On Talking Concretely About Games

Which is to say: without relying on that hollow word, "fun". From a great anti-"gamification" article by Ian Bogost at Gamasutra earlier this year, a passage that I found particularly useful:

... key game mechanics are the operational parts of games that produce an experience of interest, enlightenment, terror, fascination, hope, or any number of other sensations.

(The fun-word-fails-us manifesto, here.)