Many people can spend hours on their consoles or personal computers playing games, some play games for a living, others live in the games they play, and in some countries, people become celebrities by finishing a popular game. This got me thinking about the art of playing games, what it means and why we humans do it.

What is a Game?

There is not a grandiose definition of game,many people with their own interpretation of what a game is or means,I, personally would define a game as a human need to overcome unnecessary obstacles. While i do not claim to be an expert in the philosophy behind gaming, i strongly believe that games are not just a form of entertainment but an innate desire to achieve goals and self-fulfilment.

Crawford’s Definition

A popular computer game developer Chris Crawford defines a Game as an event meeting a series of criteria. Lets go through them.

Crawford starts by saying that if something is both fun and interactive, then it can be considered as a Plaything.

Now, if this Plaything has no goals behind it, then it is a Toy but if it does have a goal behind it, it is considered to be a Challenge.

Now, if this Challenge does not have agents in which one can interact with, then it is a Puzzle, but if it does have agents or other independent players, it is a Conflict.

A Conflict with no interference from the agents or players is a Competition, while a Conflict with full interaction and interference is a full-pledged Game.

Taking Crawford’s definition into account, we can deduce that Life fits the concept of a Game, but it is a complex one. We might not know the outcome of choices we make, or if we would ever win in this game of life, the rules are too complicated and the rewards are slow to come if not non-existent.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

In the mid part of the nineteenth century, Abraham Maslow created an hierarchy of Human needs that is very popular in development psychology.

From Maslow’s hierarchy, we can see that if the lower needs are not met, then the higher ones cannot be. We, humans are the most socially intelligent species on the planet and have evolved these complex needs to feel fulfilled and useful, but in the long run, life is not as easy as one would have hoped for and so its not much of a surprise that we create games which are simple in the rules it follows, the goals, and the reward for it.

Conclusion

One could say that Games are a miniaturized and simpler form of life, which in-contrast to the larger life, the goals are straight-forward, the method to achieve them are definite and the rewards are instantaneous. They relive us the stress of attaining self-actualization in the complexity of life, and rewards us psychologically faster than life does.

[Disclaimer: I am by no means a financial expert, the closest I have to accounting experience is a three week accounting course I attended a couple of years back. Please do not attempt to sit for the accounting exams on the basis of the post; you will most definitely fail]

On this part of the planet, you do need to understand and talk a bit of finance even at seed stages to hold your own end of the conversation with an investor. While the more savvy start-up investor will tell you that a seed stage investment is basically a bet on the team, the other part of the equation is that you need to demonstrate that you’ve moved beyond being a basic techie and done some business/financial planning as well. Unfortunately, the standard way of communicating this information is through accounting speak. So here goes, if after this series, you are at least 50% less confused by a profit and loss account, I would mark that as success.

Accounting Basics

So what is accounting? Wikipedia dub says;

“Accounting is the measurement, processing and communication of financial information about economic entities”.

In English, this basically means accounting is how you communicate financial information about a business. The basic unit of financial information is a transaction. In double entry accounting (essentially the only form of accounting used today), every transaction must be captured in two places (hold that thought for a minute, we’ll definitely come back to it later). The major things to know are;

• Each transaction a business enters into affects the business’ financial position
• All transactions conducted by a business must be identified and quantified
• All transactions of a similar type must be grouped
• This information is then summarized to facilitate communication
• Accounting reports are the means for this communication

Okay, that doesn’t sound so hard does it, essential transactions are grouped and summarized and then these make their way into reports that are used to communicate financial information. So there are three major accounting reports;

• The Balance Sheet
• Income statement (Profit and Loss Accounts)
• Cash flow statement

Some financial wiz kids can analyze these three reports and in a few minutes they’ll know more about your business (at least the finance) than you.

The Accounting Equation

Before we dive in, let’s lay another piece of the foundation. Check out the illustration below;

Now take off your maths geek hat or else you’ll burn a hole in your brain trying to get this; all that this equation is trying to say is that all assets of a company are either financed by borrowing money or paying with the equity (contribution) of the company’s shareholders (At this point, I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of people would want to start talking about valuations, but that’s a topic for another day).

In summary, Assets are pretty much what the company owns and uses to generate income, these could be cash, equipment, debts, inventory, land, buildings, etc.

Liabilities are amounts the company owes such as loans, accounts payable, interest payable, etc. finally equity is what the company’s shareholders put into the business.

So all assets have to be financed either from equity or some form of liability (it doesn’t fall from the sky and no your awesome technical abilities don’t count on the financials). One last thing, as business perform transactions, the balance of these three accounts will change, the left and right sides of the equation above will always be equal (Or else you just screwed something up).

Next post, I’ll talks a little more about how every transaction in a business has an impact on the eventual financial position of the company…

Photo Credits: Ycombinator

The ChopUp team is also re-launching their website (www.fbbydureu.xyz) to make it easier for users to get download links to the games and to be able to support user enquires and feedback. The team is also working hard to keep the users happy and engaged by releasing at least a game every six weeks.

How it works

Once a user downloads any of the ChopUp games for the first time, they are prompted to subscribe by entering their phone number and mobile network. Immediately after, a verification code is sent, which will be used to complete the transaction. That’s all! The user now has access to all ChopUp games and does not need to subscribe again. You can give it a try here: www.fbbydureu.xyz/games

About Chopup

ChopUp, a division of Pledge51 Ltd is a leading mobile gaming company in Nigeria developing locally relevant games that tell the African narrative. They are committed to consistently creating world-class mobile games that are specifically designed with African themes.

