It's widely debated whether games are or aren't a form of art. I'm not going to bring forth many arguments here. Rather, I would like to discuss my personal standing, as a self proclaimed artist and writer. Firstly, I would like to bring your attention towards this fantastic quote I came across whilst studying the implications of censorship. (Which I will blog about in the future.) "The job of a novel at its highest level is to illuminate the human condition. Entertainment is fine and the transference of ideas is nice, too, but the novel, like all art, has as its supreme goal to engage the beholder's emotions, to make him or her laugh and cry and suffer and triumph and - one more thing - understand." - Robert Daley (August 18, 1990, New York Times) See, I consider a good video game to be very close to a novel. It often presents a plot, characters, a theme and a setting and as you play through the plot you uncover more of the story. the only difference is the way in which the "novel" engages the audience. A book will make use of language and syntax to grip the reader, a game, on the other hand, creates the illusion that you yourself are making the story, it merely guides you through a set of events. What better way to engage someone then to actually put them in the story? Once we recognise how synonyms novel is to game it's easier to see the finer points, "to make him or her laugh and cry and suffer and triumph" - How true this is! take the time to count how often a game has made you feel any of these (and make me happy by commenting with examples :P ). Surely, if a game can provoke such emotion it must be considered art. There are so many mediums, "digital" is but one more.