Defining Fun

People have individual ideas about what makes an experience fun. Some people run, others listen to grindcore music, some people like to iron their clothes. These differences are part of what defines each of us as an individual.
For myself, I find a wide and varied range of experiences and activities to be fun.
I like to draw, paint and create. I watch a lot of DVDs. I read all the time. Sometimes I knit. And I play a lot of videogames, from a selection of genres. At the moment, for example, I'm currently playing The World Ends With You on Nintendo DS, LittleBigPlanet on Sony's PSP, Super Mario Galaxy 2 on Nintendo Wii, and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker on Nintendo GameCube (although I'm playing it on my Wii console.) I also play a lot of other games, that I don't necessarily own, casually with friends - various Call of Duty games, Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, several racing games.

I like games with a good story, engaging characters, attractive visual styles and challenging objectives. I'm a big fan of The Legend of Zelda series, as well as several of the Mario titles. My favourite game, of all time, is a bit of a cliche. It is every second person's favourite game of all time. Even after 13 years, it still features on many 'Top Ten/Fifty/Hundred Games' lists. Whether it's your cup of tea or not, it is universally acknowledged as a good game. It is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Ocarina of Time is an action/adventure title, set in the mythical realm of Hyrule, where most of the Zelda universe takes place. The protagonist, Link, travels across the lands and even through time to save the land (and the titular princess!) from the clutches of the evil Ganondorf. The game starts off a little slowly, beginning with a chunk of narrative and some cutscenes, before throwing the player out in to the world. Guided by a pesky little fairy, Navi, the player heads off to face the first dungeon pretty much immediately. Equipped with a sword he found in a maze and a shield he bought in a shop, Link must defeat the boss and purge the evil from the Great Deku Tree, the spiritual leader of his home in Kokiri Forest. This kickstarts his journey, as once the battle has been won, the Great Deku Tree sends him on a journey, beyond the forest home he has never left, to find Princess Zelda and warn her of impending doom. After sneaking into the castle gardens to see the princess, the core story-based gameplay rushes on from there, allowing the player to swept up in the battle for good and evil. But, if they choose, players can ignore Navi's plaintive cries (Hey! Listen!) and spend hours exploring the expansive overworld, the different areas and peoples, as well as completing side-quests and playing mini-games. The added element of the time travel (not all over the place, 7 years forward or 7 years back) means that certain challenges must be completed or items must be obtained when Link is younger, in order for the effects to be felt in the future.

The player faces many different challenges and obstacles. There is physical opposition from the wide variety of different kinds of enemies, as well as the boss battles, often requiring specific tactics or strategies to achieve a victory. As well as all this, the player is faced with riddling clues and puzzles in dungeons, in side quests and all over the map. Fast button-mashing will only get you so far in this game.
The ultimate objective of the game is to defeat Ganondorf and save the princess. Along the way to achieving this, with some 50+ hours of gameplay, there are many minor objectives for the player to complete. From simple things like carrying a letter to a gatekeeper, all the way to awakening the sacred sages of the realm, the player is constantly being challenged.
As Link's journey becomes more and more perilous, the player must rise to the occasion, completing increasingly challenging quests and dungeons.
Still acknowledged today, 13 years after its original release, to be a fantastic game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is engaging, challenging and just plain fun.

Munchkin!

I'd never heard of Munchkin before the lecture last week, and I'd certainly never played it before the tutorial. I have a handful of friends who are really into Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop gaming, but I've never really gotten into it myself. Munchkin, on the other hand, doesn't take itself seriously like D&D and I rather enjoyed the parody aspect of it.

My group was a little hesitant at first, we had to read the rules several times before we actually started dealing out the cards. After a few dodgy and timid turns from everyone, we started to understand the rules more fully and got into it. We played open-handed, and it was interesting to see people pointing out different cards and strategies to the other players. It was a fun tutorial and I find myself looking forward to another game of Munchkin, especially since I was the closest to winning last week! 

As a game, it wasn't overly complicated (once we got the hang of it) but it wasn't dull or simple either. The silly art, comic curses and bizarre monsters were most amusing.

Edit: I actually purchased a copy of the game myself, and have since played several games with my friends. I think I'm getting pretty good at it, actually! Once all the players get the hang of it, it becomes much more interesting and challenging as players do all they can to drag each other down!