How we make games

In the classic film Mary Poppins, the popular Nanny states:

In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job's a game.

Truer words were never spoken. Believe it or not, in every aspect of our lives, we make games. We set goals and objectives, we make rules, we congratulate ourselves when we are successful.

Case in point. When I take my dog for a walk, the dog has a habit of wanting to stop at every "interesting" stump, bush or pebble along our route - something that is counterproductive to the whole walking thing. I wondered how many steps I'd go before we'd have to stop again. And then I wanted to see what the most consecutive steps we'd take before stopping again. From there I'd have to introduce rules - what constitutes a full stop, don't "drag" the dog, etc (not that I'm the sort of person who'd do that.) So my simple chore of walking the dog became a game.

Most games we play come from such humble beginnings - goals or objectives are established (get the ball into that basket), rules are incorporated (you cannot walk and carry the ball) and boundaries are established (the game ends after a specific period of time).

The trick is how to make the game interesting so people have fun while playing it. Sure, my dog walking game is convenient as it requires no additional equipment to play while I'm walking the dog, but I'm not about to drop everything so the dog and I can go out and play the dog walking game! ;) It's a fine line.

So what are your game expereiences? Do you have a boring game that needs a little spicing up? Let me know.