Caillois' Classification of Games

Caillois' classification of games shows how games can  be categorised into 4 groups. 

Agon:  (conflict, especially one between the main characters in a drama) This is a category of competitive games, based on rivalry, in which the winner appears to be better than the loser in a certain category of exploits.

Alea:  (Chance) These are games of chance, in which the player negates will, and surrenders to destiny.

Mimicry: (the imitating of other people’s voices, gestures, or appearance..) Games in this category feature incessant invention. They have one rule: that the player must fascinate the spectator, and not break the spell.

Ilinx: (vertigo) These are games in which the player deliberately brings on a sense of vertigo,“to momentarily destroy the stability of perception and inflict a kind of voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind”.

I categorised games that I like in the table below.

1. Heroes of the Storm is a MOBA where only one team can win. Destroying the enemy team's core guarantees victory. In my opinion, MOBAs are also games of chance. Most of the time your teammates are randomly selected so there's a chance that you'll get a bad or good player. In a game where team coordination is essential, there is a higher chance of winning if you have good players in your team. The competitive nature of MOBAs definitely induces panic and sometimes even anger in players because you have to rely on your teammates and you  can't control their actions.

2. Hercules is a 2d action game. Getting through the level and saving the damsels in distress means winning. BEing a single player game doesn't mean it's not competitive. You can compete against yourself by getting more coins and collecting more objectives than your last try. It's also a form of mimicry because you play as Hercules rather than yourself.

3. In Walking Dead, surviving is winning and dying mean losing. You can play again from the last check point but Walking Dead is also a game of choice and I think the death of characters that you like also counts as a defeat. You play as one character in this game and because you make the choices for them, it is a perfect example of mimicry as you can empathise on a deeper level. The choice making has a timer so the game brings panic to the player as making no choice also counts as a choice.

4. Fantasy Life is an RPG game. Again, like Hercules, it is a single game but you can win by building your character properly. Being an RPG makes it a form of mimicry as you pretend to be the character. 

5. Don't Starve has a multiplayer mode so surviving longer than your friends is winning. It's also a game of chance because the map and resources are generated randomly. Getting a good spawn point also makes the start of the game easier. It's also a thrilling game because it's all about survival and survival is a human instinct. Even though it's just a game, players still feel panic if they get too cold or their sanity and hunger levels are dangerously low.