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Kafke  ·  3890 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: When is a game not a game? | Polygon

A game is a piece of interactive media where there is both an objective and a condition for failure.

That's it. Without one of those, it's not a game. Period.

Just to give some examples of what is/isn't a game:

Flappy Bird: game.

Stanley Parable: not a game.

Antichamber: game.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: game

Kerbal Space Program: not a game (as of now. In the future there'll be a game attached/made)

Minecraft Survival Mode: game

Minecraft Creative Mode: not a game.

Animal Crossing: not a game.

Mario Bros: game.

Clear? Win/Lose = Game, no Win/Lose = not a game. However, everything I listed is still interactive media.