What is Fun?

What exactly is fun? Especially in the terms of gameplay? Instead of the typical approach of going to dictionary.com and looking at the usual definitions, I will instead do the opposite.

What is NOT fun? Apparently the opposite of "fun" is "boring". And what is "boring"? Its "dull, repetitive or tedious".

And so if we again reverse this, the opposite of "dull, repetitive and tedious" is "intelligent, dynamic and exciting". My definition of Fun.

A fun game is Intelligent, Dynamic and Exciting.

So what does that mean in games? In this case I will use one of my favorite games, an arcade fighting game called "Marvel Vs Capcom 2" as well as various examples.

Intelligent
For a game to be fun, the player must feel challenged. It does not matter whether the player is playing against another player or against the AI, he must use different ways to deal with the situation. One way this problem is dealt with is to use good AI. But AI is fixed (for now), so it is still possible to exploit predictable AI to win games. And once players stick with this method to win games, it gets dull very fast.

One way Capcom deals with this is to have damage scaling. Even if players find some way to repeatedly deal damage continuously in an unbreakable "combo", the system scales down the damage gradually until by the 20th combo hit, each move is probably doing 1 pixel of damage, whereas if a player mixes up his moves and varies his attacks, he ends up dealing more damage and winning the match faster.

Of course, since the game is a 2-player vs game as well, a human opponent can provide varied levels of challenges that normal AI cannot provide. Unless the opponent uses the same tactics again and again, or certain characters use game breaking moves that every player tends to copy, players usually play differently. In fact, another fighting game, Virtual Fighter 2, actually analyzed the play style of the participants in a few major championships and incorporated the playstyles as unique AI profiles, hence emulating the human vs human experience.
But even when human players vs human players are involved, the fact that the game itself is flexible enought allows the different players the ability to use different tactics tailored to different situations, shows that the game makers have taken intelligent gameplay by human opponents into account, via attempting to balance the different characters and skills. Games seldom feel onesided even when "top tier characters" are matched against" bottom tier characters", when the players' skill levels are comparable. That is why people keep coming back as well, trying one strategy after another, with different characters, regardless of whether it be against AI or human opponents. The game's intelligent design in turn allows the player's intelligence to shine through in the game play.

Another method to ensure that games remain intelligent is for programmers to "nerf" (remove/depower) certain overpowered/overexploited/unbalanced moves, though that is possible for only PC games (online and singpleplayer) via patches or online updates. Half-life2 supposedly analyzes the performances on different maps to allow programmers to adjust the maps for better gameplay. Even for cabinet arcade games like Marvel Vs Capcom 2, the original versions will undergo modifications after initial playtesting with actual players, to tweak some gameplay elements for a more challenging experience.

With better AI, and in the future perhaps ones that can learn from their mistakes, it may soon be possible for intelligent games to remain challenging by themselves without human intervention.

Dynamic
How does one make sure an arcade game remains dynamic? Marvel vs capcom does it in the old proven way, by giving players an over-abundant number of options to play with. The game has 56 characters, and players have to pick teams composed of 3 different characters to use, while during actual gameplay the players are able to call the "sidelined" characters to "assist" them with one of 3 unique attacks.

Doing the maths, that means there are:

56 X 55 X 54 = 166,320 team combinations

and 56X3 x 55X3 x 54x3 = 4,490,640 possible "assisted" attacks!

Of course, realistically, not all characters and "assist" moves get used, as some are clearly more useful/powerful than others, but the options are still there. In fact 7 years after the initial release, this game is still being played in arcades, as players bored with using their usual teams experiment with new team combinations, and in gamefaqs.com, it remains the most heavily discussed game in the forums. 7 years after its initial release, people are STILL picking the game apart. If you can't change the game content, make sure it already has so much to begin with that it does not need new content to keep it fresh.

Exciting
Keeping a game exciting is a difficult balance. Players must have their skills challenged to get their adrenaline pumping, yet it must not be overpoweringly so that they lose immediately, or so easy that they breeze through the game TOO easily. But with millions of players around the world, all with varying skill levels, how does Marvel Vs Capcom keep the players coming back, regardless of their skill levels?

They use an old trick that computer computer games have been using since the days of packman. Progressive difficulty and challenges.

It may not be obvious, but the 1st stage of Marvel Vs Capcom is actually easier than the rest of the 6 stages. This allows expert players to get warmed up, while providing just sufficient challenge for even newbie players to make it past the 1st stage with normal attacks or even button mashing. But it is done very subtly, in fact few people will notice it, unless they leave their characters stationery during the beginning of the stages and notice that the AI opponents in the 1st stage attack less aggressively. (Most people never notice this because they attack right off the buzzer).

This way, even newbies want to give the game another try even though they lost at the end round, because they have already proven themselves capable of beating the 1st round AI opponents (not knowing that the AI threw the match). Whereas the seasoned players will get progressively challenged level after level up till the boss battle. This way, the game remains exciting for players of all skill ranges. The progressive difficulty trick is an art Capcom has mastered since the days of Street fighter 1....

So come again: what is Fun in a game? Basically the game has to be intelligent, dynamic, and and challenging. This will not only make the initial experience enjoyable, but also make subsequent experiences welcome. In fact, the replay factor in the game is very high. As a player, I think Marvel vs Capcom 2 has done a good job on this, as 7 years down the road, I still walk into the arcades for the occasional game.

PS: Initially, the XBox version of Marvel Vs Capcom 2 was slated for online gameplay, which would have made the game even more exciting, dynamic and "intelligent" by having ACTUAL players instead of console AI..... but that idea, though originally announced, was scrapped...