Do Games Need To Be Fun?

[JesterRaiin]

But not ALL of them. I played this little internet game that was meant to be about the North Korean border where you basically crawled through some barbed wire and died. It wasn't fun. It was still something I consider a game, and it left a big impression on me.

So you had your fun then.

Sitting through a twenty hour AAA game that isn't fun to play is going to suck, yes.

Colour me puzzled, but i fail to understand who and why should spend 20 hours of his life playing such game ? Aren't there any better alternatives ?

A game has to hold your attention in some way. Being fun is a very easy way to do that. But there are other ways, like an interesting concept, or a thought provoking idea, or even just suspense and tension. For example, you wouldn't want a game about genocide to be fun, if you were a character doing it. Yet such a game would be a powerful experience.

In my world we call it "fun". ;]

BTW :
You preahem,khem, khem, hem, ahem... Sorry, i couldn't resist. ;]

 

[Auron225]

Of course they don't have to be fun. They also don't have to make money or do well but fun is the best selling point at the end of the day. There aren't many substitutes for it.

EDIT: They at least have to be engaging in some way. No-one is going to play something that isn't fun and doesn't grab their attention in any other way.

 

[Haxxle]

Fun? Nope, not really. Engaging for the player to buy, own and complete the title? Yup, totally.

 

[Ix Rebound]

yes it does
that why its called a GAME!
game=fun

 

[Soxafloppin]

I'm currently playing through Heavy Rain, and while I'm not having fun as such, I'm can't put it down.

Not that I want this sort of game to be a common trend, It is a very interesting one off.

 

[BlueMage]

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Why would I bother to play if they weren't fun? Of course.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

They need to be fun if they want me to buy them.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

a good movie doesn't need to be fun
a good book doesn't need to be fun
so why do we think games have to be fun?

they have to be engaging which can be achieved by fun but that doesn't have to be fun

When someone describes the experience of reading a good book or watching a good film, "fun" isn't a word that is normally used to begin with because it isn't a suitable description for those types of activities. Fun is more something used for a medium that requires a great amount of interactivity such as skydiving, rock climbing and of course gaming. Films and books, which only require your observation as the way of interacting are described as being "enjoyable" or "good" in the same way as you would describe watching a monkey drinking his own urine as "amusing" and not really "fun".

 

[tycho0042]

Fun is highly subjective here but yes, in some way, shape or form it NEEDS to be fun. I think while playing it or after you put it down you needed to realize, I had a good time here. Why you had a good time will vary of course(whee!, I was SOOO scared there! ect.)
Perhaps a better way to put it would be the game needs to be enjoyable in some fashion.

 

[White_Lama]

Well, I certainly won't play a game that I don't think is fun to play.

 

[AndrewF022]

They do not have to be, but if your game is not fun to some degree, you wont get a sale from me, because there are two reasons I play games, the fun and the competition.. If a game has neither, then I don't see the point of it being a game to begin with.

Also, by competition, I don't mean competitive Multi-player, I just mean any game that has a win/lose rule set where I must succeed using mental cognition and dexterity.. So 'games' like Dear Esther (the HL2 mod) are not competitive because you don't win or lose, you just kinda walk and listen to the story, not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, its just not a game to me, nor is it fun.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

a good movie doesn't need to be fun
a good book doesn't need to be fun
so why do we think games have to be fun?

they have to be engaging which can be achieved by fun but that doesn't have to be fun

They need to be enjoyable, though. A good movie is a movie you enjoyed watching, a good book is one you enjoyed reading, and a good game is a game you enjoyed playing. That's where this slightly pedantic debate comes from: The idea that if you play a game, playing something should be fun as opposed to enjoyable.

In other words everyone, if by fun you mean enjoyable, then yes.

 

[Pegghead]

Fun is just one way to keep the player wanting to play, which is what's necessary.

 

[teebeeohh]

i think a problem with games is the time invested, with movies i can dig a good one that is two hours even if it's hard to watch because the topic it deals with makes me uncomfortable.
but when i spend 40? on a game i want my 10-100 hours to be mostly fun, i will most likely not play a game that is ten hours long if the game is not fun

 

[spartandude]

whats with the distinction between "fun" and serious? why cant i have fun with a serious story?

 

[Cranky]

They definitely HAVE to grab your attention in the first two hours. Other than that, not all games require fun.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I believe a game needs to be fun but what you described I wouldn't really call a game. Its a game the same way a poem is a song.

 

[Henkie36]

The main differnce between games and movies is that games are more immersive. You control what happens to the main character, even if it's a completely linear gmae. With a movie, everything is fixed from the beginning. None of your own actions have consequences. That is why I think games have to be fun. If you put a message in a movie, it's easier for people to get it, because they don't have to pay attention at what they are doing, only the message counts. I like to think games are very black and white at this point: They're either fun or they're boring. And you stop playing boring games.

 

[The Last Nomad]

Games don't 'need' to be anything.

I do however prefer to have fun when I play games, but that doesn't mean all games have to be fun.

 

[Darknacht]

I know your talking about video games but look at The Mechanic is the Message games by Brenda Brathwaite.
The New World is a game it is not fun.
Síochán leat is a game it is not fun.
Train is a game it is not fun.
These are good well made games made by an experienced game designer, these games are engaging but they are not fun.
If you don't know who Brenda Brathwaite here is one of her shorter talks: