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Non-games are a class ofsoftware on the border betweenvideo games andtoys. The term "non-game game" was coined by lateNintendo presidentSatoru Iwata, who describes it as "a form of entertainment that really doesn't have a winner, or even a real conclusion".[1][failed verification]Will Wright had previously used the term "software toy" for the same purpose.[2][better source needed] The main difference between non-games and traditional video games is the lack of structured goals, objectives, and challenges.[3] This allows the player a greater degree of self-expression through freeform play, since they can set up their own goals to achieve. Some genres that have been considered non-games includelanguage-learning software,digital tabletop games,simulation video games, andart games.
Non-games have existed since the early days of video games, although there hasn't been a specific term for them. One of the first is Atari Inc.’s 1977Surround, a two-playersnake game for theAtari VCS, which contains a free-form drawing mode called "Video Graffiti." Later examples which were sold as games but present a less structured experience areAlien Garden (Epyx, 1982),Moondust (Creative Software, 1983),Worms? (one of the 1983 launch titles from Electronic Arts),I, Robot (Atari, 1983) which contains an "ungame mode" called "Doodle City," andJeff Minter'sPsychedelia (Llamasoft, 1984), which is an interactive light synthesizer.
Bill Budge'sPinball Construction Set (Electronic Arts, 1983) popularized software where building something is more entertaining than playing the finished product. To a lesser extent, some games became construction sets through the inclusion of level editors, likeDoug Smith'sLode Runner (Broderbund, 1983), Ron Rosen'sMr. Robot and His Robot Factory (Datamost, 1983), and John Anderson'sRally Speedway (Adventure International, 1983). Other more proper construction sets followed, such as EA'sAdventure Construction Set (1984) andRacing Destruction Set (1985).
In January 1984,Joel Gluck presented a simple toy calledBounce in his game design column inANALOG Computing.[4]Bounce lets users draw low-resolution lines, then release a block that leaves a trail as it moves across the screen, making patterns as it reflects off of obstacles (other than its own trail). The program is specifically designed not to have goals or scorekeeping, other than what's in the user's head.Bounce was revisited several times inANALOG, including a version which allows multiple active blocks at once.[5]
The 1989 simulation gameSimCity was called asoftware toy by its creatorWill Wright, since there is no ultimate objective in the main game; scenarios with objectives exist in some incarnations of the game, such asSimCity 2000, but these are not the focus.[6]
Non-games have been particularly successful on theNintendo DS andWii, where a broad range of Japanese titles have appealed to a growing number ofcasual gamers.[7][8] Types of non-games includedlanguage-learning software for English and Japanese (including one for the memorization ofkanji),Go-learning games,puzzle games, andcooking games.[8]
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