Games for the Self Manifesto

1. Games are a medium for Self Knowledge

The difference between belief and true knowledge is experience. True knowledge is of greatest essence for self knowledge. Games are tools to gain this experience, to build and break definitions of what we think of Justice, Love, and the Virtues. Games should no longer be meaningless. Self knowledge has arrived.

2. True interactivity lies in Intelligence

To truly understand and respond to a player’s action requires an understanding of the context and of the intent of her choice. Artificial Intelligence will help us in our quest to draw out the right meaning, so we must embrace it and let it be one of the strongest tools in our toolset.

3. Create to honor humans and Humanity

    Let games be an ode to the human condition. Let games tell stories of people of all colors, ethnicities, genders and income levels. Let them be in honor of our existence, our victories and our struggles.

4. Intent First. Always.

    All games must try to say something. Let all game mechanics, narrative and art derive from this intent. Anything that does not serve the intent should not be a part of the game.

5. Reject crunch, sleep.

    We must respect our dignity as artists and our art. Crunching kills creativity and our love for our medium. We must preserve ourselves for the long battle, we must fight to keep our passion. We must strive to work hard each day, but no more than that which we can replenish.

6. Experimentation is at the heart of play.

    To play is to explore and learn. Experimentation is the fuel for our explorations. Out of our experiments emerge the most moving forms of play. Let us embrace experimentation and failure, and keep experimenting until we find new ways. And then experiment again.