When we think of what makes games unique as a medium, the answer would seem to be their interactivity. But this is only a partial answer to the question, for there is plenty of interactive media that we do not consider games: interactive installation art for example. As interactive media objects, what is truly unique to games is the need for their audience to work in order to see the content the game has to offer.
There’s no need to be “good” at film, there’s no trick to finishing a book, but if you want to see level 2, you have to beat level 1. Games purposefully withold and obscure their content until you have performed adequately, the player is employed by the designers and paid in content. This can mean learning the moves of a fighting game so you can see a well-choreographed combo, or solving a puzzle so you can see what the next one is like.
Some games consist more of mechanics than content: chess for example has few fully rendered cutscenes. But even in purely mechanical games, good players are rewarded with the content of a memorable game. In console games cutscenes, sexy animations, or even new outfits for their character will drive players to put far more effort than is reasonable into fully completing a game.
I think that this unique relationship between audience and media object is so key to games that it should be considered as a central paradigm from which to form a design framework. It is the only medium where the object subjugates the user.
In a sense, designers should consider themselves as employers. The professionals that you want to hire (players) are in such demand that they can work wherever they wish. As a designer, it’s your job to set up your workplace, and the work that you offer, to be so attractive as to be irresistible, and to ensure that you can pay your employees with enough content to keep them working for you.
This is why low content games like Counter Strike can still keep players even when competing against more lavish console shooters: the pay isn’t very good, but the work is challenging and engaging. The best games are those that do both, those that can provide a satisfying set of challenges as well as an epic story or cinematic animations.
One should not assume that this means games should be easy and deliver their content freely: a sense of accomplishment is a potent emotional addition to a game’s content. It is essential, because it is the one emotion that passive entertainment can never deliver.
