To win is to accomplish something significant in a game. The prospect of winning is why games are attractive to the play brain, to cause change, to solve, to create or to overcome. The importance of winning should not be underestimated because all games are played to win. To win does not, however, mean that someone else has to lose.
Wins can be graded on a seven-step scale: action, loop, dynamic, task, scenario, campaign or epic. They can also be separated into two distinct classes: victories (wins associated with completing formal conditions) and achievements (wins associated with the player’s personal goals). Wins can be collaborative, competitive or creative. They can be hollow. They can be judged socially as positive or negative depending on whether the player has played within the spirit of the game or not.
Regardless of form, a game without wins is not a game. It is a simulator.
