paidea/ludus/agon/alea/ilinx/mimicry?

Paidea and Ludus, they both are old words, both are very different in terms of what they explain but its important to know.

• Paidea : Playing a game for the sheer pleasure of doing this.
• Ludus : More to do with rules and structure.

Good examples of games that could describe these words would be the difference between an open role playing game and a more structured first person shooter.
To put a name to the genres i would choose Half life series to the more open elder scrolls series of games, I choice this because I think that they really describe the terms of both the words above, the ludus being the half life series while the paidea being the games of the elder scrolls.

Firstly the major reason on why i think that the Half Life series is more of a ludus termed game then a Paidea is because you can win, the game ends when you have completed it and that's that there is no carry on you cant walk away and see what happens next (until there is another sequel) Its very structured from the start of the game to the finish of the game.

Another simple reason is the unavoidable goals you have to achieve in the game, the term ludus has a lot to so with rules and structures and behind the game and in the game you are dominated by what you can and what you cant do though the objectives are never given too you clearly you have an idea on what to do.

The way the levels are built is another reason on why i think that the game is clearly structured, the levels allow very little exploring,  for an example you could not traverse the whole of city 17, you will always have to go where the developers have built you and allowed you to go. The whole game is sort of an advanced rat maze, the control they have over where the player goes is not quite clear in game, but behind the scenes its quite clear you are very restricted on where you go and what you do.

However the story is quite different in Oblivion a very "freeworld" open environment the player can set his own choice in where he want to go what he wants to do, it allows the player a choice for "freeplay" where he can do anything he wants for the pleasure of doing it, this surely fits into the term of paidea.

Although there are goals in oblivion that push the story forward, the key difference between objectives in half life and oblivion is that the player can choose to ignore the goals given to him and wonder off to do there own thing and the quests they want to do. Finally once the game ends, the game will allow you to carry on in the game to allow you to level you character and finish off and sub quests that you ignored or could not finish.

In conclusion I can say by there very genres that
Half life: Ludus, very scripted, there is a clear point A to B on every level in terms of completing objectives and your not really given the option of choosing how you get to the objectives, you also have a clear intent on winning the game and once you have won it, the game ends and that's that.

Oblivion: Loose "freeplay" A game that will allow you to carry on after you have completed it, the player can go anywhere and choose what he wants to do and where he whats to go giving again a rather "freeplay" world that the player can do what they want for the fun of it without the concern of many rules and structure.