Life is a game.
It’s been said far too often by far too many people; but half the time, these people don’t exactly know what they’re talking about. When you hear people throw that sentence around, it’s usually by teenagers or young adults who are happy to get drunk and arrested in search of fun. Their defense of course, is that “life is a game,” in that it should be fun. YOLO, as they say.
They’re right of course. Life is a game. But that definition is very poorly understood.
What Is A Game?
In the year 2003, video game designer Chris Crawford came up with a definition for what a game is based on a series of dichotomies.
- An object may or may not be interactive. If it is interactive, it is called a plaything.
- A plaything is a toy if it is interactive, but has no end goals. By this definition, model cars and dolls are toys. A plaything is a challenge if it is interactive and has associated end goals.
- A challenge is a puzzle if it does not pit the user against an opponent. An example of a puzzle is a Rubik’s cube. Meanwhile, a challenge where players have opponents is called a conflict.
- Finally, a conflict is a competition if there is no dynamic interaction between players. Competitions include sports such as a 100-meter dash, or a three-point shootout. In contrast, a conflict is a game when the players may interact with one another. By definition, full-fledged games include basketball and tennis.
So if we take all these to be true, then a game is defined as anything interactive, goal-oriented, social, and dynamic. This means of course we have to adjust our definitions a little bit. For example, “single player” games are not games at all, but challenges.
Why Is Life A Game?
So what makes life a game? Well, life is interactive. We present ourselves with “life goals,” meaning life is automatically not a toy. Other people besides ourselves are present in life, meaning it is not a simple puzzle, but a conflict. And of course, life is not a simple competition, but a game because there are no rules to prevent other people from interacting and affecting our performance.
Why Does My Life Suck?
The problem here is that most people who say “life is a game” don’t actually treat life as a game per se. They treat it as a toy.
Think about it. Get drunk. Get high. Get wasted. Is it fun? Yes. Is it entertaining? Absolutely. But people forget about their end goals. People forget that there is something in life they want to reach for. Alright, maybe we can assume there are “mini-games” in life. For example, by the above definition, two teenagers flirting in a bar can be considered to be playing a game. Courtship is a game. But what of the individual’s life itself? What is the end goal?
Your life is more than a toy! It makes total sense: when you scan through a physics book as if it were a newsletter, you can’t expect to be knowledgeable on the matter by the end of it. It isn’t a newsletter in the first place. You have to respect that it is a massive 2000 page publication and read it from cover to cover, never skipping a single sentence. When you treat an object as something less than what it is, you get less out of it.
It’s ironic that people complain about life and use it as an excuse to fuel their fire. Life sucks. I get it. I’ve seen the bottom of the barrel. I’ve known people who were bullied, sometimes even sexually abused or worse. So yes. It can be tempting to drown your sorrows. The truth is that there is nothing wrong with raves and alcohol if they don’t distract you from your goals. It’s not your fault you have a rock standing in the middle of the road. It IS your fault if you choose not do anything about it, set up camp, and party until the next landslide comes.
Taking Life “Seriously”
“You think this is a game? Take your life seriously!”
Now this statement is thrown around by people who don’t treat life as a game. Instead, they tend to treat life as a competition. From experience, I’ve found people who say this want to be a notch above everyone else. They don’t account for social dynamics, and they are more likely to view anyone involved in anything as competition. How do I know? Because I’ve done exactly that.
I understand that the sentence “life is a game” might not sound appealing in certain contexts. When policemen hunt a serial killer, it sounds terrible to call it a game when people’s lives are on the line. But what else is it? It is an interactive situation, where the police force has the goal of hunting the criminal down, and the serial killer has the goal of evading the law. It might not be fun, but for all technical purposes, it has the properties of a game. And like any game, the better player emerges victorious.
The point is, just because life is a game doesn’t automatically mean it isn’t a serious matter. Just because I approach a girl and play on heartstrings to get her doesn’t mean I’m not serious about her.
How to win Life
Honestly? There isn’t a guaranteed solution here. Your goals are not the same as mine, and so my strategies might not work for you. Your definition of winning might be so different from mine, that I would consider it as losing. Our rules, our gameplay, graphics, and audio are different. How can you expect me to tell you how to win your game of life when I haven’t even finished my own?
No matter how different our lives are, the definition remains the same. And so while our strategies may differ in the specifics, there will always be a general pattern. How do you win life? Some would say you do the most things within your limited time. I believe this is how it is done:
- Life is a plaything. It is interactive. You can do things with it. So do what you can.
- Life is a challenge. There is a goal you are after. There will be obstacles in your way. Make sure the things you do with life as a plaything lead you closer to your goals. Do what you can to accomplish challenges.
- Life is a conflict. There are other people reaching for their goals. The winners reach them. Do what you can to accomplish challenges before others do.
- Life is a game. These people can hinder you. Some can help you, and you can help them. You are not the only player, and you can do things with other players. Do what you can to accomplish challenges with others, against others, and for others before others do.
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