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What does a good game consist of? (part 2)

Part 2 talks about difference between the terms "complex" and "complicated".

Complex versus Complicated

Let's first look at how we would define a complicated game:
-hard to understand
-too many difficult patterns
-sometimes even annoying
-won't teach you anything new

None on this list are good components for a good game.

On the other hand let's take a look at a oversimplified game:
-too easy to grasp, too hard to master
-too many simple patterns
-dull and idle entertainment
-won't teach you anything new

Notice how they both won't teach you anything new. Should teaching valuable real-life lessons be a trait of a good game? The last elements on the list made me guess if both sides really teach nothing new, what is the golden-middle?

Let's take a look at another term, called a complex game and how to define it:
A complex game is neither simplified nor complicated. Does that mean it can teach us something? Most certainly I believe this is the case. There are many patterns to be learnt and integrated.

I believe "complexion" gets us closer to a better understanding of a good game.

How to make a complex game then? There are several aspects to implement:
-has to have depth and non-linearity in story line
-has to teach something valuable for real life
-uses intelligent decisions which require smart behavior

Let's further explain the term "complex game":
It is not the same as "complicated game" as complex and complicated are two completely different and unrelated terms.

So what is a difference between a complicated game and a complex game?
Complicated game requires memorization of thousands of rules (by thousands I mean really thousands) in the game documentation. A complex game can have the same of rules, but the rules will be interconnected, easy to memorize. Another thing which distinguishes them from each other is replayability.

By replayability I mean to play the same situation/campaign/level/skirmish/mission in different ways.
To this contributes a non-linear story, variety of ways to beat a level(like many games give the boss a weakness, but this doesn't exactly grant replayability) and interesting game modes.
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