What is a Gamer?

          “One who plays games.” Possibly the simplest way to define the term “gamer”. But what else does it mean? What can one do to earn the title of “Gamer”? What comes to mind when you hear the word?

          Becoming a gamer is easy. All you need to do is play something. It can be a board game, video game, card game, physical sport, whatever. You play it once and you’re technically a gamer. It’s like how writing a single sentence makes you a writer. Maybe you aren’t an excellent writer, but you wrote something. But what if you were to write more? What if you wrote two sentences? Or a paragraph? Essay? Short story? You’ll become a better writer, just like playing more games makes you better at gaming. But what does it mean for us to play?

          To play is to engage with the rules of the game. You follow the laws set before you to experience something fun and/or interesting. Breaking the rules effectively means breaking the game world itself. When you cheat the game, you deny the game itself and the engagement is gone. You’re no longer compelled to play, let alone win. And the gaming community detests nothing more than a cheater.

          Becoming involved with the gaming culture isn’t too difficult. We’re rather open-minded people. There may be the occasional player hiding behind a false identity and throwing insults, but we welcome all newcomers to join us. We’re not elitist jerks; if anything, we need new players to play with. If they stick around, they might become skilled enough to challenge the more hardcore audience.

          We play not to waste time, but to make the best of it. We’re not trying to avoid reality because life is difficult; we seek escape during our downtime to make the day easier to deal with. We’re not becoming violent; we’re learning about the world outside. We’re learning literary elements, history, science, creativity and art. We’re interacting with stories and characters we never knew could affect us on such a deep and emotional level. Ultimately, gamers are enjoying a pastime. Gamers are playing for their own reasons that perhaps only we will understand. Gamers are playing for the sake of the game.

          When I hear the word “gamer” I think of someone akin to a person who loves a good book. They seek out these stories because it fulfills some sort of need. A moviegoer does the same thing; they want to see amazingly beautiful narratives on a display. With games, we want to experience a new sensation that we’ve never had before. What’s it like to be trapped in a dark room with no escape but the end of the night shift? What’s it like to be a fire-breathing dragon? What’s it like fighting demons with nothing but a hatchet? What’s it like to be a hero? Or a villain? To be smart? Or slow? To be something beyond human? Games are the closest things we have to those experiences. To me, a gamer is “someone who not only plays games, but lives them.”