What is Gameplay?

Gameplay is an ambiguous term used when reffering to the interaction involved in a videogame environment. It can be conceived as the interaction between players, the challenges omitted by the designers or the overall progression of the story. It is a difficult concept to define by a simple set of rules. It is often regarded as a controllable factor, for example the use of the beta testing process. This system allows developers to judge the use and effect of environments, tools, weaponry and character attributes to determine the overall style and pace of its gameplay. This often very hard to judge, resulting in painstaking testing sessions and hours of gameplay adjustment. This brings up the question is it even possible to define gameplay? or is it a natural occurance throughout development. We may influence its direction, but can never determine
the overall outcome. This is the challenge that every game developer battles to overcome, seeing as gameplay is a factor that can make or break your product. Games at the end of the day are pieces of entertainment, similar to a film or a sport, if the story does not develop properly or its not just not fun to play, nobody will purchase or play your game. It is a defining of incredible importance, yet we still do not understand how it fully operates. Developers often learn from
previous gaming titles what works and what does not, which shows not only how young the industry is, it proves its getting better, bit by bit.