Paidia refers to "play" for pleasure, games usually have no hard rules to follow. A good examples are SimCity series, Minecraft, GrandTheftAuto series and so on. Player could just take a break from the quest/ missions-side part of the game and enjoy free roaming.
On the other hand, games classified as Ludus are constrained by rules and usually the player focuses on winning.
After the game is classified as either Ludus or Paidia, based on the gameplay, ther are: Agon that refers to competition, Alea which is the element of randomness or chance in a game, Ilinx refers to movement and Mimicry which is defined as simulation or role-play.
I chose to classify Heroes of Newerth and Diablo III
Heroes of Newerth is a game that can easily be classified as Ludus. There is no free roaming and the games is definitely constrained by a set of rules. Two teams of five battle each other in order to destroy the opponent's base. Every player choose one hero to play with and they are ready to go. Every match lasts in average around 40-50 minutes and progression is not saved after the battle concludes. In terms of gameplay HeroesOfNewerth has elements of Agon because of the high competitive community. I might also say that the game asks for a certain amount of luck/chance because, unless you party up with some friends, you'll get random teammates who might not be as good at the game as you so are therefor the game has Alea elements. I don't think Mimicry can be found here because you're not playing an RPG so there is no role-play.
Unlike HeroesOfNewerth, Diablo III doesn't focus on competition/Agon even though the game can be classified as Ludus because of the leaderboards and the community you're competing with indirectly. Diablo III also lets players the opportunity to explore the world of Sanctuary without being force to follow any rules (except the fact that you have a well-defined game area). Here we can easily see the element of role-play or Mimicry. The game main focus is on Alea or chance because Diablo III uses the RNG (random number generator). The map will always be randomly generated as well as the drop amount and quality of items.
Unlike HeroesOfNewerth, Diablo III doesn't focus on competition/Agon even though the game can be classified as Ludus because of the leaderboards and the community you're competing with indirectly. Diablo III also lets players the opportunity to explore the world of Sanctuary without being force to follow any rules (except the fact that you have a well-defined game area). Here we can easily see the element of role-play or Mimicry. The game main focus is on Alea or chance because Diablo III uses the RNG (random number generator). The map will always be randomly generated as well as the drop amount and quality of items.
Hi Dragos,
ReplyDeleteRather than thniking of paidia and ludus as separate groups, think of them as poles on a continuum. Depending upon the type of gameplay, in terms of how "free" or "rule-bound" any particular game or form of play might be, a game might be placed at a point on the continuum, closer to one pole or the other, according to the freedom or restriction inherent in the game itself.
Hi sir,
DeleteThank you for yout comment. So basically games contain both "ludus" and "paidia" but, depending on the gameplay at a given time, the experience can be either constrained by rules or free roaming.
Yes -- exactly that!
DeleteYou might also think about and comment on how useful Caillois's terms are as tools for you, as a games designer, for helping you think about games and gameplay.