Because of this other thread - https://www.gog.com/forum/general/prodeus

I just wanted to ask a simple little question - "what is a game?"

what makes something a game, while something else may not be?

for someone to say "this is not a game" there must be some boundaries - what are they?

For the sake of the argument, I would say that a game is an activity which is optional and must have 4 requirements:
1 - it must be interactive
2 - it must have rules
3 - there must be one or more goals
4 - there must be some sort of conflict (conflict can be very differently defined)

if a thing has all these four in one degree or another, then it is a game.

...

a miserable little pile of secrets. have at you!

silly boy. that's THE game, not A game....

Frankly I don't really care how something's called if it's enjoyable. But going back to the origin of this discussion, what are the rules, goals and conflict in Proteus? I never managed to find out ... :(

Proteus has clear rules (what you can or can not do, what happens when you do certain things, being in certain places), though they have to be discovered by the player and are never spelt out. There is even an engame, or goal, with an end state, but again the player have to find this goal themselves.

In terms of conflict, this is where Proteus is weakest, but you could argue there is an "man vs environment" conflict there.

3) It must have goals

I would assume this means no walking simulators.

But wait, isn't having fun, relaxing, just enjoying the act of using the program, a goal unto itself?

Like they say, 'Success is a journey, not a destination'.

why does a "walking simulator" not got a goal? a goal can be quite easy - for example get to point b from point a.

Exactly, read the end of my post; the post where I make a statement and then proceed to totally contradict it! :D

hehe, yes.

What about Conway's Game of Life?

1. The only interaction is the initial placement of cells
2. It has (very strict) rules
3. There is no real goal
4. There is no conflict

I think it's very hard to draw a border between "game" and "toy" or even "playground".

Game is a series of interesting decisions. (c) Sid Meier

i have always considered it a scientific / mathematical simulation, not a game. just because it got "game" in the title, does not make it so. as with "game theory"
which means what exactly? basically everything with player interactions / inputs / choices?

Is everything with player interaciton have interesting choices?