Non-game

Non-games are a class of software on the border between video games and toys. The original term "non-game game" was coined by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who describes it as "a form of entertainment that really doesn't have a winner, or even a real conclusion".Will Wright had previously used the term "software toy" for the same purpose. The main difference between non-games and traditional video games is the lack of structured goals, objectives, and challenges. This allows the player a greater degree of self-expression through freeform play, since he or she can set up his or her own goals to achieve.

History

Non-games have existed since the early days of video games, although there hasn't been a specific term for them. Among the earliest examples are Jaron Lanier's Alien Garden (Epyx, 1982) and Moondust (Creative Software, 1983), Worms? (one of the 1983 launch titles from Electronic Arts), I, Robot (Atari, 1983), which featured a special "ungame mode" called "Doodle City", and Jeff Minter's Psychedelia (Llamasoft, 1984), which is an interactive light synthesizer