Paidea vs Ludus

These are some examples of my understanding of Paidea and Ludus styles of gaming. Notes were taken from “What is a videogame? Rules, Puzzles and Simulations” by James Newman.

Paidea

Paidea is a term used to describe a game, it studies the games rules and how the audience plays the game. It is described to be a game which you “play” for pleasure. A game which has no rules or goals and gives the player a choice to make their own. Newman notes the popular game SimCity as a example of a good paidea game due to there being no goals and no rules within playing it. The audience plays the game for fun and creates their own goals for example not to let riots break out etc.

A modern day example could be the popular game Minecraft by Mojang. This is now a worldwide massively multiplayer game in which there are no rules, respective to the game mode. It is classed as a sandbox game and with the different styles of game modes; the user has the choice of what to play. The “Creative” mode found in the game is a brilliant example of paidea as it has no rules. You have an infinite supply of items and no health meaning that you can make your own goals. This can be taken over to the “Survival” game mode in which there are still no rules but there are ways to lose. Architecture in the game is a large activity in which most players find much more fun. The fact that they can build anything in their imagination with different materials means that they have the freedom and this demonstrates the “Play” for pleasure. The goals are created by the user whether it is to survive as long as possible or build a structure which is in their eyes beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

Ludus

Ludus is a term given to games which are more constrained by rules. The games and activities involved have a solid framework in which players can play competitively. There is a clear outcome in ludus for example winning and losing.

For example, a game such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a way of explain ludus. There are strict rules in which the player must play by for example: Respawn times, weapons. But the games are all played competitively and always have an outcome with a winner and loser. There are also goals in which the audience use their skills towards such as, Top kills, most headshots and a levelling system. These are all examples of how this game is ludus.

Though, there are games in which paidea and ludus could be chosen between and dropped at any moment. Even with the example of Minecraft people could create a game inside the game which then would have its own set of rules with a clear winner and loser. For example, the game “Spleef” was invented inside Minecraft. This is where two players hit blocks away from each other’s feet and try to make the opposing player fall to their death. This means that a sandbox, paidea game now contains a set of rules with a clear outcome every time. It gives some understanding of how paidea and ludus could be used in a single game.