or take their opponent\u2019s card depending on the value. According to Costikyan,\u00a0this would be the biggest weakness\u00a0in this\u00a0\u201cgame.\u201d\u00a0Due to the fact that there\u2019s no decision making, managing resources is extremely simple. Goals feel meaningless because everything is left to chance. There\u2019s no strategy involved whatsoever, as players need to be able to decide things in order to make a strategy. The \u201cgame\u201d eventually stops being fun due to this lack of decision-making.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWar\u201d\u00a0was an\u00a0extremely\u00a0fun game when I was a little kid. I used to play it for hours on end while sitting in bed with my siblings. Now that I\u2019m older,\u00a0I really can\u2019t see myself playing it for more than ten minutes, much less over an hour. I would have wondered about why but after analyzing it I realize it\u2019s because of the lack of decision-making. Knowing this, I have to wonder how many successful children’s games don\u2019t have a decision making element in them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["lydia-finch"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[63],"license":[],"class_list":["post-70","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-lydia-finch"],"part":63,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/70\/revisions\/71"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/63"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/70\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/creatinggames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}