# Rejecting Enjoyment as the Point of the Game By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-06-10 There are games of chance, and then there are games of skill. Games of chance are said to be completely random. For example, guessing the value from a dice roll. Games of skill contain at least some nonrandom components such that a person can improve their chances of winning via practice and training. For example, hitting a baseball. However, it is worth noting that randomness or chance still plays a role in games of skill. When attempting to hit a baseball, the pitcher could throw any pitch or tape on the bat that might give way and cause it to slip from one's grip slightly. The degree to which randomness comes into play during games of skill varies greatly, but it is irksome whenever this randomness exceeds a certain threshold. If the outcome of a game of skill is more than 50% random, I'm not interested in playing the game because winning the game is well outside my control. Some will say that the point of the game is to enjoy playing it, but many of these games have significant downsides. Examples include financial ruin and wasting one's limited time. There are plenty of other games that develop a skill, are enjoyable, and have an upside if one plays the game well. People often forget this when they say the point of the game is to enjoy playing it: there are many games worth and not worth playing. Furthermore, many games are unfair and require significant reevaluation by one's society and culture. I'd rather play an enjoyable and not utterly random game, as there is often nothing to learn from randomness other than how to calculate probabilities and realize the meaninglessness of it all. Pure randomness is pure insanity, but a little bit is always unavoidable. Pick the games one plays wisely and reject the narrative that the point of the game is only to enjoy playing it, especially when the odds are stacked against one's favor. #### Related Items [[Games]] [[Joy]] [[Society]] [[Culture]] [[Skills]] [[Statistics]] [[Probability]] [[Progress]]