Easy to use and incredibly difficult

Abstract

In video game literature and video game reviews, video games are often divided into two distinct parts: interface and gameplay. Good video games, it is assumed, have to use interfaces, but they also provide difficult challenges to the player. But must a good game follow this pattern, and what is the difference between interface and gameplay? When does the easy-to-use interface stop, and when does the challenging begin? By analyzing a number of games, the paper argues that it is rare to find a clear-cut border between interface and and that the fluidity of this border characterizes games in general. While this border is unclear, we also analyze a number of games where the challenge is unambiguously located in the interface, thereby demonstrating that easy interface and challenging gameplay is neither universal nor a requirement for game quality. Finally, the paper argues, the lack of a clear distinction between interface and challenging is due to the fact that games are fundamentally designed not to accomplish something through an activity, but to provide an activity that is pleasurable in itself.