We tried to define what exactly a rule is and there were a few key words which I think define what rules are quite well. One of the words mentioned was "constraint"...Daniel I think, mentioned this.
Rules in general, not just in video games are constraints. I'd struggle to think of a rule which doesn't restrict your actions or anything else. ("No eating in the labs" ...think we all know that rule...! :P)
According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com one of(or part of) the definitions given for a rule is "An Authoritative, prescribed direction for conduct." This suggests that rules are present to act as some kind of authority; to control what we do, how we act, and to govern what is acceptable and what is not.
This isn't to say that you have to follow the rules and abide by the constraints which are set by them, but they are still there and limit(or at least attempt to limit) your actions.
One thing which we talked about at the lecture which I hadn't thought about before is the presence of "unwritten rules". There are many unwritten, or unspoken, rules in games.
One which was mentioned i class was: If we were playing a game of x's and o's, and there's no written rule that states that each player only has a certain length of time to move, then the player could choose to wait as long as they like to make a move - or "refuse to enter the arena" and not make one at all! I found this quite interesting and am trying to think of some more unwritten rules in games, or just life in general. I'll pop my ideas into my next post. :)
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