Games Terminology Doesn't Need Hard Definitions

Wherever you go for your game development news and talk, I'm sure you've seen a conversation about what constitutes "indie", whether something is a "game" or not, perhaps whether games can be "art" or if the code behind a team's game is really an "engine"?

I'm not going to try to answer those questions in this blog. Or ever infact. And I'd like to encourage you do the same.

Firstly, words are really complicated and definitions do not have to have hard boundaries. What constitutes "hot" can vary depending on whether you're talking about a solar flare or your bath water. The same could be said of "indie". Indie is a relative term, it depends where you're coming from and who you're talking to. That's ok.

More importantly, definitions in dictionaries are there to try to show what people mean by words so that they can be understood by other people, not to lay down the law on how they should be used for all time. The meanings of words change all the time, and words are added and removed from dictionaries every year.

If you don't think Gone Home or Dear Esther are games then you can call them "interactive exploration stories" or "bananas" if you like. But if the majority of people refer to these as games then I'd suggest that the definition of the word is on the move. It's encroaching into nearby territories. Perhaps it's time to consider that a certain type of "game" doesn't have a goal, and the word has a broadening meaning.

The gaming landscape moves very quickly as I'm sure you've noticed. Our language is evolving with it. Does now seem like the time to try to cement these words? Perhaps the day will come. If we can understand each other when we use these words (at least to the point where we can ask for more details when necessary) then they're already doing their job well enough.

So what should we do when someone appears to be stepping outside our accepted understanding of these kinds of terms? If you can read what they've written then fine. If you need to ask for a more detailed decription of what makes up their engine then do that. And when you reply do it in your own words if you want to.

But there's no need to try to correct people, or fire up a debate to try to get to the bottom of it. Through natural communication everyone will get a loose feel for gaming terms; that's enough to serve our purpose.