Challenge: the Basic Unit of Every Game
By Miodrag Kovačević | December 15, 2011 | Editorials | 2 comments | Share
In a world where we actively seek out confirmation that games are art, we do very little to look back at everything the medium has done and start defining it by its own merits. It has not only evolved into a creative medium and form of entertainment, but also integrated itself into modern culture. Yet we always compare it to movies, books, music, cars and pie slices. It may contain acting, it may contain writing, it may contain music and it might even feature cars and pies, but it is none of that – it is a video game. If you play a movie next to a screen with a video game, you’ll be able to tell the difference without any trouble. If you set up a game of Clue next to a screen with a video game, you will also be able to tell the difference without any trouble.
No, there is something else there. Something that makes us discern what constitutes a game on a rudimentary level. That abstract element is 'Challenge'
This is, of course, based on the how a video game actually looks in terms of hardware. Let’s disregard hardware then and look at video games in terms of actual composition. Can a game be without sound, and still be called a game? Yes, it can. What about being devoid of plot or narrative? Also possible. What about being devoid of visuals? Text adventures are a prime example of this. But while an instance of a game being devoid of all three at once might be impossible, there is one thing they will always feature: interactivity.
Here is our next problem. If a video game requires interactivity, does that mean that anything that is interactive can be deemed a video game? No, because then Windows would be a video game as well. Your browser would be a video game. Your music player as well. No, there is something else there. Something that makes us discern what constitutes a game on a rudimentary level. That abstract element is “Challenge”.
What is a Challenge?
A challenge is the basic unit of video game composition. It is the task that the game sets before you that you are asked to overcome. Despite the name being “challenge”, it is not used to describe the magnitude of the task. It can be either easy or difficult, it is merely called a “challenge” as opposed to “task” because the latter sounds depressing, and the former emphasises the connection between developer and player. The developer is challenging the player using the boundaries of the game.
A challenge can be of any length and can overlap. It is the smallest unit in the composition of a video 
game. To give an example of challenges overlapping, let’s use Super Mario Bros. The main challenge is to save the Princess. This is a goal that is ever-present and that you are continuously working towards achieving. However, this doesn’t stop other challenges, like jumping over a chasm, from occurring while you are attempting to overcome the main challenge.
What is important is the intent behind each challenge; if there was no intent to make a particular aspect a challenge, it is a design flaw. For example, walking is a highly basic action in almost any game, therefore not counting as a challenge. On the other hand, an example of walking being a challenge is the game QWOP. A bad camera angle can also be a challenge or a design flaw. The game Sideway: New York, features camera angles which are integrated in the actual gameplay, making them a challenge. On the other hand, a game with poor camera angles like Devil May Cry 3 has them due to bad design. Of course, they in themselves may pose a challenge in the sense that they contribute to the difficulty, but it is not a part of the composition, it is the consequence of a badly designed feature. To illustrate the point better, Mega Man 9 and 10 use plenty of outdated gameplay elements, both good and bad, but it uses the bad ones consciously. Because of this, any “fake difficulty” is considered a challenge. To compare it to Devil May Cry 3 again, if the development team had clearly made the camera angle in such a way that it was supposed to be a part of the game as it is, then we would consider it a challenge (and a pretty shoddy one at that).
What Types of Challenges Are There?
There are two basic types of challenges: input and thought. The input challenges are based on inputting the proper commands at a given moment. If you are supposed to execute a specific command, like pressing the jump button to jump over a chasm, it’s an input challenge. Thought challenges are self-explanatory, and entail challenges where you need to think of a solution to a problem. The obvious example for this are puzzles of any kind. The two types of challenges aren’t mutually exclusive, so hybrid challenges can also often be found in games.
If a game only has elements and boundaries, but no goal or purpose, it is no longer a game, it is an interactive application, or a toy
The actual magnitude and type of the challenges in question depend on the time you have at your disposal. This means that a challenge does not need to be constant. To use Tetris as an example, the challenge would be to align the pieces. However, the intensity of this challenge changes over the course of the game. The initial speed has an emphasis on thought and is barely an input challenge. When the game reaches top speed, the input portion intensifies and might even become dominant.
It also needs to be noted that a challenge does not need to have a definite end. If say, there is a challenge where you need to stop an “infected” bar from reaching its max value, by decreasing it through various means, you may have to keep doing it even after you have reached the “endgame” (like how you can still play Grand Theft Auto games even after completing all the missions). However, what is assigned as being an “endless challenge” needs to be considered carefully. If your main challenge is to save the princess, but it’s impossible to ever reach her, you could easily undermine your own game. However, old games that are endless and only rely on attaining the highest score, for example, work without having a surmountable challenge.
