Week 1: Playing to Win... So Where's the Fun?

In his online book, Sirlin claims that "playing to win" is not entirely incompatible with playing for fun. In fact, he argues that the effort and tactical gameplay exhibited by a player concentrating on defeating his or her opponent is every bit as fun and rewarding as playing the game for its amusement value alone.

Now, I have played many a game wherein winning was the last thing on my mind. Okay, maybe that's not entirely the case, but I have certainly had my fair share of games where my inexperience dictated that I play by button-mashing instinct just to try to survive for as long as possible, and maybe land a few hits on my opponent if I get lucky. Did I win? 99% of the time, no. Did I still manage to have fun? Naturally. Why else would I still be playing Super Smash Brothers to this day?

I would argue that there is fun to be had from just fooling around in even the most competitive of games. I may lack the skills and experience needed to claim victory at the end of the match, yet I still manage to find satisfaction from getting those few hits against my opponent.

That said, I don't disagree with the idea that experts fighting each other at high levels of gameplay still find fun in doing so. Why else would they go through so much trouble to reach such a high level of mastery and still keep improving? The sheer amount of dedication these players put into their game excludes any other ulterior motive as a possibility. Social recognition can be gained in much easier ways; trying to become regional champion at Street Fighter is far too much trouble if you are only in it for the glory. (Those who try are only likely to become scrubs unless they discover the fun of the game for themselves.)

The bottom line is that there is all kinds of fun for both beginners and pro gamers alike. They may not share the same definition of fun, but they each get their enjoyment out of the game, whether they've been to more tournaments than words in this post or if they're only picking up the controller for the fourth time in their lives.