A Ludic Definition

A word has emerged in the game design discourse: ludic.

Starting next time, I'll be using this word—I think it's a good term that belongs in the game design lexicon. But first I want to go over what I mean when I use the word ludic.

If you look it up in a dictionary, you'll see that it more or less means playful.

I use ludic to identify the interactive aspects of a game. This is to contrast these aspects with those that are visual, musical, textual, etc.

Drop the graphics and music and text. What do we have left? The ludic parts: interactions between the player and the game system (and maybe other players).

This point of view requires some imagination—we can't fully drop the graphics, music, and text, since they are a part of these ludic interactions between player and system.

But I find it useful in game design and analysis to practice seeing this underlying game: the pure ludic behavior, abstracted away from the real world (and its visual, aural, and literal meanings).

In future posts, we'll take a look at what all this means for Smasher. But first let's take a brief diversion into my young adulthood.

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A Ludic Medium

Contents: Smasher Devlog