Games are the emergent behavior of simple components @GeekNightsRym
Games are the emergent behavior of simple components  @GeekNightsRym
Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
#gamedesign and #gamedev and emergent behavior in games

Full lecture:
youtu.be/26HyHFTtPpM

From "Every Game is the Same Game " presented at Zenkaikon 2025 by Rym DeCoster, producer of the GeekNights podcast.

#gamedesign #gamedev #gametheory #zenkaikon

How often do you describe a new game as "X game crossed with Y game?" This is Dominion crossed with Chess. This is Quake crossed with Dance Dance Revolution. This is a Civilization-style game but with puzzle elements. If games are collections of mechanics, and genres are also essentially collections of mechanics, then we can dig deep into how games are described to find the deepest and most core patterns of game. In the end it's all just entertainment software!
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Rym DeCoster |

Games are the emergent behavior of simple components

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