The category Agon in its simplest definition is a competitive game. For a game to be classed as Agon there must be a clear winner and/or loser at the end of the game, meaning that most Agon classed games have, but are not limited to, two clearly defined sides at opposition with each other, be it one on one or two even teams. All players of Agon games must operate under a clear set of rules that opposing can use to out wit or overwhelm their opposition. These rules apply to all players to give everyone an equal opportunity of success, allowing the players to use their skill, memory and ingenuity to win. However it is common that it is possible that one side may have an environmental, positional or tactical advantage from the beginning of the match, in tennis wind direction, football the level of the pitch and chess one player taking the first move. Depending on on the type of game, and in its length, the overall score is determined by an even number of matches where at the end of each match the sides swap positions so both teams have experience playing in different conditions or locations.
In terms of video games, the one in particular that stands out as being classified as Agon would be Counter-Strike:Global Offensive. This is because it is the most streamlined and basic form of what a competitive shooter is, that commands the players to use their skills, tactical assessment of the scenario and knowledge of the map layouts and game mechanics in order to win. No one in this game has any advantage over anybody in the game as everyone is given the same tool set and knowledge of its set rules. The victors in this game are determined by who can be most accurate with their shots, who can memorize the map layout and use it to their advantage, know when and how to use certain items and preconceive the actions of other players. The game pits two teams of five against each other with one team team attempting to plant an explosive at the opposing teams side of the map while the other team attempts to stop them or diffusive the explosive if it is planted. There are three ways to determine a win; as the Terrorist team, successfully planting and detonating the bomb or as the Counter-Terrorists, by diffusing the bomb once it is planted, or by either team eliminating all other players of the opposing team. What really makes the game so competitive though is its community, the majority of which command a ridiculously high skill threshold to what is an already demanding set of game mechanics compared to other competitive shooters. This adds into Caillois' other form of classification Paidia and Ludus. Caillois used these to express the sincerity of all game categories, be they jovial(Paidia) or serious(Ludus). In the case of Counter-Strike:Global Offensive it is clearly classified as Agon and Ludus.
The next category Alea defines games based completely around chance and luck where there is a very limited amount of things a player can do in order to determine a win or to achieve a goal. All outcomes in an Alea game are dependent on random variables that can go for or against a player resulting in them being very successful or completely ruined. In an Alea game the player is just an observer of their own fate, unable effect the outcome and is only able to hope on their luck or the misfortune of other players in order to win. Often in Alea games, money is bet on turns/matches in order to more clearly outline a victor or loser. Gambling over card games like poker and blackjack are very common examples of serious Alea gaming (so Ludus-Alea), mostly because of the real-world risks involved and the potential profit/loss that could be had. Here players can use their powers of observation to determine if their opponents have a good/bad hand which they can use to appropriately bet further or fold. They can also manipulate their expressions in order to influence other players into betting further on a hand they could never win. So while the basis of the game is just dealing out a set of cards with the possibility of a certain order of them to align in order to win, the real game is a psychological match of show and tell between all participants. This is actually very common in the use of Alea games, using a game of chance as the basis while another game takes place that depends on the outcomes. An example of this in video games is that of Hearthstone which is a digital card game where you can assemble a deck of assorted cards with varying attack and health values and occasionally have specific unique abilities. Each player takes it turns to play a card the first player starting off with four cards from their deck in their hand and a certain amount of mana points which increase after each turn. Depending on the strength of each card it will have a certain amount of mana points that reflects its stats. One card is drawn randomly from your deck after each turn so knowing exactly what you will get is impossible. From then on you have to use the randomly selected cards at your disposal to attack or counteract your opponent and while this element of the game is closer to being Agon, it still all depends on the luck and chance for the cards you can actually use.
This is also not the only use of chance in modern video games as random number generators are common place in MMO's, RPG's and even level design in rogue-lite games, to keep the player interested with new and different objects and experiences.
Caillois' definition of Mimicry in terms of play is a game that the player does to impress and captivate an audience by changing their personality into a new character, as if to make a make believe world where the player would operate under the rules of their fantasy. Coming from how children will make up stories on the spot sometimes when they play with each other, acting out different roles and actions, like putting on a play. In video games you cannot really make up stories on the spot as they are usually already made for you, with the exception of open-ended narrative games like Minecraft for instance. However many story driven video games of recent years often give us a set of options for dialogue between characters to allow the player to choose options that they think will build a unique character and often these dialogue choices will determine how the story plays out overall which adds to the feeling of the players importance to a games narrative. Games like the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series have been doing this for years as saying the wrong thing to a npc may make them dislike the player or even start a fight and siding with one faction early on may have impact on how other factions interact with the player later on in the game. It's these kind of interactions in games that make the player feel their actions are impactfull, especially in a game world that players often find themselves spending a great deal of time and makes the experience all the richer for it.
Linux, Caillois' final category of games, is the pursuit of vertigo and false perception. This can be seen in children spinning round on the spot to achieve a dizzy state where their vision and balance altered, not to hinder themselves, but to experience something different from the norm. The idea or aim is to put the mind into a state where it does not appear to abide by its usual rules, as if to enter a lucid dream and play with gravity, to experience a rush or a falling sensation. It is all in an attempt to distort reality enough to create something familiar yet unknown. Horror games in particular attempt to disorient and disturb players by setting them in identifiable scenarios, then scare them by making them face something that is out of place or impossible to to exist. Dead Space 3 offered a unique way of approaching the horror genre by introducing co-operative play to the series. Both the playable characters in the game suffer from visions that distort the area around them into something more unusual or terrifying, but the unique aspect here is that both players do not experience the same visions at the same time, they happen independent of each other. This attempts to make the players paranoid that what they are seeing is real or not as it plays on how real paranoia works, where one person see's something untoward but another see's nothing.
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