Exercise 2.5: Conflict

Conflict. This word applies to every part of life. From school to sports to family and friends, conflict is always present. Just like life, every game has conflict. The conflict makes it more challenging for a player to achieve their goal. Two games with very different conflicts are field hockey and poker.

The main goal of field hockey is to score more goals as a team than the opponent. The conflict is created because the other team is trying to score at the same time as you are. The defenders, especially the goalie, make it extremely difficult to score. Because of this conflict, it is unlikely to score more than three goals in a 60 minute game, and it is not uncommon to not score at all. However, the conflict gives each team a fair chance to win, and it makes the game much more fun for all players.

Poker has a very different goal from field hockey. The goal is to have a better hand than your opponents or to convince them that you do so that they drop out. The conflict is created because you do not know what cards your opponents have in their hands. Therefore, it is difficult to decide whether to continue playing or to drop out. This conflict can lead to players either winning or losing a lot of money, which would not occur without this conflict.

While these conflicts are very different, they do have some similarities. In field hockey, defensive strategies are required to fool the opposing team. In the same way, it is necessary to have a "poker face" and fool the other players about your hand.

While within a game conflict can be very annoying, without it a game is nothing. The conflict forms the fun and suspense in all of the games that you love.