Line #42 Main/SlidingScaleOfObjectiveVsSubjectiveGames


1	In some games, the rules and aims are totally objective. A computer could (and sometimes does) say how well each player did and whether they cheated.
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3	Then there are games where things are more vague. Most forum games and {{Tabletop RPG}}s fall here. Maybe some things are spelled out, but there can easily be disagreement over whether a character can do something, whether a post was funny enough to be worth posting or so on. These rules might be adjudicated on by a GameMaster or by consensus, or it may be up to each player to interpret them for themselves. Sometimes the subjective rules are well defined, but often they include unstated things like "try to make it interesting" (arguably more objectives than rules). And then there are games where all the rules are subjective. Generally games higher on the scale place more importance on strategy while games lower on the scale place more importance on creativity. GameplayAndStorySegregation tends to occur more often higher up the scale.
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5	When a player plays a game with subjective elements as though it were an objective game, the result may be a {{Munchkin}}.
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7	'''MOST OBJECTIVE'''
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9	!!1: Completely objective
10	Here, the rules and aims of everyone is completely clearcut. If this game has characters, then it is still impossible to have a {{Munchkin}} without actually cheating.
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12	Games where there is a highly competitive followings, where successful players are renowned, people see the game as SeriousBusiness, and every detail of strategy is carefully analysed (e.g. ''TabletopGame/{{Chess}}'', ''{{Go}}'', ''Football'') tend to fall in this category.
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14	* Almost all computer games are here, in order to allow the computer to enforce the rules.
15	** Note that while videogames are completely objective in terms of rule enforcement, the actual rules themselves are hidden behind the programming. This leads to things like GoodBadBugs, where the actual rules enforced are not quite what the player might think or the instruction manual might say.
16	* ''TabletopGame/{{Chess}}'' is well known to be here.
17	* Most sports
18	* Many, many other board games, card games and so on.
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20	!!2: Objective rules with significant subjective strategy
21	In these games, the rules are almost all clearcut but more subjective judgements are important in the strategy. Generally figuring out what people are thinking and how to get other players to think something is important in these games.
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23	* ''Charades'': It's clear what everyone is allowed to do (aside from borderline cases of what counts as an item of media), but the importance of working out how to communicate things to other players and what other players are trying to communicate necessitate a lot of subjective judgment. The principle applies in other modalities as well, such as [[Series/WinLoseOrDraw drawing]] or [[Series/{{Pyramid}} defining while avoiding a specific word]].
24	* ''Absolute Balderdash'': Apart from one subjective rule which rarely comes into play (extra points for a fake answer "very similar to" the real one), but working out answers which will trick other players and working out which answers are the real ones involves subjective thinking.
25	* ''TabletopGame/ApplesToApples'', ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'', ''Superfight'', and other party games that involve playing to a rotating "judge".
26	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}'', there are very clear rules about what counts as "words" (at least two tiles must be used--so you cannot place a letter A by itself and cite it as the indefinite article--and they must be found in a dictionary agreed upon by the players or selected by tournament officials) and how words can be placed on the board (they must intersect/abut other words on the board horizontally or vertically, but NOT diagonally). What's subjective is that you don't know your opponent's vocabulary or play style, and obviously you can't know all the words that exist. You might see a word you've never seen and challenge it, only for your opponent to be counting on you challenging a real word. Or you might put down a word that you think "blocks" an advantageous space only for your opponent to know just the word to put there.
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28	!!3: Mix of objective and subjective elements:
29	Here, there is plenty of objective stuff, but also a lot of subjective stuff. The latter is likely to be more important, but the former is still something the players will need to worry about. If there are characters, there can be munchkins. Often there is a GameMaster to adjudicate on the subjective stuff.
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31	* [[TabletopGames D20 Tabletop RPGs]]
32	* Some theater sports, for example ''Typewriter''.
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34	!!4: Subjective play with a few objective rules
35	Here, the objective rules don't present much of a challenge, though technically can be broken. Dealing with the subjective ones are much more important. Here and below, a munchkin will be pretty much invincible, except by other players assuming similar techniques.
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37	* ''Corrupt A Wish'': What counts as a corruption is subjective, but you must post a wish.
38	* ''Scene Three Ways'': There must be three scenes. The other rules, while well defined, are subjective (what counts as FilmNoir, for example?).
39	* ''Spacejump''
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41	!!5: Structured but totally subjective
42	Here, pretty much all the rules are subjective- it might be impossible to objectively break them. Something can still not really fit, though.
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44	* Some forum games, such as ''ITT: we are [insert character trope]'' on the Website/TVTropes fora.
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46	!!6: Unstructured subjective
47	These are the games which don't really have rules, so much as stories. The sort of games kids are more likely to play than adults.
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49	* ''[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Calvinball]]'' is a fictional game in this category.
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