{{Short description|Video game genre}} {{distinguish|application software|zero-player game}}{{Video game industry}} {{Art and video games}} '''Non-games''' are a class of software on the border between video games and toys. The term "non-game game" was coined by late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who describes it as "a form of entertainment that really doesn't have a winner, or even a real conclusion".<ref>{{Cite web|title=GDC 2005: Iwata Keynote Transcript|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/03/11/gdc-2005-iwata-keynote-transcript|website=IGN|date=11 March 2005|access-date=30 November 2025|language=en|first=Matt|last=Casamassina|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250813152441/https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/03/11/gdc-2005-iwata-keynote-transcript|archive-date=13 August 2025|url-status=live|quote=First, it is one of those non-game games I mentioned; a form of entertainment that really doesn't have a winner, or even a real conclusion.}}</ref> Will Wright had previously used the term "software toy" for the same purpose.<ref name=book-interview>{{Cite book|title=Game Design: Theory and Practice|last=Rouse III|first=Richard|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|isbn=9781449633455|edition=Second|location=United States|publication-date=30 August 2004|language=en|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGePP1Nu_P8C&printsec=frontcover&hl=en-US#v=onepage&q=%22software%20toy%22&f=false}}</ref>{{rp|11,412}} The main difference between non-games and traditional video games is the lack of structured goals, objectives, and challenges.<ref>Francisco Queiroz: ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20081221110027/http://www.gamasutra.com/education/theses/20051202/chico_criticalappraisal.pdf Insular, Critical Appraisal]''. September 2005</ref> 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 include language-learning software, digital tabletop games, simulation video games, and art games.
== History == 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 1977 ''Surround'', a two-player snake game for the Atari VCS, which contains a free-form drawing mode called "Video Graffiti." Later examples which were sold as games but present a less structured experience are ''Alien 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," and Jeff Minter's ''Psychedelia'' (Llamasoft, 1984), which is an interactive light synthesizer.
thumb|left|A map created in ''Adventure Construction Set''
Bill Budge's ''Pinball 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, like Doug Smith's ''Lode Runner'' (Broderbund, 1983), Ron Rosen's ''Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory'' (Datamost, 1983), and John Anderson's ''Rally Speedway'' (Adventure International, 1983). Other more proper construction sets followed, such as EA's ''Adventure Construction Set'' (1984) and ''Racing Destruction Set'' (1985).
In January 1984, Joel Gluck presented a simple toy called ''Bounce'' in his game design column in ''ANALOG Computing''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gluck|first1=Joel|title=Our Game|journal=ANALOG Computing|date=January 1984|issue=15|url=https://archive.org/details/analog-computing-magazine-15}}</ref> ''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 in ''ANALOG'', including a version which allows multiple active blocks at once.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gluck|first1=Joel|title=More Fun with Bounce!|journal=ANALOG Computing|date=February 1985|issue=27|url=http://analog.katorlegaz.com/analog_1985-02_120dpi_jpeg_cropped/analog_1985-02_043.html|access-date=21 May 2015|archive-date=24 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524061517/http://analog.katorlegaz.com/analog_1985-02_120dpi_jpeg_cropped/analog_1985-02_043.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The 1989 simulation game ''SimCity'' was called a ''software toy'' by its creator Will Wright, since there is no ultimate objective in the main game;{{r|book-interview|p=413}} scenarios with objectives exist in some incarnations of the game, such as ''SimCity 2000'', but these are not the focus.
Non-games have been particularly successful on the Nintendo DS and Wii, where a broad range of Japanese titles have appealed to a growing number of casual gamers.<ref>[http://www.gpara.com/ranking/mediacreatebn/20070523brain.php Gpara.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524061535/http://www.gpara.com/ranking/mediacreatebn/20070523brain.php |date=24 May 2015 }}: non-games sales figures in Japan, May 2007 {{in lang|ja}}</ref><ref name=IGN>[http://ds.ign.com/articles/719/719258p1.html IGN: Non-Game Flood: Twelve more non games are set for the Japanese DS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206204220/http://ds.ign.com/articles/719/719258p1.html |date=6 February 2012}}, July 2006</ref> Some examples of non-game genres are: gamified language-learning software for English and Japanese (including one for the memorization of kanji), Go-learning games, puzzle (e. g., Tetris), sandbox (such as Minecraft), as well as simulation, art, and cooking games.<ref name=IGN/>
== See also == * Falling sand game * Sandbox game * Serious game * Video games as an art form
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links== * [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/when-is-a-game-not-a-game gamesindustry.biz: When is a game not a game?] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050615022915/https://lostgarden.com/2005/06/nintendogs-case-of-non-game-that.html ''Nintendogs:'' The case of the non-game that barked like a game ]
{{VideoGameGenre}} Category:Non-games Category:Video game genres