Editing Game (section)

===Chris Crawford===
Game designer [[Chris Crawford (game designer)|Chris Crawford]] defined the term in the context of computers.<ref name="craw">{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Chris |title=Chris Crawford on Game Design |title-link=Chris Crawford on Game Design |publisher=New Riders |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-88134-117-1 |author-link=Chris Crawford (game designer)}}</ref> Using a series of [[dichotomy|dichotomies]]:
# Creative expression is ''art'' if made for its own beauty, and ''entertainment'' if made for money.
# A piece of entertainment is a ''[[play (activity)|plaything]]'' if it is [[interactive]]. Movies and books are cited as examples of non-interactive entertainment.
# If no goals are associated with a plaything, it is a ''toy''. ''(Crawford notes that by his definition, (a) a toy can become a game element if the player makes up rules, and (b) ''[[The Sims]]'' and ''[[SimCity]]'' are toys, not games.)'' If it has goals, a plaything is a ''challenge''.
# If a challenge has no "active agent against whom you compete", it is a ''[[puzzle]]''; if there is one, it is a ''conflict''. ''(Crawford admits that this is a subjective test. Video games with noticeably [[algorithm]]ic [[artificial intelligence]] can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used to evade [[Pac-Man#Ghosts|ghosts in ''Pac-Man'']].)''
# Finally, if the player can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with their performance, the conflict is a ''competition''. ''(Competitions include [[racing]] and [[figure skating]].)'' However, if attacks are allowed, then the conflict qualifies as a game.

Crawford's definition may thus be rendered as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity made for money, with active agents to play against, in which players (including active agents) can interfere with each other.

Other definitions, however, as well as history, show that entertainment and games are not necessarily undertaken for monetary gain.