What is Fun?

[Eric Farrington]

The eternal question. Spoiler alert for this post. I don't know the answer to the leading question in the title. However, as a designer this is the #1 goal players have when they approach your game. They want to have fun! Of course, what that means varies a lot!
I have talked to a lot of different players in my time to try to answer this question, "What is fun?". Here is a snapshot of answers I have received:

Winning is fun!
Hanging out with my buddies is fun!
The spectacle of a good game is fun!
Getting some insight into the period is fun!
Telling stories on or about the games is fun!
Playing and seeing what happens is fun!
Painting and setting it all up, and seeing it all come together is fun!
Letting my imagination run wild is fun!
Trying to master the game is fun!
Smack talking my friends is fun!
Researching the period is fun!
Being part of a larger community of folks is fun!
Talking about the games is fun!
Having a lot of choices in gameplay is fun!

The list is honestly endless. There are as many different answers to "What is fun?" as there are players. Each player comes to the table with their own history, personal preferences, styles, and calibrations for what is FUN and what is NOT FUN!

If you ask players the flip-side of the coin, what is NOT FUN you also get a variety of different outcomes too. If you list what is FUN on one side, and what is NOT FUN on the other you will often see the same answers!

Therefore, how is a designer suppose to tackle the elephant in the room? I take a crack at it on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:

bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/01/wargame-design-what-is-fun.html