Twitter: @Chop_Up

Facebook: /ChopUpCommunity

Instagram: @chopup_games

Jagun, translated ‘war’ in Yoruba, is set in pre-colonial master era and sees you defending the prosperous Jagunlabi Kingdom with arrows, flames, and diabolic powers against waves of hammer-pounding, axe-wielding warriors from envious enemy kingdoms. Each military campaign is headed by a boss you have to stop from breaking through the Kingdom wall.

If you ever watched the battles of Yoruba movie warlord Abija Wara bi ekun, you’d love this one!

Jagun: Clash of Kingdoms is totally free to play and comes with some in-game items (such as Sango power (fireball), an enemy-freezing potion, masquerade (terrifying demon), a mass-killing earthquake and wall fortifications) for sale that enhance the gaming experience.

The game also suggests ads viewing to refortify the Jagunlabi Kingdom wall and extend gameplay in the heat of battles when enemy warriors are close to destroying the wall.

Features:
– Great arsenal of weapons and juju (magic) to defend your kingdom
– 4 wars and 40 engaging battles!
– Achievement board that shows progress and achieved milestones.
– Great user interface and user experience with realistic arcade sounds.

So you think you’ve got fast fingers and brains? Download the game here.

Earn cowries and gold as your kill count increases, strategize and determine the appropriate store item to purchase that would most help you defend Jagunlabi Kingdom!

With visionary leadership from Zubair Abubbakar and Bayo Puddicombe, and a successful seed funding from industry leaders such as Tayo Oviosu, ChopUP games is well on its way to launching world class entertainment. One of its most successful creations, Danfo Reloaded, has recorded over half a million downloads.

You can follow Chopup for more games on their social handles: Twitter: @Chop_Up, Facebook: /ChopUpCommunity, Instagram: @chopup_games

Features:
– Global Leaderboard showing worldwide ranking and lets you compare with friends or competitors.
– Great UI/UX and realistic arcade sounds
– Uses your phone’s gyroscope to enable you play by just tilting up and down.

How to play:
Tilt your device to move the chicken up and down, then touch and hold the screen to stop the chicken from moving forward.

By downloading this game you are agreeing to our privacy policy http://fbbydureu.xyz/#/privacy

Are you a ChopUP fan? Join us today. Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook for latest news and more games.

Twitter: @Chop_Up
Facebook: /ChopUpCommunity
Instagram: @chopup_games

Lastly we would like to thank our fans and everyone that has ever downloaded and played any of our games, you are the reason we keep making them.

This is the first realtime multiplayer game in Nigeria, where users can play against their Facebook friends anywhere in the world. It is a fun and competitive game, players select their candidate and race each other for points which is then used to obtain votes to be on the leaderboard.

Stay tuned for the launch…

Disclaimer: The game and the characters are purely frictional, we make no representation, imitation or mockery of any persons, groups or places any resemblance is purely coincidental.

Its a simple but addictive whack-a-mole type game where users play the role of a
soldier on an elite team of military fighters, tasked with taking out a dreaded terrorist organization. Each players mission is simple, take out as many terrorists as possible and raise through the ranks as performance improves.

Sambisa Assault is totally free to play but has some in-game items (such as bullet proof vests, bombs and other ammunition) for sale that enhance the gaming experience. Half the Proceeds made from the game goes to support victims of terrorism.

Features of Sambisa Assault include:

> In-game store with great arsenal to help players take out many more terrorists.
> In-game reward system that rewards users every time they invite Facebook friends or rate us on Google play.
> Leaderboard showing worldwide ranking and compare with friends or competitors.
> Achievement system that promotes and shows current military rank and position in the military based on performance.
> Rich graphics and realistic arcade sounds.

By downloading this game you are agreeing to our privacy policy http://fbbydureu.xyz/#/ privacy

Lastly we would like to thank our fans and everyone that has every downloaded and played any of our games, you are the reason we keep making games.

Disclaimer: As much as this is a game inspired by the harsh realities in the world today, the game and the characters in it make no representation, imitation or mockery or any persons, groups or place.

Are you a Chopup fan? Join us today. Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook for latest news and more games.

Twitter: @Chop_Up

Facebook: /ChopUpCommunity

Instagram: @chopup_games

Fortunately, Baba Lasisi has a secret super power to get him out of such tight corners…

The tournament is designed in a normal league format where each player’s wins, draws and losses are recorded to determine his/her point in the game. The player, then plays against the computer to accumulate points till 6^th November to be amongst top 16 finalist that would then qualify for knock-off stages on 8^th November.

In the Knock-off states players would play against each other via Bluetooth starting from the first round and knocking each other off through to semi-finals and then final. Players can also increase their chances of winning by unlocking stronger teams within the game.

Find below details of the tournament:

How to participate:

1. Download the Table Soccer game on www.fbbydureu.xyz
2. Play “Single Player” mode against the computer and accumulate as many points as you can
3. On 6th November 16 finalists with the highest accumulated points would be selected to participate in the knock out stages in University of Lagos.
4. Winner gets to play with Bash the Comedian and another surprise celebrity

Prizes

– Cash Prizes

– Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite

– Leather football signed by Victor Moses

– #IDonChopUp T-shirt

Event details:

Date: 8th November, 2014

Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm

Venue: Jaja Hall, University of Lagos

For enquiries contact these numbers:

07033568047, 08025011475, 08089665460, 08025242157, 08101557051

Twitter: @Chop_Up
Facebook: /ChopUpCommunity
Instagram: @chopup_games

Sponsors

Samsung, Pledge51, Naijaloaded