So this isn't a game, right?

So this isn't a game, right?

It's a short story told through a different medium than a book. Decide yourself if you want to call it a game or not.

Not really. It's an interactive story. A game has to be able to be won or lost, at the very minimum. The only way to lose "Dear Esther" is to get fed up and quit.

>It's an interactive story

A book isn't an interactive story just because you turn the pages user.

>A game has to be able to be won or lost, at the very minimum.

Wrong. When children play make believe, we call it a game. There are games where you can lose but where you can never win, like jumping rope. When you are messing with your friend we might say you're playing a game with him.

The word "game" is actually notorious for how difficult it is to come up with a succinct and entirely comprehensive definition for it.

It's a game, but it's a shitty game.

What is the gameplay?

Isn't it just a walking simulator?

>What is the gameplay?

You can wander around.

I guess I was saying more in my personal definition, specifically to video games. I wasn't being clear.

You explore, you move, you look around. It's more interactive than turning pages, albeit not by much. I actually like this style of game, but it's wasted on plodding, artsy stuff. I wish someone would try making a VN where some exciting things happen in a first person, exploration-friendly format.

>A game has to be able to be won or lost, at the very minimum.

That would be closer to a sport.

Also your definition would mean that one Prince of Persia where its impossible to die wouldn't be a game since you can't technically lose.

>it's wasted on plodding, artsy stuff

Plodding artsy stuff is exactly the shit that utilise that style of game, since doing anything more interesting would take focus off of the shitty "story".

On whether or not it's a game, the general consensus, even outside of Sup Forums, is "hardly".

So this is a bait thread then, right?

You see what I mean though? There's a niche for something where you just take in a story, maybe making choices the way VN's do, but all told through first-person view of a character. It'd be a nice genre to unwind with after a hard day, but like you said, almost all the games that play this way are very boring. I'd love a sci-fi game or dark fantasy told through this style.

whatever it is, it's the most offended i've been by something with wasd controls

I mean, you don't really get a personal definition of a common word, though. That's not how language works. Dear Esther is a game because it meets the qualifications of what is commonly understood by English speakers as falling under the definition of the word "game." The most you can really offer is that you don't personally like to call it a game but then you're basically just admitting your opinion is essentially arbitrary.

You look for narration triggers.
The goal is to get to the radio tower, thus Dear Esther could be said to have a win condition.

no, a bait thread would be talking about gone home

No there isn't. It would never be worth creating 3d assets of an acceptable standard just so people can wander around and occasionally make a choice. You'd never recoup your costs with that kind of game. There needs to be at least some puzzles in there.

Yes, it is a game, and it's great so long as you're not expecting something else.

Video novels aren't

Never download that shit though, so I don't actually know what it is like

And no I don't want to watch a 'playthrough'

I remember a series of youtube videos that were basically a CYOA of TF2, you chose an action which would go to another video. There wasn't much freedom of choice, most led to death.

I can't find them now though.

I think that was Heavy's 2Fort Adventure, yeah?

>it's great so long as you don't have any standards

lol

It's ok, pretty boring though. Very comfy locales and some neat little Easter eggs. The purple prose gets almost unbearable but the narrator's voice is nice enough to listen to

The one I'm thinking of focused on Pyro.

...

>not a single mention of x without a bottom
Could tell it wasn't a quote easily.

>people who haven't played the game agreeing with other people who haven't played the game that a made up quote could be in the game that none of them played