What About Multiplayer Games?
Multiplayer games work somewhat differently. The developer will set a goal like “get 20 frags”, which is still a challenge. The actions of other players are not challenges themselves, but they themselves can be. To elaborate, if a player is shooting at you, avoiding his actual shot isn’t a challenge. However, overcoming the obstacle the player poses is. The reason why this is so is that if you were to remove scoring, objectives and general purpose of a multiplayer session, you would be left with a map with weapons and players, nothing else. It would be a sandbox, not a game. Which brings us to our next point.
Pure Sandboxes Aren’t Games
If a game only has elements and boundaries, but no goal or purpose, it is no longer a game, it is an interactive application, or a toy. It lacks challenges, therefor it is not a game anymore. Actual boundaries like having a certain amount of health or tools at your disposal do not change this. It merely means it is a very limited application. However, this only refers to pure sandboxes. Much like how having cutscenes does not make a video game a movie, having sandbox elements in your gameplay does not make your video game a toy.
To use contemporary examples, Minecraft in its creative mode is an interactive toy and nothing else. Skyrim, on the other hand, is a game because it frequently puts various quests before you, so there is always a constant influx of challenges, despite the game being highly open-ended. Even a sandbox game with no definite end like the Sims 2 counts as a game, purely for the “aspirations” mechanic which does put challenges before you, whereas the first Sims was a virtual dollhouse.
Examples
To show how this theory works in practice, let’s go over the first game we mentioned, Super Mario Bros for the NES.
The first challenge here would be overcoming lonely goomba. If the player were to hit the goomba, he would either lose his life or shrink, depending on whether he had a mushroom or not. However, defeating the goomba is not necessary. The player will not be penalized for simply avoiding it.
Here we have two new challenges which are derived from the previous one. The first one is overcoming a solitary goomba in a confined environment, while the second one is overcoming two goombas in a confined environment.
Again, another challenge derived from the goomba one, this time overcoming them as the descent upon you from above. There is also the introduction of a pitfall, as well as a larger pitfall.
A pair of goombas again, but because they are not in a confined environment, it is easier to avoid them, but also makes encountering them inevitable. The turtle is a new challenge entirely, as he requires a different approach compared to goombas.
Two pairs of goombas, amplifying the challenge even more. Notice the layout of the blocks and how they work towards helping a possibly intimidated player avoiding them entirely, as this is the first time you had to encounter so many enemies at once.
Here we have two pitfalls. The first one offering no severe penalty, while the second one means death. The left one is preparation for the one next to it, helping inexperienced players practice before daring the jump.
And finally, the legendary flag. An example of a challenge which doesn’t need to be overcome. To elaborate, the flag marks the end of the level, and thus the challenge of beating the level. This challenge is mandatory to progress. However, the second challenge which is reaching the highest point of the flag isn’t a prerequisite to complete the level and is entirely optional, but it overlaps with the previous one.
This also points out exactly how well-made Super Mario Bros is. There was a lot of thought put into the making of it and it’s obvious why Shigeru Miyamoto is a critically acclaimed game developer.
Why This Matters
Having a spreadsheet of which challenges your game contains, where and at what intensity can help with pacing. This also avoids a situation where a game dominated by input challenges would have a thought challenge of higher intensity near the end, possibly breaking pace or even blocking the progress of players.
If we understand the prevalent challenges of the medium as a whole, we can subvert and deconstruct them. So far, we’ve been focusing on narrative deconstruction in games. The subversion No One Lives Forever did by using a strong female lead for a FPS game as opposed to male leads before its time was purely a narrative change, for example.
But subverting actual gameplay elements yields far different results. For instance, a game developer who 
understands the inner workings of games and uses that to achieve amazing results would be Jason Rohrer. While most notable for his game Passage, Rohrer’s Inside a Star-filled Sky illustrates much better how properly using and breaking challenges can empower a video game.
Games have existed long enough for us to look back and finally establish what constitutes a game. We need to establish these things so we can finally stop referring to games through comparisons with other creative mediums all the time. It is also important to understand the nature of games if we are to actually make quality titles.
Super Mario Bros Map courtesy of Ian-Albert.com
I've always thought the term "video game industry" was a bit restrictive. You are right that when there is no challenge, it's not technically a game. Of course, even if Minecraft was only the sand box mode, most people would probably call it a "game." Even if the Sims was only the sand box mode, most people would still call it a "game." Oh well - just one of those things you have to live with. No one's gonna change "video game industry" any time soon.
'toy' and 'game' are 2 different words. nothing is restrictive about it. the industry is called computer game industry.