My main takeway point from this week’s unlecture was about ‘Play, game and stories’. Adrian told us that gaming is defined by the notion of competition instead of narrative which marks a clear divide between games and stories. You can have games without narrative and you can’t win a narrative. What seems to link the two together is the notion of ‘play’.

Adrian explained this idea clearer in his blog post by showing that you can play with both games and stories. So, you can play without needing to win and play with stories and words just like you can play games. When thinking about the word PLAY it is important to note that the end goal is not always winning. ‘Play’ can cause different results depending on what is being played- so playing with a story and language or playing a game. So, while games can have stories they don’t necessarily need to have narratives. The end purpose is to win.

Another important point, was about filtering content on the internet. Filtering means that depth is encouraged rather than exploration. Adrian told us he believes the future of this will see the ‘recommender’ become ingrained in this system.