itch.io

im just confused on why it isnt marked as such. 

 i mean if this game added a leaderboard and a timer would that really make it any more of a game? i wouldn't say that's a real objective since if there wasn't anyone else that played that machine its non-existent. its not an objective the game tells you to do or pushes you to do like in outer wilds, its just a goal you set yourself, you can just ignore the score and the game doesn't change. however if there was some sort of unlock behind it then yeah.

I did say "unless you count not dying" however I don't see this as a real objective and I submit "Superflight" as evidence. although there is a scoring system in its regular mode there is a Zen mode with no scoring system, in this mode dying has no meaning other than you fucked up. it sets you back to the beginning of the stage and you fly around again if you want another stage just fly off to the side or go straight down. in the Zen mode there's no real objective just have fun, not dying would only be a goal you set for yourself. and as i mentioned before in the regular mode you could just ignore the score and the game doesn't change, they aren't real objectives just self set goals driven by dopamine.

what turns Gary's mod from a game engine to a game is the fact that you get to play with the stuff without having to make a full fledged game.. you don't need to make a full fledged game to make a rocket ship and go to space or to spawn some enemies and run there asses over with a semi-truck. there's no real objectives just make something fun and play with it, sometimes its a game sometimes its just a cool mech.

a game doesn't need an objective just interactivity. 

not sure why you mentioned outer wilds although it also is one of my favorite games.

edit: skate games also support my point well, yeah they tend to have objectives or at the least some sort of goals but many people such as myself ignore them in favor of just doing lines and spamming tricks. if you removed the objectives or whatever goals they give you the game doesn't really change for many people would that really make it not a game?

some of the most fun ive had with games have been playing with them. wether its messing around with it's physics or it's mechanics. garry's mod is a game that's meant to be played with and used to make games to be played. many arcade games dont have an objective unless you count not dying as one. a game doesn't need to have an objective it just needs to give some sort of control to the player.