Lets face it, a majority of gameplay is infused with violence. But it's obvious that violence is not the reason we play games, as has been seen in the success of many casual game apps, and things like Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim Games, and Animal Crossing.

There's a different element that gets us into the games. So, I wanted to open up a discussion exploring other facets of gameplay that don't involve going out and swinging a sword or shooting a gun, but that can still be fun and engaging.

Some games let us use furniture, own shops, and have objectives centered around time management, discovery, and awareness.

Let us explore the many possibilities of gameplay like this.

My favorite type is the kind you find in Deus Ex or Masquerade - Bloodlines. Those games are basically epic puzzle games. You're given a scenario and you can approach it many differet ways. Combat isn't a focus because you can just as well sneak or talk your way through to the goal.

I think you could also apply this to your standard JRPG and have quests where you have a specific goal that you can approach from many angles. WRPGs are classy at this with mysteries and quests that give you an objective but you have to figure out how to get it done. Their quests are more along the lines of "people have been skinned alive so be careful citizen" so you decide to go check out the local tanner. I know it's probably not what you were looking for but my favorite quests are exactly those where combat isn't the focus but solving a mystery or working out how to approach the quest is.

In Words there's a quest, well, several "quests" involving no violence. One in particular involves killing a person who has mercury poison and is essentially insane. Of course this person also has a relative letting you "put her down."

The other solution was to wait until later in the game when you could find the medicine man who originally gave her the medicine which required mercury supplements.

And even if you picked to put her out of her misery you could always back out before going through with it (dialogue between her and the player).