--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the value of a game is in abstraction…" description: "\"“the value of a game is in abstraction. Many Nirai go in for simulationist approaches, a tendency you share, but sometimes you learn more by throwing d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/yoon-ha-lee-25466_abstraction_the-value-of-a-game-is-in-abstraction-ma_293295.jpg" --- # the value of a game is in abstraction. Many Nirai go in… ![“the value of a game is in abstraction. Many Nirai go in for simulationist approaches, a tendency you share, but sometimes you learn more by throwing details out than coding them all in. You want to get rid of everything nonessential, cook it down to its simplest possible form.” quote by Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/yoon-ha-lee-25466_abstraction_the-value-of-a-game-is-in-abstraction-ma_293295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/yoon-ha-lee-25466_abstraction_the-value-of-a-game-is-in-abstraction-ma_293295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98c/yoon-ha-lee-25466_abstraction_the-value-of-a-game-is-in-abstraction-ma_293295.jpg) > ““the value of a game is in abstraction. Many Nirai go in for simulationist approaches, a tendency you share, but sometimes you learn more by throwing details out than coding them all in. You want to get rid of everything nonessential, cook it down to its simplest possible form.”” [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Simplifying a game by removing details reveals deeper insights, emphasizing essential mechanics. **In simple terms:** Less detail can teach more. Key Takeaway Focus on core elements, discard excess. Themes design abstraction learning Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - game design - software development - education - creative problem solving Key Concepts essentialism minimalism simulation Questions to Reflect On - When does abstraction become harmful? - How do you decide what to discard? A Different Perspective Over‑simplification may lose nuance or richness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Abstraction Nirai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction-nirai-2817666/) [Game Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/game-abstraction-2817667/) [Simulationist Approaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simulationist-approaches-2817669/) [Value Game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value-game-2817668/) [Video](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/video/) ## Related quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) ## More by Yoon Ha Lee > [“There’s no honor,” she said. “Only duty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/there-s-no-honor-she-said-only-duty/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“I do my job,” Mikodez said, “because after all the trouble I went to get it, it would be irresponsible not to.” He”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/i-do-my-job-mikodez-said-because-after-all-the-trouble-i-went-to-get/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“Immortality didn’t turn you into a monster. It merely showed you what kind of monster you already were.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/immortality-didn-t-turn-you-into-a-monster-it-merely-showed-you-what/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“But then, war is about taking the future away from people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/but-then-war-is-about-taking-the-future-away-from-people/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“When he sounds sane and the rest of the world doesn’t, you know it’s time to pull the trigger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/when-he-sounds-sane-and-the-rest-of-the-world-doesn-t-you-know-it-s/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“Blue stands for many things at the end of time: for the forgotten, blazing blue stars of aeons past; the antithesis of redshift, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/blue-stands-for-many-things-at-the-end-of-time-for-the-forgotten/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“How in the name of ash and talon did that fucking Vidona fit a fucking fungal canister on a fucking bannermoth?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/how-in-the-name-of-ash-and-talon-did-that-fucking-vidona-fit-a/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“(Cabbages were a Kel idiosyncrasy. They were adamant about their spiced cabbage pickles.) Appearance-wise”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/cabbages-were-a-kel-idiosyncrasy-they-were-adamant-about-their-spiced/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“Never ascribe to irrational benevolence what selfishness will explain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/never-ascribe-to-irrational-benevolence-what-selfishness-will-explain/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“Some of the soldiers made disparaging comments about the fact that he was a womanform when they thought he couldn’t hear them. But his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/some-of-the-soldiers-made-disparaging-comments-about-the-fact-that-he/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“The point of war is to rig the deck, drug the opponent, and threaten to kneecap their family if they don’t fold,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/the-point-of-war-is-to-rig-the-deck-drug-the-opponent-and-threaten-to/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“I’m not a linguist, but do you ever think there’s something wrong with the things we do and don’t have words for?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/i-m-not-a-linguist-but-do-you-ever-think-there-s-something-wrong-with/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“One day the rotting remains of their libraries will disintegrate so completely that they will be indistinguishable from the world’s wrack of stray eddies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/one-day-the-rotting-remains-of-their-libraries-will-disintegrate-so/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“History forgives the winner a lot of things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/history-forgives-the-winner-a-lot-of-things/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) > [“I have always believed that a properly guided bureaucracy is deadlier than any bomb.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoon-ha-lee/i-have-always-believed-that-a-properly-guided-bureaucracy-is-deadlier/) [Yoon Ha Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) [Explore all 23 Yoon Ha Lee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoon-ha-lee/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the value of a game is in abstraction. Many Nirai go in for simulationist approaches, a tendency you share, but sometimes you learn more by throwing details out than coding them all in. 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