The Aesthetic Flaws of Games

Over on ihobo today, an examination of how certain aesthetic flaws manifest within games in relation to the values of the player. Here's an extract:

The three Rules of Game Worlds are as follows:

1. Setting and mechanics must accord.
2. Any and all mechanical sub-worlds must merge with the game world.
3. No-one plays alone.

Each of these can be used to reveal a specific kind of aesthetic flaw unique to games – and indeed, can reveal a schism between different player aesthetic values that lead to different kinds of aesthetic flaw. This is key to what follows, for we must appreciate that ‘aesthetic flaw’ is not an absolute claim, nor is it ‘merely subjective’: an aesthetic flaw occurs between a game and its player as a direct result of a difference in values.

The argument proceeds as an extention of last year's blog-letter, The Rules of Game Worlds, but you don't need to have read that one to appreciate the thrust of my further claims. You can read the entirety of The Aesthetic Flaws of Games over on ihobo.com.