I realized the other night that I’m a gamer, through and through.

The significant portion of my past times revolves around games - sports, video games, board games. I’ve recently become obsessed with pickup soccer games, Gears of War and Settlers of Catan.

I saw a show the other night which claimed that games are appealing because, unlike real life, they have clearly defined rules. People enjoy games because it puts them in a restricted environment that they can easily grasp and maintain control over.

I find that hard to believe, because in many of the most enjoyable games that I’ve played, the best aspects of the games were where the rules were loose, or there were no rules. Take Settlers, for instance. Some of the greatness of the game stems from the fact that players are free to negotiate trading terms with each other. Its just so much fun to develop creative deals that helps you and hurts your opponent in extremely devious ways.

The same goes for soccer. Sure, there’s supposedly a penalty system that constrains the game. But if anyone has watched UEFA, you’ll know that the penalty system only matters if you get caught. Every game has its fair share of shoving, pushing, shirt pulling, shit talking. Zizou nearly got away with the infamous headbutt - the refs didn’t even realize what had happened until they saw a replay of it on the jumbotron.

Point is, the notion that games have strict rules is a fallacy. So why do people enjoy games so much then?

I would argue that its not about the means, but the end. The fact that there even is an end is why games are so appealing. In real life, you might have a short term goal. But inevitably, once you’ve achieved your objective, it gives rise to a dozen new ones. Or there’s something else completely out of left field for you to tackle. In the work place, is your job ever truly done? What about renovating a house?

Any game has a clear end to the struggle. Win or lose, at some point the game is over and there’s a chance to start fresh again with a new game. If only we could say the same about life.